Diocese of Covington - Messenger at 402 E. 21st Street, Covington, KY 41015 US - Eighth Day

In recent times the recording industry has been shaken by widespread international violation of copyright laws. Here's the usual scenario. An artist or group records a popular album. It sells on the market for $18. It is bought by one or several foreign clandestine operations who make exact copies of the recording including the album cover; or the recording is illegal posted and downloaded from the Internet. It looks and sounds exactly like the original. The major difference is the cost. This "pirated" copy of the recording can be bought for much less or for nothing at all. 

The market is quickly flooded with the counterfeit recordings. The original recording company absorbs all the cost of production. The only benefit accrued by the composer and/or artist is that their names become more widely circulated and their fame, but their bank accounts do not increase. Indeed, it is the artist's name and reputation that make the whole fraudulent scheme possible. 

The early Church also sometimes faced a similar problem. Sometimes pagan exorcists would use Jesus' name to cast out demons. That's the situation addressed in today's Gospel, but it was a predicament that endured for quite some time. These non-Christian exorcists recognized the power of Jesus' name even though they themselves were not committed followers. 

The committed disciples complain: "Teacher, we saw a man using your name to expel demons and we tried to stop him because he is not of our company." 

Jesus' strikes us as quite lenient: "Do not try to stop him. No man who performs a miracle using my name can at once speak ill of me. Anyone who is not against us is with us." Jesus' point is that even though his name is being improperly used, his reputation is being spread. 

Mark's Gospel is full of references to the power of Jesus' name and the importance of it being recognized, even by those who are not Christian. Recall last Sunday's Gospel which ended with Jesus saying, "Whoever welcomes a child such as this for my sake welcomes me." The original Greek of the text literally says, "Whoever welcomes a child such as this IN MY NAME ..." 

The same sort of thought is continued in today's Gospel. Jesus proclaims, "Any man who gives you a drink of water because you belong to Christ will not, I assure you, go without his reward." Again, the Greek that is here translated "because you belong to Christ" literally says "because you are in the name of Christ." 

The message of our Lord in today's Gospel asks us to recognize the essential goodness of anyone who acknowledges or calls upon his name — even if that person is not a committed follower of the Lord. 

The incident in today's first reading from the Book of Numbers is quite similar, but perhaps more expansive. Because Moses had found the leadership of the Israelites to be a job bigger than he could handle, he had asked God for some help. God instructed Moses to gather together 70 elders for a ceremony in which they would receive a share of Moses’ prophetic spirit. 

A young man named Joshua is complaining to Moses because there are two Israelites who were not present for this official ceremony but who nevertheless are prophesying. Moses' response, like Jesus' in the Gospel, is compassionate: "Would that all the people of the Lord were prophets!" 

Again we are challenged to recognize the goodness of those who act on God's behalf even thought they do not necessarily operate through the "official channels."