Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48
Lead in: In Mark 9, Jesus’ disciples wanted Jesus to stop someone who was driving out demons in his name. Jesus’ response was, “Do not try to prevent him.” Jesus’ response challenges us be open to God working in our world in and through unlikely people.
Prompt: Reflect on a time when you saw God working through the most unlikely person.
Lead in: In Mark 9, Jesus’ response to his disciples tell us that God’s Spirit can rest on anyone. This means that God’s Sprit can rest on those not of our faith tradition. And when that happens it’s reason to celebrate, not to be resentful.
Prompt: If God’s Spirit can rest on anyone, who are those of another faith tradition that you are most suspicious of? Why is that?
Lead in: There are elements of faith that we as Christins share in common with non-Christians, like those of the Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu and other faith traditions.
Prompt: Has there ever been a time when you came to a special appreciation of how much we as Christians share in common with non-Christians?
Lead in: In Mark 9, Jesus says, “Whoever is not against us, is for us.” There are those who we assume are against us. But if we take time to listen to them, we might discover that we have more in common than we ever realized.
Prompt: Reflect on a time when you discovered you shared much more in common than you realized with a person who you assumed was against what you stood for.
Lead in: In Mark 9, when Jesus tells us about the simple act of giving a cold cup of water, he promises that the simplest act of kindness will be honored by God.
Prompt: This past week, what cold cup of water to drink have you seen that reflected the compassion of Jesus?
Lead in: In the second reading, James notes that some of the wealthy of his community are taking advantage of the poor by not paying them a fair wage. He issues a stern warning to them reminding them that if they store up riches while neglecting the poor, it won’t go well for them.
Prompt: How does this passage challenge you? If there were anything in your life that you are called to take a closer look at, what would that be?
