Stop Stopping Prophets
September 30, 2012, 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Numbers
11:25-29 James 5:1-6 Mark 9:38-40
“My Lord, stop them!”
The LORD came down in the Cloud and
spoke to Moses. Taking some of the spirit that was on Moses, the LORD bestowed
it on the seventy elders. And as the spirit came to rest on them, they began to
prophesy. Now two of the seventy elders, Eldad and Medad, stayed back in the
camp and had not gone out to the Tent. But there in the camp the spirit came upon
them as well, though they had not gone out to the Tent. So their names were
enrolled along with the seventy elders, and they began to prophesy in the camp.
But Joshua, son of Nun who from his youth had been Moses’ aide, ran out to report
to Moses that Eldad and Medad were unofficially prophesying. Then he said to
Moses, “My Lord, stop them!” Moses responded, "No I won’t stop them! In
fact I
wish that the Lord would give his spirit to all his people and make them all
prophets.”
The word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
Alleluia,
alleluia.
A reading
from the holy Gospel according to Mark
Glory to you, Lord.
“Stop
stopping the man!”
At that time, John said to Jesus, "Teacher,
we saw a man who was driving out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him,
for he doesn’t belong to our group." Jesus replied, "Stop stopping the man, for no one who works a miracle in my name is likely to speak evil of
me. Anyone who is not against us is for us.”
The
Gospel of the Lord.
Praise
to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
----------------
Introduction
The last
day of September
Here it is the last
day and last Sunday of September. A few leaves are still stubbornly hanging on to the trees, until
one cold blast from the north blows them away. Now there’s frost on the pumpkins
which are waiting to be baked into pies. And there’s fodder in the barns to
feed the hungry livestock through the scarcity of winter. At this time of the
year we’re put in mind of James Whitcomb Riley’s poem “When the frost is on the punkin and the
fodder's in the shock.”
Stop
stopping
Eldad and Medad.
The writers of Scripture are usually addressing
problems in their communities. Rarely do they sit down without any problem
running through their heads and write Scripture. There is a problem reflected
in the first and third reading today: a religious institution is restricting God's
action to the institution's action. A religious institution is making a
distinction between what is `official’ and what is `not official,’ and it is
dismissing out of hand what is `not official.’
That’s
what’s going on in the first reading today. Joshua tells Moses to stop Eldad
and Medad from speaking out like prophets. The two had not gone out to the Tent,
so their names weren’t officially enrolled
with the seventy elders; they weren’t `official’ prophets. But Moses (not hung up
on the `official’ and the `not official’) orders Joshua to stop stopping Eldad
and Medad from speaking out like
prophets.
Stopping the
man casting out demon.
Today’s
gospel is also about the `official’ and the `not official.’ The disciples see a
man casting out demons in Jesus’ name. He doesn’t belong to their group; in
other words, he’s `not official.’ So they tried to stop him. But Jesus (who like
Moses is not hung up on the `official’ and the `not official’) tells the
disciples to stop stopping the man casting out demons in his name, for whoever
is not against them is for them. (Mk. 9:38, 40)
In
the very next chapter of Mark the disciples are again at their favorite pastime
of `stopping people.’ When some parents bring their little children to Jesus
for Him to touch, the disciples scold them. When Jesus notices it, He’s angry
and tells the disciples to stop stopping the little children from coming to Him,
because the Kingdom of God belongs to people like them.(Mk. 10:13-19)
Stopping Bishop Gumbleton
We humans stop not only little children but
also big bishops like Thomas J. Gumbleton. Born in Detroit 1930 he became the
Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit, the founding president of Pax Christi USA and
president of Bread for the World. At
the end of the day, however, Bishop Gumbleton is best known for the courageous prophet
that he is. In Scripture a prophet is one who “lifts up his voice like a
trumpet blast” and tells people something they don’t want to hear but need to
hear. (Is. 58:1)
Prophet Gumbleton lifted up his voice like a
trumpet blast when he wrote in a letter to America
magazine for Nov. 20, 1963: "I can vouch for the fact that very many
bishops share the same conviction (that not every contraceptive act is
intrinsically evil). However, sadly enough, fewer and fewer are willing to say
this publicly.” Those words were not appreciated by some of Gumbleton’s brother
bishops.
Prophet Gumbleton lifted up his voice like a
trumpet blast when he also courageously predicted that, “Priestesses will
inevitably come. Already female parochial administrators are proving their
competency and laying the groundwork for the ordination of women.” Those words
were not appreciated by many of Gumbleton’s brother bishops who feel that they
belonged to an exclusively male club.
Prophet Gumbleton also courageously lifted up his voice like a trumpet
blast when he courageously initiated and co-authored a pastoral letter
of the US Catholic Bishops in 1997, entitled Always Our
Children. That pastoral
addresses the subject of homosexuality and offers help to the parents of gay
children. The
pastoral grew out of a personal experience: Bishop Gumbleton has a brother
Dan who is gay. Dan was married and has four children. At first Gumbleton found
this very hard to accept. So did his mother. One day the mother took her bishop son off to the side and asked whether Dan was going to go to hell.
That stunned Gumbleton, and it inspired the pastoral Always Our Children.
No room in the
inn for a heretic
Prophet Gumbleton courageously says publicly
what many others bishops believe privately. He courageously predicts (for the
benefit of a `male driven club’) that “Priestesses will inevitably come!” In a
pastoral letter he courageously gives comfort and guidance to parents of gay
sons and daughters. No wonder then that he would eventually become `suspect of
heresy.’ So when he was
scheduled to give a lecture on April 8, 2006 in the atrium attached to St. John
the Evangelist Cathedral in Milwaukee, church authorities stopped him! There
was no room in the inn for a heretic!
The
rector of the cathedral notified the public that the scheduled lecture could
not be held on cathedral premises. Prophet Gumbleton like Eldad and Medad
was being shut out as an `unofficial’ prophet. Beware
of a religious institution restricting God's action to the institution's action!
Beware of a religious institution making a distinction between what’s
`official’ and what’s `not official,’ and then puts the `unofficial’ outside the
cathedral premises.
When
the `unofficial’ prophet Gumbleton (still in good health) petitioned the
religious institution in Rome in 2007 for permission to stay on as bishop
beyond his 75th year (the canonical age for retirement) his petition was turned down with e-mail
speed!
Stopping a woman not on
the official list
Many years ago we buried Mamie
Schlaefer in St. Matthew’s Church in Campbellsport, Wisconsin. She was the mother of a Capuchin priest, of a Capuchin
bishop (of Bluefields, Nicaragua) and of an Agnesian nun. Present at the
funeral Mass were about 60 Capuchin friars, 40 Agnesian nuns and a church full
of relatives and friends. At the Liturgy of the Word the superior of the
Agnesian Order, the superior of the Capuchin Order, the Bishop of Bluefields,
and the pastor of the parish gave speeches in praise of Mamie Schlaefer. Some
of the speeches were rather lengthy and rambling.
At the very end of a way-too-lengthy Mass celebrated
by the bishop, a woman from the pews cried out, "Bishop, Bishop, I want to
say something." There was no answer or recognition. Again she cried out,
"Bishop, Bishop, I want to say something. I know I'm not on the official
list of speakers, but I do want to say something. I'll just come right up there and say
it." Down the aisle she goes, and up the sanctuary she comes. In that
little conservative country parish where everything was well-programmed, you
could feel a tension in the air that cried out, "Is there no one to stop
this Eldad and Medad who’s not on the official list of speakers? Will someone
please stop her, for she might go on and on, and we’ve already have had enough?"
No one stopped her. Up she goes to the mike
and delivers her piece in praise of Mamie Schlaefer. She related how she had
come to Campbellsport many years before, how she had a nervous breakdown, and how
Mamie had frequently expressed concern and care for her, and how all that had helped
to heal her. Well, she didn't go on and on, as we all thought she would. She
neatly exercised her baptismal prophetic office and then stepped down.
At
that funeral liturgy the head of the Agnesian Order, the head of the Capuchin
Order, the Bishop of Bluefields and the pastor of the parish gave rather
lengthy speeches in praise of Mamie Schlaefer, and after they finished there
was silence. Then up came this Eldad and
Medad woman
who wasn’t on the `official’ list of speakers, spoke her piece, and the whole
congregation burst into a resounding applause!
Conclusion
Stop
stopping
He who ordered the disciples to stop stopping
the little children and to let them come to Him also orders us to stop stopping married men, and let them come to Him. And He
even orders us to stop stopping women, and let them come to Him. He also orders
us to stop
stopping people like Bishop Gumbleton, and to be magnanimous enough to allow him
to continue on, even beyond `the canonical age of retirement.’ And He orders us
to stop stopping people like the little lady who wasn’t on the `official’ list
of speakers’ but who made a whole congregation burst into a resounding applause.
