The disciples of Jesus are angry and confused about the rumors that there is someone, who is not one of them, who is performing mighty acts of healing in the name of Jesus. While they expected Jesus to rebuke or even perhaps condemn this man, Jesus instead teaches them: “Do not prevent him. There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me. For whoever is not against us is for us. Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.” Jesus further adds a dire warning against scandal that hits at the very heart of the disciples.

This moment in the life of the disciples has a strong parallel to the events of the First Reading where a rivalry develops among the ancient Israelites over who does and does not possess the charism of the Spirit of God.

Each of these is an occasion for jealousy and also a foundation for division. We know that division leads to labeling which also stands at the heart of various forms of prejudice. We think of left and right, conservative and liberal, capitalist and socialist. We identify some people as terrorists, some as freedom fighters, some are our friends, others our enemies. While on one hand we pride ourselves as open-minded and peace and freedom loving, we are also spending more and more energy identifying, labeling and putting others into boxes, and consequently ourselves, into narrow categories. This leaves us less at peace and less free than we either imagine or hope to be.

This division has, sadly, also been a theme in history of the Church. Over the millennia the Church has held countless ecumenical councils and synods to address matters of conflict and dispute in doctrine or Church discipline. Certainly, the greatest scandals in the Church involve the schism between the East and the West, and the Reformation of the 16th century. These divisions stand today as reminders of painful periods of ego, self-importance and a disregard for the welfare of the common good. As a result the proclamation of the Gospel took a backseat to the ambitions of both Church leaders and even many of the reform minded zealots. The inability to achieve reconciliation and healing from these separations shows just how entrenched such divisions can be.

In our time the propensity to foment scandal and division is still prevalent. Many Catholic-based blogs and videos proliferate on the internet and while some of them are newsworthy and offer good information, others feature bitter and nasty diatribes that swipe viciously at the presumed opponents of the author’s perspective. Various bishops, priests, theologians and writers are regularly raked over the coals in some of these postings. Most of their material is woven from a cloth of conspiracy theories piecing together unrelated events that makes good fiction and fuels the anger of those who revel in such opprobrium.

None of this serves to build up the Body of Christ, and much of it tears it down. We cannot afford to be jealous or embittered because someone thinks a bit differently than do we, or someone has a different style of prayer or a different sense of reverence than do we. The Church has always been a place of unity through diversity. With rare exception has this diversity led to division and separation. We cannot allow ourselves to be signed with anything other than the Oil of the Catechumens which unites us together in faith as we await the coming of the Kingdom of God.

The disciples were jealous because someone whom they did not recognize was performing mighty acts in the name of Jesus. We, like them, must be careful not to suffer arrogance of certitude that we individually possess the totality of truth.

Yes, the Church has suffered badly over the past two decades with the disclosure of a subculture of sex abuse among the clergy and some laity who used their positions for a salacious end. We certainly cannot dismiss or hide from this horror, but we also cannot allow it to be the image of the Church that we hold onto, and certainly not the Church we present to the world.

Each one of us must recognize our own sinfulness and complacency in failing to be faithful disciples of Jesus Christ. Let none of us ever be a source of pain, scandal or division, but rather the instrument of God’s loving mercy.

Father Garry Koch is pastor of St. Benedict Parish, Holmdel.