Welcome to Saint Malachy Parish
Serving the community of Snowdon (Montreal) for 85 years
Serving the community of Snowdon (Montreal) for 85 years
514-486-6358 parish@saintmalachy.ca
Sunday Masses:
9:00am & 11:00am
Weekly Masses:
Tuesday to Friday - 9:00 am
Saturday - 4:30 pm
Refer to our BULLETIN (page 2) for details.
Masses are live-streamed.
Numbers 11 : 16, 17, 25-29 ;
Psalm 19 (18) : 7-9, 11-13;
James 5 : 1-6 ;
Mark 9 : 38-43, 45, 47-48
Who would agree with Jesus when he pronounces the words of today’s gospel? “If your eye should cause you to sin, pluck it out” (Mk 9: 47). “If your foot should cause you to sin, cut it off” (Mk 9 : 45). Of course, it cannot be a question here of a physical chopping off, but rather of a spiritual operation. If your eye is filled with jealousy and suspicion, and if it is haughty and looks with malicious intent, it does not mean that you should heat an iron rod and prick your eye, but it surely means that you must do everything possible to ward off the wicked eye that you have and try to acquire a rather compassionate eye.
But even if they are to be taken symbolically, these words sound rather harsh (1). Jesus goes to the extent of saying, “It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the Gehenna (2) where their worm never dies and the fire is never quenched” (Mk 9 : 47-48). Again Jesus says, “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung round his neck and he were thrown into the sea” (Mk 9:42) (3).
Why is Jesus so outspoken today? These few days Jesus has been trying to redress his apostles. On the road to Capernaum the apostles had discussed among themselves to find out who was the greatest and Jesus had given them a lesson in humble service by placing a small child in front of them. When Jesus spoke of his having to face the cross, Peter had expressed his strong protest: “This should not happen to you”. And here is the apostle John who comes with another story: “Lord, we saw someone who was working miracles; he was praying over people and healing them in your name; we just missed coming to blows with him, because he is not one of us” (Mk 9 : 38 ; Lk 9 : 49 ; See Acts 19 : 13-20). So the apostles had given in to anger. They think that the legitimate place to be with Jesus belongs only to those who can call themselves disciples. A few days ago, the same duo, John and James, nicknamed “sons of thunder” (Mk 3:17), had wanted fire to fall down upon a Samaritan village that had refused to receive Jesus and his disciples (Lk 9:51-55). And Jesus had to rebuke them and bring them back to their senses.
Thus right in the middle of the gospels, we are given a warning about what damage religion could do if vengeance and violence are given a free hand and if men are not channelled through faith. This shows that we must beware of religion, for religion can become dangerous. The great temptation of power, even of religious authority, is to try to impose its truth on others with utter disregard for the freedom of others and of their opinions. Lord Acton’s dictum, “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely” refers to the suppression of the order of Jesuits when Pope Clement XIV banished them from the Catholic Church. In France, Voltaire laid the principle for freedom of speech in a vivid sentence: “I hate what you say, but I would die for your right to say it”.
Jesus’ answer to John surprises us: “Do not stop him... For he that is not against us is for us” (Mk 9: 39-40). A few days earlier, it had been a similar reaction on the part of Jesus when the scribes had accused him saying: “You are possessed by Be-el’zebul. It is by the prince of demons that you cast out demons” (Mk 3: 22). Jesus had retorted, “If it is by Be-el’zebul that I cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore, they themselves shall be your judges” (Mt 12: 27-28). Thus Jesus had indicated to the Pharisees that even when their own children performed miracles, it was the Spirit who worked through them.
Jesus is in line with Moses. The First Reading shows Moses having to deal with a way of thinking similar to that of the apostles. As Moses was gathering a group of men to be elders in Israel, the Spirit of God fell upon them, and they began to prophesy. At the same time, two men who could not be with Moses received the Spirit as well and they too began to prophesy. Joshua would have liked them stopped, but Moses answers, “You are jealous? If only the whole people of the Lord were prophets and the Lord gave his Spirit to them all!” (Num 11 : 29) (4).
Remember the amazement of Peter’s companions when they saw the Spirit of God descending upon pagans, not yet baptized, in the house of Cornelius, the Roman centurion (Acts 10 : 45). When God gives his Spirit, all are astonished, be they believers or not. The Second Vatican Council reminded us of this truth and invited us to search for the signs of the Spirit in every human being. The Holy Spirit acts with power in the great multitude of men and women of whom nobody talks, but who astonish us by the nobleness of their spirit, by their concern for others and by the veracity of their pardon. To cite another example - Louis Pasteur would tell the sick who came to him: “I do not ask you what is your race, nor what is your language, nor what is your religion, just tell me what is your suffering.”
Today Jesus seems to have a premonition that if with the Pharisees and the Scribes the danger was the rejection of his teaching because of suspicion, now with his own disciples there is quite another danger coming up, that of abuse of power by the monopolizing of God’s gifts.
And his answer today is: “He that is not against us is for us”, i.e., all those who fight against evil are on our side! Isn’t this an excellent theme of reflection for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity? Christ did not come to establish an exclusive club that will exclude the others, though there are those who would like to think that way because of John 10 : 16, and because of the quote from Saint Augustine that “Outside the Church there is no salvation” (5). His words in today’s gospel invite us rather to enlarge our vision of the Church (6). The Church is a community of faith that tries to define certain structures for it to function smoothly, but its frontiers go beyond what is visible to the human eye. The Gospel advocates openness to others and to the world.
Men and communities should be different from one another. Otherwise, the world will lack piquancy, and life will be lacking in colours. The real danger in society is not our differences. The real danger is to prod others into wrongdoing by causing them to be swept away by unwholesome emotions. And so, today we can ask ourselves, “To what extent am I generous with others? Do I humiliate others? Do I spoil their names?” If your act of extending your hand becomes an oppressive gesture, do not extend your hand! If you go to your neighbour in order to lie to him or to betray someone, remain where you are! If you cast an evil eye on the person you meet, simply shut up your eyes; do not go to meet him; turn your regard away from him! Amen
(1) These shock formulas do not give us permission to do justice by chopping off the hands of robbers. After cutting off the hand what will you do with the chopped hand? Bring it to Jesus so that he attaches it back again? Jesus came to make people whole and save whatever was lost. Jesus healed the hands that were sick and put back on their feet those who could not walk. These formulas have to be understood in the light of the gospel in its entirety (See also Deut 25: 11-12).
(2) Hell is here named “Gehenna” which was the garbage dump of Jerusalem where a continual fire was burning away the wastes of the city infested with worms. Men covered with soot worked there with the help of forks to tend the fire. We tend to draw our image of the devil from these poor men. One way of understanding what Jesus says today is that if you treat your brother as a fool, you yourself are nothing but garbage.
(3) The historian Josephus speaks of Galileans who drowned some of Herod’s sympathizers. Drowning was also a Roman punishment. Nearer our own times, there existed the custom of throwing the sick like the lepers far away into the sea. But then, could Jesus who asked us not to call anybody fool (Matthew 5:22), and who said, “Judge not and you will not be judged; condemn not and you will not be condemned” (Luke 6:37), ask that ask that you tie a millstone around his neck and drown him?
(4) Moses wants his people to get out of their mediocracy. He dreams of the day when all the people will become a people of prophets. This will happen on the day of Pentecost when the Spirit of God will be given to the people of all nations gathered around the apostles.
(5) Saint Augustine himself says, in another context: “There are those of the Church who are not of the Kingdom and there are others who are of the Kingdom but not of the Church”.
(6) “He that is not against us is for us.” This expression is not in conflict with this other declaration of Jesus: “He who is not with me is against me” (Mt 12 : 30). Rather, the two complement each other. In both cases the meaning is that hostility and friendship cannot coexist, unless, of course, this is a saying coming from the period of the persecutions.
Tiburtius Fernandez SMA, © Treasures of The Word, Homilies for Year B, St. Paul's, Bandra, Bombay, India, 2023, pp. 242-246.
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5330 Avenue Clanranald, Montréal, Quebec H3X 2S6, Canada
Open today | 09:00 a.m. – 01:30 p.m. |
Parish of Saint Malachy © All Rights Reserved
Charity Number: 119232296 RR 0001
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Fr. John Charles Lourdusamy
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The Parish wishes to extend its gratitude to the organizers of Choirs Sing for Joy held on Aug. 24, 2024.
We have collected $632.20, which was added to the Parish General Funds.
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Nominations are open for
Churchwardens 2025-2027:
Active parishioners residing outside the parish boundaries are welcome (see requirements).
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