Individual differences. I believe we are all familiar of this word. Different people, different culture, different up-bringing, different beliefs, a lot of differences. Individual differences.

We make friends with people we have things in common with. We join in a club with people of the same interests as we have. We stay in these groups because we feel that certain feeling of belongingness that we all wanted to feel. But have you ever thought of joining a group of people that is very different from what you are? Join a club that does not really suit your interest? I guess not one of us would want to do that. 

In the first reading, Joshua was upset because the other two (Eldad and Medad), who was not with Moses in the gathering, prophesied. Maybe he was thinking that they were possessed by other spirits since they were not in the same place where Moses is and where prophecies has been made. Yet Moses told him, "Would that all the people of the Lord were prophets! Would that the Lord might bestow his spirits on them all!" 

In the same way, John, in the gospel, felt the same way when he saw another person who is not with them, trying to cast out demons in the name of Jesus. He asked Jesus to stop the man. Yet like Moses, Jesus did not stop that man. Instead, this is what he told John, "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 in with us." 

What Jesus is trying to tell us it that, we should also be open to other people that they too, might be living witnesses of God's love and power.

In a class, when we understood the lesson first, we feel proud of ourselves. We feel so awesome and intelligent. Sometimes, the thought even came to our minds hoping that our other classmates might not immediately understand what we have understood. This happens especially when we are given enough recognition by our teacher saying, "O tingnan niyo si ___. Mabuti pa siya, nakuha niya agad yung lesson." Who would deny the good feeling we all feel whenever we are praised like this in class? Nevertheless, we should also take into consideration that the Lord gave us the knowledge to be able to suffice whatever the lesson is also in order for us to help our neighbors to be able to do the same. Let's not live in our selfish ways.

The second reading tells us that all our earthly efforts and treasures will mean nothing in the next life. Jesus said in Matthew 19:23, "Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."  If we continue to work for our own selfish cause, what reward is there for us? Is it enough that we are lavished with the wealth and comfort we all aspire to have? The Lord, then, tells us to get out of our comfort zones and serve our neighbors. 

Yes, we always hear that. "Serve your neighbors." But do we really know what it really takes to serve our neighbors and place their needs before ours? It's not an easy task to do. And it remains a great challenge for each one of us to be able to do so. Just like what Jesus did.

Love moves in mysterious ways. Such cliché. Yet, we believe in it. Love moves in mysterious ways. "God is love." (1 John 4:8) Therefore, it is God that really moves in mysterious ways. It does not really matter if He moves in us or someone who is with us. What matters most is that He is moving. And He will keep on moving regardless of what we do and what we think. He gives us a daily reminder that He is always there, one way or another. We must not keep ourselves enclosed inside a box where only those who are close to our hearts are able to hear Jesus and be moved with His words of life. We must learn to share how Jesus moves in our lives. 

"Anyone who is not against us is with us." Let us, then, strive to not turn our backs on each other. I believe that it doesn't really matter if we differ in our religious preferences. What is important is that we believe that there is a God that is omnipotent and omnipresent. Also, that He exists for our sake because He loves us and believes that we are and will always be worthy of that love.