Dear Raymond:

Mark 9:38-40, which reads:

John said to him, “Teacher, we saw a man casting out demons in your name, and we forbade him, because he was not following us.”  But Jesus said, “Do not forbid him; for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon after to speak evil of me. For he that is not against us is for us.

Our Lord is not preaching against the proper exclusive claims of His Church, but as is said in the Navarre Bible Commentary, one of the best commentaries on the market:

Our Lord warns the Apostles, and through them all Christians, against exclusivism in the apostolate—the notion that "good is not good unless I am the one who does it." We must assimilate this teaching of Christ's : good is good, even if it is not I who do it.

This teaching is repeated in Luke 9:49-50. The Navarre Commentary on that passage says:

Our Lord corrects the exclusivist and intolerant attitude of the Apostles. St. Paul later learned this lesson, as we can see from what he wrote during his imprisonment in Rome: "Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will [. . .]. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretence or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in that I rejoice" (Phil 1:15, 18). St. Escrivá said, "Rejoice, when you see others working in good apostolic activities. And ask God to grant them abundant grace and that they may respond to that grace. Then, you, on your way: convince yourself that is the only way for you." (St. Escrivá, The Way, 965).

The modern parallel to the meaning of these passages is to acknowledge that even though Protestants are "not with us" they still glorify God with the good work of ministry that they do. We can accept fact while still praying and encouraging them to come into Full Communion with the only True Church in the Fullness of the Faith, the Catholic Church.

As for Matthew 12:30, "He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters" has to be considered in light of the opposite remark Jesus made in Luke 9:50, "But Jesus said to him, “Do not forbid him; for he that is not against you is for you."

These are opposite statements, so what can the mean?

They Heydock Bible Commentary states concerning the passage in Matthew:

He that is not with me. This sentence is not to be understood as directly spoken of heretics and schismatics, although at first sight it may appear so, but of the devil, who wishes to lead the souls of men captive, whilst Christ wishes to free them. He entices men to wickedness, Jesus Christ draws them to virtue: how therefore can the works of Christ be compared with those of Satan! (St. Jerome) --- There is no medium. We must either be with Christ, or against Christ: if we are not of Christ, whose then must we be, when nothing but sin can separate us from Christ and God? Oh, where will the generality of Christians, who shew themselves so indifferent with regard to salvation, find themselves at the last day? Can they say they are with Christ?

The teaching, "For he that is not against us is for us", on Mark is referring good being recognized anywhere, even with those "not of our fold." The teaching, "He who is not with me is against me", in Matthew is about a warning that there "can be no neutrality where Jesus is concerned."

The scattering remark is probably talking about the Pharisees, who oppose Jesus, and scatter the sheep.

On that issue of Pharisees, there is modern-day Pharisee who places burdens upon the faithful chastising them if they deign to disagree with their opinion. These people confuse their own minds with the mind of the Church. The mind of the Church is objectively known in Canon Law, the Catechism, and official Church documents. But, these modern-day Pharisees add to that things which are purely their opinion but expect everyone else to agree as if their opinion is the mind of the Church.  The website reviews of CatholicCulture.org is a fine example of Pharisaical. If anyone disagrees with their version of the Faith, with the mind of their leader, the offending website gets labeled RED FlAG and placed on a list with heretics and the heterodox accusing the website of failing to be in communion with the Church. In actuality, at least some of these Red Flagged sites are in communion with the Church, just not in communion with the fearless leader of catholicculture.org. Such behavior on their part violates Canon Law, does violence to Charity and to the virtue of Truth, and causes divisiveness by their accusations of people and websites lacking fidelity to the Church based on their say-so. This is sin, and I might add, libel. Shame on them. Jesus has harsh things to say about such people.



None of this, however, has anything to do with the exclusive claims of the Catholic Church. Jesus is saying in Luke that good can be found anywhere, even with those who are not with us. Jesus is saying in Matthew that there can be no middle road, no neutrality. These things are true just as it is true that the Catholic Church is the only True Church in the Fullness of the Faith because it was personally founded by Christ who appointed his Prime Minister, and his successors, to protect His Bride, the Church. until He comes again.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary