Gospel Reflection for Wednesday, February 26, 2025

The topic of monopolies is really important in economics and many other areas. In capitalist economies, people say monopolies are bad because they mess with the free market. It’s better to have lots of companies competing with each other. That’s better for consumers. If there’s only one company making, say, bricks, that company can charge whatever prices they want. Buyers have no options. That’s true, and everyone gets it. But the truth is, companies want monopolies because it’s a super comfortable position—no competition and bigger profits. The same thing happens in politics. Where there’s only one party, they always win elections and the power that comes with it, which is what every party wants.

Forgive me for that last paragraph, but it seems to me that the apostles also wanted a monopoly. They were with Jesus. They’d followed him from the start, and they weren’t going to let some newcomers come along and cast out demons in Jesus’s name. Especially if those newcomers weren’t «their people.» They wanted a monopoly on Jesus’s message and healing power. If anyone wanted healing/salvation, they had to go to them, not those «others.»

But Jesus is the bearer of God’s love. And that love is for everyone. No exceptions. No monopolies. Anyone who does good is welcome, even if they haven’t gone through any training or classes. Heck, even if they don’t go to church. Beyond the dogmas and church structures we’ve created over history, what’s important is seeking the good of people, their liberation, their healing. «Whoever is not against us is for us.» Even if they wave a different flag or have a different ideology or… What’s important to Jesus isn’t being perfectly correct in belief, but the well-being of people, God’s children. That’s why we Christians don’t close the door on anyone and are open to working with everyone, without any prejudices. So, less criticizing «others» and more liberating, healing, reconciling, forgiving, curing, collaborating…