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  Today, James warns us against oppression, suppressions and injustices of all kinds against the weak, the poor and those who do not belong to our, group, fold or class. Rather than oppress and suppress them, we should build and, help them to grow up physically and spiritually. We should not strangle the true spirit of God at work in others due to envy or by being overzealous. Doing this means being unjust like the oppressive rich that James condemned in today’s second reading. Rather, we should be messengers of justice, peace, progress, charity, mercy and compassion. This is what the Holy Father Pope Francis is calling all Christians and Catholics at all levels of faith to do. Rather than oppress and suppress others and their gifts, we should do everything possible to uplift their human dignity. To do this we must be open and docile to the spirit of God. Like the disciples of both Moses and Jesus in our readings today, while being zealous in God’s work, we must avoid the fear of losing our positions or authority. We must also avoid envy which moves us to try to suppress God’s gift to others. Instead, we should read the signs of the times and allow God to be God in his people. Finally, another important lesson we must learn today is that God works in mysterious ways and does not reason like us humans. Hence, he tells us through the prophet Isaiah: “My ways are not your ways, and my thoughts are not your thoughts. Just as the heavens are higher than the sky so are my thoughts and my ways higher than yours”(Ish 55, 8-9). This is simply to say that by allowing his spirit to operate in those outside the camp of Moses and the disciples of Jesus, God sees much better than us humans. He chooses whoever he wants and empowers him or her for his mission. Also, it is his desire that all of us his children be filled with his spirit in order to work for the establishment of His Kingdom in all hearts.* *Excerpt from a Reflection by Rev. Fr. Njoku Canice Chukwuemeka, C.S.Sp.