In The first part of the Gospel today from St.  Mark 9:38-43, we hear about the unknown exorcist who cast out demons in Jesus name. And Jesus told John and his companions not to stop him.
In the second part, (Mk. 9:47-48), Jesus encourages even  those who show little signs of faith.
In v.45, "we all belong to Christ and certainly  will not lose his reward".
Oftentimes, in our daily experience of faith, we doubt and we fail to nourish a strong trust in the Lord.
Once a friend emailed me about her discouragement in praying the basic Christian prayers and started questioning the Blessed Virgin Mary and feeling empty in coming to  church. I deeply felt her great concern. She is a person that longs to deepen her faith but cannot find the way as she would expect.
Even we priests in our ministry often feel in the same way as my friend who met discouragement and a crisis of faith. There are certain kinds of emptiness that prevent us from  continuing our journey. And we feel an inner struggle and other difficulties. Since we belong to the Lord, He always encourages us.
As in the gospel story, Jesus did not stop the unknown exorcist to cast out devils in his name. Instead, he helped him to grow more in his knowledge of the faith. He didn't see that the unknown man was against him.
When we understand well the word of Jesus in the Gospel, we truly feel that we  belong to Him. He keeps  talking to us through our conscience and  our mind. We only  have to learn how to listen and to recognize His voice.
 In our present society where we live, we come across numerous challenges that confront our beliefs, and norms that are counter cultural. And we don't know how to respond to them. We are left helpless. In this situation, we must try to be humble and and to rely on the will and the mercy of the Lord.
As Jesus said: "anyone who is not against us is for us".