13th Sunday
in Ordinary Time (A)
Matthew 10:37-42
First Reading
2 Kings 4:8-11,14-16a
Hospitality extended to Elisha will be rewarded.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 89:2-3,16-19
Sing God’s praises forever.
Second Reading
Romans 6:3-4,8-11
Through Christ we are dead to sin but alive in God.
Gospel Reading
Matthew 10:37-42
Jesus outlines the costs and rewards of discipleship.
Jesus said to his apostles: “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’sreward, and whoever receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward. And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink because the little one is a disciple — amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward.”
Background on the Gospel Reading
Today’s Gospel is the conclusion of the instructions and consolations that we have heard Jesus offering to his disciples during the past few weeks. In this passage, Jesus summarizes both the costs of discipleship and its rewards. Once again our understanding of the Gospel is strengthened by considering the context in which it was written and the perspective of Matthew’s audience.
The conditions of discipleship outlined in Matthew’s Gospel may appear harsh. Yet they underline for us a truth—choosing anything with one’s whole heart has consequences. Choosing life with Christ means that every relationship we have must be understood from a new perspective. For many in Matthew’s community, this choice brought division to their family.
Matthew also outlines the reward of hospitality offered to Jesus’ followers. In today’s Gospel, Jesus explains the difficulties of discipleship, yet reveals that those who welcome the disciples have also welcomed him.
Today’s Gospel also highlights for us the importance of hospitality in the Christian life. To welcome another in Jesus’ name is to extend hospitality to Jesus himself. We have many opportunities in our daily life to reach out to others, to be a welcoming presence and a sign of God’s love.
LEARNING TO GIVE
José Antonio Pagola
Sometimes it’s not so easy to answer the simplest questions. We’ve frequently heard it said that to love is to give. But what is giving? Many suppose that giving is just to deprive oneself of something, renounce something, «sacrifice» by letting go of something. We’re so conditioned by our society of well-being and so inclined to possess, accumulate and gain, that «to give» seems something unproductive to us. An impoverishment that we aren’t ready to accept. In our society, whoever gives without receiving is a person who’s hardly practical, with no realistic sense, hardly intelligent.
Yet to give is something completely distinct. The gesture of giving is the richest expression of vitality, wealth, and creative power. When we give something truly, we experience our very selves as full of life, overflowing, capable of enriching others, though it be at a very modest level. «Only love makes life worth living. Only helping another procures the great joy of living» (Karl Tillmann).
Giving means being alive and being rich. The one who has much and doesn’t know how to give, isn’t rich. He’s a small man, impotent, impoverished, for all that he may possess. In reality, one is only rich who is capable of giving something of himself away to another.
We all need to listen more attentively and deeply to Jesus words. It will not go without reward, not even a glass of cool water that we know how to give to a poor thirsty person. We need to learn to give away what is alive in us and could do good for another; to give our joy, understanding, encouragement, hope, welcome or closeness.
Many times it’s not about grand or spectacular things. Simply «a glass of cool water»: a welcoming smile, listen without hurry, help to raise a fallen spirit, a gesture of solidarity, a visit, a sign of support and friendship. We mustn’t forget it. In the depth of our life there’s someone who blesses, welcomes and rewards every gesture of love, as small as it may seem to be to us. That one is called God, our Father.
He who receives a prophet …
Pope Francis
In today’s Gospel, Jesus says, “He who receives a prophet because he is a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward” (Mt 10:41). The word “prophet” appears three times. But who is the prophet? There are some who imagine a prophet as some type of magician who foretells the future. But this is a superstitious idea, and a Christian does not believe in superstitions, such as magic, tarot cards, horoscopes and other similar things. Incidentally, many, many Christians go to have their palms read. Please! Others depict a prophet only as a [biblical] figure from the past, who existed before Christ to foretell his coming. And yet, Jesus himself speaks today of the need to welcome prophets. Therefore, they still exist. But who are they? Who is a prophet?
Each one of us, brothers and sisters, is a prophet. In fact, with Baptism, all of us received the gift and mission of prophecy (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1268). A prophet is the one who, by virtue of Baptism, helps others read the present under the action of the Holy Spirit. This is very important: to read the present not like news but under the action of the Holy Spirit, who helps to understand God’s plans and conform to them. In other words, the prophet is the one who shows Jesus to others, who bears witness to him, who helps live today and build the future according to his designs. Therefore, we are all prophets, witnesses of Jesus, “so that the power of the Gospel might shine forth in [our] daily social and family life” (Lumen Gentium, 35). A prophet is a living sign who points God out to others. A prophet is a reflection of Christ’s light [that shines] on the path of brothers and sisters. And so, we can ask ourselves: Do I, who am “a prophet by election” through Baptism, speak, and above all, live, as a witness of Jesus? Do I bring a little bit of his light into the life of another person? Do I evaluate myself on this? Do I ask myself: How am I doing with bearing witness? How am I prophesying?
In the Gospel, the Lord also asks to welcome the prophets. So it is important to welcome each other as such, as bearers of God’s message, each one according to his or her status and vocation, and to do it right where we live — that is, in the family, in the parish, in religious communities, in other spheres of the Church and society. The Spirit has distributed gifts of prophecy to the holy People of God. This is why it is good to listen to everyone. For example, when an important decision needs to be made, it is good to pray first of all, to call on the Spirit, but then to listen and dialogue, trusting that each person, even the littlest, has something important to say, a prophetic gift to share. Thus, the truth is sought and a listening environment that is attentive to God and our brothers and sisters is fostered, where people feel welcome not because they say what I like, but where they feel accepted and valued as gifts for who they are.
Let us reflect on how many conflicts could be avoided and resolved in this way, listening to others with the sincere desire to understand each other! So, finally, let us ask ourselves: Do I know how to welcome my brothers and sisters as prophetic gifts? Do I believe that I need them? Do I listen to them respectfully, with the desire to learn? Because each one of us needs to learn from others. Each one of us needs to learn from others.
May Mary, Queen of Prophets, help us see and welcome the good that the Spirit has sown in others.
Angelus, 2/72023
THE ONE WHO HAS A BIG HEART
IS NOT CONTENT WITH A SMALLHOUSE
Fernando Armellini
Introduction
The Hebrew word house does not just refer to the building, but also the family, the cell of the society in which, especially in ancient times, people found asylum and felt welcomed and protected.
It is impossible to survive outside this combination of physical and social structure: “Some things you cannot live without: water, bread, clothes and a house for shelter” (Sir 29:21). For this reason, in the Middle East, hospitality is always sacred, as the Bible confirms: “Welcome one another into your houses without complaining” (1 P 4:9); “Do not neglect to offer hospitality; you know that some people have entertained angels without knowing it” (Heb 13:2).
However, starting a new family required a man to leave his parent’s home: “A man leaves his father and mother and is attached to his wife, and with her becomes one flesh.”(Gen 2:24). Abandoning one creates another and gives continuity to life. Even Jesus left the security provided by his home of Nazareth. “Foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (Mt 8:20). He also left the family: “‘Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?’ Then he pointed to his disciples and said, ‘Look! Here are my mother and my brothers’” (Mt 12:48-50).
He asks those who want to follow him to take on the same responsibility: the courage to take a break, to take flight and reach for a higher reality, to be introduced in a new home, in a new family, the family of God’s children.
First Reading: 2 Kings 4:8-11,14-16a
One day Elisha came to Shunem, where there was a woman of influence, who urged him to dine with her. Afterward, whenever he passed by, he used to stop there to dine. So she said to her husband, “I know that Elisha is a holy man of God. Since he visits us often, let us arrange a little room on the roof and furnish it for him with a bed, table, chair, and lamp, so that when he comes to us he can stay there.” Sometime later Elisha arrived and stayed in the room overnight.
Later Elisha asked, “Can something be done for her?” His servant Gehazi answered, “Yes! She has no son, and her husband is getting on in years.” Elisha said, “Call her.” When the woman had been called and stood at the door, Elisha promised, “This time next year you will be fondling a baby son.”
On an ever-sunny slope, where the hill of Moré slopes down towards the fertile and abundantly irrigated plain of Esdraelon, the city of Shunem has stood since ancient times. It was famous mainly because the Philistines camped there before defeating Saul (1 Sam 28:4) and being the birthplace of Abishag, the attractive girl who had taken care of the old David (1 K 1:3). At the time of Elisha, Shunem was inhabited by wealthy landowners, and it was in the home of one of these that the story related in today’s reading is set.
The prophet, who used to pass by this city, had befriended a married couple, already advanced in years with no children. The elderly woman harbored esteem and affection for the man of God. Knowing that he came from far away and was homeless without family, she felt a great tenderness toward him. She shared his mission and welcomed him with the kindness of a mother. She had a small room built for him on the top floor, in brick, along with her husband. There she had placed a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp.
The woman, who had money, could have simply given a bit to Elisha and then let him go on his way. Instead—and this is the thing to note—she did not just stretch out the hand of help but welcomed him into their home. She wanted him to feel like a member of her family.
The woman’s gesture is pleasing to God, and to show her how much he appreciates her solidarity with the prophet and what blessings he reserves for those who collaborate with those who announce his word, he granted her the greatest joy she could aspire to a son.
Elisha represents the apostles who, even today, leave their land, family, perhaps a wealthy and peaceful life and choose to devote themselves totally to the service of God and the Gospel. More than material support, they need to feel the friendly presence of people who share their ideals and know how to support them and be close to them, especially in times of trouble, discouragement, and loneliness.
Second Reading: Romans 6:3-4,8-11
Brothers and sisters: Are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were indeed buried with him through baptisminto death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life.
If, then, we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has powerover him. As to his death, he died to sin once and for all; as to his life, he lives for God. Consequently, you too must think of yourselves as dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus.
Baptism was a familiar ritual in Jesus’ time, and those who followed the John the Baptist received his baptism. Those who renounced paganism and chose the religion of Israel, who entered into a religious sect and allowed even their slaves to whom they conceded freedom, were also baptized. It was a gesture that indicated a radical change of life: a death to the past and a rebirth. Even Christian baptism basically has the same meaning. It is better understood if we consider that, in the early Church, those baptized at the Easter Vigil were adults. They were pagans who intended to bury a past marked by violence, hatred, adultery, theft, corruption, and immorality through immersion in the water of a font. Upon rising from the water, they become a new person, ready to follow the way of Christ.
The waters of the baptismal font were considered the waters of the womb of the community that generated new children of God. What Paul says in the important passage that is proposed to us in the reading is thus understood: “Through baptism, we are buried with Christ … so we begin walking in a new life” (v. 4). The passage from death to life has been trodden primarily by Christ, then, after him, by every disciple.
In the last verse, the apostle indicates the practical consequences of this event: If baptism is the day of rebirth, it also marks the beginning of a whole new moral life; the Christian cannot continue to carry on as before but must consider themselves “dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (v. 11).
Gospel: Matthew 10:37-42
The second of the five discourses of Jesus found in the Gospel of Matthew develops the themes related to sending of the disciples to a mission. Today we are offered the concluding passage.
In the first part (vv. 37-39), the demands of discipleship are presented in all their harshness. Radical and unprecedented renouncements are required. To make matters worse, each of them is accompanied by a severe and drastic statement, marked like a refrain, “is not worthy of me!” No rabbi has ever claimed so much to those who followed him. Perhaps for this, one day the Jews have asked Jesus: “Who do you claim to be?”(Jn 8:52).
Above all, he demands from his disciple the radical departure even from the more intimate and natural affections, such as love for parents and for the children.
His request is placed in the context of the paradoxical images used in the last part of the discourse. He has just said that he did not come to bring peace, but a sword (Mt 10:34).
After having declared the peacemakers blessed (Mt 5:9); and having invited to love the enemies (Mt 6:44), Jesus certainly cannot incite physical aggression towards the enemies. The sword, that causes division and conflict, is his word, which the author of the Letter to the Hebrews calls “living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword; it pierces to the division of soul and spirit and judges the intentions of the heart” (Heb 4:12). It is the sword Simeon was referring to in his prophecy made to Mary (Lk 2:35).
Jesus does not intend to deny the Torah of Moses, which commands to honor father and mother. In fact, he has repeatedly stressed the commandment (Mt 15:4). However, he is aware that he came “for the falling and rising of many in Israel, a sign of contradiction; and a sword will pierce your own soul, so that, out of many hearts, thoughts may be revealed” (Lk 2:34-35). He knows that his word will cause misunderstandings, disagreements, and tensions within the same families.
Matthew wrote his Gospel in a time of persecution. The disciples have often had the experience that, to remain faithful to Christ, they had to accept the breaking of ties with the people who matter most. The rabbis had made the decision to expel from the synagogues, to exclude from the chosen people those who consider Jesus the Messiah. They had ordered that those who adhered to the Christian faith, considered heretical, be disowned by their families. The consequences of this exclusion were severe and painful, not only from the emotional point of view but also from the social and economic.
Jesus demands from the disciple the courage to remain without support, without protection, and without material security for the sake of his Gospel. Then, he continues with another request, even more dramatic: the willingness not only to lose it all but also to give up their lives.
The image of the cross refers to the inevitable consequences which go to meet those who want to live according to the dictates of the Gospel: like the Master, he will meet the cross, that is, the hostility of the world. Even if life will not be removed with martyrdom, he must give it in a constant and generous self-sacrifice.
“He came to His own, yet His own did not receive him” (Jn 1:11). It was this man’s response to the hosting request made by God. It is a fate that often touched Jesus (Lk 9:53) and it is the one that awaits the disciples sent by him (Mt 10:14).
In the second part of the passage (vv. 40-42) is a remarkable promise to those who welcome the preachers of the Gospel is reported. “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes him who sent me” (v. 40). This is not just material hospitality, such as that offered by the woman of Shunem to Elisha, but the reception of the message. The rabbis said: “The envy of a man is like the man himself.” Jesus intends to affirm the authority he conferred to his disciple: in the disciple’s words resound the voice of the Master and, through him, the Father’s.
It is at this point that the theme introduced by the First Reading is resumed. Whoever receives the prophet, for the fact of being a prophet, will receive a prophet’s reward. Even a simple gesture of love as to offer a cup of cold water to a disciple, though small, with no appearance, no prestigious titles, will not remain unrewarded.
Not everyone has received from God the same qualities and the same gifts. However, in different ways, but with the same generosity, every true believer is called to give his/her contribution and support for those who dedicate themselves directly to the proclamation of the Word of God. Even before the material help, these persons need to hear that their efforts are appreciated by the brothers and sisters in the faith and that their message is assimilated.
This reception is to be revealed in a special way to those who have renounced to having a “home,” to build a family, not to escape, to live isolated and far from the world but to belong to every family, to be fully available to Christ and the brothers and sisters. How is their service estimated? How are they inserted in our community? Does each family consider them members or consider them strangers? How is gratitude manifested towards the work they generously perform?
READ: Jesus assures a reward for generous giving in the name of God. Dying with Christ results in sharing in his Resurrection as well.
REFLECT: The worldly wisdom tells us to be cautious about giving and giving up. “A bird in hand is worth two in the bush,” it advices. But the Gospel invitation goes against the worldly grain. For the Gospel encourages us to give up what we have now to find what God has in store for us. It requires courage and faith. Do I dare?
PRAY: Lord, give me the courage to love you beyond everything and to give up everything for the sheer gift of having you.
ACT: Express your faith in your dealings with others. The little ones are all members of the community. Teach each one with compassion.
Fernando Armellini
Italian missionary and biblical scholar
https://sundaycommentaries.wordpress.com
