THIRTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR A

 THE ONE WHO HAS A BIG HEART IS NOT CONTENT WITH A SMALL HOUSE

 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.

 To internalize the message, we will repeat: “In the disciple, it is Jesus who knocks at our door and asks for hospitality.”

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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

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’s reward, 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.” 

The second of the five discourses of Jesus found in the Gospel of Matthew develops the themes related to the sending of the disciples on 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 strictness. 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 demanded as much from those who followed him. Perhaps because of this, the Jews asked Jesus: “Who do you claim to be?” (Jn 8:52). Above all, he demands from his disciple a radical departure even from more intimate and natural affections, such as love for parents and 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 declaring peacemakers blessed (Mt 5:9); and inviting us all to love our enemies (Mt 6:44), Jesus ruled out physical aggression. 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 us to honor father and mother. 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 misunderstanding, disagreement and tension within the same families.

Matthew wrote his Gospel at a time of persecution. The disciples have often had the experience of accepting the breaking of their ties with the people who matter most to them to remain faithful to Christ. The rabbis had decided to expel from the synagogue and exclude from the chosen people those who considered Jesus the Messiah. They had ordered that those who adhered to the Christian faith, deemed heretical, be disowned by their families. The consequences of this exclusion were severe and painful from the emotional point of view and the social and economic angle.

Jesus demands the courage to remain without support, without protection, and without material security from the disciple for the sake of his Gospel. Then, he continues with another request, even more dramatic: the willingness not only to lose everything but to give up their lives as well. The image of the cross-refers to the inevitable consequences for those who want to live according to the dictates of the Gospel: like the Master—the cross, that is, the hostility of the world. Even though not martyrdom, they must live it in 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 request made by God. It is the fate that often came Jesus' way (Lk 9:53), and it is the one that awaits the disciples sent out by him (Mt 10:14).

The second part of the passage (vv. 40-42) is a remarkable promise to those who welcome those who preach the Gospel. “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 on his disciple: with the voice of the Master and through him the Father resounding in the voices of those who preach his word.

It is at this point that the theme introduced in the First Reading is resumed. Whoever receives the prophet, as a prophet, will receive a prophet’s reward. Even a simple gesture of love like offering a cup of cold water to a disciple, even though small, with no significance or prestige, will not go 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 make their contribution and support those who dedicate themselves directly to the proclamation of the Word of God. Even prescinding from material help, they 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 unique way to those who have renounced their opportunity of having a ‘home,’ or build a family, not as an escape mechanism or 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 evaluated? How are they inserted into our community? Does each family consider them members or consider them strangers? How is gratitude manifest towards the work they generously perform?

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READ: Jesus assures us of a reward for generous giving in the name of God. Dying with Christ results in sharing in his Resurrection as well.

REFLECT: Worldly wisdom tells us to be cautious about giving and giving up. ‘A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush,’ it advises. But the Gospel invitation goes against the worldly grain. 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.