Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me

Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year A

Collect

O God, who through the grace of adoption chose us to be children of light, grant, we pray, that we may not be wrapped in the darkness of error but always be seen to stand in the bright light of truth. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Amen. 

The man who is constantly passing our way must be a holy man of God.
2 Slat 4:8-11. 14-16

A reading from the Second Book of Kings

One day as Elisha was on his way to Shunem, a woman of rank who lived there pressed him to stay and eat there. After this he always broke his journey for a meal when he passed that way. She said to her husband, “Look, I am sure the man who is constantly passing our way must be a holy man of God. Let us build him a small room on the roof, and put a bed in it, and a table and chair and lamp; whenever he comes to us he can rest there.”

One day when he came, he retired to the upper room and lay down. “What can be done for her then?” he asked. Gehazi answered, “Well, she has no son and her husband is old.” Elisha said, “Call her.” The servant called her and she stood at the door. “This time next year,” he said “you will hold a son in your arms.”

The Word of the Lord.
℟. Thanks be to God.

Psalm 88:2-3. 16-19

℟.: I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord.

I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord;
through all ages my mouth will proclaim your truth.
Of this I am sure, that your love lasts for ever,
that your truth is firmly established as the heavens. ℟.

Happy the people who acclaim such a king,
who walk, O Lord, in the light of your face,
who find their joy every day in your name,
who make your justice the source of their bliss.℟.

For it is you, O Lord, who are the glory of their strength;
it is by your favour that our might is exalted:
for our ruler is in the keeping of the Lord;
our king in the keeping of the Holy One of lsrael. ℟.

When we were baptised we went into the tomb with Christ, so that we too might live a new life.
Rom 6:3-4. 8-11

A reading from the letter of St Paul to the Romans

You have been taught that when we were baptised in Christ Jesus we were baptised in his death; in other words, when we were baptised we went into the tomb with him and joined him in death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the Father’s glory, we too might live a new life.

But we believe that having died with Christ we shall return to life with him: Christ, as we know, having been raised from the dead will never die again. Death has no power over him any more. When he died, he died, once for all, to sin, so his life now is life with God; and in that way, you too must consider yourselves to be dead to sin but alive for God in Christ Jesus.

The Word of the Lord.
℟. Thanks be to God.

Acclamation before the Gospel
1 Peter 2:9

Alleluia. ℟. Alleluia.

You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a people set apart,
to sing the praises of God who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

℟. Alleluia.

Anyone who does not take his cross and follow in my footsteps is not worthy of me. Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me.
Mt 10:37-42

A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew

Jesus instructed the Twelve as follows: “Anyone who prefers father or mother to me is not worthy of me. Anyone who prefers son or daughter to me is not worthy of me. Anyone who does not take his cross and follow in my footsteps is not worthy of me. Anyone who finds his life will lose it; anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it. Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me; and those who welcome me welcome the one who sent me. Anyone who welcomes a prophet will have a prophet’s reward; and anyone who welcomes a holy man will have a holy man’s reward.

“If anyone gives so much as a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple, then I tell you solemnly, he will most certainly not lose his reward.”

The Word of the Lord.
℟. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Reflection

This Gospel forms part of the Mission Discourse, in which Jesus continues to describe what his disciples will have to face. He begins by setting clearly what the priorities are: we are created by God’s love and to love Him in return. Therefore, our mission within the family and in the workplace should be a continuation and expression of this love. Our family life should also be a means through which we proclaim and live out the Good News.

Jesus then makes it equally clear that those who follow him will encounter difficulties. Persecution or rejection are consequences of the free choice made by those who seriously choose to follow Christ. Therefore, when we speak up for truth or justice, or when we do what is right, we should expect opposition. In this sense, we are losing our lives. The centre of our lives is no longer our ego, but the values for which Christ lived and worked. And although this may not make sense in the eyes of the world, Christ tells us that it is only in this way that we truly gain life: authentic freedom and peace.

The Gospel concludes with the promise that he and the Father will remain with those who proclaim him, and in this way the disciple becomes more like Christ. The disciple becomes like a mirror in which we can glimpse God’s love. Yet Jesus emphasises that we are to proclaim him not only through words but also through our actions. He speaks of a simple gesture that costs very little: offering a cup of water. Here it is worth realising how, through all our actions, even the simplest ones, we help to build the Kingdom of God in the world. To transform the world, we need not only political decisions or those made by people in positions of power, but also simple acts of kindness, as Pope Francis says in his encyclical Fratelli Tutti:

Often nowadays we find neither the time nor the energy to stop and be kind to others, to say ‘excuse me,’ ‘pardon me,’ ‘thank you.’ Yet every now and then, miraculously, a kind person appears and is willing to set everything else aside in order to show interest, to give the gift of a smile, to speak a word of encouragement, to listen amid general indifference … Kindness ought to be cultivated; it is no superficial bourgeois virtue. Precisely because it entails esteem and respect for others, once kindness becomes a culture within society it transforms lifestyles, relationships and the ways ideas are discussed and compared. (par. 224)

Prayer

Lord, in accepting to be your chosen disciples to be sent, grant us a gentle heart, even when we find ourselves under pressure. Do not allow the cynicism or resistance we encounter to discourage us from continuing to choose what is good above all else.

 

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