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1-page synopsis of O. T. XIII (July 2) Homily for a 10 minutes homily
Introduction: The common theme of today’s readings is the work God gives us to do as the followers of Jesus: to love God and our brothers and sisters through hospitality, generosity, commitment and charity. The readings also remind us of the sacrifice demanded of Jesus’ disciples and the suffering they will endure for their Faith when they bear witness to him. (An anecdote may be added here)
Scripture lessons:In our first reading, we see, in Elijah’s welcome by a childless woman who lived in Shunem, a radical illustration of all four works. The woman recognized the holiness of Elisha. She showed him reverence and hospitality by inviting him to dine with her and her husband and by allowing the prophet to occupyan upperroom of her house.In response, Elisha promised her, "This time next year you will be fondling a baby son."The promise was fulfilled by God.The second reading, taken from Paul’s letter to the Romans, explains why those who care for the followers of Jesus are caring for Jesus himself, and those who show hospitality to any one of them are eligible for reward. By our Baptism, we have been baptized into Jesus’ death and buried with him, and we look forward to resurrection with him (Rom 6:5). Since Baptism is our entrée into this new life, it makes us part of the Body of Christ, and Christ is truly present in us. That is why the one who welcomes us welcomes Christ and becomes eligible for reward. Today's Gospel lesson concludes Jesus' great “missionary discourse” in whichhe instructs his twelve disciples on the cost and the reward of the commitment required of a disciple. The first half of these sayings of Jesus details the behavior expected from his disciples and the second halfspeaks of the behavior of others towards the disciples. Even the shameful death on the cross is not too high a price to pay if one is to be a true disciple because the reward is great. Jesus assures his disciples that whoever shows them hospitality will be blessed. Those who receive Jesus receive the One who sent him. Also, those who help the "little ones,"(believers) and the poor the sick and the needy will be amply rewarded.
Life message:Be hospitable and generous: Hospitality means acknowledging the presence of God in others and serving Him, especially in those whom we least expect to find Him. We as a community are to look for the opportunities to be hospitable--and, of course, there are plenty of ways of offering hospitality.
Maybe hospitality is offered through a kind word to a stranger - or even a smile. A kind smile or a “hello" to someone waitingwith us in a grocery linemay be the onlykindness that personencountersall day. We become fully alive as Christians through the generous giving of ourselves. What is more important than sending checks for charitable causes is giving of ourselves to people -- in the way we speak to them and about them, in the way we forgive their failings, in the way we encourage them, console them and help them, and even in the way we think about them. These types of generosity reflect warmth radiating from the very love of God.
OT XIII (July 2) 2 Kgs 4:8-11, 14-16a; Rom 6:3-4, 8-11; Mt 10:37-42
Anecdote: 1)“Paid in full for one glass of milk.” The special joy of nature loving boy Howard Kelly was hiking great distances and studying animals in the wild. On a walking trip, up through Northern Pennsylvania one spring, the young boy Kelly stopped by a small farm house for a drink of cool spring water. A little girl answered his knock at the door, and instead of water, she brought him a glass of fresh milk. He thanked her profusely and went on his way. After years of medical studies, he became Dr. Howard Kelly. Dr. Howard Kelly (1858-1943) was a distinguished physician who was one of the four founding doctors of Johns Hopkins, the first medical research university in the U.S. and arguably one of the finest hospitals anywhere. In 1895, he established the department of Gynecology and Obstetrics at that school. Over the course of his career, he advanced the sciences of gynecology and surgery, both as a teacher and as a practitioner. Some years later, that same little girl from Northern Pennsylvania who gave him a glass of milk years ago, came to him for an operation. Just before she left for home fearful of a huge bill, her bill was brought into the room and across its face was written in a bold hand, “Paid in full for one glass of milk.” That was Dr. Kelly’s style of showing gratitude and hospitality. While he charged heavily for the rich patients, he provided free-of-charge to the less fortunate. By his conservative estimate, in 75% of his cases he neither sought nor received a fee. Today’s scriptures challenge us to practice hospitality, seeing Christ in others. Adapted from See the Thai version of this story in YouTube. (
2) Catholic Worker Houses of Hospitality.The eighth of November marks the 120th anniversary of the birth of Dorothy Day (November 8, 1897 – November 29, 1980), the uncanonized saint of the homeless, an Americanjournalist turned social activist and a devout member of the Catholic Church. She was also an outspoken advocate for the poor.For most of her life she agitated for better treatment of the disadvantaged. The Catholic Worker Movement, which she startedin May 1933, was a further extension of her interest in the poor. With the help of her friend Peter Maurin she revived the idea of hospitality once fostered by monasteries. All were welcome: the poor, the downtrodden and losers. She also started the first House of Hospitalitywhere she could care for the poor.Dorothy and Peter suggested that every Catholic parish should have sucha place of hospitality. Today there are nearly 175 of these Catholic Worker Houses of Hospitality. “Those who cannot see the face of Christ in the poor,” she used to say, “are atheists indeed.”"If I have achieved anything in my life," she once remarked, "it is because I have not been embarrassed to talk about God."In today’s Gospel, Jesus instructs Christians on how they should be hospitable and generous.
3)Amish hospitality:Years ago, on a trip through the Amish country of Pennsylvania, I took the occasion to visit several of the shops. Many of them had signs of greeting hung on the door or in the window, which read, “Welcome! There are no strangers here -- only friends we haven’t yet met.” In keeping with the sign was the warmth and kindness with which visitors were received and tended to. Unfortunately, hospitality such as this has become an uncommon, albeit pleasant surprise in today’s world. But it was not always so. In ancient times, hospitality was considered a sacred duty and in scripture the patriarchs were cited as models of this virtue (Genesis 19:2; 24:17-33; 43:24). Recall, in particular, the visit of Yahweh to Abraham (Genesis 18:2-8); Abraham and Sarah’s generous welcome of their guests was rewarded with the promise of a son. (Patricia Datchuck Sánchez).As Xavier Leon-Dufour [Dictionary of Biblical Theology (Geoffrey Chapman, London: 1973)] once explained, Hospitality was to be valued as a work of mercy as well as a means of witnessing to the faith. The visitor who traveled through and requested assistance (Proverbs 27:8, Sirach 29:21-27) was to be regarded as a living reminder of Israel’s former struggle as enslaved strangers in Egypt (Leviticus 19:33-34). The stranger in need was also to remind Israel of its present status as a wandering pilgrim on earth (Psalm 39:13, Hebrew 11:13, 13:14). Today’s Gospel reminds us that the hospitality and generosity expected of us should be given here and now.
Introduction: The common theme of today’s readings is the work God gives us to do as the followers of Jesus: : to love God and our brothers and sisters through hospitality, generosity, commitment and charity. They also remind us of the sacrifice demanded of Jesus’ disciples and the suffering they will endure for their Faith when they bear witness to him. In our first reading, we see, in Elijah’s welcome by a childless woman who lived in Shunem, a radical illustration of all four works. The woman recognized the holiness of Elisha. She showed him reverence and hospitality by inviting him to dine with her and her husband and by setting aside and furnishing an upperroom of her house for the prophet to occupy whenever he should come to town. In grateful response,Elisha promised her, "This time next year you will be fondling a baby son."The promise was fulfilled by God.
The second reading, taken from Paul’s letter to the Romans, reminds the Roman Christians, and us, that by Baptism we have been baptized into Jesus’ death, buried with him, and now look forward to resurrection with him (Rom 6:5 ). As He died to sin, we, too, must be dead to sin and “live for God in Christ Jesus.” Since Baptism is our entrée into this new life in which we are made part of the Body of Christ, and Christ is truly present in us, the one who welcomes us welcomes Christ and becomes eligible for a reward. Thus, since those who care for the followers of Jesus are caring for Jesus himself, those who show hospitality to any one of them are eligible for a reward.
Today's Gospel lesson concludes Jesus' great “missionary discourse” in whichhe instructs his twelve disciples on the cost and the reward of the commitment required of a disciple. The first half of these sayings of Jesus details the behavior expected from his disciples and the second halfspeaks of the behavior of others towards the disciples. Even the shameful death on the cross is not too high a price to pay if one is to be a true disciple because the reward is great. Jesus assures his disciples that whoever shows them hospitality will be blessed. Those who receive Jesus receive the One who sent him. So, too, those who help the "little ones"(messengers) will be amply rewarded.
Exegesis: “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me…." These words may sound a bit extreme, since family comes first for most of us. 1) What Jesusmeans is that all loyalties must give place to loyalty to God. The wants of any person or any group of people (e.g. a family), cannot be met by trampling on or denying the rights and needs of others. Ifmembers of one’s family act unjustly,one must,in conscience,separateoneself from them. In other words, one cannot condone immoral practices even by members of one’s family. Jesus clearly is not attacking family life. He is giving a warning to his disciples of the conflicts and misunderstandings they will experience through their living out the word and thus becoming prophets, proclaiming God’s Will and living presence among His people through their own lives.
2) These words of Jesus can have another meaning. All those who become followers of Jesus belong to a new family. It is a family where every single person, includingrelatives, friends and even strangers are truly my brothers and sisters. We become part ofa larger family to whom we also have responsibilities. Jesus means that there will be times whenwe will have to give more love and compassion to the hungry,the sick, those in prison, the social outcasts, the unemployed or the unemployable, the handicapped, and the lonely than to the members of our own family. In other words, Jesus is not speaking against the family,but ratherreminding us that we are part of a larger family of our fellow Christians.
We need to be ready to take up our cross and lose our life for Christ: In ancient Palestine, thecross had a terrible meaning. Crucifixion was a vicious way of executing people, and it was reserved only for those who were not Roman citizens.Only the worst criminals were crucified. The Jews who heard Jesus' call for taking upone’s cross in order to follow him must have been horrified. Yet, that is what Christ wants from his disciples. The cross stands for unconditional forgiveness, the total emptying of ourselves of our wants and needs for the sake of another, and the courageous, consistent choosing to do what is right and just.The main paradox of the Christian life is that we must lose life in order to find Life, and we must die to ourselves in order to rise again. ("Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it."). We live in a world where "finding their lives" is the paramount ambition of the majority of people. But Jesus tells us very clearly that this should not be our main concern. What he asks of us is that we should “lose this life"which means that wemust stop livingfor ourselves alone.We must forget our own securityandwork toward the security of others. We mustlearn to take our own health a bit less seriously in order to care for those who are sick and hungry. We must stop pollutingthe environment so that the rest of the world will have clean air to breathe. All these things fall into place when we lose ourselves in caring for others.
We owe hospitality to strangers in Jesus’ name (“offering a cup of cold water..”): For the Jews, receiving a person's representative or messenger was the same as receiving the person himself. Hence, receiving a man of God who teaches God’s truth was considered equivalent to receiving God Himself. The four-main links in the chain of salvation are i) God who sent Jesus with His message, ii) Jesus who preached the “Good News,” iii) the human messenger who preaches Jesus’ message through words and life, and iv), the believer who welcomes the message and the messengers. Giving hospitality toa preacher or a believer is the same as welcoming Jesus Himself. This is why welcomingothers is given such high priority in the New Testament and is a tradition which still lives on in many parts of the Church today. The basis of all hospitality is that we all belong to God’s family, and that every person isour brother or sister.In the game of life, while we would prefer to be the quarterback -- the hero -- Jesus' heart leans toward the water-boy or water-girl.Hence, providing a cup of water is a valid vocation.
Materialism and consumerism dominate our lives and turn ourhomes into isolated fortresses with iron gates, intruder alarms and surveillance cameras.Society believes in competition, power, influence and success. Jesus’ argument is that when wework hard to ensure that everyone has enough, there will be enough for us, too. Hence the question we should ask is: Am I living my life at the expense of others? Am I trying to live in solidarity with others? Am I aware ofpeople in my area who are in real need? In the words of Mother Teresa, "The Gospel is written on your fingers." Holding up her fingers, one at a time, she accented each word: "You-Did-It-To-Me." Mother Teresa then added: "At the end of your life, your five fingers will either excuse you or accuse you of doing it unto the least of these.”
The reward promised to preachers and helpers.Today’s Gospel lesson implies that there might be differing rewards for prophets, righteous persons, and little ones -- and differing rewards for those who receive prophets, righteous persons, and little ones. The Good News is that the modesty of our circumstances does not limit our potential rewards. We don't have to be a prophet to receive a prophet's reward--we have only to receive a prophet. We don't have to be a great saint to receive a great saint's reward--we have only to show hospitality to such a saint. The smallest gift to the littlest disciple brings a certain reward. Just as God knows and cares about every hair of our heads, so alsoHe knows about ourgenerous acts in behalf of the faithful. Such gifts are counted as gifts to Jesus -- and gifts to Jesus are counted as gifts to the Father. Another bit of Good News is that, as we are engaged in the Lord's work, those who help us are also promised a reward. That is true whether we are clergy or lay people, preachers or janitors. We may not be comfortable being on the receiving end rather than the giving end, but the Lord has ordained that our receiving becomes a means of blessing to the giver.
Life messages: 1) We need to be hospitable:Hospitality means encountering the presence of God in others, usually where we least expect to find Him. The virtue of hospitality is the virtue of recognizing the presence of God in others and nourishing this presence. We, as a community, are to look for the opportunities to be hospitable-- and, of course, there are many ways of offering hospitality. Maybe we offer hospitality simply by offering a stranger a kind word or a smile. When we live in such abusy and hectic world, we tend tobrushoff peoplewho need help. A kind smile or a “hello" to someone waitingwith us in a grocery linemay be the onlykindness that personencountersall day.