By Benedictine Father. Paul Nord, Sunday Scripture
First Reading: 2 Kings 4:8-11, 14-16a; Responsorial: Psalm 89:2-3, 16-19; Second Reading: Romans 6:3-4, 8-11; Gospel: Matthew 10:37-42
The prophet Elisha performs four marvelous acts of kindness in 2 Kings 4. First, Elisha encounters a widow who has fallen into terrible poverty. He miraculously provides her with a large amount of olive oil which enables her to pay her debts (4:1-7). Today’s reading follows: Elisha receives hospitality from a woman who is wealthy and highly esteemed by her neighbors. But she and her husband have no son. This is a great sadness for them. Therefore, Elisha promises them that God will bless them with a baby son. Elisha does this to return the kindness that they have shown him (4:8-17). After their son grows up, he tragically dies. But Elisha the prophet restores their son to life in another miracle (4:18-37). Finally, there is a terrible famine in the land, so the prophet Elisha miraculously feeds the hungry in 4:38-44.
These miracles all show that God’s power is acting among his people. The prophet Elisha was the successor of the prophet Elijah, who also performed powerful miracles. Both Elijah and Elisha warned the people against idolatry and sin. Further, both prophets performed miraculous acts which demonstrated that the LORD (YHWH), God of Israel, is the only true God. These prophets spoke for the Lord God, strengthening the people of Israel in their covenantal relationship with God.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells his apostles: “Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward.” This connects well to our first reading, in which the “woman of influence” and her husband feed the prophet in their home when he repeatedly passes by during his travels. Further, they provide Elisha with a room furnished with “a bed, table, chair, and lamp.” Elisha accepts their hospitality, staying overnight with them.
Consequently, this married couple “receive a prophet’s reward.” Elisha asks what can be done for them. He seeks to reward their kindness to him, although they had asked him for nothing.
Elisha asks his servant Gehazi to call the woman. She came and she “stood at the door.” This would be an ideal moment for an artist to depict from this miraculous event. The woman stands at the door of the room which she has provided the prophet for his stay. She peers inside – responding to the call of the prophet. She stands ready to respond to Elisha’s needs. Instead, Elisha responds to her desire for a son. He promises: “This time next year you will be fondling a baby son.” It is a beautiful, unexpected moment of God’s blessing in her life.
Continuing with today’s Gospel, Jesus tells his apostles: “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.” This dramatically emphasizes the complete commitment that Jesus expects of his disciples. We love our family more than anyone else, and yet Jesus expects us to love him even more. Nothing can be more important to us than our relationship with Jesus – not even our own lives. Jesus says: “whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.” To be Jesus’ true disciples, we must endure suffering as he did. We must be willing even to die as he died for our salvation, to restore us to relationship with God.
Jesus says: “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Reflect on Jesus’ contrast between “finding” and “losing.” What does it mean for a person to “lose his life?” The primary sense is to die for Christ. But I can also “lose my life” by surrendering to God’s will – by entrusting my life to God’s calling and plan.
Christ promises: “whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” If someone lives for Christ – for Christ’s sake – such a person will “find his life.” The primary meaning here is eternal life with God, as promised to us by Jesus – the resurrection of the dead. But a person can also “find his life” by finding purpose and meaning. To be Christ’s disciple is to be entrusted with a mission: to proclaim the Good News of Christ to every man, woman and child. God has reconciled us to himself and to one another. He has healed our brokenness. Christ calls us to forgive others, as he has forgiven our sins, great and small. May we find life in the name of Christ, risen from the dead.
Last is our second reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans. Paul’s words here are essential to our understanding of baptism. To be baptized in the name of Christ is to share in his suffering and death. If we suffer and die with Christ, we have hope to also live with him. For disciples of Christ, there is no resurrection without the cross.
But “living with Christ” is not only a future promise. Paul says: “We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that… we too might live in newness of life.” This means that if we share in Christ’s suffering in this life, we share now also in the “newness of life” in Christ – through the gift of the Holy Spirit, strengthened by the sacraments.
Paul says that we have been “buried with [Christ] through baptism.” This is a powerful image – what does it mean? To receive new life in Christ, we must die to our old self. We must die to all worldly attachments to possessions and status.
Paul tells us: “you too must think of yourselves as dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus.” Christ frees us from sin and death if we depend upon his life-giving power in prayer. Paul observes that “death no longer has power over” Christ. Likewise, death has no power over Christ’s disciples if we are “dead to sin.” Christ’s grace alone can accomplish this – if we constantly, humbly beg God to heal us and restore us to life. This is the promise of baptism in Christ.