Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year A
God's Reward
Rev. Mr. James Fourcade

Today’s readings draw us into a single, challenging, yet beautiful theme:  We know that when we welcome God into our lives, God changes everything.  He calls us to discipleship and there may be a cost of our discipleship but God’s surprises us with an abundance of His reward. 

In our first reading, the Shunem (Shoo-numb) woman welcomes the prophet Elisha into her home. She does not do it to seek a reward or to gain influence.  She simply recognizes holiness and makes room for it.  Her hospitality was intentional.  She prepared a room.  She offered food.  She rearranged her life to make room for God’s presence. She simply saw a servant of God and responds with an open heart.  In return, God gives her what she never imagined – the promise of a child.

In the second reading, St. Paul reminds us that our baptism is not only a ceremony from the past; it is a new identity for the present.  Through our baptism we die with Christ so that we rise with Him and live in a newness of life. In baptism, the old life of sin loses its claim over us.  We belong to Christ.  To follow Christ means something in us must die: Our pride, Our self-centeredness, our fear, our old patterns of sin.  We are called to live not for ourselves, but for God.  But what dies is nothing compared to what rises.  God never asks us to surrender something unless He intends to replace it with something deeper, freer, more alive.  That is why we cannot be satisfied with just occasionally praying or being satisfied by just coming to Sunday worship alone.  Each day we should ask ourselves; am I living as someone who has died with Christ and really take my relationship with God seriously?  Am I letting grace shape my choices, my words, my priorities, my relationships, and how I treat others? Or do I leave those questions on the back burner and worry about that later?

In the Gospel Jesus speaks boldly to us about these questions.  He speaks clearly by sharing three points on how to live our lives as his disciples.       

• The first is: Our choices, our words, our relationship should always be directed towards God. Jesus shares; “Whoever loves father or mother, son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me”.  He is not asking us to love our families less.  He is asking us to love HIM FIRST, so that we can love our family better.
• The second is: Our love of God is measured by our generosity for “Whoever receives you receives me and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me”.   Even the smallest act done for His sake “like a cup of cold water to one of these little ones” will not go unrewarded. He teaches us we must recognize God in all, opening our hearts for all, like the Shoo-numb woman, expecting nothing in return but sharing God’s love and seeing Christ in their faces.
• And the third is: “Whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.”  The cross we are called to carry is not simply life’s inconveniences or irritations.  The cross we are called to carry is a place where love remains faithful even when it costs something.  It may be the sacrifice of forgiving someone who has hurt us, or our child, a family member or friend. The sacrifice may be caring for a family member with serious health issues or standing up for the truth when the truth is not popular, or resisting the temptation of sin when the alternative is more pleasing or fun, or serving quietly and not taking credit, or maybe remaining faithful when faith is not easy.  Jesus invites us to assess those priorities that may hinder our ability to live out “the newness of life” given to us in our baptism. In other words, when we carry our cross, we are saying “Lord, my life belongs to you.” 

 We may experience a real cost or reward for our discipleship.   Some of  our parishioners experienced this cost personally.  One of our parishioners who entered Christ’s church through our OCIA program, shared their own personal cost.  Their parent turned their back on them upon learning they became Catholic.  Another shared some of their friends did not understand their decision to become Catholic and ended their relationship.   Following Christ can bring spiritual, emotional and even physical hardship.  But on the flip side, God’s reward allows our love to become purer; our priorities becoming clearer; our relationships becoming healthier and our sacrifices becoming fruitful.  Nothing done out of love for Him is ever wasted.

Jesus does not promise an easy life.  He promises a meaningful one.  He promises that nothing done for Him is ever forgotten.  Every sacrifice offered in love can become fruitful. He promises that when we make room for Him – even a small room, even a corner of our busy lives – He will fill it with grace beyond anything we expect, like the Shoo-numb woman who cared for the  prophet Elisha.  God notices everything.  Nothing done out of love for Him is ever wasted. May we, like the Shoo-numb woman, open our homes and hearts to God.  May we, like Saint Paul teaches, die to what holds us back and rise to a new life in Christ.  And may we, as true disciples, put Christ first, trusting that every sacrifice made for Him becomes a blessing overflowing.  AMEN