Welcome the Word of God – Receive the Reward
2 Kig 4:8-11,14-16a;
Rom 6:3-4,8-11; Mt 10:37-42 (13 / A)
“The cross of the
Lord is become the tree of life for us”
Today’s readings invite us to
reflect on hospitality. The Shunammite woman welcomed the prophet Elisha, prepared
a room, and cared for him generously. Jesus speaks of welcoming prophets and
righteous people, offering a cup of cold water. These readings point to the
greatest hospitality we can offer is not merely to a person, but to God’s Word
itself. Welcoming the divine message, we receive God’s reward as the Shunammite
woman.
Do we make room for God’s Word in
our lives to receive his reward? We make room for many things, for work,
entertainment, news, social media, and countless daily concerns. But do we make
room for the Bible, through which God speaks to us? The Bible is humanity’s
greatest spiritual treasure, for it contains God’s revelation. It is the living
and life-giving Word that guides, teaches, corrects, comforts, and transforms everyone.
The Bible has sustained believers through wars, persecutions, famines,
illnesses, and personal tragedies, and strengthened families and guided nations.
The Second Vatican Council
beautifully teaches in Dei Verbum that in the Holy Bible “the Father who
is in heaven comes lovingly to meet his children and talks with them.” Every
time we open the Bible, God desires to speak to us. Every page of Scripture is
an invitation to encounter him. Many Christians today own a Bible but seldom
read it. The Bible may occupy a place in the home, but it does not always
occupy a place in the heart. We often seek answers from the world before
seeking wisdom from God. We listen to many voices but neglect the One voice
that can truly lead us to life.
In the Gospel, Jesus says, “Whoever
receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the One who sent me”
(Mt 10:40). To welcome God’s messenger is to welcome God himself, and to
welcome God’s Word is to welcome Christ, the Eternal Word made flesh. The
reward of such hospitality enlightens the mind when we are confused. It
strengthens us when we are weak, comforts us when we suffer, challenges us when
we become complacent, and gives hope when life seems dark. As the Psalmist
says, “Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path” (Ps 119:105).
St Jerome said, “Ignorance of
Scripture is ignorance of Christ.” The
importance of the Bible is not limited to individual spirituality. It has
immense significance for humanity as a whole. The Bible teaches that every
human person is created in the image and likeness of God. It inspires respect
for human dignity, care for the poor, concern for the stranger, forgiveness of
enemies, and compassion toward the suffering. In a world marked by violence,
division, loneliness, and moral confusion, humanity desperately needs the
wisdom of God’s Word that love is stronger than sin and death.
As the Shunammite woman prepared a
room for Elisha, the Lord asks us to prepare a room for his Word. Let there be
a place for the Bible in our hearts, meditate on it, pray, and live it, and
find the reward of wisdom in uncertainty, peace in anxiety, strength in
weakness, hope in suffering, and communion with God.
For the greatest
reward of all is not a gift from God, but God himself.
Amen
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