Reading 1
One day Elisha came to Shunem,
where there was a woman of influence, who urged him to dine with her.
Afterward, whenever he passed by, he used to stop there to dine.
So she said to her husband, “I know that Elisha is a holy man of God.
Since he visits us often, let us arrange a little room on the roof
and furnish it for him with a bed, table, chair, and lamp,
so that when he comes to us he can stay there.”
Sometime later Elisha arrived and stayed in the room overnight.
Later Elisha asked, “Can something be done for her?”
His servant Gehazi answered, “Yes!
She has no son, and her husband is getting on in years.”
Elisha said, “Call her.”
When the woman had been called and stood at the door,
Elisha promised, “This time next year
you will be fondling a baby son.”
Gospel
Jesus said to his apostles:
“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me,
and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;
and whoever does not take up his cross
and follow after me is not worthy of me.
Whoever finds his life will lose it,
and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. "Whoever receives you receives me,
and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.
Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet
will receive a prophet’s reward,
and whoever receives a righteous man
because he is a righteous man
will receive a righteous man’s reward.
And whoever gives only a cup of cold water
to one of these little ones to drink
because the little one is a disciple—
amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward.”
Reflection
Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel are a lesson in properly ordered love. St. Augustine wrote in On Christian Doctrine that “God is to be loved for His own sake, and our neighbor for God's sake,” and “all our love for our neighbor, like all our love for ourselves, should have reference to God.” These words summarize Christ’s message. When Jesus says “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me,” He illustrates that even our love for our family can be corrupt if it is not put in its proper place. Even good things — even great loves — can go awry if they are idolized and valued above Our Lord.
Jesus does not mean that we should avoid loving our family and friends. Scripture famously instructs us to love our neighbors as ourselves — even to love our enemies. His point is that we should love all for God’s sake. That is, we recognize them as beloved children of God and love the image of God reflected in them. Jesus illustrates this point: “And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink because the little one is a disciple — amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward.” Jesus praises the one who would recognize how a “little one” relates to God and show love to them for that reason.
To properly order our love is not to deny the intrinsic value of other people or to merely see them as a means to an end. On the contrary, loving others for God’s sake is to truly recognize what makes them lovable — the unique and unrepeatable divine imprint upon them — and avoid assigning them the impossible task of being our ultimate happiness.
The second great lesson in today’s Gospel is that love requires sacrifice. Jesus challenges us to take up our crosses and follow Him, and He says, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” The mystery of sacrificial love is that the one who loves is not left with less because of their sacrifice. As the famous prayer often attributed to St. Francis of Assisi says: “it is in giving that we receive.” God designed us for divine love, which is complete self-gift. The more we live out this design for our lives, the more fulfilled we will be. Jesus tells us today that by losing our life for the sake of love, we will receive an eternity of infinite love.
Join me in asking God for the grace to love well — today and for all eternity.
Please be assured of my prayers for you before Our Lord, present in the Most Blessed Sacrament.
+ Bishop Schlert
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