The associated reading for this reflection can be found in your Every Sacred Sunday Mass journal or online here.
Today’s first reading illustrates an extension of hospitality. A “woman of influence” takes special care to prepare a place for the prophet, Elisha, in her home. And in response to her welcome, Elisha relays a particular promise from God: the promise of new life, by means of a son. The second reading reminds us that it is only through death to sin, through the shaking free from our selfishness, that we may truly live in such a “newness of life” for all eternity. And the gospel speaks to how even those good things, the gifts our loving God showers upon us, must be recognized as gifts from a giver, first and foremost. We must praise and worship and abide in the giver, and not the gifts themselves, while the truest kiss from the giver, the promise of new life, requires a share in his cross.
The question “What is your greatest fear?” often circulates in group settings. In simpler seasons I’ve responded with the fear of being stuck in tight spaces, but these days the fear of losing a loved one, particularly a sibling or a parent, has taken pride of place. Our Catholic identity intimately intertwines love and suffering. Without suffering, love wouldn’t mean laying down one’s own comfort for the sake of another. Love wouldn’t confidently brave the unknowns of this life, or find any motivation to forgive. Without suffering in love, there would be no cross, and with no cross, no promise of new life. But this fear of losing a loved one is brought into focus with the gospel. It feels affronting to hear our love for our parents or children challenged by the Lord. Aren’t those good things? Are we not called into that very love? But the challenge is not to love them less; it is to love God more. The way my heartbeat quickens and eyes draw tears at the thought of losing those dear to me should be the disposition with which I approach the altar of our dying Lord. But the hope of the resurrection, which I know to be true, radiates from that altar to quell all other fears.
Just as today’s readings begin with an account of hospitality, and the extension of an earthly reward, the gospel ends with an invitation towards hospitality and the promise of a priceless reward. Receiving Christ means receiving the deepest of loves, which means receiving suffering with open arms. But the reward for such hospitality, a hospitality towards suffering, is new life nestled eternally in his arms.
Hannah Kelley is a Catholic Worldview Fellowship and Fiat UN alumna who, after completing a year of mission work in Chicago, IL, began her studies at the University of Georgia. She is now a 4th year, earning both her Bachelor’s in International Affairs and Master’s in International Policy simultaneously. Hannah loves craft beer, craft time, and Kraft mac and cheese, but especially when shared with loved ones.