Sunday, June 30, 2002

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time

1st Reading: 2 K 4:8-11, 14-16

One day Elisha went to Shunem, and a rich woman invited him to eat. Afterwards, whenever he went to that town, he would go to her house to eat.
The woman said to her husband, "See, this man who constantly passes by our house is a holy man of God. If you want, we can make a small upper room for him, and place a bed, a table, a chair and a lamp in it. So when he comes, he may stay and rest."
One day when Elisha came, he went to the upper room and lay down.
So Elisha said to Gehazi, "What can we do for her?" The young man answered, "She has no children and her husband is now old."
And so Elisha said to him, "Call her." The young man called her and as the woman stood by the door, Elisha said, "By this time next year, you will hold a son in your arms."

2nd Reading: Rom 6:3-4, 8-11

Brothers and sisters, You know that in baptism which unites us to Christ we are all baptized and plunged into his death. By this baptism in his death, we were buried with Christ and, as Christ was raised from among the dead by the Glory of the Father, so we begin walking in a new life.
But if we have died with Christ, we believe we will also live with him. We know that Christ, once risen from the dead, will not die again and death has no more dominion over him. There has been death: a death to sin once for all; there is life: a life in God.
So you, too, must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Gospel: Mt 10:37-42

Jesus instructed the Twelve as follows, "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 come after me is not worthy of me. One who wants to benefit from his life will lose it; one who loses his life for my sake will find it.
Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes him who sent me. The one who welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive the reward of a prophet; the one who welcomes a just man because he is a just man will receive the reward of a just man. And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones, because he is a disciple of mine, I assure you, he will not go unrewarded."

Commentary

Danny comes from a traditional Buddhist family, but his parents sent him to a Catholic school. As a requirement in that school, he began reading the Bible. When he was in Grade 9, he told his parents that he wanted to be baptized. His parents did not agree; they said that they were Chinese and as Chinese, they had to be Buddhists.
As a good and filial son, Danny did not insist, but he also knows that he can still put into practice the teachings of Jesus. So, he joins his Christian classmates in their prayer meetings; he helps in their work of visiting the elderly and the sick. He has also made reading the Gospel as part of his daily life, not only as an assignment in class, but as an encounter with Jesus.

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