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The Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)

We are familiar with many stories from the Old and New Testaments such as Jonah and the whale, Moses splitting the Red Sea, God giving his Law at Mt. Sinai, Peter walking on water, the multiplication of the loaves, et cetera. Yet, how many of us are familiar with the other multiple and yet nourishing stories in Scripture such as the one given to us in today’s first reading taken from the OT? The Catechism says, “The Church forcefully and specifically exhorts all the Christian faithful to learn the surpassing knowledge of Jesus by frequent reading of the divine Scripture” (#33).

Taken from 2 Kings 4:8-16, this passage tells of the Shunnamite woman who welcomed the prophet Elisha {eh-LISH-uh} with warm hospitality. In Hebrew, his name means: “My God is salvation.” Eventually, her reward was the generosity of God through the gift of a son. If we heard only what is said in the liturgy today, we wouldn’t get the second half of the story. This is where our personal reading of the Bible can go a long way and give us further insight.

Eventually, this same son unexpectedly died in his mother’s lap (2 Kgs 4:20) after a mysterious headache. His mother then sought out Elisha at Mount Carmel who then traveled with her back to her house to miraculously bring life back to the boy. Right after this healing, Elisha multiplies loaves of bread (vs. 42-44).

Jesus fulfills the Old Testament. He is the New Adam, the New David, the New Joshua, the New Moses, and yes, even the New Elisha. Like Elisha, Jesus raised the dead to life by raising Jairus’ daughter (Mt 9:18-26) and multiplying the 5 loaves and 2 fish (Mt 14:13-21).

Eventually, Jesus would suffer, die, resurrect, and then ascend into heaven and continue his work through the ministry of his Apostles whom he sends out (In Greek, apostolos means “one who is sent”) as well as through the bishops who succeed the Apostles. When Jesus was preparing the Apostles through his instruction, he says in today’s Gospel, “Whoever receives you, receives me” and “Whoever receives a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward” (Mt 10:40-41), alluding to the story of Elisha and the Shunnamite woman.

When we welcome the words of the Apostles and the instruction of their successors, the Bishops of the Catholic Church, we act like the Shunnamite woman and grant hospitality not just to men, but to Jesus himself. Our reward is that of new life, as was the case of the boy born to the Shunnamite woman. Truly, the Church proclaims the word of God in our own day. Shall we welcome it with great hospitality, or will we disregard it, closing the way to our reward? Jesus wishes to make our joy complete, if only we receive his word with humility and allow it to transform our lives.