New Testament Eucharistic Readings for Sunday of Proper 8: Year A
Romans 6:12-23 and Matthew 10:40 to 42:
“Jesus said, “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple– truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”” (Matthew 10: 40 to 42)
This first sentence of Jesus reminds me of a reverse Trojan Horse, on steroids. I say reverse, because while the original Trojan Horse brought inside destruction to those who received it, we, carrying Jesus inside us, should bring grace and joy to all who receive us.
If we go forth in the Name of our Lord Jesus, we present Jesus to all whom we encounter, if we get out of the way. We are the gift-wrapped package of Jesus. Jesus then, is the package that contains God, like the Trojan Horse of the Greeks who secretly entered Troy. So within each baptized Christian is hidden our Lord Jesus, and within Jesus is God Almighty. Delivering God to anyone is wonderful but especially to those who may not know God. It is the most important thing any of us can do. And we don’t do it alone. We let go and let God; we let God work through Jesus and through us.
Now, after this opening statement, comes the “reward” language, which I don’t particularly care for. The prophet’s reward, the righteous person’s reward, and even the compassionate person’s reward, seems to encourage us to do good in order to receive the appropriate (and expected) reward. Let’s just be like Mary, and be God-bearers. Mary partnered with, and co-created with God not for herself but for the salvation of the world. Let her words resonate within ourselves, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” (Luke 1: 38)
All the prophets who came before our Lord Jesus preached about the love God has for his people. Jesus came and walked among us as a final testament to this prophecy. We must remember that our Lord Jesus pointed to God, not himself. Jesus teaches us to pray with the opening words, “Our Father.” This makes us sisters and brothers of Jesus and in the sharing of his body and blood, he dwells in us and we in him. This means God is in us through our brother Jesus. It is in this way that we are changed from whoever we think we are through our respective human families, to that divine and eternal family whose dwelling is in that house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. This then is the almighty God we live by and bring to others that do not have this secret knowledge that we have. Whoever welcomes you welcomes Jesus, and whoever welcomes Jesus welcomes God.
Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine, Russia, and our schools.
As we listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John
onewhoponders 