Generosity is a divine investment.

 

Thirteenth Sunday in OT  2023 A

 

The message of today’s scriptures is that hospitality and GENEROSITY is A DIVINE INVESTMENT.  The disciples of Jesus never regret generosity -- even then this involves the detachment from the pleasure that we are very attached to.

 

Just as we can become skilled in investing resources so that our future will be secure, please know that our divine investment in our future life with Christ is secured by the generosity and hospitality we show to our brothers and sisters today.

 

In today’s first Scripture reading, the prophet Elisha was the recipient of the hospitality and generosity of the woman of Shunem who fed him and offered him a place to stay in their home.

 

Later Elisha inquired to her was anything he could do for her.  He was told that she had no son, and her husband was getting on in years.  Elisha called her and promised: “This time next year you will be fondling a baby son.”

 

This shunemite woman indeed experienced her generosity as a divine investment and an end to barrenness.

 

Today’s Gospel is the conclusion of the missionary discourse Jesus was giving his disciples before sending them out to proclaim the Good News of the Gospel.

 

Jesus is upping the ante in what is being asked of his disciples.  Jesus says: “Whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.  Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

 

The great mystery of our faith is the paschal mystery:  the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus.  It was through his suffering and dying on the cross that was the pathway for Jesus to come to resurrection and his risen life.

 

The great mystery of our faith is that we are called to participate in the paschal mystery of Jesus.  It is through our suffering and ultimately our death that we come to sharing in the risen life of Jesus.

 

In our journey of faith, we need to embrace dying to self and our self-centeredness before we die.  We need to appreciate the virtue of detachment as the path for experiencing the freedom of the children of God.

 

The challenge for us is that detachment is so counter-intuitive to the life we too often live.  Often enough, attachment is our home base. It is so against the logic of human progress. We easily are attracted to the pleasure of all kinds of attachments. 

 

We become attached to our families that love us; we become attached to our home and property that bring us considerable pleasure; we become addicted to receiving recognition and praise from others; we become attached to our favorite cocktail:  we become attached to the particular lifestyle which brings pleasure to our lives.  We never have enough.  We become addicted to wanting more.  These attachments can become our false gods.

 

What would it take for us to die for any or all of these attachments? What would it take to die to all the pleasures of our life?

 

Just this past week, I have presided at four funerals at St Joseph’s Church?  Grieving family members have experienced the unthinkable – the death of a family member that was so much loved?  Their grieving leaves a profound sense of loss and abandonment.    How do we deal with the detachment that is completely unplanned and for which we are so unprepared?

 

In our spiritual journey, all of us through the circumstances are challenged to participate in the paschal mystery of Christ Jesus.  We need to die to our ourselves so that we can live more fully in Christ Jesus.  We need to be able to let go and let God.

This also applies to all the negative experiences in our life that rob us of our self-esteem.  We need to let go of past hurts, judgments we have made about others; let go of the need for revenge. We need to die to all the negativity that haunts us so that we can the freedom of the sons and daughters of God.

 

For all this to happen, we need to make God the first priority of our lives.  The discipleship that Jesus asks of us is not a part-time sense of discipleship.  Jesus calls to trust that He will always be the Lord and Savior of our lives.

 

This means we need to die to our plans for our life and to give ourselves over to God’s plan for our lives.   This means embracing the virtue of detachment from our plans and trusting his God’s plan for our life.  WE need the courage and trust of Mary at the Annunciation when she responded to the angel Gabriel:  I am the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to your Word.

 

Listen again to what seems like very troubling words from Jesus: “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.”

I can remember to this day when I was a seven-year-old second grader at Our Lady of Good Counsel School, my second-grade teacher Sister Concilia asked me: “Who do you love more?  Your mommy or God?  I immediately responded: “My mommy.”  Sister Concilia corrected me and told me I was to love God more.  As a seven year old, I was confused by this correction and when I told my very faith-filled mom what had happened.  The puzzling question still confused me.

 

As we pray over today’s Gospel, Jesus is inviting to come to a deeper understanding of our call to love.  First and foremost, God is love.  To know God is to experience love. Each of us is the recipient of God’s unconditional love.  There is nothing we can do to stop God from loving us.

 

As we deepen our relationship with Jesus, we become more and more aware of God’s love for us and our missionary mandate to share our love with one and all.  As far as we are steeped in the mystery of God’s love for us, yes, this indeed is the first priority of our lives.  When Jesus is the North Star of our lives, then our love for our mother and father and son and daughter deepens and grows within us.

When indeed we experience detachment from our self-centeredness and when we are willing to die to self, we experience the freedom of the sons and daughters of God.  This freedom enables to trust in God’s plan for our life and enables to love more freely one and all.

 

Have a Blessed Day.