Generosity's Reward

Do you know the saying, “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach”? I don’t know if that is true of all men, but I think it’s definitely true of priests. Recently, I saw a joke on Facebook: “What word could be used to describe all priests?” I thought to myself: “Oh, ‘holy,’ ‘wise,’ ‘a funny-and-insightful-preacher’…” But no, the answer was ‘hungry.’ It’s true that we priests love to eat, as many of us attest by our waistlines.

In today’s first reading, we hear the story of another man who loved a good meal – not a priest, in this case, but a prophet. The prophet Elisha, it seems, loved a good meal and he knew where he could get it, too: at the house of the couple who lived in Shunem. In today’s passage, we hear that apparently he came over so often the Shunemites decided to furnish a little apartment for him, so that when he visited he could spend the night.

That’s taking hospitality to a different level. I’ve been over to people’s houses for dinner lots of times, but I don’t think anyone has ever invited me to spend the night. Understandably so! It’s one thing to welcome someone to share your table, but to invite them to stay the night is a different thing. But that’s just what the Shunemite couple does. Why? Because they sensed the presence of God in him, and were attracted by that. They saw Elisha’s staying with them as a blessing, and a way in which – in a sense – they welcomed God into their home. And as we heard, Elisha was grateful for their kindness, so much so that he promised her God would bless her with a son.

Jan Pynas, Elisha and the Shunemite Woman (c. 1620)

It’s a nice story, but it’s also an important one because it tells us something about how God acts in our lives. When we open our hearts in generosity to another, we diminish just a little bit the withering self-focus that comes from our own egos. And in doing so, we open ourselves to God and what he might wish to do with us. That’s why the Scriptures tell us, again and again, about the importance of welcoming the stranger, of showing hospitality to the uninvited guest, and of inclining our hearts to those who ask something of us. And not just in our individual lives and homes, but also more broadly in our society, in every aspect of the community. The generosity in itself is good, but it’s also about something more – about seeing in the other the possibility of the presence of God.

In the Gospel today, Jesus says to the apostles that they too will be welcomed into people’s homes – not necessarily to have dinner, but to share the Gospel. The apostles will be sent forth to preach the Lord’s Good News, and when they do so, others will sense God’s presence within them. As we heard last week, some will reject them, and even persecute and kill them. But others will open their doors – and even more, open their hearts, open every aspect of their lives, in order to become disciples. And when they do so, they will be rewarded by Christ himself – both the apostles and the disciples: “whoever receives you, receives me, and whoever receives me receives the One who sent me” and “he will surely not lose his reward.”

The readings today invite us to consider how we bring the Lord’s presence to others, according to our own lives and circumstances. After all, like the apostles, by virtue of our baptism we too have been “sent” into the world, entrusted with the message of the Good News. It’s crucial then that our words and actions are consistent with that identity – that there be nothing in our own lives and characters which is a hindrance to bringing the presence of Christ to others. There are few things these days that are a bigger turn off than those who say one thing but do another, who profess themselves to be good Christians but don’t live like it. As Christ’s representatives in the world, we must constantly make sure we are never giving anyone cause to dismiss what we come to bring, to tune out our message, and so fail to receive Jesus himself.

These readings also encourage us to be open to where the Lord desires to come to us, especially in unexpected ways. The generosity and hospitality of the Shunemite woman was rewarded in an amazing way, by the birth of a son. What might the Lord desire to do for us, or in us, if we open our hearts to him? Let’s be careful not to close the door on him, and especially on those in whom he might be found: the poor, the marginalized, the outcast, the relative who irks us, the acquaintance who gets on our nerves, and anyone else who might be coming to mind right this minute. It might be that, just like Elisha, that person could be a source of grace for us and the beginning of something wonderfully new.

Friends, by means of hospitality, and generosity of heart, the Lord often desires to make himself known. And this is never more true than here – in the Mass. By opening ourselves to the Divine Guest who comes to us in the liturgy, God’s presence fills our hearts anew, so that we can go forth to bring that presence to others and so contribute to the sanctification of the world. “Whoever receives you receives me and whoever receives me receives the One who sent me… he will surely not lose his reward.”