13th Sunday of Year A

2 Kings 4:8-11,14-16
Romans 6:3-4,8-11
Matthew 10:37-42

How do we treat our blessings in life?

How do we treat our blessings in life – wealth, health, talent, etc.? Does God bless us with these for our own sake, or for others’ sake?

The First Reading this week tells the story of how a wealthy woman treated prophet Elisha with kindness. The woman was wealthy. But she did not forget it was God who blessed she and her husband with wealth. So, on recognising that Elisha is a holy man of God, the couple extended their generosity to Elisha by offering the prophet food and hospitality whenever Elisha passed by their house. But in spite of their wealth, their lives remained unfulfilled on one aspect – they have no children. When Elisha found out, he interceded with God and promised the couple, “At this season, in due time, you shall embrace a son.” (verse 16) This was a just reward for their generosity. As Jesus said in the Gospel this week, “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” (verse 41)

What about me? In the developed world that most of us live, we have ample material comfort. Most of us own our cars, luxury possessions and we take regular holidays. Do I treat my wealth as blessings from God? Do I regard my wealth as something I should use to bless others, such as helping the poor? The wealthy woman in the First Reading enjoyed fruits from her generosity. At an intangible level, she was surely blessed with peace and content, which enable her to expand her generosity by offering Elisha a dedicated room in their house. At a tangible level, God blessed the woman with something she always wanted – a child.

However, we must not draw the conclusion that our expectant rewards from God should be the motivations for our righteous acts. A relationship of love is never transactional. Our relationship with God is a relationship of love, so too are our relationships with loved ones. We do not perform acts of love in expectant of rewards. In fact, a reward mentality is dangerous as it could corrupt our love. A loving act, if performed for a reward, is then not pure love. Indeed, our righteous acts should flow from our gratefulness of the blessings that God has already given us – blessings such as wealth that gives us the capacity to be generous. And it is our love that motivates us to helping others, not our expectation for rewards. Why? Because God loves us first while we were still sinners (Rom 5:8). And if God were to reward our righteous acts with further blessings, then we are double blessed. This was the attitude of the wealthy woman. When Elisha promised her a child, she did not treat it as something she deserved. Rather, she said, “No, my lord, O man of God; do not deceive your servant.” (verse 16)

But our acts of love should not be restricted to just things that God blesses us in this life. In fact, our very life is a blessings from God. As St Paul wrote to the Romans in the Second Reading, “But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.” (verse 8) Hence, just as the wealthy woman was generous with her money, shouldn’t we be generous with our lives, in using our time and talent in service of humanities? And just as the wealthy woman was rewarded for her acts of love in sharing her wealth, we will be rewarded for our acts of love in sharing our lives. This was what Jesus meant when He taught in this week’s Gospel, “Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” (verse 39)

So, how does generosity with our time and talent reward us with life? This is one of the greatest ironies in life. In order to gain life, we have to give it. It is no accident that some of the most contented and at peace people in the world are those who volunteer and serve others. Indeed, it is in giving that we receive. It is in selfless serving – in dying to ourselves for others – that we find true fulfilment in life.

Let us conclude our reflection this week with these words of St Francis of Assisi:

For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Amen.