Matthew 10:40-42
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.”
Let us Pray: God invites us to hold the needs of our sisters and brothers, as dear to us as our own needs. Loving our neighbors as ourselves, we offer our thanksgivings and our prayers, on behalf of the church and the world. This we pray in Jesus’ name, AMEN.
This Gospel is a continuation of Jesus’ instructions to His disciples as he sends them out to spread the Good News. One thing is this Gospel is more positive than the last few weeks. It gives not only the disciples guidance, it gives us guidance also. Most of us think that if we met Jesus we would know and welcome Him, either into our home or into our church. We would prepare a meal for Him as mealtime is a great time for good conversation and a good time for sharing. Jesus shared many meals with His disciples and with a lot of others. When we welcome Jesus we welcome God’s presence, through his Son. I think the bigger message here is this: “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.” There seems to be some discussion about who the little ones were. One explanation is that the little ones were those less fortunate. Considered little ones because of their social standing. Another explanation is they were children. It really doesn’t matter as both needed to be helped. And the giving of water was considered a valuable gift. We can interrupt this Gospel that a cup of cold water today is a gift that someone needs to survive. It could be food, clothing or really someone who just cares and is able to share a kind word for someone in need. So as followers of Christ we all can go out and be the church. Being the church also means we recognize needs and help those with needs. In our own communities there is always a need. People need help. There needs to be an awareness that mission is not just a program of the church it is what the church is and that it defines the church. As we are a part of that mission, we need to welcome others and by doing so we welcome Jesus and the one who sent Him.
Let us Pray: We praise your abiding guidance, O God, for you sent us Jesus, our Teacher and Messiah, to model for us the way of love for the whole universe. We offer these prayers of love on behalf of ourselves and our neighbors, on behalf of your creation and our fellow creatures. This we pray in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit; Amen>
Reflections by Bob 