Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
It Is Me You Welcome - Come In, Feel At Home
Liturgical Cycle: A | Lectionary Cycle: II
Introduction
Greeting (See Second Reading)
Consider yourselves dead to sin
but alive in Christ Jesus.
May Jesus, the Lord of life,
be always with you. R/ And also with you.
Introduction by the Celebrant
- It Is Me You Welcome
Are we aware that when we receive strangers, we receive the Lord himself? We have Jesus’ own words for this. In the stranger, God visits us. This applies not only to us in our families, but also in our Church communities. How do we welcome “outsiders” in our churches, and people who have moved from other parishes? Do we welcome the Lord in them? Remember how the Lord welcomes us here.
- Come In, Feel At Home
Unless you are an exception to the rule, most people feel very happy when they are made to feel welcome, especially in homes and communities where they are new. In our times, certainly in urban settings, the sense of hospitality is disappearing at a very alarming rate. Christians in their communities, even in their own parish churches, are becoming strangers to one another. Let us listen to Jesus in this Eucharist how he expects us to welcome one another as he welcomes us.
Penitential Act
The Lord welcomes even with joy
those estranged from him through sin.
Let us accept his pardon with gratitude
and learn from him to forgive others.
(pause)
Lord Jesus, we welcome you
when we welcome those who speak in your name:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Jesus Christ, we give a cool drink to you
when we quench the thirst of a disciple of yours:
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
Lord Jesus, we welcome you
when we receive the least of our brothers and sisters:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Have mercy on us, Lord,
and heal in us the wounds of sin.
Lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.
Opening Prayer
Let us pray to God to make us welcome people,
As he is hospitable to us
(pause)
Our kind and caring God,
your Son Jesus welcomes us in your house,
speaks to us his message of hope
and nourishes us with his own body.
Let him dispose us to welcome in his name
those he sends to us, known or unknown,
who ask for justice and love,
for integrity or a mere glass of water.
Make us an open and hospitable Church,
that one day you may welcome us with joy
in your eternal home.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
First Reading
The Woman Urged the Man of God to Stay: With a great and gratuitous sense of hospitality, the woman from Shunem offered shelter and food to the prophet Elisha. As she was childless, God rewarded her with a son.
The Son of the Shunammite
Elisha went to Shunem one day, and a rich woman invited him to eat. Afterward, whenever he went to that town, he would eat at her house.
The woman said to her husband: “See, this man who constantly passes by our house is a holy man of God.
If you want, we can make a small upper room for him and place a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp in it. So when he comes, he may stay and rest.”
One day, when Elisha came, he lay down in the upper room.
So Elisha asked Gehazi: “What can we do for her?” The young man answered: “She has no children, and her husband is now old.”
And so Elisha said to him: “Call her.” The young man called her, and as the woman stood by the door,
Elisha said: “By this time next year, you will hold a son in your arms.” She answered: “No, my lord, O man of God, do not deceive your maidservant.”
Responsorial Psalm
R. (2a) Forever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.
The promises of the LORD I will sing forever,
through all generations my mouth shall proclaim your faithfulness.
For you have said, “My kindness is established forever;”
in heaven you have confirmed your faithfulness.
R. Forever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.
Blessed the people who know the joyful shout;
in the light of your countenance, O LORD, they walk.
At your name they rejoice all the day,
and through your justice they are exalted.
R. Forever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.
You are the splendor of their strength,
and by your favor our horn is exalted.
For to the LORD belongs our shield,
and the Holy One of Israel, our king.
R. Forever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.
Second Reading
Dead to Sin and Alive in Christ: In baptism, we have encountered Christ. From then on we journey with him from death to sin to new life in him.
Don’t you realize that in baptism, which unites us with Christ, we are all baptized and immersed into his death?
Through this baptism into his death, we are buried with Christ, and just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we begin walking in a new life.
But if we have died with Christ, we believe we will also live with him.
We know that Christ, once risen from the dead, will never die again, and death has no more authority over him.
For, by dying, he is dead to sin once and for all, and now, the life he lives is a life with God.
So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God, in Christ Jesus.
Alleluia Verse
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation;
announce the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Whoever Welcomes You is Hospitable to Me: Jesus briefs his apostles on their vocation and mission. They must follow Christ and be ready to sacrifice themselves for him. Those who are hospitable to them or to anyone are hospitable to God.
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.
And whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
Whoever finds his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Rewards
Whoever welcomes you, welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me, welcomes him who sent me.
Whoever welcomes a prophet will receive the reward of a prophet; the one who welcomes a just man, because he is a just man, will receive the reward of a just man.
And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones, because he is my disciple, I assure you, he will not lose his reward.
Prayers of the Faithful
God has placed people along our way. Let us pray to our Father who welcomes us in Christ that we may always encounter other people as persons whom he loves and wants us to love. Let us say: R/ Listen to your people, Lord.
– For the Church that it may preach the Gospel without compromise and yet be sensitive to the aspirations and the needs of our time and see them in the light of Christ, let us pray: R/ Listen to your people, Lord.
– For those in the Church who bear the burden of authority, that they may be open to all without favouritism and make everyone co-responsible for the whole People of God, let us pray: R/ Listen to your people, Lord.
– For our missionaries, that they may welcome the cultural values of the people to whom they are sent and be open to their mentality, let us pray: R/ Listen to your people, Lord.
– For those who live on the edge of society, for loners and strangers, the poor and old people, or the sick and the misunderstood, that they may encounter warmhearted people who understand and welcome them, let us pray: R/ Listen to your people, Lord.
– For this and all other Christian communities, that we may not tolerate among us any form of prejudice or discrimination but open our hearts and doors to one another, Let us pray: R/ Listen to your people, Lord.
Lord our God, help us to welcome one another, that you may welcome us and stay with us for ever. R/ Amen.
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God, loving Father,
your Son Jesus Christ invites us
to share his table and to be his guests.
As he is hospitable to us now,
may we learn from him
to be hospitable to people
with discretion and generosity.
Make us thankful
when the guest cannot repay us
for the good we have done,
for this is how you accept us
in Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer
However we come, the Lord Jesus invites us to join him in his offering to the Father. With him, let us give thanks and praise to God.
Introduction to the Lord’s Prayer
One with Christ our Lord through baptism,
we pray with him to our Father in heaven. R/ Our Father...
Prayer for Peace
Lord Jesus Christ,
as the grains of wheat once scattered
have been gathered to become one bread,
you bring us together in your Church
notwithstanding our faults.
Look not on our sins
but give to all who will eat your body
to remain in peace and unity
with you and one another,
that the world may know
that you save those who err
and that you are our Lord forever. R/ Amen.
Invitation to Communion
This is Jesus the Lord
who invites us to his table.
Happy are we to accept his invitation
to be his guests. R/ Lord, I am not worthy...
Prayer after Communion
Our God and Father,
today we have been the guests of your Son;
he wants to stay among people
in human form—through us.
Help us to be to those around us
his helping hand,
his smile of welcome,
his voice of encouragement and pardon,
the face of his love.
May this be his way and ours
of leading people to you, our God.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Blessing
In this Eucharist
the Lord Jesus has been hospitable to us.
He has spoken to us from heart to heart
and has given us the food and drink of himself.
He has told us to welcome people
in his name
and to treat them as we would treat him.
In his name, then,
may we accept and receive one another.
May almighty God bless you:
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
Go and accept one another in the Lord’s name.
R/ Thanks be to God.
REFLECTIONS
Matthew 10:37-42
The Cost of Discipleship
Being a Christian is always challenging. Our faith would force us to give up our selfishness, so that it might be a battle within. The desires for wealth, power, and pleasure are incompatible with faith in God. We also have to fight against situations and people who try to dissuade us from our faith. We may be unable to practise our faith at work or during our work schedules, or we may be prohibited from doing so by society or those in authority.
The Gospel develops themes of sending disciples on a mission, and Jesus warns us about this conflict. A disciple may experience rejection or misunderstanding because of their faith in Jesus, even within their family or closest circle. Many families today avoid discussing faith matters to maintain harmony at home. Although we seldom realise it, this lack of faith in God has become one of the main reasons for the unhappiness and conflict in our modern families.
The demands of discipleship are presented in all their harshness. Matthew wrote his Gospel in a time of persecution. To remain faithful to Christ, the disciples often had to break ties with those who mattered most - their parents, spouses and children. Because the rabbis had made the decision to expel those who adhered to the Christian faith from their synagogues, they were considered heretical and disowned by their families.
It is intended to encourage the persecuted Christians by reminding them of Jesus’ words in the Gospel. Jesus demands from the disciples the courage to remain without support, protection, and material security for the sake of his Gospel.
Jesus’ message is neither light nor abstract. It cuts right into our family lives. How many youngsters today care the least about their faith in God while choosing their life partners? How many Catholic parents take their kids to swimming lessons or music classes on Sundays and ignore their life in faith and their responsibility to bring up their kids in faith? And how many Catholic couples consider it normal to terminate a pregnancy when a child is inconvenient?
A remarkable promise is made to those who welcome preachers of the Gospel in the second part of the passage (vv. 40-42). “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes him who sent me” (v. 40). Not everyone has received the same qualities and gifts from God. In different ways, but with the same generosity, every true believer is called to support those who dedicate themselves to proclaiming the Gospel.