13th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Originally delivered on July 1, 1990
Readings: Kings 4:8-11, 14-16; Romans 6:3-4, 8-11; Matthew 1-:37-42
Prophets will always be like us, frail sinners. today’s first and third readings, we hear about welcoming prophets. Indeed, in Matthew’s Gospel, we hear that “he who welcomes a holy man because he is known as holy receives a holy man’s reward. And I promise you that whoever gives a cup of cold water to one of these lowly ones because he is a disciple will not want for his reward.” But what about when God sends a prophet that challenges us? Will we welcome that prophet in our midst? We are always in a struggle to understand what God is telling us through these prophets. But, finally, we must remember that we are each, in all of our human weakness, called to be prophets.