OMELIE / Omelie EN

28 giu 2026

June 28, 2026 - 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time - A

June 28, 2026 - 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time - A

Let us pray for the Pope

First Reading: 2 Kings 4:8-11, 14-16 from Psalm 88 Second Reading: Rom 6:3-4, 8-11 Gospel: Matthew 10:37-42

Jesus concludes today's teaching with this assurance: "Whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, truly, I say to you, he will certainly not lose his reward." He had this certainty while listening to the Scriptures. Who knows how many times he has come across that passage we heard as the first reading.

The woman of Shunem appreciated the prophet Elisha and was happy to host him, so much so that she asked her husband to prepare a brick room for him with a bed, chair, table, and lamp, so that when he passed through, he could spend the night in a manner worthy of a prophet of God. When he learned that she was suffering from her own infertility, he obtained a wonderful reward for her from God: "Next year, about this time, you will hold a son in your arms." And so it happened!

Jesus announces the Father's generosity. He notices everything we do for his Son, and leaves nothing, no action, no act of love unrewarded. "Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous man as a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward!" How much more so, whoever welcomes a disciple of Jesus welcomes the Lord himself! And whoever welcomes the Lord welcomes the one who sent him into the world. These promises of Jesus are sure, for his Word will never pass away! Furthermore, these promises help us understand what He told us earlier. He, Jesus, must be loved more than any other loved person. He is the dearest person, for us and for everyone, because he is the dearest person to God himself.

Loving Jesus above all and everyone is the secret to ensuring that the love we offer is true love, and that the people we love feel truly loved. When I love Jesus more than my father and mother, more than my daughter or son, they cannot influence my love, which must be divine love. My love for them will not be conditioned by their selfishness or jealousy. I will be able to tell them my yes, but also to offer my no, if I can discern that what they ask of me is not in accordance with God's will. Indeed, loving does not mean pleasing, but helping to fulfill the Father's will, helping to be disciples of Jesus, so that their joy too may be complete.

Why do we love Jesus above and before all else? The apostle helps us understand this and also decide, pausing to consider the beginning of our adherence to Jesus. We were welcomed by him when we agreed to be baptized. What does this mean? We publicly acknowledged that the death and resurrection of the Lord are part of our existence. With baptism, we decided to die to sin, to no longer be present and participate in that world that disobeys God. We too were outside the Father's love, but we renounced that life to be resurrected with Christ Jesus. Baptism cast us, once dead to sin, into the arms of Jesus, alive forever, seated at the right hand of the Father, yet always with us every day.

Having died and risen with and in the sacrament of baptism, we are now aware that our existence is renewed. We no longer live as we did before, concerned only with our material well-being, still conditioned by many selfish desires that made us disobey God: this way of being belongs to the past. Now, risen with Christ, we look to him, we walk behind him, thus living a new life, one that is always guided by the love of the Father and the Son. We will be continually moved by their Spirit, of which our body has become a temple.

The Holy Spirit constantly raises our gaze to Jesus, who loves us from the cross. We will have the strength and grace to make his love our own and to love him above all and everyone. We will love all those we love and have always loved, but we will love them with a new love, that love that desires eternal life for them too, a perfect life, rich in holy love and free from the influences of the world. We will love in the name of Jesus, we will love because we are his disciples, because from him we receive divine love.