Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward. In the first reading, we see a woman of influence urging the prophet Elisha to come to dinner at her home. The Scriptures tell us that anytime Elisha was back in the area, he always stopped by this same woman’s home. After some time, the couple even sets up a room for him! Because of their generosity in welcoming him, Elisha promises the woman that she and her husband will no longer be childless but that this time next year they will have a baby son.

Notice that in our first reading, this couple literally rearranged their home to make space for the prophet Elisha. Our Gospel invites us to reflect – to what degree are we willing to rearrange the areas of our hearts to make room for Jesus? Do we need to set aside other loves – relatives even – to love him more fully?

The second reading invites us to see ourselves as dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus. Often the journey of discipleship will ask us to let go of ways of living that hold us back from the newness of life which Christ won for us through his death and resurrection. This inner work of being renewed, or, to use our earlier analogy, of rearranging the areas in our hearts to make a home for Christ, is one that continues and deepens over time.

As with the couple in our first reading, our first task is to invite Jesus in. If we have never done this, it’s a good place to start. This might look like setting aside five or ten minutes a day to pray, or, celebrating the sacrament of reconciliation to return to the Lord if we have felt distant from him. But after we have invited him in, after we have dined with him regularly (in other words, after we have the basics of the spiritual life in place), perhaps it’s time to invite him to take up more space in our lives. Maybe that looks like asking God “How do you want me to serve?” and waiting for God to reveal some way he is calling you to give more generously of your time or resources to support the work of building up his kingdom.

The good news for us today is that the Lord sees and rewards whatever actions we may do to give him more real estate in our lives. Whether it’s offering another a simple cup of water, or, setting up a whole room for him to dwell, Jesus promises that Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward. God is never outdone in generosity.

As Catholics, we know this. We come to this altar bringing simple gifts of bread and wine, and the Lord returns them back to us infinitely elevated as bearers of his own divine presence, the Body and Blood of Jesus. May this Eucharist draw us to be more open to giving more of our hearts, more of our lives to the Lord, knowing that in doing so, we will be filled with even more of his blessings

(Fr. Michał Pająk, OMI, June 28, 2026)