Top photo credit: Getty image
By: Ester Dutra, Fiat Ventures
Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
I love how, in the first reading, the woman from Shunem knows that Elisha is a holy man of God. She not only wants him to be more comfortable by feeding him, but she also prepares a room for him. With no selfish interest, simply because he is a man of God!
And I wonder: what was so different about Elisha that made her want to be around him so much?
Aren’t we all called to be men and women of God?
Sometimes it’s hard to tell who is and who isn’t a follower of Christ unless the person says so. But I remember how, in Scripture, those who followed Christ first started being called Christians in Antioch. Imagine how exciting that must have been!! To be recognized as someone who belonged to Christ! That is such a gift!
Yet sometimes we take for granted the gift of being called a follower of Jesus…
As followers of Christ, our words, and especially HOW we speak, should reveal Him. The words we choose, the words we avoid, and our actions should tell people more about Christ than anything else. Going back to Elisha, I find myself asking: why aren’t all Christians so pleasant to be around?
For example, if I complain all day, how could I possibly expect people to want to be around me? If all I do is bring negativity into a room, what room am I leaving for Christ to act through me?
Perhaps that is one of the lessons we can learn from Elisha and the woman from Shunem. Not only are we called to make room for our Lord in our lives, but we are also called to let Him transform us! We should allow Him to shape us in such a way that our actions bring out the goodness and beauty of Christ.
By the grace of the Holy Spirit, we can become a reflection of Christ’s presence wherever we are, not for our own sake, but for the glory of Jesus’ name!
Watch your little actions today. Those are often the main ways we bring Christ into the world. Maybe it means complaining less. Maybe it means offering a big smile to a stranger. Maybe it means holding a door open for someone. These small acts may seem insignificant, but they reveal the love of God in powerful ways!
Let’s learn how to be more like God and bring Him into every place we step. May our lives be so transformed by Christ that others recognize His presence in us, just as the woman from Shunem recognized it in Elisha!