If we’re able to, and if it helps us love Jesus more, let’s spend the rest of Mass praying over these questions, ‘Holy Spirit, Whom do I have to thank? Who has blessed me?’ They could be from our family, at church, work or school, or among friends.
The First Reading is helpful in its simplicity: Elisha, in the ninth century B.C., passes through a village, and a wealthy woman identifies him as a prophet and offers him food.
This happens enough times that she constructs him a room on top of her house and furnishes it.
He responds to her generosity by asking his assistant what to do for her. Gehazi states that she and her husband are old and childless, so Elisha predicts that she’ll conceive a son, and it’s likely that he was part of the miracle, because he’s the most famous miracle worker in the Old Testament, even more so than Moses and Elijah.
One temptation for all of us is entitlement. Our family, friends, fellow Christians do good things for us and we get used to it. Because we’re busy, we need to stop and ponder: This person doesn’t or didn’t have to do this for me. Elisha asks of the Shunammite woman, “Since you have taken all this trouble for us, what may be done for you?” (2 Kgs 4:13). So, we could take our prayer today a step further: ‘Holy Spirit, what should I do for these persons in return?’
Remember the difference between regular gratitude and Christian gratitude: Regular gratitude focuses on what’s been given. Christian gratitude focuses on who’s given it. Therefore, we’re thankful to Jesus, Who gives this blessing. Every Mass, we enter His thanksgiving of the Father.
Wednesday is July 1, so, we’re beginning our Sabbath Summer today, our annual parish season where we rest in God. It doesn’t mean we do nothing. Rather, we intentionally receive the Father’s goodness, keep on loving Him and others (e.g. we would never skip Mass during vacation), but slow down so that we can concentrate on praising Him and rebuilding our strength. One of the ways I rest is by preaching a short homily!
Our attitude and even our summer will shift when we are grateful to God and others. So, if it helps, let’s spend the rest of Mass praying over these questions (‘Holy Spirit, Whom do I have to thank? Who has blessed me? Holy Spirit, what should I do for these persons in return?’) and thanking the Father.