Daily Catholic Lectio
Sun, 28 June 2026
XIII Sunday in Ordinary Time
2 Kgs 4:8-11, 14-16. Rom 6:3-4, 8-11. Mt 10:37-42
Kindness Begets Kindness
“We reap what we sow” is a familiar lesson of life. At times, evil may come to us even when we have done good. Yet, in many situations, the kindness and compassion we offer return to us in unexpected and greater ways.
In today’s first reading, we hear of the kindness shown by a wealthy woman of Shunem to the prophet Elisha. She recognises him as “a holy man of God.” Her hospitality begins with this recognition.
She first offers him food. Then she prepares a small room for him in her house, with a bed, table, chair, and lamp. She uses what she possesses for the good of another person. She does not calculate a reward. She simply receives Elisha as a man of God.
Elisha, in turn, desires to repay her kindness. When he learns that she has no son, he promises: “This time next year you will be fondling a baby son.” The kindness and compassion that she offered return to her as a blessing she had not expected.
In the Gospel, Jesus continues His missionary discourse. He had looked upon the crowds with compassion because they were like sheep without a shepherd. He then sent His disciples among them as shepherds.
Jesus had already spoken about the courage needed by those who are sent. Today, He speaks about how they are to be received. “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.”
Before speaking about welcome, however, Jesus speaks about the cross. “Whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.” The cross may mean rejection, suffering, and the cost of discipleship. The disciple must first be willing to accept the cross before expecting to be accepted by others.
Jesus then speaks about the reward of welcoming. Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward. Whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of the little ones will not lose the reward.
The value of an act does not depend on its size. A room prepared for a prophet and a cup of water given to a disciple both become acts of kindness when they arise from recognition and love.
In the second reading, Saint Paul speaks about the kindness God has shown us. Humanity was under the power of sin and death. Through Christ, God gives us freedom and new life. Through Baptism, we are buried with Christ and raised to live in newness of life.
At first sight, today’s readings seem to speak about hospitality, acceptance, the cross, and reward. At a deeper level, however, they invite us to a change of attitude.
The kindness of the Shunammite woman begins when she recognises Elisha as “a man of God.” When we begin to see the person beside us as someone who belongs to God, our prejudices begin to disappear. Anger, comparison, suspicion, and indifference lose their strength.
To recognise another person as belonging to God, we must first recognise our own relationship with God. Saint Paul invites us to think of ourselves as “living for God in Christ Jesus.” We are people who belong to the Lord.
Today’s Word invites us to recognise two truths: “I am a person of God,” and, “The person before me is also a person of God.”
The woman of Shunem was willing to spend her money, space, and resources for the well-being of another. She expected nothing in return. Yet her kindness brought her an abundant blessing.
Let us therefore show kindness—not because we hope to receive kindness in return, but because the person before us is worthy of kindness.
Kindness given freely often awakens kindness in another heart. Kindness begets kindness.
Fr. Yesu Karunanidhi
Archdiocese of Madurai
A Yesni Prays Initiative
Yesu Karunanidhi 
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