2 Kings 4:8-11, 14-16a; Psalm 89:2-3, 16-17, 18-19; Romans 6:3-4, 8-11; Matthew 10:37-42

In the first reading and the Gospel this Sunday there is a theme of receiving servants of God. In the first reading, the woman of Shunem shows hospitality to the prophet Elisha specifically because he is "a holy man of God." In fact, the woman goes well beyond the ordinary requirements of hospitality, setting up a permanent guest room specifically for Elisha to use when he passes through town. When Elisha sees this, he wants to do something for the woman, and upon hearing that she has no son, he promises her a son in the next year.

Clearly this woman's hospitality to God's prophet was richly rewarded. This should not surprise us because hospitality to prophets and others sent by God is a way of welcoming God Himself in this world. In the gospel we find that Jesus sees those who receive His apostles as receiving Him, and receiving the Father. He further promises that those who receive His apostles, prophets, righteous men, and disciples will be rewarded. This brought to mind the question of how we can be welcoming and hospitable to those the successors to Jesus' apostles and disciples.

Many Catholics often bemoan the state of things in the Church from a variety of perspectives, and aim a multitude of criticisms at all the bishops and priests who these critics think are not living up to their offices in guiding the Church. Certainly, there are many problems in the Church. I could go through a long list of things that I wish were different in our current circumstances in the Church, and I know a lot of other people have their own lists, some longer than mine, some shorter, and some of the complaints more valid than others. Also, it seems undeniable that many bishops and priests are failing to fulfill their duties in various ways, and some may even appear to be grossly violating their vocations. It is not always a bad thing that these men are criticized. In some cases it is good that people recognize when there are problems with particular bishops or priests. To be honest, it is often important that Catholics are able to know whether a particular bishop or priest can be relied upon to be faithful to Christ in His Church.

At the same time, though, we have to ask ourselves: are we as quick to praise and support the good as we are to complain about and condemn the bad? There are plenty of good things being done by priests and members of the hierarchy in the Church as well. Some parishes and dioceses have very good Catholic schools and other institutions. There are many excellent priests, faithful to the Magisterium and working hard in the "front lines" of the Church in parish life to bring people closer to God. Some of the bishops are great leaders in their dioceses, guiding with a steady hand the local church entrusted to them and courageously proclaiming the truths of the Catholic faith in a culture which can be extremely hostile to the truth. These people are serving God well, and they all will face opposition and difficulties, some more than others. Do we expend as much effort in lifting up these faithful servants of God and His Church as we do criticizing or complaining about others? I am as guilty as anyone in this regard, or more so. The priests at the parish where I live are great. It is obvious that they work hard in fulfilling all their priestly duties, and I can go to Mass there any time with no fear of hearing the doctrines or moral teachings of the Church questioned from the pulpit, or of seeing some bizarre "innovation" mangling the liturgy given to us by the Church. Of course, I have never said a word about this to any of them.

This Sunday's first reading and gospel remind us of the importance of supporting faithful servants of God in the Church. Of course that means contributing to their efforts in any way we can, whether materially or through some applicable use of our talents. However, even when we cannot help them in those ways, or cannot do any more along that line then we already are, we can still do more to support them. I remember hearing Cardinal Ratzinger, before he was Benedict XVI, talk about the fact that his work as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was often "uncomfortable" and "difficult." However, he mentioned that it was particularly rewarding when people came up to him and thanked him for his work, saying things like: "we are thankful that you are doing this difficult job, because this is helping us."

If the prefect of one of the most important congregations of the Roman Curia, a man who is now Pope, felt better about his work because of individual people expressing their gratitude for what he did for the Church, then is it not likely that a good parish priest, whom few outside of his parish have ever heard of, might be helped by knowing that his faithfulness to the teachings of the Church has been noticed and appreciated? Or that his celebration of reverent Masses obedient to the liturgical laws of the Church is valued by people in the pews? Or that his homilies have helped someone, taught someone something new, or given people some new spiritual insight in their lives? What about bishops? I wonder if even the best bishops hear more from people telling them how well they are doing and how important their work is for the Church, or from people criticizing and attacking them and their work? Human nature being what it is, it is easier for priests and bishops to serve faithfully and well if they are able to do so in a more hospitable environment, in which they and their faithful service are welcomed, praised, and supported by as many of the people they serve as possible. If we want Jesus to reward us with more faithful servants of God as priests and in the hierarchy, we should receive gratefully and value properly the ones we already have.