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The Shunamite couple’s relationship with Elisha is a concrete illustration of people who receive a prophet because he is a prophet and who receive a righteous man because he is righteous. It also illustrates the result promised by Jesus: they received a reward. Doing good is its own reward, and sometimes the Lord sees fit to sweeten the pot a bit in this life all the while keeping the true prophet’s reward for heaven.

Jeremiah's preaching against Sabbath violations and idolatry had resulted in repeated persecution at the hands of the religious leaders and eventually Jerusalem’s royalty. In our first reading this week, the Spirit speaks to us about the persecution that often results from speaking the Word of the Lord in a culture that would rather not be bothered with such things.

Their calling was to lead a religious reform of all of humanity, to restore right worship of the true God, and to do so specifically as royal priests. They failed to keep the covenant in the Gold Calf incident, but the Lord never really let go of his original intention, and the concept is taken up anew in the New Testament and applied to all Christians. You and I, we are royal priests.

Just as in ancient times, the Lord feeds us with bread from heaven. This New Manna is a greater miracle than the old manna. The New Manna of the Eucharist feeds our souls, prepares our bodies for resurrection, and serves as the medicine of immortality.