Neil Armstrong, as history remembers, was the first human to set foot on the moon. This occurred in 1969. Yet, for this triumphant moment to occur, Armstrong had to embrace a lifetime of radical risk. This began when he was training as a Navy pilot and continued with the NASA astronaut program. Both carried significant risks. Yet, he was willing to take risks that eventually saw him and his crew to the moon and back.[1]
Although Neil Armstrong and his crew received a great reward, risk-taking, by our nature, is something we tend to avoid because it exposes us to dangers or pitfalls. For instance, consider the Donor Party of 1848. This group of American pioneers took several risks to shorten their journey to California. Yet in doing so, they become trapped in the snowy Sierra Nevada Mountains. As such, they are now doomed to their unfortunate fate in history. Therefore, with stories like this, our tendency today is to play it safe.
However, playing it safe is not new; people in the ancient world often took the safe road to survive. For them, the family was the most important element of society because the family offered stability and security in their lives.[2] It was the safe thing to do. As a result, anyone in the ancient world who decided on Jesus took a risk. Because by becoming a Christian, one could easily slide into homelessness.[3] Yet, those who took the risky business of Christianity must carry their cross and decide which relationship they want – being safe within a family or taking a risk and following Jesus.
This is something Mother Theresa of Calcutta had to do in her life. On September 10, 1946, Mother Teresa received her second vocational call. She had been doing missionary work with the Loreto Sisters for eighteen years, which was a place of stability. Nevertheless, on this day, she felt what she called, “[was her] call within a call” to be hospitable to the poorest of the poor in Calcutta.[4] To follow this call, Mother Theresa had to take a risk, carry the cross she received, and cut ties with the Loreto Sisters. In doing so, she moved into complete poverty, for she had nothing to offer anyone, at this point, but Christ himself.
Therefore, with this in mind, it must have been difficult back then, and even today, to make such a choice, because in choosing Jesus, it seems that one would be alone and insecure, but is this the truth?
Our first reading today can help us answer this question, for it can help us get a sense of what Christian discipleship is all about as we follow “Elisha and his mentor, Elijah, [who] roamed the area known … as Galilee. [Here they took risks] and prophesied and worked mighty miracles, so their [fellow citizens] would return to the Lord.”[5] As such, these prophets of the Lord depended upon the gift of hospitality and the goodwill of those they encountered. This we see in our first reading with the Shunammite woman who took a risk and offered hospitality, first with a meal and later in a place to stay.[6] This is to her credit, for by taking a risk of hospitality, she received a great reward as her family increased through the gift of a son.
Still, we must be careful here, for this is not the principle of karma, but rather a simple outcome of human nature. Because those who were sincerely generous in freely receiving hospitality, in this case, such as Elisha, were more apt to share their goods with others as they extended a risk-filled hand in helping those who gave them hospitality, such as the Shunammite woman.[7]
This is what Jesus is getting at when he states, “[That] whoever receives will receive a just reward.” With this, Jesus gives several examples in our gospel, such as, “whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward,” and so on. This idea, then, extends to Christians who leave the security and stability of their family or community. For “faith demands great risks, but it gives great rewards. One could lose his or her family, but the person gains so much more in return.”[8] For by abandoning the world of sin, we receive eternal life as much as Christ gave up his life so that we may live. For with Jesus and with all eternity, we as a family of believers, by taking a risk to follow Jesus, bring to us eternal joy as it did to Mother Theresa and all who took a risk, picked up their cross, and followed Jesus.
[1] Cf. https://www.kauffman.org/list-of-40-risk-takers/
[2] Joshua J. Mark, Ancient Roman Society, https://www.ancient.eu/article/1463/ancient-roman-society/
[3] Cf. http://www.word-sunday.com/Files/a/13-a/A-13-a.html
[4] Cf. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/436ssqcU52Q
[5] Cf. http://www.word-sunday.com/Files/a/13-a/A-13-a.html
[Image] Procession to Calvary, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1564
Today’s Spiritual Links for June 26, 2026
National Eucharistic Review
Today’s Mass Readings
Today’s Reflection
Rosary
Liturgy of the Hours
New American Bible
Non-Scriptural Reading
Prime Matters
