Scripture Reflection, July 22: Models of Hospitality

Scripture Readings:
Genesis 18: 1-10
Psalm 15
Colossians 1: 24-28
Luke 10: 38-42

Once in a while, I spend a weekend at the home of my oldest sister and her husband. They have been married for many years and have three adult daughters. Through the years, I have watched as they made their house into a home. They manage to create an environment for family members, friends and strangers where people can be “at home.” You can just be yourself in their home. Many people have a house but never really manage to create a home. The home of my sister is a place where you can fall asleep in a chair in the den after a big meal and no one seems to mind. The only problem is that you just might be awakened by their oversized Golden Retriever (Jack) who enjoys licking guests on the face. My sister and her husband really work at being hospitable to others. Their hospitality goes beyond the details of providing food, drink and comfortable chairs. Beyond all of that, they exhibit a genuine attentiveness to the people who visit them – an interest in them and a willingness to listen to their concerns.

The Scripture readings for this Sunday illumine the importance of hospitality. They challenge us with the question of how hospitable we are to others and also of how hospitable we are to God in our lives. In the reading from Genesis, Abraham and Sarah are presented as models of active and gracious hospitality. The three mysterious travelers, moving along in the intense heat of the desert, receive spontaneous kindness from Abraham and Sarah. Our ancestors in faith go to great lengths to provide respite for these travelers and to make them feel welcome. Neither Abraham nor Sarah realizes that, in offering hospitality to these visitors, they are in reality entertaining messengers from God. God has come to visit them in the guise of these unexpected guests. In this moment of hospitality, Abraham and Sarah are given a solemn promise, the promise of the birth of Isaac. Isaac represents their future as a people.

This Sunday’s Gospel reading is also about the virtue of hospitality. The story of Martha and Mary is all about what it means to invite Jesus into our lives. I have to laugh every time I read this Gospel because I think of the way in which my mother used to respond to it when she was still alive. I remember reading this Gospel one Sunday when she was elderly and sick, as we celebrated Eucharist at the dining room table of her home. She expressed her perplexity about it to me very bluntly. Having had eight children, a very busy household, and plenty of work to be done around the house, she could never understand why Martha is not the hero of this story. After all, Martha seems to be doing all the work in this scene.

It is not the case that Martha’s genuine concern about the details of hospitality does not have its place or importance. But it appears that Martha is so caught up in all of the activity that she misses the person – the person of Jesus. It is Mary who recognizes that the most essential part of hospitality is attentiveness to the person. Mary is attentive to Christ and listens to his words.

There are countless moments and ways in which you and I are called to extend hospitality to others. It may be answering the telephone and listening to the troubled friend or family member on the other end of the line. It may entail inviting someone into our home or dorm room and making them feel welcome. Sometimes it involves closing the door of the office at work in order to listen to the concerns of a coworker. It means extending a kind look and warm greeting to the homeless person we meet on the street (even if we are unable to offer him or her any money). This hospitality may involve sitting down and talking with a child about something of interest to him or her. And, of course, there are countless other moments in which you and I are invited to extend gracious hospitality to others.

There are many things that we can and should do in order to make people feel at home. There are many details of hospitality. But the most important thing is to be attentive to the person. Attentiveness and listening require effort on our part. They call for the willingness to put aside our own agenda for a while and to check our inclination to speak too quickly. Attentive listening is hard work. But it can be a source of healing for others. And, like Abraham and Sarah, we may well discover that in being attentive to others, we have encountered the presence of God.

This Gospel reading also challenges us to reflect upon the ways in which we are called to show hospitality to Christ in our lives. Mary of Bethany is set before us as a reminder of the importance of attentiveness to the Lord as he speaks to us. She sits at the feet of Jesus and listens to his word. As followers of Jesus, we need to set aside regular time to speak and to listen to him. There is nothing more important that we can do. Even if we can only devote a few minutes a day to prayer, that time is essential. We need to speak with Christ about all that is going on in our lives. We need to “tell him all about it” – not for his sake but for ours. It is important that we speak with Christ about the significant decisions we must make. And, like Mary, we need to listen to his word. We are invited to listen to his word in the Scriptures that we hear and read. And we are called to become quiet enough to hear his word spoken personally to us in the depths of our hearts. Sometimes we need simply to sit in the presence of Christ and say nothing. It is through moments like these, even if they are not lengthy, that Christ becomes more real to us and that we become more aware that he is present to us always, in all that we are and do.

Our lives as Christians are meant to be an ongoing conversation with Christ. In order for that to happen, we must extend hospitality to Christ. We need to be attentive to his presence and to listen to his word. At the Eucharist, we come to the table of the Lord, where Christ is our host. He invites us to his table, listens to us attentively, and gives us himself to be our nourishment. May we welcome Christ into our lives by extending hospitality to others and by committing ourselves to regular prayer.

Fr. Robin Ryan, cp