HOSPITALITY.
July 17, 2022.
Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - C.
“Jesus entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha
welcomed him.” Lk 10:38
A Jewish proverb says: “Hospitality is one form of worship.”
And an Amerindian proverb adds: “When there is true hospitality, not many words
are needed.”
There is a saying, "He who welcomes a prophet receives
a reward of a prophet. He who welcomes a king receives a reward of a
King." Hospitality is never a loss or a waste of opportunity and time. It
is always rewarded. From far, it is a form of a safe investment. The goodness
and kindness you show to others return to you as a blessing.
The word hospitality refers to the friendly and generous
reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers. It is the inner
disposition to make someone feel welcomed in a foreign or not usual
environment.
About hospitality, the Magisterium of the Church says: “The
Council of Trent in its twenty-fifth session, cap. VIII, De Ref., enjoins
"all who hold any ecclesiastical benefices, whether secular or regular, to
accustom themselves, as far as their revenues will allow, to exercise with
alacrity and kindness the office of hospitality, so frequently commended by the
holy Fathers; being mindful that those who cherish hospitality receive Christ
in the person of their guests". This sums up the teaching and tradition of
the Church with regard to hospitality.”
In an online article published on October 06, 2015, titled
“The Need for Hospitality - According to Pope Francis”, the author Linda
Kracht, asked: “What is hospitality?” And she answered, “It must be pretty
important as it is mentioned in both the Bible and the Catechism! Hospitality
is traditionally defined as the friendly and generous reception and entertainment
of guests, visitors, or strangers. But it has to be more than that to be talked
about in the Bible. Hospitality is measured by the degree of kindness we show
others, including strangers. It is our treatment of them. It is the welcome we
give to someone’s presence and/or approach - even if it makes us uncomfortable.
It is our willingness to listen to others’ stories about their life, hardships,
and issues. It is our willingness to refrain from dismissing them for any
reason even when their clothes or attitudes hint at addictions or problems.
Hospitality was modeled for us by the Good Samaritan who went out of his way to
help the wounded man even though it was socially inappropriate to do so.”
The readings, on this Sixteenth Sunday in the Ordinary time
are a canticle on hospitality and a call for you and me to practice this great
virtue, together with the listening attitude. In the first reading, we are
given to reflect on the hospitality Abraham showed to the Lord who appeared to
him in the form of three guests. We read that “Looking up, Abraham saw three
men standing nearby.” He ran to them and invited them to not pass by without
having a rest and refresh. This act of Abraham was rewarded by a divine
promise: “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah will
then have a son.” Abraham's hospitality opened him the grace of fatherhood and
motherhood to his wife Sarah. As can sing the Psalmist, “He who does justice
will live in the presence of the Lord.” With God, our acts of justice are always
repaid.
The Gospel gives us another example of hospitality, that of
Martha welcoming the Lord. The Evangelist Luke tells us that the Lord Jesus
visited the house of two sisters, Martha and Mary. One, Mary, was a diligent
student, sitting at the feet of the Lord, listening to everything he says,
while the other one, Martha, shown to be a dutiful servant, busy in the house
core and in the kitchen seeking how to please the special guest. Then a request
of Martha to the Lord will raise a quite questionable reflection: “Lord, do you
not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to
help me.” She requested that the Lord instructs her sister to come and help
her.
Martha was not doing nonsense or something less important.
Mary was neither idled, sitting lazily. They both were busy, one in the
listening attitude, the other in the hospitable attitude. The answer of Jesus
to Martha was not a kind of belittling Martha’s endeavor. He was just telling
her that she must first be ministered to by the Savior before she can
effectively minister to the Savior. Hospitality must not be dissociated from
the listening attitude. They are both divine virtues we should cultivate.
In our lives as Christians, we should all have a piece of
Mary and a piece of Martha. Be busy doing good, and also be busy listening to
the Lord. For the first to be hospitable with us and to teach us how to be
hospitable with others is the Lord. He welcomes us in his love, purifies us,
feeds our needs, and thus sends us to welcome, serve, and feed the needs of
others. To speak of the Good Samaritan of last Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus is the
par excellence Good Samaritan who breaks all the rules and interdictions to
reach out to us, poor sinners.
We are called, through our actions and words, to fill up in our bodies and through our beings, that which is lacking in the sufferings of Christ, as says St. Paul. We are given a mandate of stewardship, to minister in our brothers and sisters the holy and blameless Body of Christ. In so doing, we are given an assurance: Christ in us is our hope for glory. With Christ in our lives, all our good deeds will be rewarded. Our hospitality will be paid off. In serving the poorest of our brothers and sisters, it is the Lord we serve, just like Abraham served him in the three visitors or Martha and Mary in the Lord Jesus their guest. For, says St. Luigi Orione: “The image of God shines in the lowliest of men. Whoever gives to the poor, gives to God and will receive his reward from the hand of God.”
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