Offering hospitality always brings a gift from God.

Sixteenth Sunday in OT  C 2019

The Scripture message today is that offering hospitality always brings a gift from God.   Perhaps even more important than physical hospitality is simply listening to one another.

A man attending a crowded Sunday Mass refused to take off his hat when asked to do so by the ushers. Others also asked him to remove his hat, but he remained obstinate. The priest was perturbed, too, and waited for the man after the service.

He told the man that the church was quite happy to have him as a guest, and invited him to join the church, but he explained the traditional decorum regarding men's hats and said, "I hope you will conform to that practice in the future."

"Thank you Father," said the man. "And thank you for taking time to talk to me. It is good of you to invite me to join the congregation. In fact, I joined it three years ago and have been coming regularly ever since, but today is the first time that anyone paid attention to me. After being an unknown for three years, today, by simply keeping on my hat on, I have had the pleasure of talking with the ushers, several of the congregants and you. Thanks!"

The scriptures are about welcoming - about hospitality. It is about noticing the other and being attentive to the other.  We all need to ask ourselves the question where are we on the giving and the receiving of hospitality and friendship in our parish community?

Today’s readings tell us two very different meal stories.

In the first Scripture reading, Father Abraham is the host who spares absolutely nothing in welcoming strangers to his home.   Abraham looking up saw three men standing nearby.  When he saw them, he ran from the entrance to greet them, to welcome them, to provide extravagant hospitality and a warm meal for them.

Abraham’s story reminds us that we never know in what guise God will show up.  Luckily, he did not live in a gated community.  Abraham’s servants were tasked with hospitality rather than security.

The first reading is about strangers being entertained and the people didn’t know that the Lord was visiting them.  When we open our heart and home to the stranger and the neighbor we are receiving God into our lives.  The Indian poet Tagore writes – “and when you left I saw God’s footprints on the floor.

As with Abraham in the first reading, God may be coming to us as the one in need.  If our hearts are not generous and welcoming, how often have we turned God away and in turn failed to experience the generosity He wants to bestow on us.  Abraham shows us that the welcome we offer to the stranger is the welcome we offer to God.  Christ is received in every guest.

Offering hospitality always brings a gift from God.  Abraham and Sarah’s hospitality to the three mysterious visitors leads to the revelation that they will have a son.

In the Gospel account, Jesus, going along a road, came to a village and was welcomed into a house.  There one sister, having to get the meal, complained that the other sister just sat and listened to Jesus; and Jesus says that this second sister, named Mary, had chosen the better part, and it is not to be taken from her.

The traditional interpretation of this passage points to the distinction between an active service spirituality and the more prayerful listening spirituality.  In our discipleship of the Lord Jesus, there is a place for service, and there is a place for prayerfulness.  We spend a lifetime seeking the balance between the two ways of discipleship.

Lord, there is a Martha and Mary within each of us.

            -a part of ourselves which is busy and active,

            -another part which sits at your feet and listens trustingly to your word.

We need our active side to accomplish your will, but the listening is the best part, and we must not allow it to be taken from us.

Martha’s major error was to let the menu overshadow the encounter with Jesus.     Martha let agitation about the kitchen cancel out the nourishment that comes from being in Jesus’ presence.  We need the nourishment that comes from the kitchen table; we also need the spiritual nourishment that comes from the Lord Himself.  Isn’t it true that hospitality’s most important dimension is listening attentively to your guests?

As we reflect on our spiritual side, remember the truth that we can do many holy things without ever becoming holy.  There may be much action in our lives, very worthwhile action, but we need first to listen to the Lord in prayer before we can be people of action.  Is our active life leading us to deepen our encounter, our relationship with the Lord Jesus?

Jesus is not telling Martha that her work is not important, nor is he commending Mary for doing nothing.  He is simply reminding his followers that if we want to serve Him, we must first listen to Him.  We need to be people of prayer before we are people of action.

Martha and Mary serve together as partners in a living Church. Thanks be to God there is both a Martha and a Mary to the spiritual dynamic of St. Joseph’s Church.   May we learn a lesson from Mother Theresa.   Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity devote an hour to the adoration of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament before going to serve Jesus in the suffering people they find in the streets.   Please God, may we never lose sight of the ways we encounter the Lord in our prayer.  Hospitality’s most important dimension is listening attentively to your guests.

May we embrace both the Martha and the Mary that is within us.

Have a Blessed Day.