Hospitality – Making the Divine Manifest
We live in an age when medical science can do more than could have been imagined even just a few decades ago. For those in a privileged position, like so many of us in the wealthy western world, access to modern medical treatments means a higher quality of life and, generally speaking, a longer life too.
For this, we ought to be grateful to both God and to those who have used their God-given talents and gifts for the benefit of humankind.
Considering the focus on the advancements in the field of medicine, it is not surprising that we have often overlooked the importance of another aspect of life that is crucial to human flourishing, especially in terms of quality of life: hospitality.
The words “hospitality” and “hospital” are closely related. The word “hospital” has its origins in a Latin word related to “foreigner” or “stranger”, someone who is a guest. And so, over time, the word came to speak of something akin to an inn and the hospitable relationship between owner and guest. The word “hotel” is also related. Hospitality is essentially about care for others, making people feel comfortable and at ease, most particularly guests and others unknown to us.
Hospitality is central to our readings this weekend. Our First Reading sees an example of hospitality being repaid, as the woman who offers repeated hospitality to the prophet Elisha, is asked if he can repay her in any way. Ultimately, she is rewarded with a longed-for son, despite her husband being elderly.
Of importance is that the woman, in offering hospitality to the holy man Elisha, does so without any expectation of being rewarded for her acts of charity and mercy. She does what she does because it is the right thing to do, something that went without saying in the culture of the time, which meant people travelling over long distances in harsh and hazardous conditions.
Jesus, using characteristically hyperbolic language to make his point about the importance of hospitality, of care and concern for those in need, states that the one being offered hospitality is to be considered as Christ himself.
As always with Jesus, he is calling us to a more profound living out of the Law. Not only are we to offer hospitality to others, but we are to do so because in doing so we are offering hospitality to God incarnate, no matter if that person takes the form of a member of the nobility or of one which society considers lowly and unworthy.
But Jesus is not just talking about the odd hospitable interaction with another person. Jesus is telling us that this attitude, this living out of what we call a corporal work of mercy, is something which ought to colour all aspects of our living every day. The hyperbolic language mentioned above helps make this clear.
When Jesus talks about preferring him above those closest to us, including our very selves and our lives, he is making the point that the living out of our faith must be central to our very existence, and it is in living this way that we have true fulfilment, contentment, happiness and, ultimately, the joy of eternal life.
If we treat every encounter with another person, be they a spouse, a sibling, offspring, work colleague, acquaintance or stranger as another Christ, our lives will be enriched, as will those of all whom we engage with.
In living this way we make Christ present to others, we receive Christ in others, and we get a glimpse of, albeit an imperfect one, and make manifest, albeit imperfectly, of God’s kingdom here and now. In offering a hospitable attitude to all whom we encounter, we are making the kingdom of God present to them.
And this is something everyone can do. We do not need to be possessed of special gifts or talents to offer hospitality. God has equipped us for this attitude of care and concern for all by virtue of our openness to the work of the Holy Spirit.
We die to self in order to offer true life to others, and in doing this experience the life that God wants us to have, a life of contentment and fulfilment, even if it is peppered with sacrifice and hardship, the Cross.
Let us embrace the opportunities God gives us on numerous occasions each day to offer hospitality to others, be it something more involved like a meal or simply a smile and a listening ear to someone in need of such a simple offering.
We help others to know that there is more to human flourishing than scientific advancement, something that also has its origins in our Creator. More importantly, in doing this we make Christ manifest to others, something only we as his disciples can do, and something we are commanded to do for the salvation of humankind.
Very Rev Robert Riedling is the Dean of St Patricks Cathedral in the Diocese of Parramatta.
