Hospitality Mystery

The texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary invite us to consider practical traditional and good ideas and practices in a different light. There is a tension between the path of life which our cultures, our experience, our education and our current practice expects us to follow and the possibility that leaping into a journey which relies only on trust in God is the path of fullness in life. Father Larry Gillick SJ frames this tension in terms of the practical and the impractical. The meeting of Abraham at Mamre  with three visitors touches on the practice of hospitality toward quests in the desert because, as Friar Jude Winkler notes, you may be responsible for their death if you do not supply sustaining nourishment. The response of Abraham is impractical and over the top. He prepares food for many more people than he has to feed. The visitors in Jewish tradition are God and two angels. Christian reflection understands them to be the Trinity. The blessing for Sarah (and Abraham) that they will be parents of a son within the year is an impractical gift to an elderly couple expecting to be at the end of life. The plan of God is a mystery. The blessing of Abraham and Sarah may be thought to be a consequence of their hospitality or their hospitality is an aspect of their giftedness which the Lord will develop as they continue their journey in the mystery.  Paul addresses the Colossians proclaiming thanksgiving for the suffering he has endured in his mission to reveal the Promise of Life in Jesus to the Gentiles. The impractical journey which trusts in the God is not without suffering. The very idea of choosing such a path is likely to attract ridicule and rejection. The privilege experienced by Paul in being persecuted, treated rudely, imprisoned and rejected by the leaders of the Jewish Pharisee community, who had nurtured his development in the practical practice of faith in God, is difficult for the practical mind to accept. The Gospel from Luke, who is continuing to express Jesus instructions to His disciples for the method to navigate the journey which they have begun, shows the reaction of Martha and Mary to the arrival of Jesus (and likely many disciples) at their home during Passover. In our hospitality tradition we can imagine an Easter visit by good friends and their friends which appears to overwhelm our expectations and we begin to dig up food and drink for our quests. It is Martha who appears to take the practical (and perhaps necessary) steps to be hospitable. The impracticality of Jesus pointing out that Mary has chosen the better part challenges us to move toward the mystery and trust that God has a plan. In a practical sense, Friar Jude notes that the better hospitality toward quests is probably related to listening to them and being present with them.