LIVING IN THE LIGHT
Spirituality for the Lay Person
The Responsibility of
Hospitality
Dr. Patricia Cooney Hathaway
I
n the film, “The Four Feathers,” a young 19th century British officer
resigned his commission when he learned that his unit was being sent
to the Sudan to fight the Muslim Madhis. His friends in the military
concluded that their friend was a coward, so they sent him white feathers
– a sign for cowardness.
Ashamed, yet unbeknown to his friends, reunion. We sat in a tight three-seat row.
he decided to prove them wrong, and set My husband was seated in the aisle seat,
out to join them on the frontlines. On his I was in the middle and a woman sat in
way to find his unit, he was beaten and left the window seat. I was looking forward to
for dead. A Muslim came upon him in the reading a book for a course I was prepar-
desert and tended to his wounds. When ing. Initially she tried to engage us. My
Harry asked him why he would help a total husband, always friendly and interested
stranger and enemy, the Muslim respond- in people, entered into a conversation
ed: “God put you in my
with her.
path and now I am re-
I was engrossed in
“The responsibility of
sponsible for you.”
my book, eventually
hospitality – the generous
The responsibility of
she asked me what I
and friendly reception and
hospitality – the gen-
was reading, which led
treatment of guests, visitors
erous and friendly re-
to what did I do for a
or strangers – comes to us
ception and treatment
living, which led to my
in many faces.”
of guests, visitors or
sharing a little about
strangers – comes to us
the chapter I was read-
in many faces. In the numerous demands ing on the God of compassion in the midst
and pressures of our daily lives, we often of suffering. She told me she had just re-
miss the people God places in our path. turned from Israel, participating in a con-
We are too busy, too focused on our own ference on the Holocaust and the renewal
agendas to stop and respond generously to of anti- Semitism around the world.
the unexpected guest, visitor or stranger.
We ended up introducing ourselves and
A phone call from a relative just as we having a very meaningful conversation on
are about to watch our favorite TV show; a the role of religion in society. As we got off
knock on the door from an old friend who the plane, Miriam thanked us for our hos-
is in the neighborhood and thought he pitality. I, in turn, thanked her for a most
would stop by just as we were planning a thought-provoking conversation. She was
trip to the mall. A knock on an office door the stranger whom God placed in my path.
– “Do you have a minute?”
In a recent Angelus address to pilgrims
Most recently my husband and I were in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis spoke on
flying home from his Holy Cross College the meaning of true hospitality. Above all,
he stated, hospitality challenges us to actu-
ally listen. With listening, a guest is wel-
comed as a person, with his or her history,
a heart rich in sentiments and thoughts.
Failing to do this, the Pope said, is like
treating a guest like a rock.
Commenting on the story of Martha and
Mary in the Gospel, he pointed out that
they welcomed Jesus into their home. Yet,
in busying herself about many things, Mar-
tha risked forgetting the presence of her
guest, who in this case, was Jesus. A guest,
any guest, the Pope reflected, doesn’t need
only to be served and fed. Above all, the
Pope stressed, a person needs to be lis-
tened to, just as Mary listened to Jesus.
A few practical examples bring the chal-
lenge of hospitality closer to home. Do we
welcome the stranger of another parish
when the AOD orders a “parish blending”?
Are we genuinely open to a conversation
with someone whose political views are
polar opposite from our own? Are we hos-
pitable to a member of the LBGTQ com-
munity who struggles to find a home in
the Catholic Church? If we believe in the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit, can we say
“God put you in my path, and now I am
responsible for you,” as did the Muslim?
Dr. Patricia Cooney Hathaway is professor of spir-
ituality and systematic theology at Sacred Heart.
shms.edu
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