MOSAIC Summer 2019 | Page 38

LIVING WORD Reading Scripture from the Heart of the Church The Biblical Art of Hospitality Dr. Mary Healy H ospitality is often regarded today as something of an optional pas- time. Some people enjoy throwing dinner parties or hosting guests overnight; others do not. Many Christians may be surprised to discover that for God’s people, hospitality is not an option but a solemn duty. The first biblical example of hospitality is the moving scene at the Oaks of Mamre where the Lord appears to Abraham in the form of three men (Gen 18). Abraham’s re- sponse is a model of Middle Eastern hos- pitality. He greets his guests with profound courtesy and deference. He urges them to stay for a while, have their feet washed (the first foot-washing in the Bible!), and enjoy a light snack before continuing their jour- ney – making clear that the honor would be all his. He then hastens to prepare a lavish meal with the best that he can of- fer. The text does not say whether Abraham immediately recognizes the divine identity of his guests, but his profoundly reverent demeanor suggests that he does. It is the first biblical hint that every act of hospital- ity is in some sense a welcoming of God himself. The Old Testament is filled with similar accounts of people welcoming brothers, friends, strangers, enemies, or at times, an- gels. In one case, a generous act of hospi- tality stopped a war, when the king of Israel set a rich banquet before the Syrian troops that had come to attack him (2 Kg 6:21- 23). Lot, Gideon, Manoah, and Tobit all welcomed visitors graciously before realiz- ing that they were angels (Gen 19:1-3; Jdg 6:19; 13:15–16; Tob 5:4–14). The letter to the Hebrews has these examples in mind 36 when it teaches Christians, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (Heb 13:2). The Greek word for hospitality (philox- enia) literally means “love for strangers.” After the exodus from Egypt, God makes hospitality a law for his people, precisely because they knew what it was like to be aliens in a foreign land: “You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the na- tive among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Lev 19:34). The New Testament letters insist on the obligation to provide hospitality. “Contrib- ute to the needs of the saints, practice hos- pitality” (Rom 12:13). “Practice hospitality ungrudgingly to one another” (1 Pet 4:9- 10). Peter’s exhortation to be “ungrudging” acknowledges the fact that bringing people of very different habits or cultures into one’s home can be costly, demanding, and uncomfortable. In the early Church, hospitality was a practical necessity to serve the needs of itinerant evangelists and any traveling Christians (3 Jn 5-8), but it also included welcoming local believers into one’s home for meals and worship. Indeed, long before church buildings were built, every liturgy was an act of hospitality! (cf. Acts 12:12). Sacred Heart Major Seminary | Mosaic | Summer 2019 A track record of hospitality is among the qualifications for those chosen to be a bish- op, deacon, or enrolled widow (1 Tm 3:2; 5:10; Ti 1:8). The Gospels reveal a deeper dimension to Christian hospitality. To welcome others, especially the most needy, is to welcome the Lord himself, as he declares: “I was… a stranger and you welcomed me…. What- ever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Mt 25:35-40). Levi the tax collector models the ideal re- sponse to the call to discipleship: he throws a party and invites Jesus to sit at table with his friends (Lk 5:29). The Lord is in a mysterious way pres- ent in every stranger who is in need of a warm welcome, food, and shelter. He is the divine Guest who has come from afar and seeks a dwelling place in this foreign, fallen land. He waits to be invited: “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent” (Lk 24:29). Yet in an- other sense he is the gracious Host, and we are his guests. So Jesus continually exhorts, “Abide in me… Abide in my love” (Jn 15:4, 9), for “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places… [and] I am going to pre- pare a place for you” (Jn 14:2). Dr. Mary Healy is professor of Sacred Scripture at Sacred Heart.