Hospitality Remains a Virtue

Homily for July 2, 2017 (13th Sunday in Ordinary Time)

2 Kings 4:8-11, 14-16a; Psalm 89; Romans 6:3-4, 8-11; Matthew 10:37-42

We hear a lot these days about the “hospitality industry.”  It’s already a big part of our economy and it’s one of the places where there’s likely to be job growth in the coming years.  What is the “hospitality industry?”  It depends whom you ask.  According to the Cambridge Dictionary it includes hotels, bars and restaurants.  However, others like the Small Business Chronicle define it more broadly and divide it into sectors:  food and beverages, accommodations, and travel and tourism.  In any case, it’s a big deal, generating hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue every year and providing millions of jobs, especially for young people and immigrants.

But long, long before it ever became an industry hospitality was (and remains) a virtue. Today’s readings ask us to reflect on that virtue—how God has extended it to us and how we are called to extend it back to God and others.

In our first reading, an unnamed Shunammite  “woman of prominence” goes out of her way to provide hospitality to the prophet Elisha, providing him with his own little rooftop guestroom.  In a few verses that the editors of the Lectionary editors did not include in this passage, Elisha through his servant Gehazi tries to reciprocate by asking what he can do for her.  However, she demurs, telling him in effect that since she is with her family she has all that she needs.  A sign of true hospitality is that it is offered without any desire or expectation of anything in return.  However, when Elisha later finds out that the woman and her husband are childless—an unfortunate cause for shame in the culture of the time—he promises her a reward she never requested and didn’t expect:  within a year she would be playing with a baby son.

Our gospel passage picks up on the theme of rewards.  Jesus challenges his disciples to give up everything, even what is nearest and dearest to them, to follow him.  He promises that those who welcome them will be rewarded in ways beyond what a prophet or righteous person could ever offer.  In Romans 8, St. Paul recalls for us that God’s hospitality to us was made incarnate in Jesus, who as God’s Son doubled down on that generosity by giving his life for us.  Through our own baptism, we are immersed in that mystery of love and called to make it real by “living for God in Christ Jesus” and by practicing the virtue of hospitality.  Some turn this virtue into a ministry by serving as ushers, greeters or ministers of care at church.  The rest of us can offer hospitality by greeting others before Mass, offering them a sign of peace, or helping a visitor get comfortable in the pew.  

Of course, church isn’t the only place we can offer hospitality.  We do it in our homes.  We do it in our communities when we welcome and support immigrants, refugees and asylum-seekers.  We do it at work when we take the time to “show the ropes” to someone new.  We can even show hospitality when we drive by slowing down and letting someone into our lane. 

This past week, the Supreme Court of the United States allowed a portion of the President’s travel ban on people from certain predominantly Muslim countries to remain in effect.  A rationale for the ban is that, because of the risks of terrorism, people coming from these countries will have to undergo “extreme vetting” before being allowed into our country.   Thank God, we didn’t have to undergo “extreme vetting” to be offered God’s hospitality and the supreme gift of eternal life. We have them simply because we’re God’s children. +