Lessons in hospitality

When I have the chance, I like to cook a meal, welcome friends and spend time sitting around a table exchanging stories.  Over the years that have come and gone since my Ordination, I have actually managed to assemble a few sets of dishes.  I still like to take the time to set the table - whenever I can - and to make a fuss about creating the right atmosphere for such stories to be told.  In fact, such special occasions are always treasured but I find that as time has gone on, such stories get told no matter whether we are sitting down to an elaborate meal served on expensive dishes or to a simple picnic served on paper plates.

The tradition of welcoming strangers and friends around a dinner table is deeply engrained in the history of humanity, and this is a very good thing.  In the first reading for today's liturgy, we see Abraham involving his entire household in hurried preparations in order to serve unexpected guests (cf Gn 18:1-10).  In the gospel, we find Martha rushing around, and her sister Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus.  When Martha asks Jesus to insist that Mary should help her with the preparations for the meal, his response is a surprise to her: not at all what she had hoped for (cf Lk 10:39-42).

Saint Luke does not tell us how Martha responded to Jesus' words.  We can choose to hear them spoken not as a rebuke, but rather as a tender invitation to come closer, to live life more deeply and to love more richly.  Each of us can make a conscious choice to focus on Jesus Christ.  If we do, we will experience the world around us in light of that choice, and tomorrow, we can choose once again to make Him the central focus of all that we do, and soon enough we will find that we in turn are sharing the word of God with those we encounter (cf Col 1:25).