A PEOPLE OF HOSPITALITY

Fr. Henri Nouwen describes the spiritual life as a movement from loneliness to solitude, from hostility to hospitality, and from illusion to prayer. Hospitality is a foundational virtue for the entire Assembly.

Hostility stalks us in poignant and painful ways. That is why we gather each week. Our breaking and sharing of bread and our drinking from the Savior's cup is an antidote to hostility. The ritual we do is predictably the same. Listen and act. First we hear the Word of God that calls us to repentance. Then we act. We celebrate the meal that reconciles us to God and one another. The ritual format does not differ. We know the drill. But our hearts differ from Sunday to Sunday. The Spirit of the risen Christ animates our ritual prayer. On the first day the Spirit beckons us to repent for sins of hostility, to lament for actions of injustice, and to plead for forgiveness. The spirit empowers our weekly meeting and leads us to the Father of Jesus. The Father of Jesus forgives sin. God is like an Oriental host; God is filled with largesse for us. God invites us to be dinner guests at the Lord's banquet. Hospitality is more than being nice. It is more than a ministerial tag. It is a way of life that the entire Christian community learns in the liturgical gathering and a spirituality that is evident in the service we render to the world.

How does hospitality leaven our liturgy? God offers us hospitality in the proclamation of the Scriptures. The Scriptures speak to human hearts. Hospitality begins with open hearts. We listen to the Word of God with open hearts. The Scriptures are not merely stories told and remembered about the past. They are living words spoken to our hearts now. We become contemporaries with Abraham and Sarah, Moses and Miriam, Peter and Paul, Martha and Mary. These saints become soul mates united with us in the risen Christ. The proclamation of the Scriptures is not merely the first part of the liturgy, is not something that precedes the Eucharistic Prayer and our sharing in the supper of the Lord. Rather the power of the sacramental action begins with the proclamation of the Word and the homily.

What does this mean for us practically? First, it means that those who proclaim the Word minister God's largesse to us. Attentive listening teaches us about our hearts. This demands trust. It calls us to have an open heart to hear God's voice, to feel God's touch, to experience God's claim upon our hearts. It means that the entire local community is vulnerable before God. It also means that we respect each other's vulnerability before the face of God. God uses this vulnerability to transform our hearts. Second, God's hospitality invites us to act through generous prayers of petition and the holy giving of our hard earned money.

Third, as Fr. David N. Power says, "this power thus announced is then exercised in the rites performed, the prayer of the assembly and of the ordained minister (Sacrament, The Language of God's Giving (New York: Crossroad, 1999) 118)."

We give thanks and praise; we come to the table.

Finally, we express God's hospitality in and through our lives. Hospitality leavens the world.