Entertaining Angels Unaware

"Let all guests who arrive be received as Christ." (Rule of St. Benedict, Chap 53)

Last year we got involved with an organization called Hosts for Hospitals. I came across an announcement somewhere when the Holy Father was visiting Philadelphia for the World Meeting of Families. Out of town families who were receiving long-term medical care for things like prenatal abnormalities, cancer, etc at Philadelphia hospitals were having trouble find lodging. It is expensive to stay in a hotel for months on end, so this organization was founded to help families by pairing them with a local family for lodging. It is a secular organization founded by a man who was in that boat with cancer, and he wanted to help other families and, in turn, give others the opportunity to help a family in need.

The first people we hosted were a young couple from Scranton; the wife was pregnant but there were complications with the baby in utero, something with the heart. They stayed with us a week or so. Another couple that stayed with us had a son who was deformed and couldn't eat or hear. It was a real blessing to have them with us. We haven't hosted any families recently because things got crazy for a while, but we hope to in the near future.

My wife jokes that I am our 'social planner;' even though we are both introverts, I'm less so (she calls me an 'ambivert') and I enjoy having friends over for dinner, throwing parties, and entertaining. Maybe I got it from my mom, because she is such a gracious and kind host, genuinely loving and welcoming. I enjoy it, but it has also become an important part of our family's faith practice.

We struggle with time--having it and making it--in our family. Hosting families in this way has been a good opportunity to not have to 'go out and do something', but to rather take in and welcome Christ himself. I have a friend who is a great man and mentor, who is very busy with his four kids and job as a physician. A young man--a new Christian--approached my friend and wanted to learn from him. My friend said, "I don't have a whole lot of time to kind of set aside, but you are welcome to just hang with us." That time spent "just hanging" with his family, I think, was invaluable to this new Christian. He learned though osmosis and example, and my friend for his part didn't have to set aside extra time that he didn't have.

I witnessed this simple spirituality of welcoming Christ in the guest and stranger through the Benedictine practice of hospitality, as laid out in the Rule of St. Benedict, when visiting various monasteries. It is a very practical spirituality that anyone can do. I have also received such hospitality from strangers while traveling, and it is a true blessing. Dorothy Day practiced this as well in recognizing that one never knows when one might be entertaining angels unaware, as written in the letter to the Hebrews and making reference to Lot's welcoming of angels knocking on his door in Gen 19:1.

I also struggle a bit with understanding the divide in the church between those who emphasize service to the poor and marginalized but downplay the importance of doctrine and life issues vs those who do the reverse. Maybe it's just me, but I see them both as two lungs. It's kind of a false dichotomy, for I think it is plain that the corporal works of mercy and the spiritual works of mercy are both required. It doesn't make one a heretic to do both.

St. John Chrysostom said that the rich exist for the sake of the poor, and the poor exist for the sake of the rich. Those who have been blessed financially receive great blessing in ministering to Christ in the poor and those in need. Those who are poor financially offer a simplicity of heart, sometimes a challenge or hardship, and also the opportunity to practice and be a blessing. It is a 'ministry of encounter' for us, and teaches us not to judge others and their situations outright but rather break bread together and serve. God is so good.

God calls us all to serve with joyful hearts in the ways in which we are able. It may just be a smile which is what you are able to offer. The size or duration is not important, and it will look different for everyone. Small acts with great love, as St. Mother Teresa said. For us, witnessing in this way works, and it is a true blessing for us to serve Christ dinner, make His bed for the night, give Him a key into our home and our hearts. Our children learn by osmosis what it looks like to welcome Christ and hopefully they will do it in their own little way with their little friends as well as they get older. If you're short on time, sometimes just doing it, just "hanging out", is the best way to teach and learn.