From the Gospel: Revisiting the word ‘hospitality’
Hospitality is a habit of the heart expressed in the policies we pass, the way our Eucharistic celebrations are organised and in the language we use at party rallies
13th Sunday in ordinary time, Cycle A. Today’s readings: 2 Kings 4:8-11, 14-16a; Romans 6:3-4, 8-11; Matthew 10:37-42
It is a word meant to evoke sentiments of care and compassion. Yet, it often triggers fear and contempt. As Mediterraneans, we take pride in it and, on a personal level, by and large, we do practise it. On a systemic level, however, it is shrouded in ambivalence and suspicion.
That word is hospitality.
Only last week, a bill was passed at the European Parliament making it easier for migrants to be sent back to their country or to ‘migration hubs’ outside of Europe. Beyond the bill’s controversial nature, its passing was also accompanied by chants of “Go home!” by some MEPs.
Over the past week, cases of racial profiling emerged in the press.
To top all this, migrants seeking a safe route to mainland Europe ended up stranded in deep waters hoping to be rescued before being pushed back by the Libyan coastguard, knowing that, if that were their fate, their dignity and, possibly, their life would be at stake.
Of course, we are all very well aware of the importance of having robust laws and regulations, along with strong borders to ensure order in society. A naive approach to migration will get us nowhere.
What is worrying, however, is that we are not even motivated by a pragmatic approach but by fear, or, even worse, of believing that Christian values or Catholicism is under threat.
There is something profoundly unsettling in this kind of instrumentalisation of religion. For if there is a virtue in the Bible that is present from its very first page it is that of hospitality. When God creates Adam and Eve, he welcomes them into the Garden of Eden, caring for them and giving them all that they need. It is also the virtue par excellence that Jesus practises, starting with the miracle at the wedding in Cana, through to the washing of the feet and the breaking of the bread. Being inhospitable towards others, in contrast, attracts God’s wrath, as is clearly seen in the punishment of the city of Sodom. Jesus himself endured being reviled and rejected throughout his earthly life.
In today’s first reading, the woman of high status from Shunem welcomes Elisha, an itinerant. Her wealth and status do not lead her to spurn the prophet or treat him with disdain. Rather, together with her husband, she uses her wealth and influence to welcome him as a family member, arranging a little room for him on the roof with all he might need.
Perhaps the child that the prophet promises she will eventually bear signifies that her readiness to be hospitable ensures a vibrant future for her and for others, way beyond anyone’s expectations.
Similarly, in his instructions to the Twelve as they embark on their first mission, Jesus promises, in no uncertain language, that whoever welcomes them welcomes God.
It is no coincidence that, here, hospitality is framed within the context of prioritising the relationship with Christ above even the closest family relations. Carrying one’s cross, or suffering persecution, is to be expected if one embraces Christian values.
Now how is that for Catholic culture or Christian humanist values on which the whole European project is built?
To be hospitable is not an occasional discrete act but, rather, an overall attitude that needs to be expressed, above all in political institutions. Hospitality takes more than making a welcoming gesture towards someone. It is a habit of the heart expressed in the policies we pass, the way our Eucharistic celebrations are organised and in the language we use at party rallies.
For those with responsibility on an institutional level, being hospitable means analysing the push and pull factors associated with migration and thinking seriously how to address them in the long term.
Systemic problems call for systemic solutions and the virtue of hospitality must be a guiding light for all those involved.
