Hospitality and Communion

Gospel: Luke 7: 36-50

The ancient practices of hospitality and communion are utterly lost and unknown to an age and culture of gated communities, stockade fences, and the maligning of migrants and immigrants.  We have come to define hospitality and communion as something the person in need must demonstrate worthiness, and only then is such grace bestowed upon those in need.  Otherwise, we remain in our fortresses and live in suspicion and disdain for the other.

By contrast, the Biblical concepts of hospitality and communion are acts of solidarity and communion on the part of the one giving hospitality and communion.  It is an act of humility, an invitation to be in communion with me without preconditions.  It is offered because the person has need of these graces, not because they demonstrate some arbitrary notion of worthiness.  It is an act of lifting up the person in need, providing them with dignity and worth.  

Jesus accepts the hospitality of the Pharisee, even though he is not treated well.  Jesus in turn extends hospitality to the woman who washes Jesus' feet.  She is allowed to touch him without precondition, regardless of the sins she has committed.  Jesus has come to extend solidarity and communion to the human race - to save, not condemn.  His church and his followers can do no less.