Word to the Wise
Friday, February 6, 2015 - Friday in the 4th Week in Ordinary Time
[Heb 13:1-8 and Mark 6:14-29]Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect hospitality, for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels. Be mindful of prisoners as if sharing their imprisonment, and of the ill-treated as of yourselves, for you also are in the body. [Hebrews]
FEBRUARY 6 ST. PAUL MIKI, S.J. AND COMPANIONS [martyrs]
Hospitality is definitely a virtue, or at least the opportunity to display a number of virtues such as kindness and generosity. We Dominicans pride ourselves on hospitality but the Benedictine tradition is famous for treating each person seeking hospitality as if they are Christ himself. That is a tremendous tradition. The Middle Eastern tradition, based on survival in the desert, is also famous. The reference in the Letter to the Hebrews today is to Abraham and Sarah and the visitors who tell Abraham that he and Sarah would have a son in their old age. [Genesis 18:1-15] The guests turned out to be "angels!" Abraham and Sarah would be rewarded with the birth of Isaac, who would carry on the covenant.
Hospitality is not always a matter of someone coming to our home or city, it can be taken to others. I have great admiration for those who go to the imprisoned to bring the Word of God or the sacraments. Our American prison population is one of the largest in the world and the tendency among folks is to forget about them and even keep up a kind of social punishment long after these men and women "pay their debt to society." The Letter to the Hebrews reminds us of the fact that we must love our neighbor as ourselves, and not forget those who, for whatever reason, are incarcerated. This is truly a concrete example of faith in action. Perhaps today we can all think about the ways in which we are or could be hospitable. Angels come in many shapes and sizes! AMEN
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