Feel at home
A hearty welcome to all of you on this Sunday of hospitality. It is surprising how poor people can often be hospitable to others. They offer their guests food and drink that they cannot afford for themselves. How hospitable are we to the guest, to the stranger? Let us open our doors and our hearts. It is perhaps Jesus himself who comes to your house. Be attentive to him.
Abraham welcomes a stranger with the greatest hospitality, not knowing at first that he is receiving God. God gives Abraham more than Abraham could give God: the son of the promise.
Martha and Mary welcome Jesus in their home as a guest. While Martha is concerned about giving her guest all he needs, Mary is attentive to him as a person; she gives him her attention and receives his word.
First Reading: Genesis 18:1-10a
God appeared to Abraham at the Oaks of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent. It was the hottest part of the day. He looked up and saw three men standing. He ran from his tent to greet them and bowed before them.
He said, “Master, if it please you, stop for a while with your servant. I’ll get some water so you can wash your feet. Rest under this tree. I’ll get some food to refresh you on your way, since your travels have brought you across my path.”
They said, “Certainly. Go ahead.”
Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. He said, “Hurry. Get three cups of our best flour; knead it and make bread.”
Then Abraham ran to the cattle pen and picked out a nice plump calf and gave it to the servant who lost no time getting it ready. Then he got curds and milk, brought them with the calf that had been roasted, set the meal before the men, and stood there under the tree while they ate.
The men said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?”
He said, “In the tent.”
One of them said, “I’m coming back about this time next year. When I arrive, your wife Sarah will have a son.”
Second Reading: Colossians 1:24-28
I want you to know how glad I am that it’s me sitting here in this jail and not you. There’s a lot of suffering to be entered into in this world—the kind of suffering Christ takes on. I welcome the chance to take my share in the church’s part of that suffering. When I became a servant in this church, I experienced this suffering as a sheer gift, God’s way of helping me serve you, laying out the whole truth.
This mystery has been kept in the dark for a long time, but now it’s out in the open. God wanted everyone, not just Jews, to know this rich and glorious secret inside and out, regardless of their background, regardless of their religious standing. The mystery in a nutshell is just this: Christ is in you, so therefore you can look forward to sharing in God’s glory. It’s that simple. That is the substance of our Message. We preach Christ, warning people not to add to the Message. We teach in a spirit of profound common sense so that we can bring each person to maturity. To be mature is to be basic. Christ! No more, no less.
Gospel: Luke 10:38-42
As they continued their travel, Jesus entered a village. A woman by the name of Martha welcomed him and made him feel quite at home. She had a sister, Mary, who sat before the Master, hanging on every word he said. But Martha was pulled away by all she had to do in the kitchen. Later, she stepped in, interrupting them. “Master, don’t you care that my sister has abandoned the kitchen to me? Tell her to lend me a hand.”
The Master said, “Martha, dear Martha, you’re fussing far too much and getting yourself worked up over nothing. One thing only is essential, and Mary has chosen it—it’s the main course, and won’t be taken from her.”
Prayer
Our loving God and Father,
you have invited us to stay with you,
to listen to the message of Jesus your Son
and to accept from him your peace and love.
May we welcome him wholeheartedly
and learn from him to welcome him too
in people who appeal to us
for forgiveness and a bit of warmth,
for patience and hope and joy.
Let them not pass your servants by.
We ask you this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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