Hospitality

Buying the perfect gift is hard, as I’m sure all of you know. Pity the poor man who, when his wife asked him what her dream the previous night meant where she had been given a beautiful strand of pearls, that night presented her with what he thought was the perfect gift: a book entitled “Interpreting Dreams.” We’ve all been in that situation where we have given a gift which is not all we had wished it to be.

The theme of today’s readings is that type of giving known as hospitality, and the rewards that God grants on those who serve God and neighbor. Abraham waits on his guests, which he does not know but Genesis tells us is the Lord. Abraham goes above and beyond what civil politeness requires and treats his unknown guests in a way that is as good or better than he would no doubt treat his good friends and relatives had they been visiting.

This then is that standard that the Old Testament gives us: treat everyone as though they are the Lord, for indeed they are in the likeness of God, made in His image, and greatly loved by the Lord, as He loves all of his creatures. Do we live up to this standard?
The Gospel teaches us a similar lesson: both Martha and Mary were hospitable to Jesus, one waiting on his needs and the other attentive to his words and teachings. But one was better. Why?

To actively serve one another and give them what we think they need or want is indeed an act of kindness. But while this is generally true it must be qualified. How many tragedies have occurred in literature, or situation comedies on television, when a person strives to obtain something for another only to find out that it was never wanted by the person for whom it was intended? How many marriages have broken up because one of the spouses was working all of the time to provide income for things that he or she could buy for the family, when all of the rest of the family wanted was to spend time with the person, even though that meant having less stuff?
Jesus is teaching us today that He wants to spend time with us, He wants to get to know us, He wants to be a part of our lives. This was what Mary was able to perceive. Jesus was no doubt hungry and thirsty from his journey, but He was hungrier and thirstier to be with those with whom he could engage on a personal level.

Giving the perfect gift is not easy. There are bad gift givers – the ones that buy gifts that they themselves would like but the receiver doesn’t really care for. There are good gift givers – the ones that buy gifts that they know the receiver would like, but that does not have any particular special meaning coming from the giver. And then there are great gift givers – the ones who give gifts that the receiver loves but that also has a special relationship to the giver and commemorates a common interest or bond.

Christ is not saying that the part that Martha took was bad – we still need to actively serve God and neighbor through the hospitality known as the corporal works of mercy. These are also His teachings elsewhere in the Gospel: feed the poor, give drink to the thirsty, shelter the homeless, visit the sick and the imprisoned, bury the dead, and give alms to the poor. Jesus never told Martha to stop doing that.

What He did teach Martha was that this was not enough. There will be time for that, but never neglect to be with the ones you love. Be with them, talk with them, pray with them, play with them, love them. This is the perfect gift. Is Martha giving Jesus what she wants to give Him or what He truly wants? What Christ wants is to be with us and to speak to us and for us to talk with Him.

For what is heaven? The Church teaches that heaven is life everlasting where we will be in the presence of God, looking upon His face. The second reading from Paul teaches that it is Christ who opens up this for us, to live in God’s grace and friendship. Paul wants everyone to live the life which will enable them to have Christ in them and to receive the “riches of the glory of this mystery.”