In the Rule of St. Benedict appears this daring statement: “When you greet a guest, show great deference. When they arrive and when they leave, make an inclination with the head before them, honouring Christ who is with them. Welcoming the guest, you welcome Christ”.
Welcoming is an art form. Hospitality requires constant attention to the meteorology of the heart of the other. This perceives immediately if there is a willingness to be welcomed. Just as it also perceives if it is bothersome,if it has to make an accelerated effort to accommodate to the rules of the place and the people who are there where he arrives. The messages tend to be perceived in a clear manner: “You’re welcome”; or “you’re annoying and you’ll have to conform”.
The tradition of the Old Testament is very rich in stories where the welcome is claimed as something fundamental. For its part, the Christian tradition recognizes the presence of the Lord in the other, especially in those who suffer,and translates it into a powerful source of spirituality.
That is why it is painful that those who presume to defend the crucifix solemnly and then insult, despise or denigrate foreign immigrants, describing them as undesirable and opportunists those who call at their doors. It was this same crucified man who clearly said: “What you did to one of these, my smallest sister or brother, you did it to me. What you didn’t do for one of these little ones, you also didn’t do for me.” And to avoid misunderstandings, it adds a very clear list: foreigners, the naked, hungry, sick, prisoners,… (Mt 25:31-46).
We find it easy to invite a family member or a friend to a meal. But it is far more costly when we have to welcome an older person who drools and smells bad, a well-known dishevelled person, a lonely sick person, a poor man of the street… The recent popes have often urged us to open our homes to the poor and share our table with them… with a questionable success, it has to be said. But I am convinced that this insistence does us allgood. If follow it, we will be fortunate. Because, as recommended by the author of the letter to the Hebrews,”never forget hospitality, because thanks to it, some of us have entertained angels without knowing it” (Heb 13.2).
Juan Carlos Martos Paredes, CMF
