Thursday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Attending a Marianist college and now working at a Marianist high school, we speak a lot about hospitality and what that looks like when it is lived out in our daily lives. A discipleship of hospitality calls us to embrace the stranger, love the sinner and serve our neighbor. When I hear today’s gospel, I immediately think of hospitality.
I would like to say that as I live out my Christian hospitality I welcome all those in need, no matter the time of night or the situation. But as I read this Gospel I find I have to challenge my assumptions about myself. Too often I am like the sleepy friend, opening the door in the middle of the night. The friend, awoken and groggy, was not focused on how he could help or serve. He was wrapped up in all the reasons why loving his neighbor was inconvenient for him, how the timing was just not right.
Sadly, I often find myself spouting off the reasons why loving my neighbor is inconvenient, but Christ did not call us to a faith of convenience. If this were to be a faith of convenience he would not have had to die on a cross for us. We are called to a faith that will challenge us and cause us to grow and to change. Ours is a faith that calls us to serve and to love, no matter the hour – no matter the timing. Too often we do not see how we are being called to love our neighbor, even when they are at our door, begging us. How often do we help someone only because of their persistence, rather than our desire to love as Christ loves?
We are told to “ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you.” Often Christ uses us to answer those calls and open those doors for others. If someone were to knock on your door today, are you willing and ready to answer the call to love, no matter how inconvenient or how hard it may be? Are you ready to live out your discipleship of hospitality and to welcome them into your home, as you would welcome Christ?
- Amanda Grimm