In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus challenges the way we think about hospitality. We have grown accustomed to a kind of hospitality that feels safe, managed, and conditional. We invite people we know—family, friends, neighbors—people who can invite us back, return the favor, or make us feel comfortable. But Jesus turns that upside down. He tells us that true hospitality in the Kingdom of God begins not with our homes, but with our hearts.
“When you hold a banquet,” Jesus says, “invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind.” In other words, open yourself to those who cannot repay you. Welcome those who make you step out of your comfort zone. Hospitality, as Jesus teaches it, is not about appearances or social expectations—it’s about love, humility, and opening our heart.
Hospitality in the Kingdom can feel vulnerable. It asks us to look honestly at the fears, biases, and assumptions that lock the doors of our hearts. And yet, when those doors are opened, something beautiful happens. The stranger reveals Christ to us. The outsider becomes the very one who shows us who we are called to be.
But how do we begin to unlock our hearts? It starts with prayer—asking the Lord to show us where our hearts have been closed. It continues with small acts of openness: greeting someone new at Mass, listening with patience to a co-worker, or noticing the quiet person at a gathering. Over time, these simple practices soften us, helping us to welcome not just those we know, but those who reflect Christ in unfamiliar faces and unexpected places.
This week, I invite all of us to reflect on how we practice hospitality in our daily lives. Not only at our tables, but in our relationships, our community, and even in the quiet places of our hearts.
Do we only welcome those who are familiar and comfortable, or are we willing to let God stretch us to welcome those who are different, those who cannot repay us?
True hospitality begins when our hearts are open. And when our hearts are open, we begin to see Christ in every person we meet.