Welcoming the Stranger

"One day, Elisha came to Shunem, where there was a woman of influence, who urged him to dine with her. Afterward, whenever he passed by, he used to stop there to dine. So, she said to her husband, 'I know that Elisha is a holy man of God. Since he visits us often, let us arrange a little room on the roof and furnishing for him with a bed, table, chair, and lamp, so that when he comes to us he can stay there.' Sometime later, Elisha arrived and stayed in the room overnight.
Later, Elisha asked, 'Can something be done for her?' His servant Gehazi answered, 'Yes! She has no son, and her husband is getting on in years.' Elisha said, 'Call her.' When the woman had been called and stood at the door, Elisha promised, 'This time next year, you will be fondling a bad son.' " -[ 2 Kings 4: 8-11, 14-16A].

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, a Catholic himself, used to joke that there really wasn't a Catholic way to do everything. For example, Scalia said that there is no "Catholic way" to barbecue a hamburger!

And so, I would NOT say that there is a Christian/Catholic way to decorate our homes. BUT, if there is a specifically Christian home, it is in a way that is comfortable and welcoming to everyone, including strangers.

In this Scripture, a woman provides Elisha a simple bed, a table, a chair and a lamp. Whether you live in a big home or a small apartment, it is simple to furnish your residence with a table for dining, a comfortable chair, a lamp and a place to rest.

Welcoming the Stranger figures prominently in the Bible. In Genesis 18, Abraham sits at the entrance of his tent and sees "three men".  Abraham welcomes them, bows to the ground, has water fetched, and commands his wife Sarah to make bread. It turns out that the three men are angels!

In 1 Kings 17, the widow of Zarephath encounters Elijah who is traveling. Elijah asks for some water and a piece of bread. The widow replies that she has only "a handful of flour in the bowl and a little oil in the jar; and behold, I am gathering a few sticks that I may go in and prepare for me and my son, that we may eat it and die [that I am so impoverished]."

Elisha, a holy man of God, tells her, "Do not fear; go, do as you have said. . . For thus says the Lord God of Israel, 'The bowl of flour shall not be exhausted, nor shall the jar of oil be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain on the face of the earth [and ends the drought]."

And of course, the bowl of flour that shall not be exhausted prefigures the Eucharist, which confers the Body of Christ, the Bread that is everlasting.

In the Gospel of Matthew 10: 37-42, Jesus says, "Whoever receives YOU, receives ME." In other words, receiving the Stranger means receiving Jesus!

Also, "Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet, will receive a prophet's reward." In other words, the widow of Zarephath in giving all that she has remaining to welcome Elisha, receives the reward of an endless bowl of flour, until the drought terminates.

When I was a child, I grew up in a cruel and abusive home. I relied on the kindness of Strangers to feed me, to give me rides to school in the snow and rain, to treat me lovingly, to give me milk and cookies, and warm soup, and bread and butter.

I remember every single kindness of these neighbors, teachers and even strangers!

What does pain me, though, is what Jesus says in Matthew: "And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink because the little one is [also] a disciple -- amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward."

What pains me here, dear friends, is that whatever it is that my family did unto me -- physical neglect, verbal abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, emotional blackmail, medical neglect, sexual abuse -- THESE my family did unto Jesus Himself! [cf: Matthew 25: 36, "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat."].

Truly, I suffered; and I did not retaliate, so that in my bitterness, I would become just like them. No, I turned the other cheek and I bore it all and tried to love them. And so, in my sacrifice, I am the one of whom Jesus speaks when He says, "Whoever loses his life for my sake, will find it."

Remember this, friends-- Welcoming the Stranger is much, much more than hospitality, home decorating, cooking, or staging a party. . . When we welcome the Stranger, we might just be entertaining Angels! ["Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing so, some people have entertained angels without knowing it." -- Hebrews 13:2].

Welcoming the Stranger is life-giving. It is life-saving. For, it IS Love.

[Related Posting: "The Kindness of Strangers", 7/5/13].

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