Two of the readings from today’s mass today were on Hospitality! One was from Genesis and one was from Luke’s Gospel. I just happened to be hosting a small family get together this afternoon so it was especially meaningful to me.

Chapter 18 of Genesis was about Abraham’s visitors. If you notice from the reading, Abraham did not know these three men but he RAN to them to fill their needs and basically threw a barbecue for them!  He was very generous in the way he cared for them and was not only ready and available, but he was quick. After this, it was promised to him that he and Sarah would have a son, even considering all of the obstacles, such as her old age. And wow, what a family tree that created! By the way, notice I didn’t say a “good” family tree–there were arguments and selling siblings into slavery and all kinds of good, bad and ugly. No family is perfect. Anyway, back to the point of this story…God comes to us in many forms and that’s why it’s important to lavish your guests (anyone you meet on your path of life is your “guest”) with all of the gifts you have, spiritually and physically, and be ready at all times. Well, better said, know that you are ready at all times. God will never ask something of you that you are not prepared to give. So, be like Abraham and notice when God steps into your life and there are opportunities to use your spiritual gifts. Keep reading through this chapter and into chapter 22 and here’s my little recap: We greet the Lord with hospitality, then we trust God with whatever he asks of us and all of the great gifts He’s blessed us with, even if it’s by risking or sacrificing them (Abraham’s son!).  He has to test you to know what he can trust you with. With every test of faith you will be rewarded with more blessings and responsibility than you can even imagine; as “numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore”, actually! Look within you to find God, feed God, trust God and let God work His miracles in your life.

The Gospel reading was from Luke 10:38-42, about two sisters, Martha and Mary, hosting Jesus. It’s an interesting and somewhat confusing reading. I love it, though, because it is a reminder to me that someone that is such a great teacher and leader, such as Jesus, also has a sense of humor and can talk me off of the ledge when I am taking myself too seriously. I can imagine me and my sister right there before Jesus, while He tells one of his stories: probably me waiting on him and probably my sister sitting at His feet entertaining and listening to Him. She’s such a good listener! Jesus would probably be teasing me, (i.e., Martha) oh, Martha, sweetie, why so serious? You are fully engaged as your authentic self right now just being a good host! I am enjoying you “do your thing” and I am enjoying your sister do hers! That’s why this afternoon is so comfortable and wonderful! No one is being someone they aren’t. You’re just being real with me and I love it. (WWJD!) haha He’s STILL such a good teacher. I (Martha) was about to miss the point of the story because I was too distracted with myself to focus on what He was saying. This parable is interesting to me because in a way, it has two parts: this one that I just described about everyone having different spiritual gifts but also another that is a little more subtle. I know there are many times I have cut someone off in the middle of a really neat story just to point out that they pronounced a word wrong or they got the date wrong or..who knows what..but I totally missed the point of their story by being selfish. We don’t even know what Jesus was talking about in this parable but it was probably worth listening to and can you just see me (Martha) interrupting Him like that just to prove a point and tattle on my sister? Think of that next time you interrupt! 🙂 Just a quick bunny-trail. But back to the gifts.. Are you Martha, a hard-working, busy bee of a host, who is always taking care of someone, or are you Mary, the thoughtful, intuitive, observant person who God can really spend time with and get deep within your soul? He needs all types of soldiers for His army!

We each bring very unique gifts to the Round Table. And that’s the point. When you try to be something you aren’t, people can pick up on your pretense, so just be yourself. If you find yourself trying to be someone else, ask yourself why. Is it something you were conditioned to hold back in school or at home? Take a look deep inside and pull out your true self and that will be your best self. It’s worth it. On that note, for you parents who have more than one child: don’t expect  your children to be alike. They’ll be very different so enjoy them for who they are. That expectation puts a lot of unnecessary pressure on kids and also creates rifts between them. Sibling rivalry can be tough enough without you fueling the fire. I, being one of five children, know first hand how subtle things my mother would say could be very hurtful to me or to one of my siblings. And she may have even meant it in a complimentary way to me but didn’t realize that it had the opposite effect; I actually wanted to hide that spiritual gift instead because I didn’t want it to create any tension or competition between a sister or brother. Think of your multiple children like a big team. You need lots of different players to fulfill different positions on the team to take the win. You, as the coach, can help them work together by doing team building activities (even the most basic things like dinner and other daily activities) that highlight each child’s gifts and dynamic personality to encourage team work and sibling bonding which will create brothers and sisters that are best friends forever. BFF! Yes. Love my sibs. 🙂 (Can you guess who is the cheerleader of my 5?) Go team! And speaking of being a coach of a winning team, you may have to learn a new language with every new child. Love language, that is! If you haven’t read The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman, it’s an incredible book. The more languages you can speak at home and with everyone on your path, the more relatable and approachable you will be. And I bet you’ll even begin to speak..less..and listen more..but that’s another blog!

So let’s keep finding the gifts in all of the people we are blessed to call family and friends. That’ll be a lot more rewarding than looking for their faults.

And be authentic. Let those I just mentioned find the real you, too.

“To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.” – William Shakespeare

Peace.

As usual, I was filled and inspired by the Holy Spirit at mass this morning. The readings were so perfect. I have been focusing on finding my passion and trying to move only in that direction without being so distracted by “what looks good on paper”. Improving my own inner dialogue and body language. Intuition. Discernment. I have been visiting with a friend lately on this very point and he reminded me that we are called to do one thing: LOVE. To bring love, to share love. To love your neighbor as yourself. We are not called to do anything else with the people around us except love them. We are reminded of this in the Gospel reading of today, Luke 10:25-37. One of Jesus’ most famous parables of the Good Samaritan is only described in this Gospel and I am thankful to be reminded how simple it (loving others) really is. Just showing mercy on others who we come upon in our normal, daily path, just like the Good Samaritan in the story. We don’t have to go out of our way to find people to love and we don’t have to give more than we have. There are people right before you and you are already well equipped to care for them. And it takes more than just “feeling for the person” but acting on the feeling. Love with action. Find a need and fill it, right? What does that person need and how can you help? Maybe your story will be lending a listening ear or spending time with a person. That could be the oil and wine you use to care for their wounds. What do you have in your “pocket”, per se, to care for those around you? It’s not necessarily two silver coins but it may be two feet and two hands motivated by love and guided by your spiritual gifts on a path of love and tenderness that will heal everyone you meet.

You may wonder where you will find all of this love, compassion and action?! It’s inside of you, as promised. Moses talks about that promise in today’s first reading, Deuteronomy 30:10-14, and reminds us that God actually gave us everything we need to be successful at this life. Whatever we want is INSIDE of us! It’s not unknown to us or hidden in the sky or across the sea. It’s actually inside of us already. All we have to do is ACT. Like in the Gospel reading, it’s not just a feeling we show to others. It’s acting when we are faced with an opportunity to love our neighbors. This personal journey reminds me of one of my favorite books, The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho.

Today’s readings and thoughts reminded me of the advice in 1 John 4 about intuition and love. I made it more personal by inserting my name. Try it! (read the whole chapter, I only mixed in parts of it here)

You, dear one, are from God and have overcome the spirits of the world, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood. Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love…… There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

It’s a confusing world out there, and we are constantly being pulled in many different directions by friends, family, community, society, etc., but if you just sharpen your intuition, you will begin to realize that it’s not as hard as we make it. We just need to let the spirit move us. Act on our love when we feel inspired to do so. No need to hesitate or fear because, like the readings above, perfect love drives out fear. Act in love and there is no fear. And that love is within you. God did not hide it from you, He hid it within you. Search deep within yourself and have courage to cut the strings that are binding you to fear. You are not a puppet on a string; you are a soldier of LOVE!  Act now, we are in a spiritual war and there’s no time to waste.

Peace.