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.