7th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
Holy Spirit Church, Great Falls MT
Simone Brosig
When Fr. Dick phoned and invited me to come to Great Falls, he said that my assignment was to speak with you about hospitality and stewardship. Last summer, I was in Great Falls for a visit and came to Holy Spirit for mass on Sunday. I felt so welcomed, so sure that God had been praised, I was so impressed with Holy Spirit parish that I started to imagine what it would be like to get involved – to join the choir, proclaim the Word… So I am blessed to have this opportunity to worship with you again and to reflect upon the Good News proclaimed today.
As I said, I know that you are already a hospitable community. Do you know how I know? Because you serve coffee and cinnamon buns after mass? Because you have smiling greeters at the door? Because you have a welcoming committee? I know you have embraced Christian hospitality because of the way I see you interact with one another. In a large parish it can be difficult to notice a stranger who comes through the door and some visitors prefer to fly under the radar for a while. But all visitors will notice you and the way you tread one another. What visitors see when they look at you determines whether or not they want to be part of the community. The saying “charity starts at home” applies to hospitality. It is not usually so difficult to smile at a stranger and to pour a newcomer a cup of coffee. But when we grow together as a community, we are faced with one another’s inconvenient needs and limitations and we have to navigate the hurts and disappointments that accompany the fellowship and joys of being in community.
As I reflected upon the Gospel for today, I was reminded of something that happened to me over a decade ago. I attended graduate school at the University of Notre Dame and so would fly from Calgary to South Bend a few times a year. Most of the flights connected through Chicago and more often than not, the commuter flight to South Bend was cancelled for what they called ‘scheduled maintenance’. As compensation, the airline would five passengers a coupon for the bus, which took a 3-hour milk run to South Bend instead of the 24-minute flight! One time, when the flight was cancelled, I found myself in conversation with a couple who had been on my flight from Calgary and were also being re-routed on the milk-run bus. The couple was probably in the early years of their retirement. After obtaining our bus tickets at the airline counter, we made our way together to the baggage claim area. When I was younger, my friends used to tease me saying that I should try out for the Olympic speed walking team because I walked so quickly. It seemed I was always in a hurry. This couple, however, were in no rush to claim their bags. Because I had befriended them and we were going to the same place, I felt that I had to rein myself in and slow my own pace out of hospitality for them That said, I just know I was a few paces ahead and kept up conversation with my neck turned behind me. Finally we arrived at baggage claim, where despite my inner rushing, we waited together. At last my gab came onto the carousel, before the bags of my new companions.
Now, for me, in my early 20’s, there really was nothing worse than “just” missing a bus. I could manage missing it by a half hour and waiting a half hour but to arrive moments too late, just steps away from a departing bus – that I could not stand.
That day in O’Hare I felt that I really could not risk missing this bus by waiting for the couple to receive their bags as well, which for all I knew may have been misdirected anyway. So, I made my farewell, expressed the hope of seeing them on the bus, and struggled off with my load. At the depot, I boarded the waiting bus and sat down to catch my breath with a sense of satisfaction. About 5 or 10 minutes later, the couple boarded the same bus and sat down directly behind me moments before the bus took off. And the man said to me, “I used to be like you. And then I had a triple by-pass at age 36.”
Next Friday, I will celebrate my 35th birthday.
I thought I was being hospitable to the couple, until it became too inconvenient. In fact, I received a birthday gift that day on the bus.
In today’s Gospel, the people from one community had some place to go. They could have awakened early and been at the head of the crowd assembled to see Jesus. Instead, they held themselves back, and even inconvenienced themselves by carrying their paralytic friend to the house. In ancient times, a paralytic was someone who likely could not earn a living, support himself or a family, even look after himself. It took four people to carry him! Clearly this man was valuable to the community despite being also a burden.
We all have heavy burdens. Just ask yourself -- who or what holds you back? Maybe you are looking after aging parents, small children, a disabled friend, a needy co-worker. Then ask yourself – why do you accept the burden? In the Old Testament, we read stories, like the hospitality of Abraham and Sarah, where the presence of God is gradually revealed through hospitality. In the letter to the Hebrew we are old: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.” And in the Gospels we learn that beggars really are Jesus in disguise and meager resources prove sufficient through sharing.
In today’s Gospel, not only did the community carry a burden, but they also faced an obstacle. When they saw the crowd preventing them from seeing Jesus, they could have given up and gone back home. They could have left their friend and elbowed their way to the front. Instead, the community of the paralytic literally raised the roof and let him down right into the midst of Jesus.
This group carried a burden and met an obstacle with determination. They made a sacrifice. I heard something interesting about sacrifice the other day: sacrifice is not something we do for God. Sacrifice is something we give to God and see what God does with it. Traditional Lenten discipline calls us to increased prayer, fasting and almsgiving. God does not need the sights, the food or the money that if give up. But I will watch for what God does with the hunger inside of me.
For the sacrifice of carrying their friend and for their creative determination, these four came far closer to Jesus than they would have on their own. Because they supported a member of their community, they received more than they ever could have imagined: they leaned first hand that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins, and they witnessed the miraculous healing of their friend.
Sometimes we might wonder why we bother when we do not see how our meager sacrifices might make any difference at all. Yet, just as we all have burdens and face obstacles, every one of us also has gifts. You may not have enough money to fund a project, enough time to run a programme, or enough talent to do something on your own. But it’s not about how you see your gift. It’s about what God will do with the gift once you offer it. The man on the bus did not know what I wools do with his comment. But he planted the seeds anyway and allowed God to cultivate them in my heart.
During a discussion at a workshop on hospitality, one of the participants asked how he could possibly add hospitality to his already overburdened agenda. Like many of you, he was busy. This man was working full-time, trying to be a good husband and father, looking after aging parents, and was an active volunteer at church.
Stewardship is not another commitment or responsibility that we add on. Rather, it is a disposition that we have to cultivate and bring to our existing commitments and responsibilities. In fact, stewardship is an entire way of life. Hospitality is not simply coffee after mass; hospitality is a disposition of welcoming God on the paralytic’s mat, on the bus, and in the person next to you in the pew. The first principle of stewardship is to receive God’s gifts with gratitude. When we sacrifice, we welcome the gifts that come from God and we welcome what God will do with them.
Let us now turn to the altar where we will offer our gifts and receive more than we ever could imagine.