Abrahamic hospitality

Brothers and sisters, since our Lord based the Divine House Guest of Souls devotion in the hospitality of Abraham and Sarah, let’s first consider Abraham, what he did and what his relationship with God was like.

Abraham and Sarah are our first models in this devotion for how we can relate to God, to love Him and to serve Him.  We see clearly in Genesis 18 that Abraham is watchful and waiting at the entrance of His tent.  This is reminiscent of the five wise virgins in our Lord’s parable.  So when the Divine Visitor comes, Abraham is ready with a virtue Jesus has described as alacrity, that brisk readiness in faith.  We too can be ready to receive our Divine Houseguest when He comes to us interiorly, in Holy Communion, by prayerfully and joyfully making preparations before Holy Mass.  We should consider the state of our souls, the interior house, where the Divine House Guest will come and visit.  We seek to create a clean and welcoming respite for Him.

Abraham runs to meet his Divine Visitors.  He does not delay.  He immediately displays a servant’s heart by offering the washing of the feet, refreshment, rest, and a meal.  He calls himself the Lord’s ‘servant’.  Having a servant’s heart ourselves can help to keep us in humility and in proper relation to God.

Abraham’s hospitality is generous.  When he tells Sarah “quick, three seah of fine flour!  Knead it and make bread” he is saying to make a lot of bread (for I am told three seah means a large amount of flour).  He picks out the choicest steer, or tender calf, he brings his freshest milk, and he waits on them as they rest under the tree.  Abraham gives his first fruits to God, the very best of what he has.  We can rightly picture him doing so with great joy.  

Consider this scene.  Look and see the closeness of God to Abraham.  It is no different for us at Holy Mass and in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament.  There we run to meet our Divine Visitor.  To be with Him, to listen to Him in the silence, to love Him.

But Abraham is also God’s intimate friend.  As you move through Genesis you see how close they are, how they speak in very intimate terms.  They are having a continued conversation.  This is a large part of prayer and adoration.  It is what has happened to me, Our Lord drew me into the silence of His Eucharistic presence.  To that intimacy of a prayerful friendship, where I would listen and learn and allow Him to do His work of sanctification.  There is no friendship where there is no meeting, no time spent together.  I have learned that simply being with Him is how best to become His friend. A disciple is formed in the Master’s presence.  Abraham has many encounters with God and in all of them he shows us proper worship, adoration, and friendship.  And all of this is before the great scene of his unwavering trust in God during the sacrifice of Isaac.

I am always struck at how frequently Abraham is mentioned throughout scripture, going far beyond Genesis and his own life, an example of this is our Lord’s parable of the rich man and Lazarus.  In it, Heaven is pictured as the bosom of Abraham, for that is where Lazarus goes.  And Abraham speaks in detail in this parable.  Why did our Lord do this?  I suspect it was because Abraham was, is, and always will be His intimate friend.  One who knew Him well.  

Friends, this is what we are called to do in this devotion and as Catholics.  Through prayer, through Holy Mass, through adoration, through the meetings with the Divine, we allow ourselves to be transformed, little by little, by Him.  We rediscover our own servant’s hearts, practice genuine hospitality in contemplation towards our Eucharistic Lord, we give our best to Him who gives all of Himself to us in Holy Communion.  Recollection and the remembrance of the Divine presence is a great way to live this out.

May we all become “another worthy Abraham” for our gracious Eucharistic Lord who comes to us with such great humility.

He has done all things well.

-paul