On Hospitality

Due to recent travels and today's homily, I've been thinking a lot about hospitality. The readings today included the story of Abraham and the angels, the story of Mary and Martha, and a declaration of Christ from 1 Corinthians. [As an aside, the priest started the service by referring to the story of Mary and Martha as relating to gender roles--he said that Martha was upset that Mary wasn't conforming to them. While I am interested in/perhaps somewhat sympathetic to/intrigued by such a reading, I think it is also bizarre and less than ideally relevant.] The priest emphasized hospitality to the other as other, and hospitality as an openness to that other and any surprises that that other may bring.

I guess at one level this is a supremely feminine act, with Mary being an example of the receptivity of women in the Annunciation.

While I take the priest's point about receiving the other as other (and perhaps my drive toward connectedness is evident here), it seems to me that the orientation of hospitality is toward community and friendship and having one's goods tied up with those of another. For example, Mary's acceptance of impregnation was itself a virtuous act that moved her deeper in communion with God. In the same way, the hospitality that we offer others--the meal we share or the bed or the conversation or the favorite haunts--involves a giving of one's self and one's goods to the other (which, admittedly, cannot be done unless there are two selves that can interact).