After his Resurrection, Jesus tells his disciples, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). This call to go out is at the heart of the Christian mission. Yet often, this call can seem daunting and/or impossible for our current season in life. The Christian who is flourishing is one who is confident in Christ’s presence in his own life, which enables him to go out and share Christ and his love with all those he or she encounters!
The vision of wellness and flourishing that the Church provides is not simply about setting goals or overcoming the fear of starting a new exercise or nutritional habit. True Catholic wellness stems from resting in the knowledge that we are created good, by a loving Creator. God desires to be in relationship with each of us, and desires us to seek the flourishing we are created for in this life, and more importantly in the next! This journey to flourishing looks different for all of us and is part of the beauty of the Christian life to which we are called. What is clear amidst all the various paths is that we are called to walk alongside others, evangelizing to and being nourished by those we encounter!
St. Benedict, the founder of monastic life in the Western world, gave guidance to his monks on how they were to live. This “Rule” would later aid many other religious communities as they created similar instructions for their individual charisms. Anyone who has known or experienced “Benedictine values” knows that the virtue of hospitality is essential to Benedictine Spirituality. This virtue stems from the line in The Rule, “Let all guests who arrive be received as Christ.” But what did this really look like? How did this charism transform the World?
Starting with St. Benedict’s first monastery in Subiaco, Italy in 529 AD, the monks incorporated hospitality into their community life. Abbeys would specifically build guesthouses so that they could welcome the visitor, the pilgrim or the person in need. These guesthouses would be a place of rest, a warm encounter, where the stranger would encounter Christ. A monk, often the abbot himself, would provide water to wash the feet and hands of the person. St. Benedict prescribes this in The Rule saying, “Let the abbot pour water on the hands of the guests, and let both him and the entire community wash their feet.” It was far more than simply living around others; it was inviting those the Lord brought into their lives into a place where their dignity was not only seen but administered to.
When one is in relationship with Christ, he desires to see Christ more and grow in their relationship with him in all aspects of your life! This is the path to flourishing. You may desire to spend more time in prayer, or work on some ways to help manage stress, or find tools for organizing your home so that you can find more peace in your day to day. In all of these various areas, the consistent thing is and must be that you are doing these things so as to make space for the Lord.
The beauty of the virtue of hospitality is that it is the fruit of this. In hospitality, one is quite literally welcoming Christ in the other. Just as St. Benedict’s monks would greet each visitor personally, pray with them, and invite them into their own life, we are all given the opportunity to do the same!
It is important here, to recognize what Hospitality is not. Practicing this fruit of the flourishing life does not mean that one must constantly welcome others past our tipping point. If we are exhausted, feeling like we have nothing to give, feeling a sense of shame or hearing “I should do this”, the Lord is not asking you to just continue in this state of overwhelm. He is pouring his love on you and asking you to rest in that! Hospitality should come from a place of feeling nourished. Hospitality looks differently depending on ones season of life, and based on your vocation. Practicing the virtue of hospitality for most people will probably not look like welcoming the homeless person into your home to live with you (for those who discern that calling, though, it might).
For many of us, practicing hospitality will look like seeing your neighbor, looking at their face, recognizing their humanity, and responding to a prompting you might experience. Maybe that’s inviting a new couple at your parish to come for dinner, or writing a letter to an aunt or uncle who is lonely. It might be finding out how you can volunteer at a local community function like filling backpacks with supplies for back to school, or finding a way to support a struggling immigrant. It might mean welcoming a new pregnancy, when a couple is scared or feeling unprepared, or taking care of your elderly parents as they age. This virtue is less about the extravagance of the act, and more a response to the call to “let all guests who arrive be received as Christ”.
It is normal for there to be seasons where we cannot practice this virtue of hospitality in the way we would like, or think it ought to be done. What is important to remember is that when we are taking care of ourselves in spirit, mind, and body, when we are giving space for our nourishment as a person, we then want to bring others into this.
A good starting point for growing in this virtue might be asking yourself, how are you currently feeling about sharing life with others? Do you feel like this is something you’d like to do more of, but don’t have the space for? Is this something that overwhelms you? Is this something that excites you, but you don’t know where to begin? Taking the time to think about this can act as a great measure of how you are living! If you are feeling overwhelmed, what are some ways you can remove some of the stressors in your life? Maybe it’s signing up for wellness coaching, giving space for yourself and some wellness related goals you might have. Maybe it’s spending more time in prayer, allowing the Lord to more fully enter into that area of your heart, hearing how he desires you to more fully know your goodness.
The virtue of hospitality is not simply something we do, it flows from who we are becoming in Christ. When we are seeking the life of flourishing God created us for, we are transforming our hearts onto his which allows us to then recognize and receive Him in others. Like the Benedictines, we are called to create space in our lives for encounter. A flourishing life is a life that spills over, it welcomes. May we be people who receive all as Christ, and in doing so, help others encounter the love that first welcomed us.
