C21 Engage Series Theme: Catholic Spiritual Practice Session 4: Hospitality

Facilitator Guide for Prayer

Before beginning, you might light a candle, dim the lights, or otherwise modify the atmosphere so as to sanctify the moment. Playing reflective, instrumental music quietly in the background may also help participants to enter into prayer. Readers might be recruited for each of the five Scripture passages below or the facilitator can read them him/herself. Begin with the sign of the cross. Leader: “Loving God, we recognize that we are all pilgrims upon this earth trying to make our way home to you. In countless ways you care for us and beckon us home in spite of all our shortcomings. Send your Spirit of love upon us now as we reflect on the opportunities for hospitality in our own lives. Form us into a community of welcoming wayfarers and generous journeyers. We ask in the name of your Son, Jesus. Amen.” To the participants: “Now I invite you listen to God’s word in Scripture and to reflect on the place of hospitality in your life.” Reader 1: “You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Leviticus 19:34). Pause for a few seconds and then say: “Recall a time when you were new or felt out of place. Did anyone welcome you? What was it like?” Pause for 20 seconds. Reader 2: “So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone” (Galatians 6:10). Pause for a few seconds and then ask: “It is easy to do good to those we know well and like, but what about those who are less familiar? What separates them from you? Do they look different, act differently, live in another part of town, or perhaps hold different ideas or beliefs from your own?” Pause for 20 seconds. Reader 3: “Is not this the fast that I choose… to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?” (Isaiah 58:6-7)

C21 Engage Series Theme: Catholic Spiritual Practice Session 4: Hospitality Pause for a few seconds and then ask: “Do you treat all people as brothers and sisters in Christ? Is there anyone you exclude?” Pause for 20 seconds. Reader 4: “Show hospitality to one another without grumbling” (1 Peter 4:9). Pause for a few seconds and then ask: “Recall times when you have been less hospitable than you could have been. What excuses or challenges prevent you from being more hospitable? When have you succeeded in making others feel welcome? What enabled you to do so?” Pause for 20 seconds. Reader 5: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (Hebrews 13:2). Pause for a few seconds and then ask: “What blessings have come to you through visitors or new people? Take a moment to thank God for these people and the blessings they bring.” Leader: “Lord, your love knows no limits, your generosity no bounds. Help us to welcome you into our hearts so that we may love others with the love that originates in you. Bless our time here together as we learn about the place of hospitality in our lives as disciples. Open our eyes to the opportunities all around us, our ears to those without a voice, and our hands to those in need. Amen.” Close with the sign of the cross.