The woman of Shunem showed hospitality to the holy man, the prophet Elisha. How do you show hospitality in your life and ministry?

When I was 14, I was the sort of shy, nervous adolescent you find in every high school. I hung with a group of 10 friends, all of whom shared a gawky lack of confidence.

“Don’t think I’ve come to make life cozy. I’ve come to cut—make a sharp knife-cut between son and father, daughter and mother, bride and mother-in-law—cut through these cozy domestic arrangements and free you for God. Well-meaning family members can be your worst enemies.

Another day and another dollar—well, not really. The young man dressed in the dark and prepared to leave the house to work his next 12-hour shift. He took a last look at his sleeping wife and peeked in on their sleeping toddler daughters.

Back in grammar school, when Sister Jerome was teaching us about the Hebrew prophets, I thought of my next-door neighbor Max Goldstein. The description of the prophets sounded just like Max.

A doctor called his patient, a mother-to-be, at work to tell her the test results. In shock, the woman hung up the phone with a barely audible, “Thank you, Doctor.”

Brothers and sisters, let us acknowledge our sins, and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries.

All guests who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ, for he himself will say: “I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”