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Making Room: the Ministry of Hospitality by The Rev. Hartshorn Murphy
In Jewish tradition, the kindness extended to family and other relatives was typically called "loving kindness." In Israel, the love of God for God's chosen people was precisely that: loving kindness. The kindness shown to strangers was called something else: "Hospitality." In these modern times, hospitality is now an industry and has been to a large extent, institutionalized. Care of those needing shelter is the hotel industry, care of the sick or injured is done in hospital, and care for the dying is done in Hospice. It's interesting to note that centuries ago, all this was the work of the Christian church in doing ministry.
Christine Pohl's book Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition explores the history of Christian hospitality to strangers and those in need from the early church, through the church fathers and down to this present day with intentional communities of service like Catholic Worker, The Open Door and the Salvation Army. Her words challenge the contemporary church in its prophetic and social justice ministry to recover a radical sense of hospitality that restores dignity to the recipient as guest not client and provider as host not professional. It is a call to action to recover a sense that a work done "to the least of these" is done to Christ. (Matthew 25:31-46)
I invite you to join me in reading Making Room in the second block of classes Nov 3 - Dec. 15. Please sign up on the patio. The book, which costs about $15, will be available in the bookstore. (Scholarships are available).
Copyright © 2002 St. Augustine by-the-Sea
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