Hospitality Begins At Home

In today’s Gospel Lesson, Jesus continues to evoke harsh criticism from the religious leaders. “If it be true that this Jesus speaks for God, as He claims, He wouldn’t act this way,” they reason. “This man receives sinners. This man sits down at table and eats with sinners. Instead of scorning them, He comforts them. Instead of rejecting them with a show of righteous indignation, He actually welcomes them into His company.”

Jesus responds by telling them a parable. Actually, He tells them two parables: “The Parable of the Lost Sheep” and “The Parable of the Prodigal Son.” In so doing, Jesus gives the self-righteous Pharisees and scribes a lesson in Divine Hospitality.

A popular comedian has a routine in which he recalls his adolescent years. “When I was a teenager,” he says, “I lived in a tough neighborhood. We used to play “cops and robbers” with real cops. And when I ran away from home, my father sent me a telegram which…