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Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Hospitality is a gift



This picture was supposed to have appeared on the 4th of July but that was when we were without phones, TV, and Internet and so I felt as if I were in retreat instead of celebrating the 4th of July! Today I am having a wonderful friend come for lunch and another for dinner! I love to entertain - my mother loved to have people over and I think I have received this gift of hospitality from her. She and my Dad gave great dinner parties; my Dad was a good cook but most of the family parties in the last years of my Mom's life were more  picnic style and all prepared ahead so that she could enjoy the company. We were usually about twenty as she always wanted to have some who were not family present, too. I remember one day she had the food all ready and realized that many would need to eat at the tables in the yard but the stone patio had grass growing up between the stones so she got Dad to help her haul our oriental rugs stored in the garage and spread them under the tables in the patio. We teased her about that "elegant picnic" for a long time. Gradually the family grew smaller, but my Mom continued to have family parties and now my sister does the same in Arizona.

What is the spiritual thought that triggered off these memories? I think it is that just as Jesus invites us all to come to Him, we also are to say "Come" to others and be open to receive from them as well as love them with the love we draw from the Heart of Jesus.

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