(Sarah) died in Hebron
in the land of Canaan,
and Abraham performed the customary mourning rites for her.
Then he left the side of his dead one and addressed the Hittites:
"Although I am a resident alien among you,
sell me from your holdings a piece of property for a burial ground,
that I may bury my dead wife."
The Bible is familiar with both sides of being strangers and aliens. It instructs us both in how to live as aliens in strange places, and how to regard aliens who come to our places.
The Bible is familiar with alienation because it is the human condition. We have been migrating from place to place ever since our ancestors descended from the treetops to make a home on level ground, or mountain slopes, frozen tundras, or ocean currents. If there are any nations or peoples without ancestral memories of arriving in their current lands, they suffer a form of amnesia.
Rarely do migrating people choose to wander for the sake of adventure. Rather, they are driven from their homes by war, pestilence, or climate change. Often, unwittingly, they have exhausted the productivity of their own regions as they wasted the land with poor farming techniques, burned the trees for firewood, and hunted their food to extinction. More often they are driven from their lands by invaders, who themselves were forced to migrate by other invaders.
The Bible knows these stories and offers a singular response. Because the Lord delivered us from Egypt to give us the land of the Canaanites, we should have compassion on those who come to live with us. And when we're driven from our homes, rather than learning to worship the local gods of our new neighbors, we should tell them about the LORD who comes with us.
If we Catholics find ourselves in Catholic lands, or we welcome Catholic immigrants to our own established parishes, we should accommodate them as they accommodate us. Because we already know the Lord through our Eucharist, we can learn new songs in Spanish, Tagalog, or Vietnamese. The Catholic Church embraces all nations and speaks all languages.
Failing to show hospitality is a most grievous sin. It was the crime of Sodom and Gomorrah, whose citizens intended to rape the angels who visited Lot. Their punishment was severe and appropriate.
The Letters to the Hebrews alludes to Abraham's courtesy to strangers, and to the punishment of Sodom and Gomorrah, when it reminds us,
Do not neglect hospitality, for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.