Hospitality - how we come to know God

A memorable text concludes today's gospel (John13:16-20). It reads, "whoever welcomes the one I send welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me."This is essentially what mission is all about, what makes the work of mission effective. It is not what the missionary-disciple does; it is rather what the host, those who receive the missionary, do. In effect, people are responsible for their own salvation. The missionary is merely the instrument. As John the Baptist says, "He must increase, I must decrease." It is to open the way and then get out of the way. Like Jesus washing the feet of his disciples, he was showing them that the host is the key. Those who welcomed me as a missionary through such gracious hospitality came to know Jesus through their very acts of hospitality. By being such gracious hosts they were welcoming Jesus into their hearts and homes and so coming to know God as compassionate love. It was my privilege to be there as it happened. Hence, the key virtue that allows for effective missionary work is humility. My hosts, the various communities among whom I lived and worked, came to know God through the graciousness of their own cultures. They showed me how God works through their remarkable acts of hospitality towards one another and towards me.