Lonni Collins Pratt - Radical Hospitality: Benedicts Way of Love

NEW & EXPANDED EDITION

benedicts way of love

LONNI COLLINS PRATT WITH FATHER DANIEL HOMAN, OSB

PARACLETE PRESS

BREWSTER, MASSACHUSETTS

Radical Hospitality: Benedicts Way of Love

2011 First Printing New and Expanded Edition
2002 First Printing Original Edition

Copyright 2011 by Lonni Collins Pratt

ISBN: 978-1-55725-891-5

Excerpts from the Rule of St. Benedict are taken from The Rule of St.

Benedict in Latin and English with Notes (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1981).

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data

Pratt, Lonni Collins, 1953

Radical hospitality : Benedicts way of love / Lonni Collins Pratt with Daniel Homan.New expanded ed.

p. cm.

Rev. ed. of: Benedicts way.

ISBN 978-1-55725-891-5

1. BenedictinesSpiritual life. 2. HospitalityReligious aspectsChristianity. I. Homan, Daniel, O.S.B. II. Pratt, Lonni Collins, 1953- Benedicts way. III. Title.

BX3003.P73 2011

241.671dc22 2011006326

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in an electronic retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Published by Paraclete Press

Brewster, Massachusetts

www.paracletepress.com

Printed in the United States of America

All guests who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ, for he himself will say: I was a stranger and you welcomed me.

The Rule of St. Benedict 53:1

Once a guest has been announced, the superior and the community are to meet the guest with all the courtesy of love.

The Rule of St. Benedict 53:3

Great care and concern are to be shown in receiving poor people and pilgrims, because in them more particularly Christ is received.

The Rule of St. Benedict 53:15

Let us open our eyes to the deifying light, let us hear with attentive ears the warning which the divine voice cries daily to us, Today if you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

The Rule of St. Benedict, Prologue 29

If we take seriously the call to radical hospitality, we will discover the true meaning of ministry, the pastor said to his congregation. It was Sunday morning in Dayton. The birth of the radical hospitality movement in our congregation can be traced to one guy reading a book a few years ago. This isnt some new spiritual fad, though. We have been awakened to our indifference by the Holy Spirit, and in the process of learning to welcome and care for those who are unlike us, we are on the gospel road. I know, I know, it sounds like a song our grandparents might have sung at camp-meeting doesnt it?

Hospitality is at the heart of Christianity. No one has ever been more radically welcoming than Jesus, who was always accused of associating with the wrong kind of peoplepeople we wouldnt want in our living rooms, or next to us worshiping.

The phrase radical hospitality refers to the activities and desires that inspire individuals and communities to welcome those who are unlike themselves. Rather than viewing any person in terms of how they benefit us, radical hospitality means accepting the person with no thought of personal benefit. Instead of seeking persons who will support the congregation, actively seek persons who need the support of the congregation. To become hospitable means finding ways to welcome the marginalized, forgotten, and misunderstood among us.

Our world feels no safer than it did when the first edition of this book, Radical Hospitality, was originally published. Back then, we were still staggering after September 11, 2001. The falling towers were still in our minds. Fear and an awareness of our vulnerability had taken up residence.

In addition to our fears, we have become a culture with more disdain and indifference than before. Today, human kindness often seems under siege. In the midst of this, some of us are looking for ways to grow more hospitable. Regardless of where our search may take us, it must begin, for all, with a turning inside and ruthless self-evaluation. An examination of conscience that scorches away the excuses we grant ourselves is not just needed; our lives and our society may depend upon it.

For example, it is our nature to seek out persons who are like us for mutual support and affirmation. And it is typical of religious groups to reach out to persons who have something to bring to their congregation, a contribution to make. Most often when you join a church youre asked to pledge your abilities, time, and resources to support the faith community. As a church, we have become accustomed to viewing our membership in terms of what others can give the local congregation. We actively seek out productive, contributing members of our community.

But radical hospitality calls us to search for the lost ones, those who have nothing to give us, but who, instead, need something from us. They may or may not be aware of what they have to give in return. Radical hospitality does not keep a ledger of what is given and what is received.

Certainly there are faith communities that are better at radical hospitality than most. In Detroit, Cass Community United Methodist Church is just such an example. The Reverend Faith Fowler is the pastor, and she has brought a new day to this battered place.

Having grown up in the Detroit area, I have long heard stories of the Cass Corridor, one of the nations most impoverished regions. Cass Avenue is where Faith and her congregation are located. Think of the toughest inner-city district you know. Home to drug-dealing, crime, and prostitution. A place where the homeless are propped against walls of vacant buildings after theyve been brutally beaten and robbed of half a bottle of cheap wine. A dumping ground for those with addictions and mental illness. A place avoided by nice church people. Faith and her congregation call that place home.

A few years ago, Faith came to Heritage United Methodist Church, the congregation where my husband, David, is pastor, in rural Michigan. The two churches are as different as two congregations can be. Faith told us stories from her life. Shes been robbed so many times shes lost count. Our church has been broken into, but the culprits used oversized cabbages to break a windowthere were no guns or knives. We have a few families who have members with special needs. Faiths entire congregation would be labeled special needs by our group.

When Faith spoke of what they are doing in Detroit to strengthen and grow a community of faith that will support and serve the needs of those who live in and around the Cass Corridor, she never mentioned the phrase radical hospitalitybut Faith has lived it and she has led the people she serves into the very depths of radical hospitality. The Cass Community Church is bringing hope to a place where once the warning, Abandon hope all ye who enter here, was fitting.

Of course, most of us dont live in places like Detroits Cass Corridor. The outcasts among us are not quite so obvious.

Not too long ago, I was watching an episode of the Andy Griffith Show with my granddaughter Gina. Gina is thirteen and she adores Mayberry. She is not old enough to have seen the original classic television show starring Andy Griffith as the wise and cheerful sheriff of a little southern town named Mayberry, but the show exists in reruns and on DVDs. Gina has enthusiastically discovered both.