Day 7 – Offer hospitality to one another
Morning prayer
Start you day with this prayer
Give us, o Lord
A humble heart
That we may focus on YouA spacious heart
So that we will care for one anotherA dedicated heart
So that we will live obedientlyA loving heart
So that we will serve You and our loved onesWe can never know You fully
But we can also know with certainty – we are Yours
Prayer station
Use this symbol to lead you in prayer for the day.
Symbol: A candle
We pray for families who are grieving and who have lost loved ones.
We pray that they will find comfort and peace in this time of sadness and grief.
Reflection
Read this reflection on the text for the day.
Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling – 1 Peter 4:9.
In the ancient world hospitality was one of the most important values. It was dangerous to travel and inns weren’t always available or safe. This is why people were dependent on each other’s hospitality. In fact, the entire missionary system was based on the hospitality of other believers to travelling preachers. Hospitality was an important testimony that believers loved others – even strangers – more than their own belongings, time or comfort.
In the world of today hospitality isn’t very common. Parker Palmer writes that in the past we could talk about the stranger in town because a stranger stood out from the crowd. Now we all live as strangers in a town or city filled with other strangers. Our privacy and comfort are more important than welcoming others into our homes.
As believers it is our calling towards one another, and others, to offer hospitality. To welcome others into our homes, and also to be welcomed as guests into theirs. This is how a new community who cares for others will be created. The church isn’t supposed to be a closed community, but rather a community that welcomes everyone.
Thank you, Father, that we are welcome in your presence. Open our hearts and homes to those who are lonely and in need, and give us the love for one another that turns strangers into friends. Amen.
Isaac’s Soap Opera
Watch this video with your children
Liturgy for life
See the ordinary things you do in and around the house as signs of God’s care.
Do I make people feel welcome?
Name a few places where you truly feel welcome. In which spaces do you feel people accept you for who you are? Take a few moments and write down what other people do that makes you feel welcome. Do you think you are someone who makes others feel welcome? A word that we can use to explain how we welcome others, is hospitality, to be hospitable towards others. How hospitable are you to each other in your home at the moment? Do you think the other people in your house enjoy being with you, to spend time with you? Why do you say so?
Create an opportunity where everyone who is staying with you helps you to clean the house (or a few of the rooms). When we help each other to clean the kitchen and the dining room, we are helping to make the space more pleasant and more welcoming. Help each other to collect all the rubbish and to throw it away. In the same way we can “gather” all the hurtful things we say to each other, acknowledge and admit them, and throw them out with the rubbish.
Are you willing to change your attitude and actions so that everyone can feel welcome in your home? Everyone at home can help to make it a hospitable home!
Children’s activity
Play with your children.
Wow! 21 Days of isolation. 21 Days in which we’re only allowed to be in our homes (or gardens) and can only go out for the most essential things like food and medicine. It can be a little rough! All the things we usually do during the day, like school, sport, church … are not happening anymore. It can really confuse you and maybe even bore you a little. These daily readings will help you to spend some time with Jesus every day in a creative and fun way. You can do these readings and activities by yourself, with your siblings, or with your entire family. Ask one of the grownups to post your activity on Facebook so that others can enjoy it with you. Tag it with #solitudecalendar #churchtogether
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To be hospitable simply means to make each other feel welcome. When you feel welcome, you feel loved and at home.
Talk about a time when you felt really welcome and at home.
When is it difficult for you to be hospitable towards someone else?
Activity
Design a placemat for everyone in your home. Set the table for dinner and place each person’s placemat at their spot at the table. You can even take turns giving each other compliments at the table.
During this isolation period we need to think creatively about being hospitable towards each other. Think of a few things that you can do in this time to be hospitable. Here are some examples:
Phone someone you know who is 70 years old or older and ask them how they are.
Put some non-perishable products together and leave it for the garbage collectors with a thank-you note.
Creative prayer
Colour and reflect (Instructions are available under the picture)
INSTRUCTIONS
• Choose your art materials such as coloured pencils, coloured pens and koki pens. Any of these will work.
• Colour in the picture and do the activity.
TIPS
• Choose no more than five colours. If you’re unsure of which colours to use, take out all the colours and put them on the table. Close your eyes and pick up five.
• It may be easier for you to first start colouring the edges and not big blank spaces.
• Don’t stop halfway, especially if your reason for stopping is that you think your picture isn’t pretty. This is the purpose of the activity – to get your attention away from unnecessary thoughts like, “Am I doing this right?” and to focus on the people that you love.
• When you’ve finished colouring the picture, put the picture in a prominent place in your house, like your bedroom or in the kitchen.
Consider sharing your picture on social media with the hashtags #solitudecalendar #churchtogether
Thank you’s and testimonies
Share your testimony with us! Use the online form below.