Oblate Reflection: Meeting Christ in the Stranger

Hospitality for Xavier

We were fifty second graders in 1960

In one cramped classroom.

Five straight lines of desks except for

Two desks set together:

Mine and foreign boy, Xavier’s.

He and I could talk during class,

Speaking French, our secret power.

It was my first time being all in charge

Of hospitality, translation,

And answering Xavier’s many questions.

Two desks set apart, thin, cute Xavier

And I now were both different, a threat.

I became hesitant when I felt everyone’s unease,

The teacher’s indifference to us being bullied –

My braids pulled; Xavier charged at with ugly meanness.

The haven of our two desks set apart

Kept us always other, strange and wrong.

Hospitality slipped inexorably into hostility-

New taunts daily, new places to be kicked.

Teachers, overwhelmed by numbers, didn’t protect.

Hospitality brings a bundle of new,

Unpredictable, sometimes sweet moments too.

Once, Xavier cried tears of loneliness for his grandma

And only I knew to be compassionate, so I learned:

Hospitality requires solidarity and tenderness.

Kids somehow will follow raunchy bullies

But then, look at us bored or curious

Leaving a door open for kindness which I

Had to open for my fellow classmates.

Hospitality to Xavier was a long story.

Hospitality and Hostility live together,

There’s joy and unease, boldness and retreating.

There’s cold indifference and strength in protecting.

Meeting Christ in the stranger requires strong people

And time to change hearts.

Madeleine Callahan 10/20/2022

Can you remember a time in your life when hospitality and hostility lived together?

What kind of qualities of heart do we need to welcome the stranger as Christ?