SIXTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, JULY 20, 2025
- Maria Knox
- Jul 20
- 4 min read
Reading 1 Genesis 18:1-10a
The LORD appeared to Abraham by the terebinth of Mamre, as he sat in the entrance of his tent, while the day was growing hot.
Looking up, Abraham saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of the tent to greet them; and bowing to the ground, he said: "Sir, if I may ask you this favor, please do not go on past your servant. Let some water be brought, that you may bathe your feet, and then rest yourselves under the tree. Now that you have come this close to your servant, let me bring you a little food, that you may refresh yourselves; and afterward you may go on your way."
The men replied, "Very well, do as you have said."
Abraham hastened into the tent and told Sarah, "Quick, three measures of fine flour! Knead it and make rolls."
He ran to the herd, picked out a tender, choice steer, and gave it to a servant, who quickly prepared it.
Then Abraham got some curds and milk, as well as the steer that had been prepared, and set these before the three men; and he waited on them under the tree while they ate.
They asked Abraham, "Where is your wife Sarah?"
He replied, "There in the tent."
One of them said, "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah will then have a son."
REFLECTION
"Now that you have come this close to your servant, let me bring you a little food, that you may refresh yourselves; and afterward you may go on your way."
Reading this passage from Genesis makes me think on the importance of entertaining and honing friendships. I can picture Abraham trying not to overheat himself by sitting inside the shade of his tent, and then seeing the three travelers enduring the heat and the brightness of the sun on their walk. Back in those days, the custom was to offer hospitality to travelers that crossed paths with you, even if you did not know them.
Abraham invites them over and serves them freshly baked bread, meat, and room temperature curds and milk- yum!
Most of us don't see many people walking down the street in the middle of the day on their way. But we still live in isolated households and we need to go out of our way in order to interact with others: family, neighbors, friends. Entertaining takes a whole lot of effort and planning.
It is true that we build our homes to be our castle, our refuge, which is fine, we need a place where we can find respite from the madness of the world. The problem is that in our digital era it becomes the only place we want to be at because we have everything here, and we can get anything delivered into it: electricity, internet, amazon, door dash. etc.
Abraham went out of his way to meet and bring the travelers over. In the same fashion we have to plan and invite people to come over. For us the question is why do we entertain friends? Why even have friends physically present if we could have them in social media and get a few hundred thousand likes in a matter of minutes?
To be a real friend, we have to be physically present, not just digitally.
Psychology tells us that friendships make us healthier both emotionally and physically*. Aristotle defined 3 kinds of friendship: utility (temporary, like work friendships), pleasure (for example shared common hobbies), and virtue (mutual respect and well being for the other's sake)**.
Saints have talked to us about friendship as well: St. Augustine, St. John Henry Newman, St. Josemaria.
I know for me, it is really hard to get off my keister, stop looking at my phone, and start making in person, face to face connections with others. Recalling the words of Saint Josemaria, remind me to stop being a taker, and start being a giver:
"You have had the good fortune to find real teachers, authentic friends, who have taught you everything you wanted to know without holding back. You have had no need to employ any tricks to steal their knowledge, because they led you along the easiest path, even though it had cost them a lot of hard work and suffering to discover it… Now, it is your turn to do the same, with one person, and another — with everyone! "(Furrow 733)
Yes, we need to socialize with kindred spirits. Friendships, meals, gatherings !!
Thank you, Maria