I cannot remember a time when an unexpected guest could not find a seat at our dinner table. My mother seemed always to have just enough for any such possibility. It wasn’t just the tantalizing food that nourished our guests. Our family hospitality included engaging in nourishing dinner conversation. Everybody had something to say that added a bit of flavor to the conversation.

My family’s hospitality saw others as neighbors whether family, friends of the family, or visiting strangers. All were welcome. Within just a few minutes, the warmth from their hospitality melted away any uncomfortable feelings.

Christ continuously calls each of us to see not only neighbors who happen to drop in, but all persons of any color, race, faith, or social class as neighbors.  It’s Christ’s way of asking us to love him. Doesn’t he say whatever you do for the least you do for me? And what you don’t do for the least you don’t do for me?

That’s the simple lesson of Jesus’ famous Good Samaritan parable. Our neighbor, whether he or she be Jew, Samaritan, highly educated or holding a sign at the traffic signal, is anyone who needs something, and we have it to give.

What’s amazing about this parable is that the good neighbor is the enemy of the afflicted traveler, and yet, it doesn’t stop him. He treats this poor, hapless traveler as a dear friend or family member who need help.

It’s a timeless message Jesus is still preaching  to you and me today: “Go and do likewise,” right where you live in this present moment. We don’t have to go long distances to fulfill its meaning. Jesus wants it written in our hearts until we comfortably make room for all people.

Great opportunities to praise God are infrequent,

but turning small acts into great acts happen all the time.