September 17, 2026 // Thursday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Luke 7:36-50

Reflect on the Word // 

Hospitality is a big deal in Mexican culture. It is embedded in our DNA. When I started dating my now husband, it was something he learned immediately. He understood that if my mom was cooking that he would need to find a way to be hungry even if he wasn’t. My husband gained “happy weight” during those first couple of months that we were dating. My mom’s breakfast burritos filled with papas and chorizo were not optional. 

Homemade food is a way of saying, “Welcome! Sit down. I made time for you through this meal. I would like to get to know you by the way you receive and respond to hospitality.” A good indicator of the compatibility of a relationship is how a person treats you and connects with you when you are hosting them. It is one of the traits I highly value being Mexican-American and even now as a wife and mother it is something I carry with me wherever I go. 

In today’s Gospel we read about a Pharisee who invites Jesus to dine with him but he comes up short as a good host (see Luke 7:36-50). The sinful woman in the city who learns that Jesus is at the table with the Pharisee is quick to arrive prepared. She takes an alabaster flask of ointment, bathes Jesus’ feet with her tears, wipes them with her hair, kisses them, and anoints them with the ointment. This woman understands hospitality. 

The Pharisee welcomes Jesus, but his hospitality is limited and has conditions. He isn’t willing to allow it to cost him something. The Greek word for hospitality is philoxena which translates to “love of strangers.” Throughout the Bible, Jesus shows us how much He enjoys sitting and being among strangers. 

Sister, this is our call too. Can we have this philoxena? We are called to a radical love which asks us to give of ourselves without measure. How can we be more authentic in the way we offer hospitality?  It doesn’t have to be audacious; it can be as simple as a homemade breakfast burrito. 

Relate to the Lord // To whom can you offer hospitality to today? What might that look like?