WCAT Radio The Open Door (November 30, 2018)

‘Tis the Season! But for what?Hospitality is at the top of our list. It’s part of what animates the American Solidarity Party.Peter Maurin, who with Dorothy Day, began the Catholic Worker Movement, has two “Easy Essays” that we’ll explore today. The first is “The Duty of Hospitality,” and the second is “Feeding the Poor at a Sacrifice.” See also Dorothy Day’s “Room for Christ“. 1. People who are in need and are not afraid to beg give to people not in need the occasion to do good for goodness'sake.2. Modern society calls the beggar bum and panhandler and gives him the bum's rush. But the Greeks used to say that people in need are the ambassadors of the gods.3. Although you may be called bums and panhandlers you are in fact the Ambassadors of God.4. As God's Ambassadors you should be given food, clothing and shelter by those who are able to give it.5. Mahometan teachers tell us that God commands hospitality, and hospitality is still practiced in Mahometan countries.6. But the duty of hospitality is neither taught nor practiced in Christian countries.1. In the first centuries of Christianity the hungry were fed at a personal sacrifice, the naked were clothed at a personal sacrifice, the homeless were sheltered at personal sacrifice.2. And because the poor were fed, clothed and sheltered at a personal sacrifice, the pagans used to say about the Christians "See how they love each other."3. In our own day the poor are no longer fed, clothed, sheltered at a personal sacrifice, but at the expense of the taxpayers.4. And because the poor are no longer fed, clothed and sheltered the pagans say about the Christians "See how they pass the buck."