Hi! I’m Kathy Powell, today’s guest blogger. I’m the Marketing Director at Ignatius House Jesuit Retreat Center & Young Adult Minister at St Jude Catholic Church in Sandy Springs, GA. I’m also a blogger & huge fan of Twitter, so check out my blog Frugal n’ Fab in Atlanta.
As I type this, my house smells ridiculously good. My homemade lasagna is baking in the oven and I’m feeling uber-domestic. I’m making lasagna because my good friend & her family just moved into a new house. Since I’ll be in her new neighborhood tomorrow around dinnertime, I volunteered to stop by to see her new digs and bring dinner. I know I could have stopped by without bringing food or could have bought food on the way to her house, but the situation just seemed to call for homemade lasagna…. something that takes a little bit of time, patience and effort, and a good amount of garlic & onion.

I thank my parents for raising me with the logic of hospitality. They live by the rule that when someone comes by near mealtime, you invite them to eat with you. There is always a way to stretch the food and man, my mom is brilliant at that! If you truly don’t have food to share, you offer coffee or water or at least a place to sit and an ear to listen. You always have something to offer. You can always be present.

Jesus preached about loving your neighbor as yourself. My four-layers-of-cheesy-goodness is showing love to my good friend, but it’s something I feel like I overlook too often. Neighbor doesn’t just mean enemies! We’re called to serve all of the people God puts in our path. I figure that my friends tend to be in my path more often, so I should put effort into valuing them and making sure that the relationship is not all about me- because it’s not all about me or all about them- it’s about serving God in and through all we do and in and through all of our relationships. My disposable pan of lasagna is a tasty conduit of the Holy Spirit, encouraging me to slow down and take the time to appreciate and care for the people God has put in my life.

How do you show Christ’s spirit of hospitality to those around you—especially your friends?
~Kathy Powell

Becky Eldredge

Becky is an Ignatian-trained spiritual director, retreat facilitator, and writer. She is the author of the Busy Lives and Restless Souls (March 2017, Loyola Press) and The Inner Chapel (April 2020, Loyola Press). She helps others create space to connect faith and everyday life through facilitating retreats and days of reflection, through writing, and through spiritual direction. With nearly twenty years of ministry experience within the Catholic Church, Becky seeks to help others discover God at work in the every day moments of people’s lives by utilizing St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises and the many gifts that our Catholic faith and Ignatian Spirituality provide.