Is hospitality a gift of the Holy Spirit? Yes! The charism or spiritual gift of hospitality goes beyond mere acts of kindness. It embraces the essence of welcoming others as if they were Christ himself.
Understanding the Charism of Hospitality
Firstly, the Holy Spirit’s spiritual gift of hospitality calls us to practice genuine openness, welcoming others with open arms and treating them as cherished guests. It’s not just about offering food, shelter, or conversation, but a deeper spiritual calling to reflect God’s own loving and welcoming nature.
Hospitality’s Impact on the Church
Additionally, it is important to make people feel genuinely welcomed in concrete ways within our churches and faith communities. This experience of the spiritual gift of hospitality can profoundly shape people’s perception of the Church. This makes it a vital aspect of our mission to spread the love of Christ. To this end, put individuals with the charism of hospitality on the front lines. This provides a warm and inviting presence to everyone who enters through the doors.
The Power of a Welcoming Presence
It is no surprise that women predominantly possess this charism of welcoming others, this spiritual gift of hospitality. However, we also recognize that men can possess this gift as well. It is fact that about twice as many women have this charism as men. This natural inclination to welcome others is a testament to the innate beauty and relational aptitude of women.
Stay in Your Lane
Finally, It is crucial for individuals to recognize the spiritual gift of hospitality as their charism and lead with it. Hospitality doesn’t have to be a means to teach theology, unless teaching and knowledge are also among your charisms. Keep your focus on the simple act of making people feel welcome. The Holy Spirit will guide the rest of the process. This transforms the spiritual gift of hospitality into a beautiful, no strings attached expression of Christ’s love.
Notwithstanding, it’s vital to understand that these gifts do not define or restrict you. They are simply expressions of God’s love in the world. Let’s foster an inclusive and welcoming Church where everyone can find a warm embrace, regardless of background or circumstances.
If you want to embark on your own discernment journey, check out our free PDF guide to all 24 charisms. You can also take the charism assessment.
Learn more at Many Parts Ministries.
Jill Simons [00:00:00]:
Hello and welcome to Charisms for Catholics. My name is Jill Simons and I’m the executive director at Many Parts Ministries where we equip the Body of Christ by helping people learn about and discern their charisms, which is really another word for spiritual gifts. When you discern your charisms, you’re able to see how the Holy Spirit is already active in your life and where he is inviting you to further build the Church. Let’s dive in. Today we’re going to be talking about hospitality and what that looks like as a charism. All of us are familiar with hospitality as a concept, as just a general thing that people do for each other. But hospitality as charism is really about welcoming. It’s about empowering an individual to open one’s heart, open their home, to welcome others as if that other person is Christ himself.
Jill Simons [00:00:58]:
And a lot of times that looks like providing food, providing shelter, being able to be in a relationship with people that’ll be meaningful to them and allow them to feel that welcoming presence. And something that I haven’t talked about as much in the charisms leading up to this one is really the concrete way that each charism makes Christ present. So that’s something that we’ve gone through in the book and really highlighted in each charism is what is the specific way that this makes Christ present in the world. When you use not loose, when you use this charism, when you use the charism of hospitality, it’s really God’s welcoming nature that is being expressed in that charism. And these people with hospitality, if you are a person with hospitality, these are people that we want on the Church’s front lines. One of the worst errors that I think a church can make, an individual parish or something like that, is putting non-hospitable people on the front lines, making them the greeters or making them the outreach people. Instead, we want to cooperate with what the Holy Spirit’s already doing, the people that already have that heart to welcome people in as if they were Christ and put them on the front lines. Have them be the greeters, have them be the people that are actually welcoming people into the church. Because like we say, with all the charisms, it’s going to work.
Jill Simons [00:02:31]:
People are going to feel welcome, people are going to be welcomed in a concrete way. And that is something that can totally shift people’s experience of coming into the Church if they have that experience of being truly welcomed by someone with this charism. And so this is such a cool role in the Body of Christ. And I see primarily women with this charism, absolutely accessible to men as well. I’ve also met lots of men with it, but I would say on average, it’s about two to one. Going to be about twice as many women as men that have this charism. And that is interesting kind of from two directions. One of them is that this is something that is very organic to a lot of women to do.
Jill Simons [00:03:21]:
And then women that this is not organic can feel a kind of shame that this isn’t one of their charisms. And I just want to kind of dispel that this comes up with faith, this comes up with mercy, this comes up with hospitality a lot where people will feel like, what does that mean about me if I don’t have this charism? Is that kind of a judgment on me that I’m not welcoming, that I can’t see Jesus in the poor, that I don’t have enough faith? Whatever the situation might be. That’s not it at all. What this is is a special gift that someone has been given for a purpose. And it’s not for us to kind of turn our nose up at the gifts that we have personally been given and want something else. It’s for us to appreciate what we have been given and then lead our lack, let our lack in other areas lead us into appreciation of other people’s gifts. So instead of looking at something like that as what does that mean about me? I feel less than potentially because I don’t have this charism to let that actually help you see the value in the people that have been given hospitality and that this is something that they provide for the larger community. And to recognize the fact that you have been given the right things for you and for your life. And just because it seems like maybe as a woman, as a mom, especially stay at home moms, will struggle with this a lot, specifically around hospitality, feel like they should have been given this, but if for some reason you have not, then that is the way it should be.
Jill Simons [00:05:07]:
Things are as they ought to be. And if you find that there’s that hunger in your heart, not from a place of competition, but a place of actually desiring to serve the Church in this way for hospitality, then like we’ve talked about before on the podcast, you can ask for it. There is 100% possibility you’ll be given new and more charisms in the future. You can ask for the ones you want. And if this is one of those, fire away, go ahead and ask. God loves it when we come to him in faith to ask for things. But at the same time, be easy on yourself if this is not you. And if this is you, make sure you value this. A lot of people will say, well, I just like to make food for people, or I just like to talk to people. And they won’t see what a powerful Church-building gift this really is.
Jill Simons [00:05:59]:
And so that’s my big recommendation with hospitality is to recognize that if this is one of your charisms, that you’re being called to lead with that, and that is enough. You’re not needing to welcome people so that you can teach them theology. Unless teaching and knowledge are also some of your charisms. You want to stay in your lane, and part of your lane might be just the simple act of making people feel welcome. And letting that be enough and trusting the Holy Spirit with the rest of the process makes hospitality into just a really, really beautiful, no strings attached expression of the love Christ has for each one of us. Thanks so much for joining us on today’s episode of Charisms for Catholics. If you would like to learn more about your charisms or begin your own discernment journey, head to our website atmanypartsministries.com, where you can download our free PDF guide to all 24 charisms and also begin your own journey by taking our Charism Assessment.
