Welcoming With Open Arms and Not Armed

Welcoming With Open Arms and Not Armed

“I might be murdered as I offer hospitality at Manna House.” For those of us who regularly volunteer or are guests at Manna House this probably seems like an outrageous statement. But the danger of offering hospitality to strangers was certainly brought home by the murder of nine people at Emanuel AME Church last week. They welcomed a stranger into their Bible study, and after an hour he opened fire.

Since then some have called for armed guards at places of worship. Noted Christian ethicist David Gushee, drawing on the Christian just war tradition concluded in a recent essay, “it is terribly sad but not inappropriate for houses of worship to pay for the level of [armed] security required to keep their children and senior citizens from being murdered” (“Unholy guns in holy places” Religion News, June 24, 2015).

            At Manna House we draw on the tradition of the Catholic Worker and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Manna House is not going to have armed guards. As a Catholic Worker house of hospitality we remain committed to peacemaking in accord with the life and teaching of Jesus Christ. Christian hospitality and armed guards are incompatible. The threat of violence an armed guard represents negates respectful and loving welcome.

Neither I nor other volunteers at Manna House are naïve about the possibility of violence. Manna House is not immune from the violence of the streets. Just this morning a guest told me about his being robbed at gunpoint last night. We still grieve over a guest who was murdered one block from Manna House a year ago. In our ten years there have been some fights and other forms of physical altercations at Manna House. I have had a guest or two threaten to kill me (and the same is true for a few other volunteers). Others have threatened to burn the house down. I know of a Catholic Worker in another city who was murdered by a guest to whom he offered hospitality. I know the risks. I know what Daniel Berrigan said in honest humor, “If you’re going to be a disciple of Jesus Christ you’d better look good on wood.”

            I also know that the desire for security encourages us to live in fear rather than in faith. Such fear can lead us away from God and each other. Fear builds walls and engages in an unending arms race. A desire for security rooted in fear regards others as threats rather than as brothers and sisters made in the image of God. Christian hospitality practices a faith in which we welcome others “as Christ” (Matthew 25:31-46), or perhaps as angels (Hebrews 13:1-3), with our arms open, not armed ready to open fire. I think Tertullian (160-225AD) was right in his commentary on John 18:10-11, "In disarming Peter, Christ disarmed all Christians.”

            What I know most of all is that almost without exception the strangers who come to Manna House for hospitality are vulnerable, hurting, and incredibly loving. They have been victimized by violence, sometimes in their families, sometimes by police, sometimes in prison, sometimes by a spouse or lover. Yet they still love. They still give their best to us when they are with us. This morning they inquired about another guest who is hospitalized. They shared their grief about a family member who died and a friend who is deathly ill. They delighted in conversation and coffee in the backyard. They waited patiently for their names to be called for showers or for socks and hygiene. They welcomed us as strangers into their lives. They showed us again the truth they live by, “Some boast in chariots and some in horses, But we will boast in the name of the Lord, our God” (Psalm 20:7). How can we do less?