My Mother-in-law won't be visiting for Grandparent's day after all, due to recent illness. This will disappoint all of us, though we agree she can't travel right now.

Her visit was to have been the culmination of many days of preparation, mostly in the clean and polish department. For once we (I am here speaking as royalty)thought the house should be presentable, with sparkling windows, neat closets, flowers here and there, and an over- all air of welcome. My daughter has also caught the drift of my recent activity.

"Hey Mom, I am starting to get tense about this like you are", called out as she was (finally) cleaning her bathroom. Pause. "But that's a good thing. We should be tense when company is coming. It should mean something, right?"

Well, being tense was not exactly what I had in mind. But yes, it should mean something, we should be involved, and even inconvenienced. Genuine hospitality usually does involve inconvenience doesn't it? Some displacement, some fatigue, some over the top effort?

Not everyone feels as I do, and a few lucky ones have people to do their work for them. For the very first time, I hired help to do windows and floors. This went against my puritanical grain and the first 20 years of my life which were Presbyterian. But honestly, had I the money, I could get used to regular cleaning help.

Even with cleaning help, though, hospitality calls for an opening of the heart, a setting aside of daily routines so that a guest can be inserted temporarily into a span of time. Breakfast might occur at a different hour. Showers might have to be rescheduled so the hot water doesn't run out. Some people do this with more ease than others. And the best among us live in a sort of perpetual state of hospitality, ready to defer to the needs of others who cross their path at any time of day or night.

I am not among the latter group, though my ideal is to be more available than I am right now. I used to be frustrated by friends who would interrupt phone calls to say "Excuse me, I have a call on the other line." As I'd wait, inwardly fuming that my time was worth less than either my friend's or the person on the other line, I made a vow to be with people, one at a time, no exceptions. I am either spending time with you or not.

Well, the cleaning frenzy is winding down, our guest is not coming after all, but I have a house ready and waiting for company. Maybe I should throw a party!

Or maybe I should renew that vow to be more available, more willing to be disrupted for the sake of others, more willing to allow the Holy Spirit to come and dwell with me. Making room for the Holy Spirit, the ultimate guest is the point here after all. And if the Holy Spirit comes calling he will be wanting to dwell for an extended period of time. Major housecleaning will be called for! Confession, adoration, Mass!
Virtues will need to be dusted off and polished, commitments re-examined, humility pulled out from the back of the closet and placed squarely in the living area!
And oh, what a guest he will be, rewarding every effort made on his behalf ten-fold.

Let me see....I guess I should start with humility, and admit that I need all the help I can get.

Come Holy Spirit, be our guest!