645 chapter 21: the restoration of the mystical temple To give lodging to strangers is an act of great merit. The Son of God approved of this virtue in his apostles Luke and Cleopas, who compelled Him to dine [with them], and, as He broke the bread, He manifested Himself as both God and man.183 Blest indeed was that City, which, as an old history of the Holy Fathers mentions, had such merciful citizens that they would snatch strangers to themselves so as to treat them generously. Woe to you, who perhaps feed many dogs and yet allow men to die of hunger! You, who close your doors to strangers, and keep even religious men away from your doors; will Christ not cast you out from the gate of Heaven? Do you not know that a prostitute was received into the dwellings of Heaven because she offered a hospitable welcome to Joshua and Caleb?184 A guest comes, Christ comes.185 He who receives a guest, receives Christ; and would not Christ receive the man who received Him, into His eternal abode? To bury the dead free of charge, simply out of charity, is not considered by God as a service of little value. It happens rarely, especially in rather small gatherings of persons, but there are [a] few people who do it. In this matter Tobias the elder is the most renowned, as I have already indicated.186 Raphael the Archangel said to him: “Since you prayed with tears and buried the dead, and abandoned your supper, and concealed the dead by day in your house, and at night buried them, I have offered your prayer to the Lord” (Tob 12:12-13). Certainly the most effective prayer is made by the one who, when he wishes to obtain God’s mercy, shows mercy to a man. Yet what more eminent form of mercy can there be, than that shown to the dead, from whom no reward, no gratitude and no praise can be expected? Those who do this by all means gain immortal life for themselves. 183 Cf. Lk 24:13-32. 184 Cf. Josh 2:1-22; 6:22-23, 25 185 There is a well-known Polish proverb: “A guest in the home; God in the home.” 186 See footnote 169 (p. 641) (p. 165 of the original text).
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