Welcoming & Embracing the Stranger: Lenten Reflections with the Artwork of James Tissot

February 28, 2026 - Saturday of the First Week of Lent

Welcoming and embracing the stranger is not always an easy task despite the calling of our faith to do so. When welcoming and embracing the stranger becomes difficult, however, we can turn towards today’s Scripture for hope and a way forward. It is always in Scripture that we find comfort and wisdom and today is no different.  

Today, Moses calls us in the Book of Deuteronomy to observe the statutes and decrees of the Lord. We are not called to follow the ordinances of the Lord simply because it is the righteous and faithful path to walk, but because the Lord loves us, and he wants us to be a people of His own. But not only a people of His own, a people peculiarly His own.

What does being a people peculiarly His own mean? It means standing out from the rest of the world, from what the rest of the world tells us to do or says is okay. It means resting in the perfect peace of the Lord and having full trust in His plan for us. When we embrace our peculiarity, we can be truly set free to observe the commands of the Lord.  

The commands of the Lord we are called to observe today are some of the most striking in the Gospel. Today, Jesus tells us to not only love our neighbors, but to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. How peculiar, right? In a world that tells us to love our neighbor and hate our enemies, Jesus gives us a rather peculiar command. 

We may not often view Jesus’ command to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us as fitting the theme of welcoming and embracing the stranger, but it certainly does. A stranger is not only someone who we do not know or are not familiar with, but also the people who we close our hearts to or turn our backs to. My prayer for you all in this Lenten season is that you may always have the strength to open the doors of your hearts and turn to face with open arms, even those who are most challenging to love. In doing so, we can truly welcome and embrace the strangers in our lives. 

Turn our hearts to you, eternal Father, and grant that, seeking always the one thing necessary and carrying out works of charity, we may be dedicated to your worship. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. (Roman Missal)

Stephen Beaman '25, Graduate Assistant

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