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

March 6, 2026 - Friday of the Second Week of Lent

In the past few years, I have come to realize the incredible beauty and value of the Lenten season. Unfortunately, this beauty is sometimes overlooked when Lent is seen primarily as a time to give things up. It becomes simply the forty days before Easter when we try to fast, give up chocolate, or have one less glass of wine a week. All of that is part of Lent, and we should fast, but we should not lose sight of why we do these things. Lent is the time we are given to remove distractions that keep us from fully receiving the greatest gift we could ever receive: Jesus Christ. It is like spring cleaning for the soul. We prepare our house—our life—making room within it so that we are ready to welcome Him. 

In today’s Gospel, we encounter the parable of the wicked tenants. The landowner entrusts them with the vineyard, asking only that they bear good fruit. Yet through complacency and self-interest, they forget that they are only tenants. When the servants are sent to them—and finally the son—they refuse to welcome them. Instead of hospitality, there is rejection. Instead of gratitude, there is violence. They close their hearts to those sent to them. Throughout Scripture, hospitality is sacred. We are reminded in Hebrews 13:2, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” The tenants' failure is not only that they wanted control; it is that they would not receive the stranger. 

Lent invites us to examine whether we do the same. The vineyard of our soul was bought at an incredible price. Do we welcome Christ when He comes to us in others, especially those who are difficult, inconvenient, or unfamiliar? The stranger may be the person who frustrates us, the one we need to forgive, or the one who seems to interrupt our plans. As Christians, we cannot live by the mentality that others matter only for what they can do for us. We are called to treat every person with love, respect, and hospitality. This Lenten season shows us where we need to grow, so that with prayer and the help of the Holy Spirit, our hearts may be ready to welcome both the stranger and Christ Himself. 

Grant, we pray, almighty God, that, purifying us by the sacred practice of penance, you may lead us in sincerity of heart to attain the holy things go come. 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)

Victor Muwonge, Seminarian, Archdiocese of Newark 

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