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

February 25, 2026 - Wednesday of the First Week of Lent

“Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.” 

What do Jonah and the Queen of the South have in common to teach us about hospitality? They were both strangers, but they were both welcomed. When Jonah went to preach the Word of God to a foreign people in a foreign land, the Ninevites accepted him and his message. They permitted themselves to be shaken out of their habitual way of doing and thinking by a stranger. They risked change, a change rooted in doing God’s will. That change led not to death and destruction, but to life and a way forward. 

The Queen of the South came to Solomon as a sceptic. Solomon welcomed her and offered her the best hospitality at his disposal. This hospitality melted her skepticism, she discovered through it God’s will and wisdom, manifested in the right ordering of Solomon’s worship and leadership. Solomon became a sign to the Queen of the South, of the God of Israel, who brings peace, order, and the fullness of life. She left Solomon a transformed woman. 

When we risk welcoming the stranger and showing hospitality, we open ourselves to encountering God and being transformed by Him. When we give genuine hospitality to another, welcoming them as they are and offering our love, they might just be transformed by encountering us. We are called to be another Christ to those around us. The great tragedy of Jesus’ audience in the Gospel today is that they missed their opportunity to welcome Jesus. They did not allow His word to transform them. They wanted Jesus to prove Himself to them, on their terms, before they could accept Him. I am tempted to do the same. Oftentimes, without being aware, I expect others to meet my standards before I accept their words, before I agree to learn from them, before I accept them. 

Lord Jesus, please help me to welcome you in simplicity, humility, and authenticity, in the distressing disguise of the stranger.  

Look kindly, Lord, we pray, on the devotion of your people, that those who by self-denial are restrained in body may by the fruit of good works be renewed in mind. 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)

Sr. Lety Guadalupe Sanchez Beltran, Campus Minister

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