Not everyone is called to be a Mother Teresa, but every one of us is under the obligation of caring for those closest to us. We all have someone in our lives that is in some type of need.
Our homes are to be Domestic Churches… “the smallest body of gathering believers in Christ”, where we put hospitality and true giving into practice.
When we built our home 23 years ago, I gave it over to Him, to use for His will. At the time, it was just my husband and I in a four bedroom house. We had been married for 15 years at that point, so it wasn’t like a pregnancy was even still hoped for.
But the Lord very quickly showed us how it would be filled. Shortly after, my elderly dad moved in with us. Then there was the blessing of two children through adoption, then other children were to come our way much later through day care and then kinship fostering.
If you consider the nurses, therapists, and social workers that have come through our doors in these years. It’s been a pretty constant flow of souls. I haven’t openly preached to anyone. But I pray for them. I was told once by a DCF social worker that my home felt very peaceful… let me assure you that it was God that she was feeling. Even though this house is large enough for what God wanted to do in it, it’s very humble in every way.
I’ve also worked from home in the past, where I did portrait photography and was able to welcome clients into my home.
I now like to occasionally offer my home for Family Cenacles, where I invite friends to come pray the rosary with us and then we follow it up with some type of social gathering. This doesn’t take the place of church… it is an extension of it… an opportunity to reach some who may not attend and make it personal…where ‘church friends’ can bring their spouses and children, even if they are currently not practicing the faith. They may be more willing to go a friends home then they are to a church.
The important thing is to keep listening to the Lord. We’ll all have different calls in our lives.