January is often a quieter month for monastic guest masters and guest mistresses, and so every two years we take the opportunity to gather together for a time of reflection and prayer. This year, monks and nuns with responsibility for hospitality in monasteries across Ireland and Great Britain met for three days at Kylemore Abbey, in beautiful Connemara.
Benedictine, Cistercian and Bernardine communities were represented, with guest masters and mistresses hailing from Buckfast Abbey, Stanbrook Abbey, Quarr Abbey, Glencairn Abbey, Silverstream Priory, Kylemore Abbey and Hyning Monastery. Pluscarden Abbey in Scotland joined us via Zoom.
Our theme was simple: “Welcoming the guest as Christ today.” We shared experiences of hospitality in our different monasteries and quickly discovered how much we hold in common. Though our settings vary, many of the challenges are the same. We spoke, too, of a striking pastoral reality: how many people arrive at our doors tired and worn down by the pressures of modern life. Again and again we see how deeply guests value the rhythm, prayer, and quiet of the monastic guesthouse.
One important insight was that hospitality does not have to be grand or luxurious to be authentic. It is not great gestures that make a guest feel welcomed as Christ, but the creation of a safe space, and the offering of reverence and respect. A listening ear, a simple meal, a peaceful room – these speak powerfully.
We were also reminded of something even more fundamental. While we are called to welcome Christ in the guest, it is Christ who truly does the welcoming. Our task is to set the table, to open the door, to be present. When we step aside and allow Christ to act, many marvellous things can happen.
The days in Kylemore were filled with prayer, conversation and encouragement. We returned to our monasteries strengthened in our shared vocation: to receive each guest as Christ and to trust that Christ is already at work long before we open the door.
Oscar McDermott OSB