Class 2

Hospitality as Recognition

“Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?”- Book of Common Prayer (p. 305)

Opening Prayer: Almighty God, who welcomed all creation to be in renewed relationship with you through Jesus Christ, we gather to offer your hospitality to the world. Grant us hearts to welcome, embrace, and make room for immigrants and refugees. Guide our discussions that we may deepen our understanding and grow in empathy. May our time together inspire us to advocate for justice and extend care to all, reflecting the example of Jesus Christ, who welcomed the marginalized and embraced the outsider. Amen.

Recognition:

Today’s class focuses on practicing hospitable recognition. Recognition is about the authentic relationship between the host and the hosted. Recognition sees and embraces the entirety of the other. Recognition believes the experiences of another, listens to the the needs of another, and affirms the innate dignity of one another.

The Holy Family’s Escape to Egypt Matthew 2:13-16; 19-23

read by Peter Meyr

Take 5 minutes to discuss the following as a group:

What do you recognize as the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus? How were those needs met?
Where do you see the dignity of the Holy Family violated? What were they feeling?
What does this story have to do with immigration and hospitality?

Mary Abraham Ayiat

As Mary shares her story, write down words or ideas that stick out to you:

Reflect: Take a couple minutes after this first video to reflect and write down answers to some of the following prompts:

What parts of Mary’s story that stuck out to you? Why?
Where do you recognize dignity celebrated and/or violated in Mary’s story?
How do you recognize God in Mary’s story?

Reflection and Discussion: After this second video, gather as a group to discuss the following prompts about Mary’s story:

What parts of Mary’s story stick out to you and why?
Where do you recognize moment’s of Mary’s dignity in the story?
Where do you see moments of where someone’s dignity was violated in Mary’s story?
How do you recognize God in Mary’s story?
How does Mary’s story connect to the story of your life?

Application: With some of your reflections on Mary’s story and what it means to truly recognize one another, discuss the following questions as a group:

How does your church already recognize the fullness of one another?
Where could your church go even further to recognize the fullness and dignity of one another?
How might it empathetically recognize the suffering in another? How might it recognize the dignity of another?
How could your church specifically recognize the dignity of your immigrant neighbors?

Take-Away’s and Closing Prayer

Before your closing prayer, each person share a one sentence take-away from today’s class. Select one person to offer the closing prayer. In the prayer, offer thanks to God for the take-aways and ask that God might show you more opportunities to practice and develop the discipline of recognizing and embracing the dignity of another.