Pope Leo reflects on hospitality offered by Abraham, Mary, and Martha

July 21, 2025

On July 20, Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass at the cathedral in Albano and delivered his Sunday Angelus address in Castel Gandolfo, two miles away.

In both his homily and his Angelus address, Pope Leo reflected on the hospitality shown by Abraham, Mary, and Martha, discussed in the day’s Scripture readings.

“Service and listening are, in fact, twin dimensions of hospitality,” he preached in Albano, as he referred to Martha’s service and Mary’s listening. He continued:

Our relationship with God comes first. Although it is true that we must live out our faith through concrete actions, faithfully carrying out our duties according to our state of life and vocation, it is essential that we do so only after meditating on the Word of God and listening to what the Holy Spirit is saying to our hearts.

To this end, we should set aside moments of silence, moments of prayer, times in which, quieting noise and distractions, we recollect ourselves before God in simplicity of heart. This is a dimension of the Christian life that we particularly need to recover today, both as a value for individuals and communities, and as a prophetic sign for our times.

“Today, Abraham, Martha and Mary remind us that listening and service are two complementary attitudes that enable us to open ourselves and our lives to the blessings of the Lord,” he concluded. “Their example invites us to reconcile contemplation and action, rest and hard work, silence and the bustle of our daily lives with wisdom and balance, always taking Jesus’ charity as our measure, his Word as our light, and his grace as our source of strength, which sustains us beyond our own capacity.”

“Humility is needed to offer hospitality, but also to receive it,” the Pope said during his address in Castel Gandolfo. “It also takes courtesy, attentiveness and openness. In the Gospel, Martha risks missing out on some of the joy of this exchange. She is so caught up in preparing to welcome Jesus that she nearly spoils a unique moment of encounter. Martha is a generous person, but our Lord calls her to something more than generosity alone. He calls her to leave her preparations behind and to come and spend time with him.”

“The summer season can help us learn how to slow down and become more like Mary than Martha. Sometimes we too fail to choose the better part,” he added. “We need to take time to rest and try to learn better the art of hospitality.”

The Pope concluded:

Let us pray to Mary Most Holy, our Mother, who welcomed our Lord, bore him in her womb, and together with Joseph gave him a home. In her, we see the beauty of our own vocation, the vocation of the Church, to be a home open to all and in this way to welcome her Lord, who knocks at our door and asks our permission to enter.

 

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Further information:

• Holy Mass at the Cathedral of Albano (Dicastery for Communication - Libreria Editrice Vaticana)
• Angelus (Dicastery for Communication - Libreria Editrice Vaticana)