Kenotic hospitality and the Eucharist: an alternative economy

Abstract

This essay discusses the Eucharist as an enactment of kenotic hospitality and the alternative economy of God. It explores kenosis and hospitality as important practices for Christians, and reflects on how they are linked and embodied in the sensuous experience of the Eucharist. I explore kenotic acts of self-limitation as an antidote to consumption, drawing upon the work of Sallie McFague. Balanced with an embodied understanding of mutuality, enactments of kenosis proclaim the abundance of God. Using the work of Christine D. Pohl, I explore the practice of hospitality as a mandate for Christians. Hospitality makes the invisible visible, and creates opportunity for connection and mutuality. The Eucharist, a liturgical expression of kenotic hospitality, engages participants in deep forms of connection to creation, to God, and to one another. I argue that kenosis and hospitality, in the light of the Eucharist, are illustrative of God’s alternative economy. As we engage the practices of limitation and hospitality that the Eucharist embodies, we are transformed by the abundance of God, for the sake of the world.