You're listening to Catholic Sprouts, the daily podcast for Catholic kids that strives to plant seeds of faith.

Hey there, Sprouts. Today is Thursday, January 26, 2003. Today is also the feast day of two saints from the early church, St. Timothy and Titus. Now, what is so fun is that yesterday we celebrated the conversion of St. Paul,

and today we are celebrating two men that received their conversion through the witness and preaching of St. Timothy and Titus. Both of these men encountered St. Paul on his journey.

They were converted to the church.

They became priests.

They became bishops and leaders of the early church.

And they also, like St. Paul, wrote important letters that guided the early church

and continued to guide us today.

So we are talking about hospitality, but today first, let's practice memorizing Deuteronomy

chapter 6 verses 4 through 9.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen.

Here, O Israel, the Lord is your God. The Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God

with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These words, which I am

commanding you today shall be on your hearts, and you shall repeat them diligently to your sons

and speak of them when you sit in your house,

when you walk on the road, when you lie down, and when you get up.

Amen.

So we have been talking about hospitality from the Old Testament

to Jesus who spoke mostly

his teachings over meals, the covenant of friendship established through a meal.

And today, we're going to take this to the next level.

Now, if you have been listening and thinking, oh, hospitality sounds nice, but I'm a little shy, or my house is kind of messy, or I don't really know if I want to do that, I'm here to tell you that hospitality is not optional for Christians.

...