When we are just not there for the other
September 19, 2026
My 86-year-old mother takes great pride in her role as a co-host for our homestay in Vipin, Kochi. The homestay is on Airbnb.
Guests should be pleased with their rooms; the home-cooked food should appeal to their palates; the services and the utilities should follow the SOP (Standard Operating Procedure); Wi-Fi should work; rooms should be cooled in advance and ready for guests.
But then Murphy’s Law will kick in. The Salvation Army, like the fire station, will have to step in. Always on notice for Mum’s call before the guests get hot and sore under their collar; she has it all working again. Often, they don’t even know that there was a lapse of service.
Mum is itinerant. Even at 86, she moves between her four sons in Pune, Bangalore, and two in Singapore. Mum was camped in Bangalore when her calendar pinged that guests were expected at our homestay.
Mum gets fidgety and anxious if she is not there when guests arrive. She fears Murphy’s Law will prevail and her home army may be found lacking.
Jesus had a decision to make. He took his praetorian guards, John, James, and Peter, to the top of the hill at Gethsemane. He asked them to keep watch as he faced the deepest conflict of his life. To do or not to do. To go on the cross or not. He was disappointed with the guards.
Couldn’t you keep watch for one hour? Jesus asked the apostles. (Mk 14:37)
Now it fell on me to accompany Mum to Kochi. I was at the Holy Hour in Church. My thoughts were on the cost of the flight and attendant expenses. Like Google, God was ‘crawling’ through my thoughts. When I got back home, I received a call from a client, friend, and mentor. He wanted me to do a full-day workshop in Coimbatore, all expenses paid, with a token offering to cover miscellaneous expenses. He did not ask. He told me. The workshop date fitted me like a Savile Row-stitched suit. It aligned with my Mum and my trip to Kochi.
Like marriage, this itinerary was made in heaven. It is easier to get to Coimbatore from Kochi than from Bangalore. Putting together the workshop at short notice was a stretch, and so was the reality when the guests arrived. This was the first time for me that my visit to our home coincided with a guest arrival. Even if a guest was there, I acted as if I too was a guest and extended courtesies to them as a fellow guest. Mum took care of everything.
When the US-based 72- and 76-year-olds arrived. It was different. I was there to greet them. The first words out of their mouths were, “This place is far from the airport”. The second set of words was, “There are no shops or activities here”. I pointed to the quiet surroundings and the pristine beach and backwaters on either end of the homestay. To satisfy their need for commercial activity, I informed them that Cherai Beach was within walking distance.
I must have sounded like a snake-oil salesman. They kept the bags in the room and said they would be back in half an hour. My Mum and I crossed our fingers. But all was well. They came back, and we had lunch together. And a potentially good review after their stay.
The reviews are Mum’s delight. Here’s one about Mum that reflects the rest of the 18 reviews on Airbnb on our homestay:
“The flat is very cosy and comfortable, with an awesome price-to-quality ratio. It’s perfect for two people if you want quiet, intimate, and relaxed holidays. Nice toilet, great bed, perfect AC, and beautiful landscape from the windows, showcasing the imposing wild Kerala jungle. We have no complaints. Leela, the manager, is a very kind and helpful lady, and she will prepare a fantastic breakfast if you ask her.” - Camilo, 12 years on Airbnb
The workshop too went off well, receiving top grades from the faculty participants.
How does this happen? I attribute it to the Holy Hour that Bishop Fulton Sheen popularised and preached at his retreats to priests who adopted it as their daily practice. Fulton Sheen, with his brilliance and deep spirituality, swept the radio and television waves as a spiritual Catholic leader in a Protestant-dominated America where only 20% of practising Christians are Catholic. He had 30 million views then in the 50s. He had raised over two billion dollars (inflation-adjusted) from his broadcasts and gave it all away to the poor.
Fulton Sheen was heroically virtuous. He preached in the leper colonies. Once he thrust a crucifix in the palm of a leper and was repelled by the leper’s half-eaten fingers. He sensed the hurt in the leper’s eyes. He at once made amends and hugged the leper. That’s being ‘heroically virtuous’. This was revealed and confirmed during the investigation for Sheen’s beatification.
Mum also tries to be heroically virtuous by being a Super Host. The guests respond with great reviews. The Catholic Church recognises those who live a proven life of Christ, caring for the least of the brethren. After a rigorous investigation into their past, the candidates for beatification and canonisation are hailed as Saints of the Catholic Church.
Thank you, Mama. Thank you, Archbishop Fulton Sheen, for showing us how to serve.
- Mathew Anthony
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