A Welcoming Parish! (13.A)

Back in those happy days of full churches, a man came to Mass wearing a hat. The ushers asked him to take it off, but he refused. Several folks in the nearby pews did the same, but the hat stayed on.

 The priest noticed this too, and spoke to the man after Mass. He told him he was happy to have him as a guest, and invited him to join the parish, but he explained the traditional practice about men not wearing hats in church. And he said “I do hope you’ll take it off the next time.”

 “Thank you, Father,” the man replied. "And thank you for taking time to talk to me. It’s good of you to invite me to join the parish. In fact, I joined two years ago and have been coming ever since, but today is the first time anyone paid attention to me.”

 “After being an unknown for two years, just by keeping my hat on I’ve had the pleasure of talking with the ushers, several of the parishioners and you. Thank you very much!”

 I’m sure the parish in the story isn’t ours! While we’re not perfect, we’ve been trying hard to make this a welcoming church. It’s a big part of our parish plan to invite people to become intentional disciples.

 And as you’ve just heard, welcoming is an important part of the Christian life.

 In today’s Gospel, Jesus says “whoever welcomes you welcomes me.” That’s a powerful statement. In the first place, those who welcome the Apostles are welcoming the Lord himself. Then he says that those who welcome a prophet—a teacher, a preacher—will also be rewarded.

 Even those who show hospitality with as simple a thing as a drink of water are promised a reward.

 This is a wonderful weekend for Christ the Redeemer Parish. Yesterday, Archbishop Miller blessed our new entrance doors; tomorrow, we celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the opening of the old doors at the dedication of the church in 1990.

 Our call to be welcoming and inviting was an important part of the Archbishop’s homily at the blessing ceremony yesterday, which was attended by members of the parish pastoral and finance councils who helped to plan the project, and by members of the Project Advance team who helped to raise the funds.

 Here’s what the Archbishop said: “The new doors of this church beckon people, above all but not only parishioners, to come in and be enfolded in God’s love and mercy.

 “But once inside, once nourished by divine worship, we are to push through those doors, which open to the world in need of your witness to the Gospel, your compassion and your willingness to give to others an account of the hope that is within you (cf. 1 Pet 3:15).”

 Thirty years after the dedication of this church to the glory of God, we thank him for how the Gospel has been preached not only in its sanctuary but in the lives of our parishioners. The parish community has certainly welcomed apostles, prophets, and righteous persons, but it has also put faith into action by offering much more than a cup of cold water to the needy, the lonely, and the young.

 I not sure where I fit on that list, but the parish has also welcomed me. Today is the 34^th anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood, which means I will have spent more than one-third of my priestly life as pastor of Christ the Redeemer Parish.

 During my years here, I have always experienced your spirit of welcome and kindness, but never more so than during these months of the pandemic, where an astonishing number of parishioners have emailed, texted, and called with words of encouragement at a very difficult and uncertain time.

 I wish the whole parish could have been here for the blessing of the doors; I wish we could have a party to celebrate our thirtieth anniversary. I wish we could be having coffee and welcoming visitors after Mass today.

 But for now, my prayer to God comes from the words of the late Dag Hammarskjöld, the second Secretary General of the United Nations. He wrote “For all that has been: Thanks. For all that is to come: Yes!”

 On-line or in-person, “church never stops” in our family of faith.