Sabbath
Reflections through the
week...
Where is your story in the
Sacred Story today?
What would be necessary for
that parents' prayer to
work if you found yourself in
that situation?
Can you think of any
situations in which being
welcoming,compassionate,and
inclusive might lead more
easily to reconciliation?
As we approach the 10th
anniversary of the tragedy of
9/11, what do the Scriptures
of this Sunday offer you?
A Love with the Power to Heal
As I’ve traveled the country preaching the past twelve years, there is no single request for prayers more frequent than, “Please pray for my children who don’t go to church anymore.” In response, I ask whether these anxious senior parents know “The Prayer for Parents of Adult Children Who Don’t Go to Church Anymore.” Of course, they haven’t, so I ask them to listen carefully:
Loving God, put your arm around my shoulder
and your hand over my mouth!
Though this may fly in the face of the prophet’s mandate expressed in the passage from Ezekiel, it would fall under the reiteration of the law of love offered by Paul in today’s Scriptures. Even Jesus’ prescription for the process of reconciliation is rooted in the prayerful collaboration of the community more than in heavy-handed brow beating.
To be sure, parents face a daunting challenge in continuing to guide their adult children in the ways of the faith. But my prayerful suggestion is more likely to work better than incessant fretting. The strategy offered by that rather facetious prayer is that witnessing our love for those children has the potential of speaking volumes. Perhaps it is these situations that we should recall the Gospel’s consistent message of having our words and actions be the true witness of our faith. Wouldn’t those children who absent themselves from the worship of the Church be more convinced if they were to see, in the lives of those who do attend, a much fuller and joy-filled life?
Yet this focus in today’s Scriptures is not only for individuals; it is, as Jesus points out, equally true for faith communities and the wider church. National surveys on church attendance indicate that not being welcomed or not feeling included rank very high among the reasons for not attending church. This criticism would seem to be addressed not just to the priests in those parishes, but surely would also apply to the people in the pews. So often assigned “ushers,” even so-called “greeters,” open doors and greet people with the obligatory “Good Morning,” but little else. Faith communities must begin to see that the obligation to be welcoming and inclusive rests with the entire congregation. This would call for everyone being conscious of the need to make others feel welcome. How can the faith community exercise the reconciling power offered in today’s Scriptures if there is no intimate communal relationship to begin with?
So exercising genuine hospitality in the local parish also demands being willing to take the time to become the part of that community. When I was in my first assignment, a non-denominational mega-church opened within the parish boundaries. Some parishioners, curious about the new church, attended a Sunday evening service there. They returned with stories of an experience of welcoming never felt in their own parish. They said that it appeared that every member of the congregation was a greeter. And though the members of that church came from all over the city, it was clear that everyone knew one another. That’s the foundation of a reconciling community.
Needless to say, what is needed for a reconciling environment within the family and the local parish community is also needed within the diocesan and universal church. Just as parents harping on their adult children’s lack of attention to their faith life is usually an exercise in futility, so too the church needs to be more understanding of the lived experiences of all. There are clear Gospel values that identify the Church, the clearest one being “What would Jesus do?” Our experience of Jesus’ message of compassion often seems foreign in today’s Church. Just as you and I must strive in our daily lives to imitate the compassion and understanding of Jesus in all our relationships, we should pray that our diocesan and our universal Church would do the same.
The Second Vatican Council helped us understand that we are the Church; we are the Body of Christ in the world. If we hope for the universal Church and its leaders being more accountable to the Gospel, then we must be able to witness that kind of discipleship in our own lives. You and I are called to witness the love Paul addresses in today’s reading from Romans. You and I are called to develop a community of faith so welcoming, so inclusive, and so compassionate that the reconciling power Christ demands of us will not only be possible, but will lead the entire people of God to that oneness of spirit as the Body of Christ in the world.
To be a reconciling Church requires all of Jesus’ disciples to be like parents praying for their children, simply loving them with the very love we celebrate at this Eucharist-- a love with the power to heal.
