God, grants us knowledge, understanding and wisdom to welcome all who are new, old, male, female, the poor, rich, the sick, saints, sinners or anyone who is consider “different.”. There are no distinctions between them because all are one in Christ Jesus and it’s a reflection on how we think about Jesus, who Jesus is, who Jesus was and for me, Jesus represents all those listed above and many more. Jesus is our great example of how to welcome and we need to adopt a God welcoming attitude. (Read Matthew 25:33-46.)
I write this because the question in the Parish Newsletter: Are you good at making people feel welcomed, feel included, not excluded? At first, I won’t lie, I had a chuckle to myself. I would like to think, I am good at welcoming people, saying hello, smiling. I will give you a few examples; Thursday afternoon, I went for a walk and my children were riding their bikes and a stranger on the seat commented on my daughter’s dress, how beautiful it was, we didn’t know this stranger, but we shared a smile, and, in that stranger, I saw Jesus. A month ago, I was out mowing the lawn and my new neighbors drove past, I looked up and gave a wave, it didn’t matter, that they didn’t wave back because in that moment I had a God welcoming attitude. One example, really hurt me, I served on the door as a someone who welcomes and I thought, I was doing a great job, smiling, saying hello, only I was told, I wasn’t doing a great job and I asked for this person to lead by example and what they demonstrated was exactly what I had already being doing. I didn’t understand the complaint, I was doing the best I could but that wasn’t good enough. In the end though, it’s between God and I, not between me and anyone else. I want to be the woman who feeds someone when they are hungry, gives someone a drink when they are thirsty, make the stranger, feel at home, love, wanted, needed, I would clothe them and let them have a nice warm bath. I want to visit or offer help to those who are sick or in prison. I want to reflect God’s love.
So, I don’t know who wrote the following: “Many of us can probably do a much better job at this.” But they need to know, God, doesn’t expect us to be perfect, this is not God asking us. He loves us, he knows, we all have good days and bad days and yes, I have felt excluded not by everyone only a few, it hurts and breaks my heart because you are not only rejecting and excluding me, you are rejecting and excluding my children and how can I teach my children that it’s ok, that we have to forgive them and show mercy towards them because God asks that of us.
I think the answer is we need to be an example and give;
More
Love!
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