Are All Welcome?

Loving our neighbor, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, feeding the poor—it all sounds fantastic, especially when we’re the ones saying it. But the doing—well, that’s a different story, isn’t it? Last Sunday, tensions were running high. Perhaps it was the heat or mourning the farewell to summer, but discontent was in the air.

Allow me to share a moment of grace and hope in thanksgiving of a hospitality minister by the name of Mary Pat Avery. Ensuring all are truly welcome is not an easy task. So as conflict arose, I was nervous to invite her to intervene. With an empathetic ear and a gracious heart, Mary Pat handled the situation beautifully and after Mass went out of her way to say, “I love you.” That’s what we all want to hear, right?

When we step into the sanctuary, we often bring too much secular baggage inside. But Jesus accepts it as a sacrificial offering, blesses it making it holy, and re-unites us as one body. Whether we’re frustrated with our sisters and brothers in the parking lot, the polling place, or even our own dinner table, we have faith in our common union and receive that communion each Sunday. As our Jewish neighbors celebrate a day of atonement in Yom Kippur this week–let us all endeavour not just to reach across the aisle but embrace that aisle as a sacred space of understanding and peace.

Thank you, Mary Pat Avery—for living out the gospel, exemplifying courage in the face of adversity, and ensuring that the welcome we extend is a two-way street. Only together can we be #StillStMonica.