Every Sunday, we as a parish community host a banquet for God’s people. Of course, we look forward to seeing our registered parishioners come to this banquet—the Church gathered together to give thanks as we have done since the days of the apostles. We often sing about who is welcomed at our banquet and how we are called to go out and bring to the table all that have been tossed aside. We are told not to judge those who come by their clothes, their donations or their style of life. We are told that there is room for everyone at our banquet. Do we really mean these words?
If we mean these words, then we must make our parish a place where the poor, the lame, the blind, the deaf, the sick, the elderly, the young, and the sinner are all welcome. In addition to ramps and handicap access, sign language and children’s liturgies, youth groups and marriage support, we need a food pantry and a welcome ministry, and a willingness to listen to the needs of others. Yes, we have much to offer, but we have so much more to do. However, in order to do more, we need YOU to make it happen. In my family, you not only sit at the table, but you also learn how to serve at the table.
And then there is the question of how we get more people to come to our banquet table when people are tempted in so many ways. We must also learn how to invite people to our banquet.
Think about how many times a friend, a coworker or a family member has invited you to attend THEIR church. If your friend/family member/coworker belongs to an evangelical, pentecostal, or non-denominational congregation, I suspect you have been invited many times and that tell you how wonderful their services are or how well their preacher preaches. If that person is a Jehovah’s Witness, a Mormon, the invitation probably came with a small rebuke of what is wrong with the Catholic Church. If that person is a Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran or Episcopalian, you may have only been invited once or twice.
Now, how many times have you invited that person to attend Mass here? Did you even try? When they told you how great the music or preaching was, did you mention Holy Communion and all the Scripture we use at Mass? Did you tell them that Catholic music is meant for everyone to sing together and not just listen to the choir and that Catholic sermons talk about the glory of Jesus Christ and not just how Jesus is going to bless you because you believe in Him? Did you tell them that Catholics have the mission of bringing Christ to the world and not just bringing the world to Christ? Or did you stay quiet?
If WE do not invite people to come to our banquet, who will? Do you think people just magically show up at the door? Do you expect God to do the work he gave to the disciples and to us? How can we even imagine a banquet hall filled with worshippers if we are not going to invite someone ourselves? We are participants in the greatest miracle ever known to the human race, a mystery so sublime that even after 2,000 years and the help of Albert Einstein, we can barely explain what happens at the altar. We are participants in a single act of worship that has been going on continuously since the night Jesus rose from the dead. We eat with saints and sinners and we all share in the one loaf which is the Body of Christ. In fact, we BECOME Christ’s Body and carry Him back into the world with us! Did you really not invite your loved one/coworker/neighbor to join us? Peace, Fr Nick