Regular Catholic church-goers will probably be able to identify one of the more popular hymns that is often sung at the Opening Rite of the Mass. It is entitled, "All Are Welcome." Someone once related a story to me that spoke of a priest who, before making the sign of the cross at the beginning of Mass, offered the opinion that he was not at all inclined to agree with the sentiments of this hymn. "All are not welcome here," he said, and then listed some people who would not be welcome.
On the south side of Chicago, one can also run into stories of the Catholic Church from the pre-civil rights era that tell of pastors who made sure that people of color were not made to feel welcome in the church. At a time when white people were fleeing the south side because of the influx of African-Americans from the South looking for work, there were pastors who would not allow them to worship in what had once been "white" parishes.
It is a sad historical fact that the bishops of the United States, gathered in Baltimore after the end of the Civil War, voted NOT to evangelize the freed slaves.
It is also a sad historical fact that African-American boys and girls were not allowed to enroll in the Catholic schools of the Chicago Archdiocese as late as the 1950's.
In the 1920's, rather than allow a south side Catholic Church to fall into the hands of a African-American congregation, the Cardinal Archbishop of Chicago tried to turn it into a retreat house instead!
We have not always been a welcoming people!
In paragraphs forty-six through forty-nine, Pope Francis asks us to throw open the doors of the church in welcome. However, he also asks us to go through those doors into the streets looking for people who have yet to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Welcoming people inside is only half the job. We must actively pursue them, just as the Gospel parable of the King who gave a wedding feast urges.
This kind of evangelization takes place through acts of love done in faith. As I was listening to the evening news on Christmas Day, I was taken by a comment which the anchor person made after reporting a story of people helping the poor get a good meal on Christmas. "Is there a way to foster this kind of generosity all year long?" As I mentioned in a previous blog, the answers to such rhetorical questions are obvious. Inclusion trumps exclusion every time.
Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator