New starts

I have finished reading a book by Diana Butler Bass entitled "A People's History of Christianity". In the conclusion, the author speaks about the Eucharist and how the participants enact a universal story. "It is also a story of hospitality. The transformation is not about the supernatural magic of the mass. Rather, jutise occurs around a table...There bread and wine invite the outcasts, the marginalized, to God's table. Together these people - the ones society has abandoned - feast with Christ, the expansive host. God's welcome is the radical act. And the mass fulfills Jesus's vision of universal justice: 'I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you have me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me."

We live in a time when ethics is more and more identified with hospitality. How do we welcome people? Gone are the days when we identified society with Christendom, and now we live in a time when we are responsible for helping create with God the kingdom of God in our communities, our homes, our churches. And the kingdom is recognized by hospitality. I fear we spend too much time asking the questions that divide us, like "Who are you?" "What are you?" and not enough time looking upon another and declaring "Welcome my brother or sister! You and I are children of God!"

With this post, we begin a new season for the blog. I hope people will see this as an invitation to post their thoughts on what it means to be a Christian in the world, where they have experienced or witnessed true hospitality, and even suggest how we might improve. Let this be a journal for those seeking life in Christ, one that allows us share the journey, as well as the vision.

Fr David