All Are Welcome – What This Could Truly Mean

A Catholic Church in our area recently had its bulletin’s cover redesigned to proclaim, in huge letters no less, “ALL ARE WELCOME!” Huh? Really? Welcome maybe to “see the Light” or “the Truth” or to covert. But, I suspect, not to receive all the sacraments, i.e. Holy Eucharist – and for all women, of course, definitely not Holy Orders. “All Are Welcome”? I don’t think so.

Deborah Rose-Milavec in the summer 2016 issue of the FutureChurch publication Focus described a sign she saw at the entrance of the Newman Center in Buffalo. She and I pass its wisdom – and possibilities – on to you:

What we mean by EVERYBODY WELCOME!

Single, twice-divorced, under 30, gay, filthy rich, black and proud, poor as dirt, can’t sing, no habla ingles, married with pets, older than God, more Catholic than the Pope, workaholic, bad speller, screaming babies, three times divorced, passive aggressive, obsessive compulsive, tourists, seekers, doubters, bleeding hearts…

I’m sure you could add much more to the list. Think what such expansion, rather than the centuries old contraction and regression, could do for the Church, for the world, for all of us. It leaves me breathless with delight.