What does it mean to be a welcoming Catholic?

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Matt 19:14

What does this scripture passage mean in today’s world? Many reading this article know that the Diocese of Calgary is leading a renewal effort. I am the Chair of the St Peter’s parish renewal team and the executive director for Heroic Men Canada. There are three challenges that have been laid out in the Diocesan renewal:

1. Form missionary disciples in Christ
2. Be a church of encounter and witness
3. Strengthen family life.

These goals are very much in line with the work I'm trying to do with Heroic Men, so I have had the opportunity to spend a lot of time thinking about this mission.

At St Peter's, our first consensus was that we wanted to be a church of welcome, not led by a committee, but creating a culture of welcome at our Parish. This is in line with Curtis Martin's book “Making Missionary Disciples" where we want to offer authentic friendship  - which starts with the need for us to be Christocentric.

I had a lot of time this past weekend to contemplate what it means to be a welcoming Catholic. Our son was married this weekend to his beautiful wife and there were many people attending from very diverse backgrounds with different perspectives. I reflected that as the father of the groom it was my responsibility to be a loving and authentic representation of the Catholic Church to everyone attending.

I always try to see the face of Christ in all people of different walks of life and love them as His children. I wanted them to leave knowing that we are a church of welcome. Deacon Stephen Robinson, who officiated the wedding, did an excellent job of letting them know why we were there,  in the presence of God, to witness a sacrament. We don't have to (and shouldn't) sugarcoat or water down the Gospel.

The following day was my youngest daughter's birthday and she wanted to bring her siblings from Idaho and British Columbia to the Saint Francis Xavier Chaplaincy Mass at the cathedral.

The young man who was seated in front of us turned to my second youngest daughter at the end of Mass. He was questioning how we could worship with the kids making noise and disturbing his “worship experience”. Then he questioned my wife and I. At the moment I tried to engage him but realized that I was not going to gain any traction. I told him God loves him and that I needed to leave as we were going out for a family dinner.

What he did not realize was that my daughter from BC had taken in two young nephews who had been seized by Social Services who carry a lot of trauma as their father died this past Christmas and their mother is struggling with addictions. I was able to settle one of them that was making a little bit of noise and he actually fell asleep and we listened to the homily and father Troy talking about a man who was lost to drugs and drinking but found his way back through serving the poor.  

Fr Troy then invited us to journey together with the goal to be Saints. Bishop Scott McCaig says “The renewal periods in the Church are messy” I wish I could have spent more time talking to the young man to better understand.  We are not always going to come to a definitive answer in that moment. We do have to remain focused on Christ and listen to the Holy Spirit to continue to move forward.

We all need to consider how you represent Christ to the people visiting our churches; especially our young people, because I know that some are coming for the first time and they are concerned about their kids making noise.

We need to let them know that they are welcome as that is the future of our church. There are so many others that are lost and don’t know the love of the Father. They may have a Grandma or relative praying that someone like you will be a light to their family member.

I was inspired and challenged by these lines in St. Patrick’s Breastplate: Prayer for Protection:

Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me

Let us continue on this path of bringing Christ to the world around us!

About Sean

Sean Lynn is the Executive Director of God Squad Canada and the National Director of Heroicmen. He is a husband, father and grandfather. He brings 33.5 years of policing and 27 years of running ministry to men experience with him as he continues to grow ministry to men across Canada and beyond.