“All Are Welcome”
Father Peter Fitzgibbons
June 11 – 12, 2022
Gospel: John 16:12-15
While I was up north on vacation, I did some touring and saw a lot of churches. Rhode Island is a small state with only about 1,000 square miles in land mass. Stanly County has 404, so Rhode Island is just a little larger than our parish. So is Massachusetts. It’s funny that even in little West Warwick there are two off-brand Catholic Churches. “We are Catholic, but we are not part of the diocese in Providence.” Well, that means you are not Catholic. You are catholic with a small “c” and not a big “C.” All the churches I saw had signs out front that said, “All people are welcome.” We don’t have a sign like that here. Have I ever thrown anyone out? No. Would I? No… well maybe Doc, but that’s another matter. So, these churches have signs welcoming everyone, and it reminds me of Genesis when God asked Adam and Eve: “Who told you that you were naked?” Who told you that you were not welcome?
Christ calls everybody without condition to Himself. He came so that we might all share in His love and the fruits of His sacrifice so that we might live in Heaven with Him. That’s why He created us…to love and serve Him in this world and to reign with Him in the next. Remember your Catechism. Our Good Lord called everyone to Himself, however, apparently there are qualifications . . . a response to that call of love. That’s why I have never thrown anybody out. Remember Tommy Morton who was a Baptist for 55 years? Like Saint Dismas, he stole Heaven at the end. I loved that guy. Everyone is welcome here, but only practicing Catholics can receive Communion.
When our Good Lord called everyone to Him, He said, “Come and follow Me.” He calls all of us to receive the gift of redemption. Now, according to Scripture, there are requirements which are really acts of love. People say, “Well Christ wants everyone to partake of His love regardless of their state.” No. That’s not what Scripture says. Scripture says, “unless you deny your very self and take up your cross and follow Me, you will not be My disciple.” In order to receive the gift of His love which transforms us from our old sinful ways, we have to surrender ourselves to Him. Remember the rich young man? He said that he had to go bury his mother and father, and he walked away from Christ. Did Christ go running after him to say He was only kidding? No. Three times He was left with only His apostles. Everyone else left Him when He spoke about the Doctrine of the Eucharist – eat My flesh and drink My blood as food; the doctrine of marriage – it is between a man and a woman for life; and the doctrine of suffering – He would have to go to Jerusalem and suffer and die. There are many others, but the mind will hear only what the seat can endure. The Holy Father said that a sermon should only go for eight minutes.
God wants a total response to our love. When I was ordained, I was given the power to absolve sins. I have the power of binding and loosening. What can I bind and what can I not let go? People who are not sorry for their sins and who haven’t resolved to make amends for their wrongs. We all have the resolve to change. We all fall but we get up again. If you say, “I am living with whoever, wherever, and doing whatever, and you have to love me the same as everyone else,” Christ will say, “No.” “But how could you excommunicate anybody?” Paul said we should. Those who eat and drink the Body and Blood of Christ are worthy and guilty of His death.
So, our Good Lord calls everyone to His side. Everyone is welcome here. I don’t think any of the ushers have ever asked anybody for their Baptismal Certificate. I don’t think we say, “Well if you don’t have a proper Baptismal Certificate, you’re not going to Heaven.” I have never said that. I am just hoping to get there myself. If I eat bacon, I might get there a lot sooner than I planned. Just putting that out there. God asks us to renounce our very self. In the Parable of the Wedding Feast, there’s a man there without a wedding garment and he got thrown out. He would not change in order to come to the feast. Christ calls us to change from our sinful selves and to open our hearts without reservation so that we may conform to the great things in life. It’s always a work in progress. But if we fall down, we get back up and keep trying.
Everyone is welcome. However, God wants more than your physical presence. It’s a good start, but He wants us to open our souls and renounce our sins. He cannot force us because love is a free-will act. Open your hearts so that you can be transformed. It’s not a matter of attendance, of making people feel good, or singing “Kumbaya” together. It’s a matter of salvation…of changing and healing souls.
All are welcome. We don’t need to put up a sign out front for that. I’ll tell you one more story about Bishop Waters, the Bishop of North Carolina. In the early 60’s, there was only one diocese in the state. Someone asked the Bishop, “Hey Bishop, how many black Catholics do you have?” He said, “I don’t know. We only have Catholics in our church.” We have no distinction. When people say to me, “Father, I’m not Catholic,” I say, “First of all, I didn’t ask, and 2) We are all children of God.” Everyone has a right to be here. This is our Father’s house and not a club. But our Good Lord wants more than our physical attendance. He calls all of us to come, but not all will accept His love the way God wants to give it. And that’s a real tragedy.
How will you apply this message to your life? __________________________________
Father’s Reflections . . .
We all go through trials and temptations. As of late, I have been very troubled with a very grievous and troublesome temptation. I have two fairies on each shoulder whispering in my ears “Bacon is good for you.” And everywhere I go there is a Hardees “Baconator” sign. Really? Well, that’s just food pornography….I don’t care who you are!
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