December 18 - "Saint Francis Hospitality"

I am going to interrupt my series of columns on the Doctors of the Church to speak about a topic that is very timely.  Several years ago, I published in my column before Christmas some thoughts on hospitality as we were expecting large crowds of people to come to our Christmas Masses.  We are seeing more people returning to Mass and will likely see some people we have not seen in a while.  What I wrote then seems very relevant.  So here are some thoughts as we prepare for our Christmas Masses next week.
 
Christmas and Easter are two times in the year in which many more people come to church than we normally expect to see on a typical Sunday.  Some are family members of parishioners who are coming to Mass with the family.  Others are people who don’t go regularly to church anymore.  But something inside them prompted them to come back to church for Christmas Mass.  Some may not come from a church background but wanted to check us out with the thought of coming back if they had a good experience here.  We don’t necessarily know why people we don’t normally see or don’t know are here.  But they are here for Mass on Christmas.  The important thing for us to do is to make them feel welcome.  Let me talk about one simple thing that we can do that would speak volumes on making people feel welcome.
 
We all have our favorite seats at the dining room or kitchen table.  We often have to shift our seats when we sit down to Christmas dinner because there are more people.  Some of these people we haven’t seen for some time.  Some are brand new to our table.  Maybe a co-worker or school friend or one of our children who couldn’t get home for Christmas will join us.  It might be a neighbor who is alone for Christmas.  We all have been flexible for the feast.  And, we go out of our way to try to make the person feel as welcome as we can.
 
All of us can strive to be flexible when we come to Christmas Mass.  Many of our brothers and sisters in the Catholic Family who we have not seen for some time will be with us for the celebration.  There may be some who have never been with us in our parish. 
 
I want to encourage those who regularly attend Mass to move over as far to the center of the pew as is convenient when you come to Mass on Christmas.  Your usual seat may be right on the aisle. For the sake of “company, however,” I want to encourage that these seats be the last one filled.  I also hope that we shall let those with mobility issues be seated in places where they can easily receive Holy Communion.
 
I also want to encourage those who are regular participants to acknowledge others as they themselves enter the pew and as other people enter the pew.  A smile and a simple. “Merry Christmas” or “Blessed Christmas” can “warm up” the congregation.  I hope that we would greet our “pew-mates” as they leave at the end of Mass.
 
I remember talking with several people who are members of the parish.  These parishioners had tried out several other churches in the area.  No one greeted them when they came to Mass nor spoke with them while they were there.  But when they came to St. Francis they were greeted warmly and made to feel very welcome indeed.  That is when they knew that they had found a parish home.  They returned and are now active parishioners.  Such simple gestures of kindness and hospitality can make such a big difference!
 
Until next week (which will be Christmas Day!)
Fr. John