Hospitality: Light for the World

[The following is a guest post by Philip Erstine, parishioner at Catholic Church of the Incarnation, chairman of the Parish Social Ministry Advisory Commission, and coordinator of the parish welcoming ministry.]

As part of the 2014 Fortnight for Freedom, I offer this reflection on the ways that a parish’s ministry of hospitality is founded upon religious freedom.

Every person has the right to seek, choose, and express religion freely because every person has inherent dignity.  Those who choose Christianity receive the noble duty to greet and serve others in love, because those others are made in the image and likeness of the eternal God.  This is not an optional suggestion, it is a requirement of discipleship in Christ.

This obligation is placed upon us at Baptism, and it is anchored in the Scriptures and the Church’s constant teaching over centuries.  Each Christian is to live as Jesus commands: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).  In order to do this, each Christian also receives tools (called charisms) that empower him or her to be a channel of God’s love in the world.  Christian hospitality is one such gift, and it very often helps open a person’s heart to hear the Gospel.  Greeting someone joyfully may seem quite simple, but it carries great Christian significance.

Hospitality is an important demonstration of the faith we profess, at the personal level and at the parish level.  At Catholic Church of the Incarnation, our hospitality ministry greets all parishioners and guests as they enter our church at every Sunday Mass.  A simple smile and a “hello” from a minister help our brothers and sisters feel welcome.  Further, a heart-felt greeting encourages them to clear their minds of the world’s secular influence and focus as they begin preparing to worship God.  Greeters, and I among them, believe that this is one of the most powerful things that we can give to seekers.

This was proved to me in a powerful way several years ago.  I was a fallen-away Catholic who had not attended Mass in thirty years.  I had been isolated, but I was hopeful of reconciliation with the Church.  Needless to say, I was a little nervous because I didn’t know how I might be received.  Thankfully, the good folks at the parish had chosen to exercise their own human dignity and religious freedom to greet me in faith, hope, joy, and compassionate enthusiasm.  I owe them my deepest gratitude because they helped me come out of isolation and come home to the one, true Church.  They helped me to meet Christ again.

The witness that I saw inspired me to grow in charity and spread that charity to others.  To love is to serve, and so I serve the parish in various ways, especially through the hospitality ministry.  I love my neighbors as brothers and sisters in Christ by greeting them at the doors of the church before Mass.  For a single adult, I may be the face of a loving parish community to her.  For the young family struggling to get their kids to Mass, I might be able to bring them hope of establishing a family bond during worship.  I am always glad to extend my hand in love and compassion, and I am always blessed to have hands extended in return.  In them, I see the light of Christ and I want it to burn more brightly.

Hospitality, then, is an expression of who we are and what we believe.  Yet, that expression is in danger in the present day.  In general, our culture doesn’t care much to seek or amplify the light of Christ.  More specifically, government bodies, laws, and executive orders are encroaching upon our freedom to greet and serve our fellow humans and Christians.  We must remember, though, that groups and government entities cannot suppress our call from Christ.  No earthly bonds may constrain us in our efforts.

So, we must pray, fast, and act to protect religious freedom.  Most importantly, we must live in such a way that the light of Christ shines before all men and women.  Let us begin by greeting them with a warm smile and a kind word.

To Overcome Isolation: The Parish Respect Life Ministry

[The following is a guest post by Traci Porzel, parishioner at Catholic Church of the Incarnation and  coordinator of the parish's Respect Life Committee.]

Two years ago, as I began to grow in my faith and develop a deeper prayer life, I discerned the call to serve in the parish’s Respect Life Committee.  Questions and issues related to the respect of human life have always held a special place in my heart and in my prayers.  Nonetheless, it was not an easy thing to discern or decide.  My family and I have only been in our parish for a few short years, and I am a mother to three children under the age of five.  With so little time, energy, and ministry leadership experience, I didn’t feel ready or able to lead anything.

God had different plans, however, and He led me to reflect on a quote by Edmund Burke: “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”  I began to ask myself, “If not me, then who?”  I knew that it was not enough to hold my faith and my passion for the protection of life quietly at home.  It became much clearer to me that Catholics are called to live out the faith through works of mercy in the world (see James 2).  God led me to accept the call to serve in a tangible way, not just through private piety.

Once I committed, there was another obstacle.  Because of my passion, I was tempted to try to boil the ocean, so to speak.  Yet, because of my limited resources, I would not be able to do all that I wanted or intended.  So I had to make prayer the foundation of my engagement in this ministry.  The Respect Life Committee continually prays that the Holy Spirit and our Blessed Mother guide our efforts, focusing them where they desire.

The Spirit has led us to engage in 40 Days for Life as a primary event for this ministry.  40 Days for Life is a bi-annual worldwide campaign of prayer and fasting to end abortion.  Each spring and fall, at the largest local abortion clinic (and at home), people pray, fast, and minister to women and children who are in crisis pregnancies.  For those, like me, who engage in this ministry season after season, it is always inspiring when we hear uplifting stories in which the mother had a change of heart and saved the life of her child.  It is also extremely powerful when women who are recovering from abortions express regret for their choice, and begin to pray with the 40 Days campaign for other women and babies.

Each woman has a unique situation that has brought her to consider abortion, but there are some common threads in every story.  Many women have little or no support from family or community.  Having a baby probably seems impossible because no one tells the women that choosing life is a reasonable option.  They become isolated.  The presence of people who pray for and support these women demonstrates that there is another choice, the choice of life.  Some women can and will choose to walk in a different direction (literally away from the clinic doors), when they see that someone will support them and listen to their stories.  Therefore, this ministry seeks to end isolation as much as anything else.  When people feel loved and in community, they don’t choose abortion.

The 40 Days for Life prayer vigil also serves the broader community.  We pray for the employees of the clinics.  If the employees desire to leave that industry, there are related ministries that assist them.  We help the local crisis pregnancy centers with their resource needs, and we always refer women to them who would otherwise choose abortion.  We serve people who pass by on the streets by raising awareness and answering questions about abortion with good, accurate information.  Finally, we serve others in the pro-life community.  We share time and resources, and we encourage each other with stories of hope.  Because, without hope and in isolation, people can easily become discouraged and give up on this ministry.

The 40 Days for Life ministry has transformed the pro-life movement, especially in the United States.  In a culture that is very argumentative and divisive (especially in the media news outlets), pro-life activities and presentations can be grossly misunderstood.  However, this ministry answers the Church’s call to break down barriers, to forget distractions of finger-pointing, and serve the women and children of our society who are really hurting.  This ministry involves people praying, not protesting.  It paints a picture of life, not death.  It is coordinated by people who truly love others and seek to engage them instead of being judgmental or hateful.  This movement focuses on reducing the demand for abortion by offering love and support to women in difficult situations so that they do not mistakenly believe their only option is to kill their unborn child.

Without a doubt, this ministry is founded on religious freedom, the freedom that every human being has to seek, know, love, and serve God.  This freedom is not limited to worship inside a sanctuary, but it includes the freedom to speak in public about things of faith; to pray in public with people of similar beliefs; to act in a way that exhibits the faith we hold in our hearts, including the Respect Life ministry and the 40 Days for Life vigil.  In our own age, it is becoming more difficult to minister without restriction.  Violations of religious freedom will make it more difficult to provide hope to women entering abortion clinics, and it will prevent us from sharing Christ’s love as our Lord requires of His disciples.

The Narrow Gate

[The following is a guest post by George Boggs, a parishioner at Catholic Church of the Incarnation.]

In the autumn of 1972, the Cabell County Sheriff’s Department arrested and charged me with several counts for the possession and sale of controlled substances. I was a university graduate student and drug dealer. Needless to say, my arrest was one of the low points of my life. But not the lowest. 

I spent several days in the county jail. The jail was on the third floor of the County Court building. My cellmate was an accused murderer. I recall looking out the window one afternoon at a cold, rainy, West Virginia fall day. I watched the people below going about their business, bundled against the cold and wet, hunched over and scurrying, while I was dry and warm. And I wished more than anything else that I could be out there with them, cold, wet, and in that miserable weather. That was one of the low points of my life. But not the lowest.

After my grandmother mortgaged her home to secure my bond of $30,000 (in 1972 dollars) and I was released from jail, I faced an elderly judge. He leaned forward from his bench, pointed his finger at me, and said: “Young man, I disapprove of the dispensing of illegal drugs in my county. If you come before me for sentencing on these charges, I intend to see you put away for the maximum penalty under the law.” The maximum sentence was 30 years. Moreover, at that time, the West Virginia State Penitentiary in Moundsville was notorious as one of the most violent prisons in America. The gate to that penitentiary was wide and easy to enter, but it locked behind you. If I had survived my incarceration (many did not in that institution) and served a full sentence, I would have been 53 years old when I walked out that gate. That was the lowest point of my life.

Ultimately, two long years later, through the grace of a loving God (Whom I did not acknowledge at the time), felony charges were dropped and I spent a year on probation after pleading to a misdemeanor. I swore to myself that under no circumstances would I ever set foot in another jail or prison. I swore to myself to commit suicide instead. I would never walk through that gate again.

More than 30 years later, in 2005, my wife and I joined a Christian church following a significant conversion experience.  I was persuaded by friends to attend a retreat called the Walk to Emmaus, which is modeled on the Catholic Cursillo movement. This retreat experience led me to a follow-up gathering, which featured a witness speaker for Kairos Prison Ministry. Kairos Prison Ministry brings the Cursillo model to the incarcerated. I listened to the speaker and was impressed by a man who would voluntarily walk through the gate of West Tennessee State Prison, carrying nothing but the love of God and some chocolate chip cookies as an agape gift. I spoke with him following his talk and told him of my admiration for his devotion. I woke up the next morning and realized I had volunteered for what is called a Kairos “Inside Team”. I was alarmed about what I had done. I recalled my promise to myself.  But the faith formation I received from my Cursillo retreat and the love of Christ gave me strength. I found myself walking back through that gate after 30 years, but this time with a different focus and a different purpose. 

God’s work with me, however, was not finished when He led me back to the prison. My Cursillo formation led me to a prayer style called lectio divina (a Benedictine Scripture study practice). After meditating on John 6:53-54, I began the journey toward full communion with the Catholic Church.  Becoming Catholic was, by far, the most significant life changing event I have ever experienced; I realized, as my wife Babetta so perfectly described it, that “I was born Catholic, I just didn’t know it”.

Today, I assist prison inmates in two primary ways.  When needed, I teach RCIA classes on behalf of the Catholic chaplain at the Memphis Federal Correctional Institute, and I also work with the inmates to develop their mathematical skills so they can pass the GED before their release. I have witnessed the first Communion for any number of the incarcerated, and helped many pass the feared math section of the GED exam. If they are Catholic, I help them connect with Catholic parishes before their release.  None of this ever would have happened for me and for those inmates without the spiritual formation derived from Catholic Cursillo. 

There is another element to this story that must be borne in mind. Without the freedom to exercise our Christian faith in the public square, Kairos (nor any prison ministry) will not be entering any prison, anywhere. Believe me, there is significant activist opposition to faith-based programs in prisons despite the hunger of the incarcerated for Christ. Yet we are informed by none other than Christ Himself that “whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Matt 25:40). The Church teaches that we, the laity, must do these things to exercise our faith.

During this Fortnight for Freedom, we must pray, speak out, and stand in solidarity for the freedom to exercise our faith for the least among us, whether they are hungry, homeless, sick, naked, or in prison. The gate is narrow, and the road is hard, but we must not be deterred. It is our road. It is The Way. 

Archbishop Chaput put it bluntly: “If lay people don’t love their Catholic faith enough to struggle for it in the public square, nothing the bishops do will finally matter.”  Please join me and Catholic Church of the Incarnation in this prayerful struggle for a liberty that we hold dear.