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Dear friends,
What a week!
We watched the world come together around sports as we cheered on soccer teams from countries far from our shores.
Yesterday, we celebrated 250 years as a nation with parades, barbecues, and fireworks. While we acknowledge the serious challenges we face, we also find reasons to celebrate. We remain hopeful people, committed to doing what is needed to restore peace and continue serving as a beacon of hope for others around the world. It will take courage, but with 250 years behind us, we have the will and the stamina.
Earlier this week, the Ignatian volunteers held their annual June retreat. Fr. Greg Boyle, SJ, founder of Homeboy Industries, guided the day. It was a day of hope. Fr. Greg challenged us as to whether we were people of invitation or people of indictment.
Fr. Greg talked of infinite welcoming and hospitality. I hold that our churches would be full if we understood hospitality and partnered it with synodality. If we invited people in, truly welcoming them, and then listened to them, we would be a church of “love your neighbor”, another idea Fr. Greg talked about.
Fr. Greg reminded us that authentic disciples are joyful, fearless and people who move forward. While our retreat day did not focus on July 4, these words speak to our times. We celebrate our 250 years and fearlessly move ahead in pursuit of the common good.
The Statue of Liberty has these words inscribed:
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddle masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!
In today’s gospel, we hear Jesus inviting us to, “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened and I will give you rest.” There is a synchronicity to the message on our Statue of Liberty and these words of Jesus we hear today. They are words of caring, words of hope and sanctuary. They are words of welcome.
Let us be advocates for a welcoming church and a welcoming country.
Peace,
Anne
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