Following Archbishop Bathersby’s Advent Pastoral Letter, the focus for this Christmas Season and beyond, will be on encouraging Catholics to rediscover the wealth of this faith that is so important to all of us. The Christmas Masses seem to overflow every year with people who come to share and to celebrate as members of our faith communities, and it is always great to see them at Mass. But what happens when Christmas has come and gone. Where are these people of faith during the Ordinary season of our Church Year?
Perhaps it is important for all of us who come along each week to endeavour to encourage these members of our faith Community who are part of the Church, but absent for so much of it to return. That will only happen if they feel welcomed and at home in our midst. If these people of faith arrive at any of the Masses and made to feel like outsiders because we simply ignore them, then why should they come back to God through us?
So, in highlighting the Archbishop’s concerns and his focus on evangelisation, it is important for all of us to play our part in welcoming others into our midst. That is the mission of the Church. That is the mission of the People of God. That is the mission that each of us are charged: to welcome and to reach out, not only at Christmas, but throughout the whole of our year. Then those occasional Catholics may see the need for our Church and our Community to be a part of their lives and the lives of their family members. But it begins with us, and our call to mission and ministry as members of this Body of Christ.
– Fr. John Conway