A Church for All
Dear Friends in Christ,
I have been inspired these past few weeks by the youth of our Church, locally and universally. I had the opportunity to attend the Steubenville Youth Conference that took place at the Civic Center in July with some high schoolers from St. John’s. Last week I was at Camp Summit, a Catholic Adventure camp put on by our diocese. Middle school youth attended camp and some of our high schoolers were part of the leadership team. Now that I’m back home I have been reading and watching what has been happening in Lisbon, where 1.5 million young people participated in World Youth Day!
Through these experiences I have seen how being nourished by Jesus in the Eucharist, coming to know Him more through Adoration and being in the loving, joyful presence of one another has moved our youth to be welcoming, loving, and free. The theme song at Camp Summitt was “Bigger Table” by Catholic musician Matt Maher. I think there is a lesson for all of us in these words:
Show me who is my neighbor,
The Christ hidden in the beggar,
Cause love doesn't meet a stranger,
Love calls them friend and welcomes them in,
A house for the hungry, A well for the thirsty.
There's an empty seat,
Waiting next to me,
We gotta make some room for each other
Let my enemy be my family.
His love has a bigger table
There's a place for you.
Not by coincidence after hearing this song over and over all week I was particularly struck by Pope Francis having the crowd in Lisbon shouting ‘todos, todos, todos,’ meaning ‘everyone, everyone, everyone’. “That is the Church”, he said, “the Mother of all; there is room for all.”
I think this message is so important for all of us – youth, adults, children - we are all looking for a place to belong, and our Church is called to be a place for everyone. Jesus desired to make himself fully present to us in the Eucharist so He could be near to all of us. As a people of faith who have the gift of receiving Jesus every week, every day in the Eucharist, we are called to go out and be the hands and feet of Christ in the world, to everyone. Lovingly showing that there is a place for all at the table.
These past weeks I saw how our youth desired to make room for everyone. Upper classmen at Steubenville shared their challenging experiences of high school with younger high school students, encouraging them, and sharing with them how their faith and good friendships have helped them. High school leaders at Camp Summit sought out the middle schooler sitting alone at a meal and took the time to get to know them, while youth prayed for one another as they shared about difficult family situations.
It didn’t end at these mountain top experiences though. I’ve already seen the changes that happened in hearts at camps flow into tables at home. One parent shared with me that her 9th grader came home from Camp Summit and invited their family of six to institute a ‘screen free’ Sunday and led them in a family rosary. Sometimes, it’s the people right in front of us who we need to invite to the table! These young people have a true desire to follow Jesus Christ and His Church, not just for themselves but so they can welcome others in. May these young people be an example for all of us!
There’s a place for you.