Monday of the First Week of Advent

Lectionary: 175

I say to you, many will come from the east and the west, and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the banquet in the Kingdom of heaven.”


On this second day of Advent, the Church mercifully spares us Jesus' next statement in Saint Matthew's Gospel: but the children of the kingdom will be driven out into the outer darkness, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.”

Recently the friars of my province gathered at Saint Meinrad Archabbey to worship our God, celebrate our life, enjoy our companionship and consider our future. As the Boomer generation of friars passes through the system -- a phalanx somewhat smaller than the greatest and silent generations   -- the province will be much smaller. At that point our numbers will be more typical of our history; which is to say, a very few in the overall Church. 

If we hope to leave any lasting trace on the Church we will have to come to terms with the new reality of American life -- men of European lineage will be a minority. There have never been many Hispanic-, Asian- or African-Americans in our province. Few of those who joined us stayed. Like much of the North American church, we have not included those from "the east and west who will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the banquet in the Kingdom of heaven." 

During our assembly we were reminded it's one thing to say "All are welcome" and it's quite another thing to make it so. After the new members have arrived can we go back to our card games and television? Can we still eat our familiar foods and carp about unfamiliar entrees. Are we prepared to pray in another language? Is it enough to say, "Make yourself at home?" Apparently not. I couldn't help but notice how bilingual and English-only friars self-segregated to different tables in the dining room. 

Three friars at the Assembly

What happened among us, of course, is only a microcosm of the Catholic Church in North America, and of all Christian Churches. Fifty years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King observed that Sunday morning, 10:00 am is the most segregated hour in America. We may work and study and shop together; we pray separately. Little has changed in fifty years. 

During Advent, the season of preparation, the Holy Spirit urges us to anticipate the flood of men and women who will stream to Bethlehem to worship the Savior of the World. They will find a place but will I find a place among them?