We welcome all

24Aug
The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ So Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live for ever.’ He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.
-John 6:52-59


Questions and the theology around Holy Communion and who is eligible to receive it continue to divide Christian churches. The official position of the Episcopal Church is that any baptized person is eligible to receive Holy Communion. In practice, many Episcopal churches, including ours, welcome all. I am grateful that we take this position. 


When thinking about the question of excluding someone or doing something to have someone feel less than fully welcome, in or out of church, it is important to remember that, as Christians, all we do should point toward the Love Jesus commanded of us. Any decision/action must involve asking if what we are saying and doing is loving one another as Jesus loves us. With the divisions in our country and in our world, it is more important than ever to keep this question in mind. 


Musical Interlude - This Table is Yours - The Porter's Gate


Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:

where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek

to be consoled as to console,

to be understood as to understand,

to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive,

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

-St. Francis Prayer

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