The Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time – August 31, 2025
Those welcomed to the table in today’s Gospel reading are not the insiders—members of the master’s household or his neighbors and friends. Rather, it is the outsiders coming in from all corners of the earth to whom the master opens the door.
Many of our parishes in the United States are blessed with diverse communities, some celebrating together regularly in multiple languages and sharing a variety of customs and traditions. These parishes often work hard to address the unique and shared needs of those who make up their community. Furthermore, they look beyond those in their pews to notice who is missing. Still, even these communities recognize that they can always do more to ensure their doors are always open and that places are ready at the various tables of parish committees, liturgical ministries, decision-making groups, and leadership.
Many of our parishes in the United States are blessed with diverse communities, some celebrating together regularly in multiple languages and sharing a variety of customs and traditions. These parishes often work hard to address the unique and shared needs of those who make up their community.
Want to know how welcoming your parish really is? Invite a family with a crying baby to sit in the front, or make friends with the homeless person down the street and ask them to come to Mass with you. Then sit with them during Mass and see what it’s like.
It is easy to get into the habit of sitting in the same place or with the same people every time we come to Mass. But doing so never allows us to see the world from a different perspective, especially from the stranger’s or the outcast’s point of view.
Leave a Reply