Welcoming
wel·com·ing, verb (used with object), to greet the arrival of (a person, guests, etc.) with pleasure or kindly courtesy.
I grew up in a Catholic home. When people learned that my mother gave birth to eleven children, most would knowingly ask, “You’re Catholic, aren’t you?” And we were. Despite often struggling financially, my parents sent us to Catholic schools. I attended Catholic schools from 1st grade through high school graduation (Holy Cross in NE Minneapolis, St. Peter’s in Mendota, St. Joe’s in West St Paul, Brady High School).
Religion was not something we just did on Sunday or Wednesday night catechism classes. This verse from the Bible held a lot of meaning for me. Whatsoever You Do to the Least of My Brothers You Do unto Me – Matthew 25:31-46 As I became an adult, I learned that every major world religion has a version of this as a main tenet of their teachings and beliefs.
Therefore, it is especially egregious to me when people claim to be devout their faith are unwelcoming, unkind, even mean to people who are different in some way. For quite some time, those differences could be obvious, such as the color of the other person’s skin or manner of dress. Sometimes less obvious, such as being of another faith. Or feeling romantic love for someone of their own gender. Or feeling incongruous with the gender assigned at birth, if one was assigned at all. Believe it or not, some people are born with both male and female genitals and a parent and/or doctor will decide to operate and choose in which gender the person will be raised.
I am heartbroken to hear from people who are being mocked, shunned, bullied and ostracized by their classmates and parents of classmates for being different. Those who are acting this way are often people who call themselves devout in their religion, often a Christian religion. Jesus Christ did not condemn those who are different. How can His followers?
While we are more alike than we are different, we each have characteristics that make us unique, including those doing the bullying. I pray that those who are unkind reflect upon how they would like to be treated, and become more compassionate, more loving, more Christ-like, more welcoming towards their fellow humans.
