What the Mass Teaches Us About a “Welcoming” Church, by John M. Grondelski

John M. Grondelski (Ph.D., Fordham) is a former associate dean of the School of Theology, Seton Hall University, South Orange, New Jersey. All views expressed herein are his own.

 

Among the buzzwords associated with the upcoming Synod on Synodality is “welcoming.” We are told that we need to be a “welcoming” Church with the suggestion that, so far, we haven’t been. Expect “welcoming” to be bandied about frequently in the coming months.

I’ve argued elsewhere that behind this “welcoming” veneer lies an ecclesiology alien to the Church’s. The Church is not primarily a social club of the “I’m OK, you’re OK—and that’s how God made us!” It is a divinely established institution whose raison d’être is to make Christ present here and now and continue proclaiming His message. That message does not affirm human OK-ness. To the contrary, it recognizes, “I’m not OK, you’re not OK, but Christ can make us OK if we metanoeite!” That’s our “Good News,” our Gospel. …

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