“Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Community” has a very special welcome sign at their church. This is what welcome is about....
We extend a special welcome to those
who are single, married, divorced, gay, filthy rich, dirt poor, yo no
habla Ingles. We extend a special welcome to those who are crying
new-borns, skinny as a rail or could afford to lose a few pounds.
We welcome you if you can sing like Andrea Bocelli or like our
pastor who can’t carry a note in a bucket. You’re welcome here if you’re
“just browsing,” just woke up or just got out of jail. We don’t care if
you’re more Catholic than the Pope, or haven’t been in church since
little Joey’s Baptism.
We extend a special welcome to those who are over 60 but not
grown up yet, and to teenagers who are growing up too fast. We welcome
soccer moms, NASCAR dads, starving artists, tree-huggers, latte-sippers,
vegetarians, junk-food eaters. We welcome those who are in recovery or
still addicted. We welcome you if you’re having problems or you’re down
in the dumps or if you don’t like “organized religion,” we’ve been there
too.
If you blew all your offering money at the dog track, you’re
welcome here. We offer a special welcome to those who think the earth is
flat, work too hard, don’t work, can’t spell, or because grandma is in
town and wanted to go to church.
We welcome those who are inked, pierced or both. We offer a
special welcome to those who could use a prayer right now, had religion
shoved down your throat as a kid or got lost in traffic and wound up
here by mistake. We welcome tourists, seekers and doubters, bleeding
hearts … and you!
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