Today is the Feast of Saints Simon and Jude. The first reading is from St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians which begins with the memorable: “You are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God.” It is Paul’s message to the community at Ephesus, Jew and Gentile, that at long last they are truly home and can at last rest and be at peace.

It is not a pleasant experience to feel “out of place.” Have you ever been in a place where you feel as though you are a bit of an intruder. The realization can come upon you unexpectedly and you enter into a liminal space where time freezes and you quickly process what is unfolding. You are entering a party at the home of a friend and you sense these folks are not your acquaintances. You feel underdressed – too casual in a room full of fashionistas. A beer-will-be-just-fine person in a room of upscale wine aficionados whose vocabulary is foreign. Surrounded by discussions of foreign films among people for whom “the MCU” [Marvel Comic Universe] has no meaning. But it was your good friend who invited you and has warmly welcomed you and you feel out of place.

The same basic phenomena can happen at church. In your home parish you are known, people chat away in the pews before Mass, and folks wave across the aisle. At the church you are visiting, there is a monastic silence with people praying or just sitting there grimly, reflecting the granite walls of their ancient and venerable sanctuary. The tone is different with a 1950s feel. You know you are at home, but feel out of place.

Perhaps at the same moment, there is a visitor at your home parish who likes the welcoming atmosphere of your community but feels out of place when they enter the sanctuary, which to them, has the feel of a buzzing marketplace. Why aren’t people preparing for Mass? They miss the pre-Mass silence and the granite walls of their ancient and venerable sanctuary. They long for their home church.

And no matter what parish church you are attending, in the pews are the content, the worried, the suffering, the distracted, the searching, the overdressed and underdressed, the ones who feel at home and the ones who long for the familiar – all come to take their place at the family table. The ones next to us and across the table from us are fellow children of God.

We have all been given dignity as a member of God’s household is not something that we deserve or earn. It is God’s gracious gift, given in love. It is Christ who invites you and warmly welcomes you from the highways and byways. “You are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God” (Eph 2:19)

Image credit: BibleProject, “Exile” | CC-NC-BY