For all

Some people may see the above image and be upset... In fact I know some are.

A big part of the beauty of a life in Christ in this particular revelation that God has given us is that we have a God of inclusion and not exclusion. What was once a promise only for the Israelite people is open to all of mankind theough the life and person of Jesus.

Our church is truly intended to be universal and in many ways it is when you look at how the faith has evangelized and engaged people across the planet from different cultures, ethnic groups, etc. The problem however is when you come to America, which includes such a diversity of cultures and people yet in many ways we haven't found a multicultural approach towards ministry. What people claim is an attempt at that is by creating separate ministries for either African Americans, or Spanish speaking ministries, etc. These however create their own sub group rather than inviting into the full life of the church.

This is what I am preposing... How about a space that is welcoming and inclusive to everyone?

An example of this is the worship group I started with teens at my parish Santa Maria. Without purposefully seeking out people of different cultures but instead just being inviting, welcoming and inclusive to all our worship team has one teen boy from Bangledash, another boy from the Phillipines, a Puerto Rican girl, and an African American girl who all although very different have fun rehearsing and getting to know one another in Christ, attend mass, and prepare to lead worship.

I can't give you an exact strategy on how to do it, except to simply study culture as a whole... Ask questions.... Be open to the things others are into rather than just shove the things you are into.... Eat the foods.... Listen to the music.... Watch the movies.... Read their books.

Its all about being more Christ like, and inviting ALL people into the kingdom of God.  I can say in my own life, the mere possibility of becoming a Saint was something I never even heard until I met the Idente Missionaries as a young adult, and there are so many that I grew up with that still have never even heard this.... I simply work to bring those who have not been brought to the table of the heavenly banquet to it.  That's all.
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- The Symbol
- All is Love