<p><em>To welcome another is to accept their presence with joy. Todays Scriptures remind us of all the peoples to whom Love extends welcome and challenge us to ask if our own welcomes cast so wide a net. Todays gospel goes so far as to suggest that Jesus widens his welcome due to an encounter with one usually considered outside of Gods love. <br></em></p><p><strong>August 20 2023</strong>: <strong>Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time</strong><strong> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </strong></p><p>Isaiah 56:1 6-7</p><p>Psalm 67:2-3 5 6 8</p><p>Romans 11: 13-15 29-32</p><p>Matthew 15: 21-28</p><div><div class=titan__email-divider>&nbsp;</div></div><p><strong>Who Do We Welcome?<br></strong></p><p><em>A reflection by Ann Penick</em></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><em>Let us build a house</em><br><em>Where love can dwell</em><br><em>And all can safely live</em><br><em>A place where</em><br><em>Saints and children tell</em><br><em>How hearts learn to forgive</em></p><p><em>Built of hopes and dreams and visions</em><br><em>Rock of faith and vault of grace</em><br><em>Here the love of Christ shall end divisions</em></p><p><em>All are welcome all are welcome</em><br><em>All are welcome in this place.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</em> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p><strong><em>All Are Welcome</em> by Marty Haugen</strong> (Listen <a href=https://dignityusa.app.neoncrm.com/track//servlet/DisplayLink?orgId=dignityusa&amp;&amp;&amp;linkId=12991&amp;targetUrl=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHntPLm89z4&amp;t=18s>here</a>)</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The readings for this Sunday highlight what God wants: All are welcome including outsidersthe rejected the marginalized the poor. There are three themes in these readings: inclusivity Gods love for all people and Jesus having come to restore us. These readings all speak of the one who is not welcomed among a people who believe they are Gods own.</p><p>In the reading from Isaiah the Israelites learn that those who are not of their ethnic and religious group but who follow the decrees of God also worship God. Isaiah speaks of Gods salvation for all those who honor Gods name joining themselves to God and becoming Gods servants.</p><p>In the Letter to the Romans Paul speaks of his ministry to the Gentiles. He makes it clear: Everyone is guilty of turning against God. Paul does not say this to shame us; instead he expresses the truth as he sees it: all human beings are sinners. All human beings can approach and be embraced by God.</p><p>In the gospel of Matthew Jesus heals the daughter of a Canaanite woman. At first Jesus refuses the pleadings of this woman but then sees her humility and sincerity. Her persistence for her daughter seems to teach Jesus about the universality of his own mission.</p><p>Outsiders!&nbsp; What about Matthew the traditional author of this gospel? Matthew was an outsider. He was a tax collector and thus was seen as being an accomplice in Romes oppression of his own people. By law he would have been forbidden to go into the temple forbidden to pray in proximity to the Holy of Holies. The Canaanite woman was an outsider among the Jews because the Canaanites believed in all kinds of gods.</p><p>Who are the outsiders today? &nbsp;LGBTQ+ folks. Yes there are Catholic parishes and individual clergy religious and lay people who are welcoming and affirming of the LGBTQ+ community. Yes Pope Francis has made some hopeful and positive statements about the LGBTQ+ Catholic community. But unfortunately these are the exceptions. With a change of the pastor a change of a local bishop or a parishioner complaint welcoming place can turn into exclusion. The Roman Catholic Womenpriests are also outsiders. Again there are a few Catholic parishes and a sizeable number of individual clergy religious and lay people who embrace that ordained women too can minister side-by-side with ordained men. Unfortunately Roman Catholic Womenpriests are currently persona non grata in the institutional Church and looked upon as heretics and a fringe elementfor discerning and responding to a call to the institutional priesthood.</p><p>As a Roman Catholic Womanpriest I am formally forbidden to go into the temple and to pray close to the Holy of Holies. I will never again be able to work in a ministerial DignityUSAistrative or maintenance position in any Catholic-sponsored institution. This does not stop me but I am acutely aware how this thinking permeates the institutional church hierarchy and filters down to many of its members. I pray and hope that in timesooner would be betterthat &nbsp;those who head the Church will move forward in obedience to the prophetic voice of the Holy Spirit. That the veil will fall from their eyes and womenpriests along with the LGBTQ+ community will be recognized and welcomed by the Church as full participants in the Body of Christ.</p><p>The power of God is love at work in our lives through Christ Jesus. Remember Jesus greatest commandment: Love God with all your heart mind and soul and love your neighbor as yourself. It does not matter to Jesus which group you come from what gender you are what sexual orientation you are. It does not matter what your history is. It does not matter to whom or where you were born. It does not matter what you do.The only things that matters to Jesus are your trust and your lovefor God and for your neighbor. Everything else will fall into place. These readings suggest that God does not wish us to discard people because they are not one of us even if they do not share faith in the exact same way we do. Love looks upon everyone as having a place at a table where no one is a outsiderwhere all are welcome. May out lives and hearts and tables reflect the same.</p><div><div class=titan__email-divider><!--break--><!--break--></div></div><div class=mobile-full><div class=mobile-full><em><strong><img src='https://www.dignityusa.org/sites/default/files/ann3_0.png'></strong></em></div><div class=mobile-full><em><strong>Ann Penick</strong> is originally from the Chicago area. She and her husband Jim live in the Washington DC metropolitan area. Ann was ordained a priest with Roman Catholic Womenpriests in 2011. Ann has been serving the faith communities of Dignity Washington and Northern Virginia Dignity as one of their presiders since 2017. She also serves as one of the board members of DignityUSA. In addition she has been pastoring a faith community of young families in Washington DC since 2013.</em></div><div class=mobile-full><em><!--break--><!--break--></em></div></div><p style=text-align: center;><a class=btn btn-primary href=https://dignityusa.app.neoncrm.com/np/clients/dignityusa/subscribe.jsp?subscription=8>Subscribe to Breath of the Spirit</a></p>