Recently I had invited a non catholic lady to mass on Sunday. She is very much in love with the kindness and gentleness of Jesus Christ. After mass in less then an hour one of the long term parish ladies complained to my Apartment Manager - this building is owned by The Knights Of Columbus - stating " She should not be in our church as she is NOT Catholic! "

Ques: Am I confused in thinking my beloved friend is not welcome until she has gone through indoctrination of RCIA?

-- jean bouchard (jeanb@cwk.imag.net), March 17, 2003

Answers

Nonsense, nonCatholics are more than welcome to attend Mass! As long as your non-Catholic friend did not attempt to receive Communion, I don't see why anyone would complain.

-- Christine L. :-) (christine_lehman@hotmail.com), March 17, 2003.

I agree with Christine, but will go a step further. Didn't Jesus say "A lamp is not brought to be put under a basket, is it, or under a bed? Is it not brought to be put on the lampstand"? (Mark 4:21) If we as Catholics have received the light of Christ, it is not so that we can hoard it or keep it for ourselves. We have a responsibility before God to pass it along to others. So the real question is - if you have never invited a non-Catholic to come to Mass with you, why not?

-- Paul (PaulCyp@cox.net), March 17, 2003.

Jean...

Your long-term parish lady should be reminded that, "They will know we are Christians by OUR LOVE." How will we attract others to the beautiful Church which Christ Himself founded, if we shut them out?

Parish lady needs a reality check. The Holy Father has called us to "evangelize!"

Keep up the good work, Jean!

---I can only hope that your friend did not hear the unkind words which were spoken against her... :(

---I was once approached unwelcomingly by one of my parish "greeters" in such an uncharitable manner (in Church, before Mass) that I left in tears, and attended Mass elsewhere for MONTHS in order to avoid offending her and others like her in my parish. It's still painful. The "greeters" at Walmart show much more Christian kindness....Sad.

-- Anna <>< (flower@youknow.com), March 17, 2003.

> "The "greeters" at Walmart show much more Christian kindness....Sad."

Yes, quite sad, but I laughed when I read that. Some of the hardest hearts I know, are very devout Catholics.

A priest gave a surmon this week at my parish, that there are a lot of wounded people in this world, and they respond by being mean to all those around them. After all they are victims of someone else's abuse, and feel they have a right to be miserable. Not exactly how they would put that, but they certainly are unhappy inside, and share that unhappiness with others, whether they do it intentionally or not. You don't see that they are wounded, and so you tend to think they are just miserable for no reason.

Our Lord said: Love your enemies! It's one of the main reasons the Christian faith is so beautiful.

If someone is mean to you, next time you meet them, smile at them, and greet them warmly. It takes courage to do that, and it something that is not easy to do at all. Something I have to work on myself.

-- Gordon (gvink@yahoo.com), March 17, 2003.

Jean, please... This kind of problems is best solved with a sincere kick to the ass. It works better than trumpeting it to the forum... Try it, you'll see!

-- Harry (HarryB59@aol.com), March 17, 2003.

Christine - Thank you for the input. I attend her chuch and receive communion and feel ok about it. She accepts comunnion at mass and I see nothing wrong evil or unacceptable in that. Are you saying she is not acceptable at Christ's table?

Paul - Thank you as she is not the first nor the last to be invited to mass by myself.

Harry - I am confused with your reply. Gordon - Wonderful post.

Anna - As always your a lady.

-- jean bouchard (jeanb@cwk.imag.net), March 18, 2003.

Harry - Thank you sd I do agree fully when at times attempting to gain the attention of a mule a good knock on the head grabs there attention.

-- jean bouchard (jeanb@cwk.imag.net), March 19, 2003.

Um Jean, your friend is most welcome to join the mass of course. But (someone correct me if I'm wrong here) she shouldn't receive communion if she's not a catholic. There are important reasons behind it, but I'm hardly one to explain it. Perhaps Anna or Paul or Isabel would do a better job.

I too, have a non-catholic friend who has been coming with me to mass for several weeks now. She's currently trying to decide if she wants to go for RCIA. Prayers would be greatly appreciated... =0) Danke!

-- marie (m@peace.com), March 20, 2003.

Marie,

That is wonderful that you are sharing the faith with your friend. You and your friend are in my prayers.

God bless,

Mateo

-- (MattElFeo@netscape.net), March 20, 2003.