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On July 11th, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Benedict, who lived in Italy from 480-547 AD and founded the Benedictine Religious Order. Among his great achievements was “The Rule of St. Benedict,” which he wrote as a guide to community living. Even though it was intended for those living in religious community, it contains many insights which are helpful for a parish community or even a family community.

One of the most quoted sections of the Rule is section 53, which addresses “the welcoming of guests,” which states:

All guests who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ, for he himself will say: “I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” Proper honor must be shown to all, especially to those who share our faith and to the pilgrim. (Rule of St. Benedict, 53)

Every week, our parish welcomes hundreds of people from around the country and around the world who join us for liturgies and private prayer. In the last few months, I have met people from New York, Maryland, Illinois, Texas, Arizona, Canada, Spain, France, China, and Brazil — just to name a few. I am blessed to have the opportunity to greet many of these visitors who stop by to shake my hand and tell me where they are from as they pass through the vestibule after Mass. There are many more visitors from around the Twin Cities area, who are downtown and stop in to join us for Mass or simply stop in to pray.

The mission statement of our parish states that we strive to “serve as a living sign of Christ’s saving presence in the heart of the city” and one of the ways our mission says we are to do that is “by providing an atmosphere of welcome, warmth, and beauty for assembly, reflection and prayer for all people.” If this is what our parish intends by our ministry, each of us who call ourselves members of this community need to work at making this mission successful. Each visitor who comes through our doors offers us an opportunity to manifest our mission in a real and personal way. And remember, this is not simply the mission of St. Olaf, it is also the mission of every disciple of Christ: “When did we see you a stranger and welcome you?” “Whatever you did for the least of my brothers, you did for me.” (Mt 25:35b & Mt 25:40b)

In honor of St. Benedict’s feast and his call for a Christian community to welcome the guest as Christ, we should each ask ourselves: “how do I participate in the mission of St. Olaf by welcoming visitors to my parish?” There are countless ways to do so, through a word of greeting, an introduction of ourselves, an invitation to join us for coffee after Mass, or simply by a smile. It should be our constant effort to make each and every person who joins us for prayer feel welcomed and at home in our community as a valued member of the Body of Christ.