When you are a parent, you clock many hours in the back of churches. Pacing with fussy babies. Corralling rambunctious toddlers. Calming down restless children.
But the hidden beauty found at the back of the church? You get close to the ones Jesus loves.
Jesus loves all of us, of course. Make no mistake about the wild love which God lavishes upon every human being – each unrepeatable sacred soul, each “imago dei” (“image of God”) that bears the imprint of our Creator, each beloved child loved by the Father.
But when you read the Gospels, you can’t help but realize how Jesus has a particular affinity for those left on the sidelines, the margins and the back of the crowd. Sinners, prostitutes, widows, orphans, children, the poor, the sick – He draws each outsider close and draws them out of themselves, embracing them into the abundant love and mercy of God.
Parishes often have a practice of bringing the Eucharist first to those who cannot come forward to receive. This simple act makes manifest Christ’s words that “the last will be first and the first will be last” (Matthew 20:16). Surely the Good Shepherd who leaves behind the 99 to seek out the one lost sheep would not hesitate to walk to the back of church and welcome anyone who felt uncertain if they belonged.
Once I attended a workout class where the teacher would welcome late-comers with a smile. “I always figure the last people here are the ones who need it most,” she’d remind us, making room for everyone.
Couldn’t our churches strive to do the same, since we are the hands and feet of Christ here on earth?
As my children have grown, I have been blessed with a few remarkable friends who have taught me what it means to welcome the ones in the back. They cheer for the teammate who needs extra encouragement, invite the classmate who gets overlooked for birthday party invitations, and strike up conversations with new faces at church or school. In ordinary ways, they model Christ’s inclusive love, seeking out the sidelined first.
St. Paul reminds us of the essential welcome that is demanded of Christians: “We who are strong ought to put up with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves...welcome one another, then, as Christ welcomed you, for the glory of God” (Romans 15:1-2, 5-7).
Whenever we get the chance to welcome another in the name of Jesus, we widen our embrace of the people Jesus loves.
Even and especially the ones in the back of the church.
Laura Kelly Fanucci is an author and founder of Mothering Spirit, a website on parenting and spirituality.