A reflection on Galatians 3:7-14 for Friday of the 27th Week in Ordinary Time.
My husband was received into the Church as an adult. I am a cradle Catholic and grew up knowing the prayers, the holy days, and the quirky customs that might need a little more explaining. He had to learn those things on purpose. Sometimes he asks a question that I never thought about, even though I have been Catholic all of my life.
Paul tells the Galatians that those who have faith are children of Abraham. That would have stirred up people who were used to thinking of being in Abraham’s family as a matter of ancestry. It makes me think too. I would never say that someone who converted is “less Catholic” than I am. But sometimes I catch myself acting as though growing up in the Church gives me a stronger connection to it.
Just little things. Someone doesn’t know a prayer I learned as a child, and I am surprised. A new parishioner asks why we do something at Mass, and I reply quickly, because as an insider I know the answer. I think of the questions my husband has asked over the years. He wants to understand the faith he chose. So I should be glad when anyone has the courage to ask about an unfamiliar practice..
Paul’s words are good news for a family like ours. Through Christ, the blessing promised to Abraham includes people who were once considered outsiders. My husband belongs here. So does the woman who was baptized last Easter, the man still learning when to stand and kneel, and the ones who returned after years away.
I love the traditions I inherited. I want to pass them on to our daughters. But I also want them to learn from people encountering those traditions for the first time. When a new person comes into our parish, I hope I remember that they have come to the same Lord I have. I can make room beside me, answer what I know, and be honest about what I need to learn.
Lord Jesus, thank you for welcoming us into your family. Forgive me when I let familiarity make me less welcoming to someone new. Help me share the faith I love with patience and kindness, and teach me to learn from those who have come to it by a different path. Amen.
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