An Advent mission

Chicago

For some reason, the first thing I noticed on my early-morning visit to the beautiful St. John Cantius Church is a statue tucked away in a corner, between two confessionals. It depicts Jesus comforting the Prodigal Son, from the gospel parable. It seemed to speak so much about so much. Obviously, it’s about forgiveness and mercy. Clearly, it’s about the nature of God in the New Testament. As the Windy (boy, was it!) City was already decked out in holiday lights, I couldn’t help but see a message about welcome, about hospitality.

I confess I found some very personal welcome in Jesus’ tenderness with the sinner, as a sinner myself! And in my travels lately I have been more and more conscious of the need to be softer in our culture of harsh — to smile at strangers — to be welcoming as a member of the Body of Christ in one of His temples, as one of His temples.