December 1986

Welcome one another, therefore, as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God (Rom. 15:7).

This new Word of Life brings brotherly love back to life in our soul.

What prompted Paul to express this heartfelt request? The varying cultural and religious traditions of the members of the first Christian communities could create difficulties in terms of their harmony and unity. The communities that emerged in the Greco-Roman world were made up of people who had come from the Jewish tradition and of others who had come from paganism. They therefore might have had feelings of prejudice and be opposed, especially on the question of how to interpret some laws concerning worship. This is what happened in the community in Rome that St. Paul is writing to in his letter.

St. Paul finds the most effective means for overcoming these difficulties in the example of Jesus, who welcomed those who came from the Jewish tradition and those who came from paganism, without making any distinctions. Having embraced the Gospel and having been redeemed by Jesus, they now form one new people. Just as Jesus did, Christians too must welcome each other reciprocally, even if their mentalities are different.

Welcome one another, therefore, as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

The Gospels show us Jesus in an attitude of unlimited welcome during his life on earth. He welcomes everybody, in particular the smallest, the defenceless, the marginalised. The reason that public sinners and those who are 'far away' seek him out, is on account of the fact that they feel they are fully welcomed by him.

But it is during the passion above all that he shows us his infinitely welcoming love. Going beyond all our failure to understand, our ingratitude and betrayals-that he saw and foresaw-he has pardoned us and welcomed us with immense love.

Welcome one another, therefore, as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

Jesus has shown us that loving means welcoming others as they are in the same way that he has welcomed each of us. It means welcoming each person, with their tastes, ideas, defects, with their diversity. This means making space within ourselves, removing from our heart all preconceptions, judgements and instinctive attitudes of rejection.

It could be said that this is one of the most difficult points in the Christian message, because it conflicts with our nature which has been wounded by sin. We are so different from one another, and in addition we are selfish and usually closed in our relations with one another. Instinctively we tend to keep our distance from others or to refuse them, because we see them as a threat to our economy, our comfort, our very life. All the crimes against the person that mankind suffers today are rooted in this disordered instinct- fratricidal conflict, wars of every sort, racial discrimination, abortion, euthanasia, etc., to name only the most obvious effects.

However Jesus has been sent by the Father to save man, all men and women, and to reunite the family of God's children. Jesus brought this about by welcoming us as we are.

He has destroyed hatred and broken down all separation by welcoming poor sinful humanity, in the sense that he has poured a new power into history, the only power that is capable of making us overcome all our divisions.

And in this way he gave the Father immense glory and joy.

Welcome one another, therefore, as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

How should we live this Word of Life? We can live it by welcoming our neighbour with all his rights (right to life, to a just wage, to have a home, to freedom, etc.) and with all his rightful needs (respect, justice, understanding, affection). This Word asks us to welcome the newly conceived baby in its mother's womb, to welcome the old, the sick, the poor, the handicapped, the marginalised, those who are different to us. This Word asks us to welcome those who are our adversaries, our 'enemies'.

It tells us too that we can give no greater glory to God than when we make the effort to accept our neighbour, because then we are laying the foundations for communion as brothers and sisters, and nothing gives God greater glory than true unity among people. Unity-as we know-attracts the presence of Jesus among us and his presence transforms everything.

Let's meet every neighbour with this desire to welcome them with all our heart, and to establish mutual love with them as soon as we can.

Chiara Lubich