The Feast of Christ the King is this Sunday- where did the
year go!!
This marks the end of our liturgical year- our New Year’s
Eve as Christians. When I ran the religious ed program, we actually HAD a New
Year’s Eve party on Christ the King Sunday. I wanted the children to see how we
must live in this world… but that doesn’t change the fact that as Christians,
we see the world a little differently than others do.
Pet peeve of the day: pew-end huggers.
Beginning this Sunday, our churches will be more full… at
least until January. Believe it or not, rather than scowling at the CHREASTERS
sitting in "your" pew, you should be welcoming them. We really do
want to keep them coming back! (If you don’t want them to come back, see HERE) One of the best ways to NOT welcome
people is to sit at the end of your pew, refusing to move as someone looks for
a seat.
All the parishes in Lima fill the same way: aisle and side
seats first, then the latecomers must climb over the pew-end-huggers to get a
spot. Seriously- think for a moment of just how rude that is!!!
Granted- there are legitimate reasons to
sit at the end. Off the top of my head: over-active bladder, fussy child, or
perhaps you are lectoring or an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion (the
ONLY Eucharistic ministers are Deacons, Priests, and Bishops…but that is
another blog entry). Getting out quickly after Mass doesn't qualify!
I went to my home parish in Cleveland two Sundays ago, got
there half an hour early and picked a spot- in the middle of the pew. Then I saw Dick and Laverne Hajduk come in and sneaked into the pew behind them as a surprise. I was
still sitting away from the end. Because
I had left space next to me, a woman who was by herself sat next to me. The Cleveland Diocese does things a little
differently, and I follow the GIRM regarding Mass postures (even in Lima) - so
it was obvious I was a “visitor.” At the
Sign of Peace, she asked if that was the first time I had been there…hardly! I
lived across the street, grew up there, confirmed there, married there, buried
my step-father from there. But she had
hospitality exactly right in a way people around Lima just don’t get. You don’t
need to get all up in someone’s face, vigorously shake their hand and pat them
on the back to be welcoming. A smile, a question. Yep. She got it right.
She picked up on my silent invitation to
sit in “my” pew, and instead of each of us worshipping alone, we worshipped
together. Unless you have ever gone to Mass alone in a parish to which you do
not belong, you won’t understand that.
Hugging the end of the pew and making people crawl over you
says nothing less than, “This is my spot. I was here first. And you aren’t
worth the effort to move.” When you say that without words and then turn to the
person next to you with a hearty WELCOME when instructed to do so, it comes off
fake. Cold. Completely meaningless. Which it should, considering how you just
treated that person.
When
you get to church, pick a pew- then sit in the middle! You are being
welcoming without saying a single word. You are indicating that those seats are
available and you just might actually meet someone NEW and be sincere when they
do the silly "welcome the person next to you" bit…instead of “welcoming”
the people who rode to Mass in the same car you did.
When I used the word “hospitality” a few paragraphs back, I
accidentally typed “gospitality.” Corny
as it sounds, the word rings true. Hospitality is something I learned in Miss
Mundhenk’s 8th grade Home Ec class. It is a pre-defined way of
making people comfortable according to societal norms.
Gospitality is from the heart. It sees a standing-room-only
church on Christmas Eve and thinks, “How wonderful!” It seeks unfamiliar faces
to wish a Merry Christmas…and it makes room at the end of the pew so as many
people as possible will feel welcome to sit there.
If they don’t feel welcomed to sit in a pew at the Christmas
Eve Mass, don’t count on them being back for New Year’s Eve Mass.
