A Place at the Table

Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes
the one who sent me.
Matthew 10:40

-------------

Dear Friends,

As I met with you over the past two years it became increasingly apparent
to me that many of our institutions have experienced difficulty when
navigating the many complex issues surrounding the topic of diversity.

The struggle is not about valuing diversity; the struggle is how to

fruitfully engage with it in a way that flows from our Catholic
tradition. It strikes me that the language given to us through our
secular culture, which can be helpful, does not assist us as we seek to
engage with our communities in ways that are inspiring and hopeful.

We need something else that more deeply reflects who we are and who we
hope to become. I asked a few theologians to help me create a resource
and an approach that I think you will find uplifting and compelling. This
document serves as a reflection and tool for discernment looking at how
an institution (or any of us individually) might effectively,
productively, and above all faithfully engage with issues of diversity,
belonging, and reconciliation. And please know, this is just a resource.

The document opens with a wonderful image to inspire reflection: the

Catholic experience of participating in communion is the type of
togetherness to which God is calling us. While the image is beautiful, it
needs to be said that this document is not a theological treatise on the
Eucharist, nor is it about Eucharistic hospitality. Instead, it suggests
a pathway, based on Catholic practice, to guide us to a vocabulary and a
vision as to how our institutions might find clarity in the midst of
division and uncertainty. I see this resource as a first step toward
better language and better theological foundations, so that we can lead
our communities in ways that are fundamentally human and hopeful.

Finally, as part of our Jesuit identity, this document complements the

Society of Jesus’ Universal Apostolic Preference #2: “Walking with the
Excluded” as well as our Province Plan Go Forth #7: Reconciliation with
God, Others, and Creation.

Please feel free to use this resource however may be helpful to you. Know
that you are in my prayers. And on this day, may the table we set have a
place for all of God’s people.

Your brother in Christ,

V. Rev. Karl J. Kiser, SJ

Provincial, USA Midwest Province

-------------

I. A Meditation
Many of us—especially those who come from large families—know well the
phenomenon of the “kids’ table” at family gatherings. Around the main
table, the adults and “big kids” are seated while off to the side or in
another room, the “kids’ table” has been set up. Year after year, one
watches as older siblings and cousins are invited to sit with the adults.
And, year after year, one must wait and wonder if this will be the year
when one will finally be promoted to take one’s place with the rest of
the family.

Every Sunday across the globe, Christians gathered for Sunday Eucharist
have a markedly different experience. At the Lord’s Supper, there is no
kids’ table. Every Sunday, drawn by faith, a vast array of persons
approach the altar to be nourished by the Lord’s Body and Blood. Some
recipients exuberantly dance toward the altar, others process more
somberly. Some approach with great faith, others are freighted with
crushing doubt. Some are buoyed with joy and hope, others carry the
burden of grief and sorrow. In simple chapels and soaring cathedrals,
persons of every race, class, sex, and ideology eat from the same plate
and drink from the same cup. In a polarized and fragmented world, the
communion line offers a powerful and prophetic witness to a faith that
unites a diverse community of believers. Every Sunday, Christians
sacramentally observe and celebrate that with their Amen they, too, are
invited to take their place at the table. Each Sunday, Christians give
embodied witness to the true depth of every conversion that recognizes
that our deepest hungers will not be satisfied by any thing but only by
the One who came that we might have life abundant.

Quote:
The communion line offers a powerful and prophetic witness to a faith
that unites a diverse community of believers.

II. A Mission
In keeping with the 36th General Congregation, each Jesuit apostolate is
called to participate in a shared mission of reconciliation and justice.
Enlivened by the Holy Spirit and in service to Christ the Reconciler, we
expect every Jesuit apostolate to strive to become communities where
every person can find a place at the table. This ministry of
reconciliation, admittedly, does not sit comfortably with any political
platform or ideology. Yet we embrace it as central to our faith because
it flows from and leads to Jesus, whose preferential option for the poor
we regard as non-negotiable. Thus, in a world riven by sin and shadowed
by conflict, we recognize that one cannot be a companion of Jesus and
remain a stranger to resistance. To walk with Jesus as he reconciles the
world to the Father means venturing with Him beneath the shadow of the
Cross. The inherent tension we face when living the mission to be
reconcilers in a broken world: the more we enact the ministry of
reconciliation, the more resistance we will face.

What we offer in this brief document is not a strategic plan or

implementation checklist. We offer, rather, a few points for apostolic
discernment. We commend them to our apostolates as ways of reflecting on
and articulating both what we do and, more radically, who we are called
to become, and how we enact Christ’s mission. To the extent that they are
helpful in bringing the light and wisdom of the Christian tradition to
the ambiguities and conflicts of the present moment, we hope they provide
a grammar and vocabulary that enables apostolates to speak with and from
the heart of the Reconciler.

Jesuit apostolates participate in the mission of Jesus Christ, the

Reconciler, by recognizing the dignity of every person; by cultivating a
culture of hospitality where others may encounter the Risen Lord; and by
advancing God’s efforts to gather all persons into a community of
belonging. No matter our disagreements, we believe that by recognizing
dignity, extending hospitality, and nurturing belonging, we serve God’s
Reign and prolong Christ’s reconciling ministry by inviting others to
find their place at God’s table.

III. A Discernment
How does our work recognize and respect the inherent human dignity of
every subject? Does this program or initiative respect the dignity of the
human condition?
The dignity of the human person is neither an achievement nor something
one earns. Our dignity is grounded in the revealed truth that humans are
made in God’s own image and likeness (Genesis 1:26).

As Christians, we recognize a distinctly Trinitarian character to this

likeness: God, who is a communion of love, has created us to be in
relation with God, with one another, and with the rest of creation.
Anything that impedes another’s ability to enter and deepen this inherent
relationality risks violating human dignity. A radical commitment to
human dignity will place our institutions in tension with a broken world.
Every action must be examined through this lens: Does this decision
promote human dignity, or does it detract from it? Does this program
exclude vulnerable persons? Does this initiative remind all stakeholders
of the precious gift of all human life?

A litmus test for ensuring that the dignity of all involved parties is
being respected: In meetings and consultations, are those in power
talking about others or are they talking with those involved? As
discerners, we must be wary of reducing other people to sound bites or
stereotypes. Every person we serve has a story worth telling and hearing.
In the Old Testament, the Lord speaks through many means: a burning bush,
signs and wonders, liberating acts, prophetic calls to repentance, in the
“sound of sheer silence” (1 Kings 19:12). In the Gospels, Jesus’ words
and works attuned his audiences to the way God’s Kingdom was actively
breaking into history. As heirs of Saint Ignatius Loyola, we know that
God speaks to the world through the world…and this includes those persons
—our own sisters and brothers—who have been historically excluded. How
might God, then, be calling to us from the margins? How might we
undertake works of reconciliation that invite outsiders to become
insiders? How do our apostolates serve the Divine Trinity by empowering
our communities to grow in relationship with God, with one another, and
with creation?

Laboring to promote human dignity is not the duty of an office but of

everyone who shares in this mission. There is no formula or one-size-
fits-all model for how this will look for each of our apostolates. What
will remain constant, however, is our concern to redress inequities that
prevent members of the human family from knowing their worth and dignity.
To return to our opening meditation: not everyone who approaches the
Lord’s Table does so without difficulty. To offer a helping hand or
assistance to one who struggles to approach the Eucharist takes nothing
away from those who do not struggle. When we aid those who need it, when
we provide them access to goods and resources needed to ensure their
ability to flourish, we do not diminish the accomplishments or worth of
those who do not need support.

How does our work encourage a plurality of viewpoints? Are our programs
hospitable to a wide array of persons? Is our apostolic table wide enough
and broad enough to include persons of differing perspectives to listen,
to speak, and to learn from one another?
To commit ourselves to the ministry of reconciliation requires
acknowledging that in a sinful and broken world, not everyone feels
welcome. Whether due to historical inequities, differences of viewpoint,
or ideological commitments, society, our institutions, and the Church are
not immune to polarizations that lead us to regard one another with
suspicion. Consequently, our apostolates must labor to cultivate a
culture of hospitality where everyone feels wanted and needed.
Reconciliation is a process of whole-making, of enacting the hospitality
of God’s Kingdom and inviting others to draw near to Jesus Christ in whom
are reconciled the infinite and the finite, the eternal and the mortal,
the sinner and the saved.

In an Angelus message (6 June 2021), Pope Francis exhorted his listeners:

“the Eucharist is not the reward of saints, no, it is the Bread of
sinners.” The Holy Father’s observation must be taken to heart, because
it implicates all the faithful. We do not approach the altar on our own
merits, under our own steam. We approach and open ourselves to receiving
the Eucharist because the Lord has called each one of us not despite our
weaknesses but through them. Every person in the communion line is
graciously drawn toward the Lord because it is Jesus, they sense, who
will satisfy their deepest longing and hunger. Regardless of their
commitments or ideologies, each person approaches the Lord because they
have heard and been moved to seek communion with Him.

In no way should this be read as denying or downplaying that real

differences do exist. We must not ignore the reality that full communion
is threatened by real divisions. Yet we recognize that our Jesuit
apostolates can play a role in healing these rifts. When we look to the
Scriptures, Jesus’s words and works illustrate that conversion to the
values of God’s Kingdom is the transformative consequence of encountering
the Lord. Jesus did not say, Change, so that you can be healed, but,
rather, Be healed and, having experienced the new way of life I announce,
change. Our ministries can be venues where this interaction occurs,
places where seekers can be free to be themselves and, with open and
vulnerable hearts, meet the One who is the animating center of our
apostolates. We cannot expect people to be transformed by Jesus Christ if
they are prevented from drawing near to him.
A plurality of viewpoints is neither a sign of weakness nor a symptom of
tepid faith. Instead, when this pluralism is found in a community that
seeks communion with the Lord and one another, it should be read as a
sign that the Spirit is moving mysteriously within the community and
inviting all of us to discern how it is renewing our lives and
communities. We must never lose sight of the fact that the same Spirit
that raised Jesus from the dead also empowered speech among the Apostles
on Pentecost. Through dialogue and accompaniment, our individual and
institutional task calls us to serve God’s creative and recreative
Spirit. Using tools of Ignatian discernment, we must consider where the
evil spirit is sowing the doubt, confusion, and discouragement that lead
to despair and where God’s Spirit is enkindling the faith, hope, and love
that reconcile differences and bind us into One Body, One Spirit, in
Christ.

How do we find a way forward when disagreements threaten communion? How

do we reverence human dignity and extend hospitality in a politically and
socially volatile era? How can our apostolate be a place where those we
serve feel as though they belong and have something to contribute to our
service of Christ’s mission?
It cannot be denied that we live in a politically charged and divided
age. Although Saint Ignatius encourages us to put a good interpretation
on one another’s words, we are often tempted to be suspicious of others’
intentions (Spiritual Exercises §22). Without question, skepticism about
institutions and authorities is often warranted. Time and again, we have
seen civic, corporate, education, and religious authorities fail in ways
that have eroded public confidence in them. In many ways, we have entered
what might be called a cynical age.

Nevertheless, the apostolates of the Society of Jesus have reason for

hope. For the impulse for this missionary endeavor does not originate in
a political ideology and does not square easily with any political
platform. Our Catholic, Jesuit mission to preach and serve the Gospel
comes as a response to God’s initiative. The opening of Eucharistic
Prayer III beautifully expresses the mission we serve:
You are indeed Holy, O Lord, and all you have created rightly gives you
praise, for through your Son our Lord Jesus Christ, by the power and
working of the Holy Spirit, you give life to all things and make them
holy, and you never cease to gather a people to yourself, so that from
the rising of the sun to its setting a pure sacrifice may be offered to
your name.

Through the Eucharist God reaches out to humankind in a ceaseless effort

to gather a people into communion. God, who has created all things and
holds them in existence, has reconciled the world through Jesus Christ
and sent the Holy Spirit among us to bind up the wounds of sin and bind
us into a community where every member is wanted and belongs. No one
belongs in God’s Reign because of anything they have done on their own.
We belong because of God’s grace and mercy. Accordingly, our apostolates
live their mission best when they serve what God is always straining to
do through and in each celebration of the Eucharist: to gather a people,
to feed them, and to send them out in the world as persons who give God
glory through their lives.

We have no way of knowing what God’s unfolding plan will look like or
where it will lead. Our faith and the experience of the Eucharist
affirms, however, that God desires to gather a people. Our apostolates,
and by extension the Church, are not enriched by keeping people out. They
are made richer and enlivened by affirming that each person belongs and
has something to contribute. God, author of life and giver of all gifts,
is not diminished by diversity. On the contrary, a diverse community of
persons enlivened by the Spirit and seeking fellowship with the Lord
offers a prophetic and needed critique of our fractured age. Accordingly,
we must not fail to look at our own structures in a self-critical way:
How have we been complicit in perpetuating unjust systems? How might we
reimagine the structures that we take for granted?

At times, Jesuit apostolates have come under fire for being too
inclusive. Such criticisms should be seized as opportunities for self-
reflection and discernment. Is our commitment to inclusivity a way of
“going with the flow” and not wanting to stand at odds with the culture?
But when we affirm that diversity arises from our commitment to human
dignity, from our desire to create a hospitable culture where others may
encounter the Lord, and from our desire to serve God’s effort to gather a
people who intimately know that they belong, then these criticisms of our
inclusivity should be interpreted as signs that we are serving the Gospel
by imitating the example of Jesus.

In a divided and turbulent age, we must not be naïve. Embracing and

enacting the values of God’s Reign will undoubtedly carry a steep cost.
For in a sinful and broken world, it must be acknowledged that if we
desire to be companions of Jesus, then we cannot avoid standing beneath
the shadow of the Cross. Nevertheless, faith assures us that if we serve
others in a way that flows from the Gospel, if our ministries work for
the day when all can take their place at the table, then we may know the
consolation that comes from being on the way to becoming the Eucharistic
people God invites us to become.

Quote:
Our dignity is grounded in the revealed truth that humans are made in
God’s own image

Quote:
Our apostolates must labor to cultivate a culture of hospitality where
everyone feels wanted and needed

Quote:
Our apostolates must labor to cultivate a culture of hospitality where
everyone feels wanted and needed
Quote:
These criticisms of our inclusivity should be interpreted as signs that
we are serving the Gospel by imitating the example of Jesus.

Website:
For additional resources please visit jesuitsmidwest.org/Table