Herald of Hope Column

• Current Herald of Hope online column • Past Herald of Hope online columns

	Bishop Richard J. Sklba
	Herald of Hope Herald of Hope is a weekly column started by former Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert G. Weakland in the Catholic Herald and written by the bishops of the Milwaukee Archdiocese. • Herald of Hope online archive

Paging through the Acts of the Apostles we learn that, after the astonishing events of Pentecost, the first members of the Church were very busy welcoming newcomers to faith in the Lord Jesus. Sometimes as individuals and at other times in large groups, these converts to The Way (as the Christian movement was first named) found those early Christians united, joyous, and generous. "Make disciples of all nations," the Risen Lord commanded. Those first decades of our history set the standard for all subsequent generations and ages.

We bring that initial mandate of faith to our current open-armed welcome of Archbishop Dolan as he now prepares to take up his pastoral responsibilities in our midst.

We are delighted with our first experience of his engaging and energetic sense of faith and fraternity. Mindful of the loneliness which can mark any initial entrance into a new community, it might be helpful to recall the many different types of welcoming we do throughout the course of life. Those many other situations could give some hints to make sure we do this one really well.

Undoubtedly, every one of us at one time or other has welcomed new members into our respective families. It may have been a newborn baby. No matter how serene or fretful, they seem to engage our affections wholeheartedly, and their utter dependence on every adult makes them all the more precious in a family ... well, most of the time! Adults are also welcomed into a family, either through marriage or through bonds of special friendship. That may be a bit more reciprocal, but the reality of welcome still shines forth, or at least it should if we live the courtesy and charity we profess.

Then there are neighbors who move into the area from other parts of the world, near or far. New co-workers also show up on occasion, and introduce us to names and customs and language different from our own. These folks bring to the block or the next workspace their quaint accents at times, and their exotic cooking, as well as habits not our own.

Over the decades one immigrant group after another has also moved into our country and our space, each making its own contribution to the rich patchwork of life we call home. Every one of them has enriched our sense of the human spirit. Like little children on a playground, sometimes we have been very kind and courteous, but at other times over the years our response to a new face has been marked with suspicion and downright mean spiritedness. We are proud of the former and deeply sorry for the latter.

In all of these examples from life, I keep hoping that we can learn from our historical mistakes and benefit from the successes we have experienced in opening the doors of our minds and hearts to others who enter our world.

As we welcome Archbishop Dolan this summer then, it's the perfect time to draw on all those diverse human experiences to make sure that our initial response to his arrival will demonstrate the very best of our Wisconsin Catholic heritage! That reception should be courteous in all things. It should also be sincere and from the heart, because we are certainly not a community closed to all but ourselves alone.

Every newcomer brings gifts and experiences different from our own, and is thus capable of bringing the wider world into our narrow orbit. That enriches everyone. After all, every single human being is an absolutely unique masterpiece of God's creative imagination, with an irreplaceable set of talents for a purpose known only to God. The least we can do is offer a welcome and expect a surprise.

Over the years I've counseled parish leaders to welcome a new pastor warmly and to see a fresh look at things as a great blessing for everyone. New eyes, and the question, "Now tell me again why we do it this way..." can be the occasion of countless fresh starts and renewed beginnings. After all these years we can easily presume that Archbishop Weakland's gifts were the only ones we need. That could be unfair to God's generosity and to the respect we owe to every new individual who crosses our path and blesses our common journey toward God.

So once again, Archbishop Timothy Michael Dolan, we welcome you with all the experiences of a century and a half here in Wisconsin, and almost two millennia of earlier practice in the art! We hope that Christ's love in the Eucharist will set the standard for the rest of us. We hope that you will come to like it here. The human community and our family of faith awaits your arrival. We'll even help you unpack!