The early Church faced a similar problem with regard to the Gentiles. Matthew sees Jesus as having broken down the barrier between Jew and Gentile. Even though his own mission was restricted to Israel, Jesus did reach out to individual Gentiles such as the Canaanite woman. Hence, after the resurrection of Jesus, the early Church extended its mission to the Gentiles. We could say the gospel challenges us to be an inclusive society and church.

Inclusive Society

In the May 31st 2005 edition of the Florida Catholic, Bishop Wenski challenges us to be a more inclusive society when it comes to how we treat working immigrants. His article (which was also in the Orlando Sentinel) is titled: U.S. Immigration Policy Outdated and Unjust Toward Working Immigrants. The following is the text of his column.

Last month's roundup of 66 undocumented workers at a federal construction site in downtown Orlando reminds us that "America's immigration system is ... outdated-unsuited to the needs of our economy and to the values of our country. We should not be content with laws that punish hardworking people who want only to provide for their families." The quote belongs to President George W. Bush and was spoken to Congress during his State of the Union address earlier this year.

The arrests of these "hardworking people who want only to provide for their families" did nothing to enhance our national security which was the pretext used by BICE (the Bureau of Immigration and Control Enforcement) in arresting the. Nor for that matter does the vigilante "justice" of Minutemen and other civilian groups that have taken the enforcement of immigration laws into their own hands on our nation's southwestern border.

Spending so much of our scarce enforcement resources chasing brick layers, housekeepers and waiters seeking a better life for their families should no longer be an acceptable application of our security resources in a post-9/11 world. There are, after all, real criminals, drug dealers and terrorists to apprehend.

To fix the system, we must address both the future flow of immigrants into the Untied States as well as the undocumented workers who already live here. The so-called "illegals" are so, not because they wish to defy the law- but because the law does not provide them with any channels to regularize their status in our country, which needs their labor: they are not breaking the law, the law is breaking them. If the parties in Congress put aside narrow partisan interests and truly work for the common good, we can achieve reform that protects the interests of all workers, both immigrant and U.S. born.

Real reform should recognize that immigrants are already part of our communities and provide common-sense rules for workers and employers. Many immigrants work in essential but low-paying jobs that most Americans pass over. They care for our children and elderly, clean our office buildings and hotel rooms, harvest and serve our food and labor on construction sites and other projects in our communities. These immigrant workers should be able to seek a decent wage, health care and respect on the job from employers who may freely hire them without having to worry about legal sanctions.

The U.S. Catholic bishops were among the several religious, labor, business and immigrant advocacy organizations excited to hear that President Bush had an immigration reform plan, first unveiled in January 2004. At that time we congratulated him for restarting the dialogue on immigration reform. Since his re-election, with his State of the Union address and his recent meeting with Mexican President Vicente Fox, we are hopeful the president still means to re-energize the debate over immigration reform. The re-emergence of "nativist" anti-immigrant sentiment that evokes the xenophobia of the 19th century "know-nothings" should not be allowed to derail the broad based coalition for substantive immigration reform that is emerging among labor, business and faith-based organizations.

It is time to acknowledge those who come to our nation, work hard, and contribute to the economic, cultural and social fabric of our country, just as many of our own grandparents and great-grandparents did. What happened to those 66 workers last month was not fair-and it is not fair that, in the land of the free, thousands like them live in fear of a "knock on the door" in the middle of the night. It is only fair that these people who add to our society through their hard work should be valued just as President Bush said.

An Inclusive Church

It is easy enough for the church to talk about an inclusive society-in which people of all sorts of backgrounds are welcomed and cared for-including the undocumented immigrants. But how about an inclusive church-a church where saint and sinner is invited not only to church but to the Lord's Table, where the just and unjust are welcomed, the 'straight and the gay', the married and the divorced and the remarried, the rich and poor, even the greedy rich and the greedy poor, left wing people and right wing people.

In welcoming all to the table-the saint and sinner, the just and unjust, it seems that we would only be doing what Jesus did. We have lots of examples in the Gospel of Jesus "welcoming sinners and eating with them (Luke 5:28-32, Luke 15:1-3, Matt 9:10-13, John 4). Jesus didn't say to any of these people: 'clean up your act' and then I will sit with you at table.' Rather, he loved them where they were at and this touched them so much that they were motivated to change their lives. At least, we can assume that this happened. It certainly happened to the Samaritan woman and to Zachaeus. We can also be sure if people sincerely sought to be disciples of Jesus they were challenged to 'clean up their act' and conform their lives to the teachings of Christ. And lets remember that such conversion meant a lot more than just sexual morality. It had to do with forgiveness, carrying ones cross, sharing with the poor, 'living a simple lifestyle so that others could simply live' (Mother Teresa).

Right now, we have all kinds of restrictions about who can and can't receive Holy Communion. They have to do mainly with marriage, sexuality and abortion (all serious issues). But we don't seem to check people at the church door to see if: