Strangers

 I have been in a lot of Catholic Churches and one thing I find consistent is that Catholics don't talk to strangers.  There is often talk, from the pulpit or in bulletin, about welcoming the stranger, or you can find a home here, or we are a family, and so on.  But it seems everyone thinks it is someone else's job to do.  It is so much different in Addiction Recovery meetings, and here you have a lot of people with low social skills, fear based lives, and non-believers in deities.  But they are truly family and do welcome the stranger.  Maybe it is because such behavior was shown to them when they first walked into the rooms, feeling like strangers.  They have been to hell, and are desperate to not return.  Catholics maybe think that they have some private deal with God and will be just fine in their cocoons.  But their Jesus did not talk about going to church on Sundays.  He talked about welcoming the stranger.