To the Editor:
A question that has bothered me for years is this: How does the church justify refusing Communion to anyone? What is the teaching or example that justifies saying to anyone, “You’re not good enough to eat with us.”
Jesus was criticized for eating with tax collectors and sinners. He actually invited himself to dinner at a tax collector’s home. Christians are supposed to have a low opinion of Pharisees. Jesus ate in their homes. He asked for water from a Samaritan woman and made a Samaritan the hero of one of his parables. He fed the thousands but there is no suggestion that he first checked on their worthiness.
Most importantly, at the Last Supper, Jesus knew that his disciples would abandon him, that one would deny even knowing him, and that one had already betrayed him. How do his followers today justify their exclusivity?
Virginia Norton
Davenport
