I am very thankful for my friends and ministry colleagues. These people live all over the country, yet they support me and provide a community for me that continues to enliven my ministry. In a rare opportunity, I was able to visit with one of these friends, Mark Mossa, in person because of his recent trip to Georgia to work a retreat. Mark is a newly ordained Jesuit priest (2 years in!), and I met him through my work with Charis Ministries.
One of the many topics in our conversation was Mark’s new book: Already There: Letting God Find You. I wanted to share one of my favorite passages in his book from the chapter “Just to Be With You: The Importance of Friends and Christian Community”
“This is why the people who claim to be spiritual but not religious may be confusing things a bit. Because what this usually means is that they believe that one can maintain a spiritual life without being part of a community. That may have worked for a few hermit monks over the centuries, but it’s not going to work for most of us, unless we choose to make a radical commitment to dedicating our lives to noting but God. Most of us have too many attachments to life in the ‘real world’ to make so complete a break. And, even then, few of us could stand the loneliness. We need others to help us along in our spiritual journey. They provide the missing pieces we can’t discover on our own. They are also some of the most concrete signs of God’s presence in our lives.” (p. 119).
Mark hit the nail on the head in terms of why we need community. We do not walk through life alone, and sharing all of life with others is key to our growth and development. For me, Mark’s words were both an affirmation and challenge. He affirmed the call I feel to belong to a community, and he challenged me to look at my understanding of community in terms of my Catholic faith. The reality is my faith life would have remained static if it was not for the community of friends and ministry colleagues who continued to foster my faith life by their examples, by their knowledge, and by their support. These people, along with my family, are concrete reminders of God’s presence in my life.
(Note: I HIGHLY recommend buying Mark’s book. He did an excellent job of showing how God uses everyday things such as music, books, movies, and people to deepen our faith journey).
What communities nurture your faith life?
How are the people in your community concrete signs of God’s presence in your life?
Becky Eldredge
August 31, 2010