Community
Community: Saturday
We all live under the illusion that we are in need of some major makeover to make us perfect. On this path, the only thing that we’re actually doing is letting our true selves, our identity in Christ, shine forth. If, through this journey, we become aware of the beautiful beings of light in Christ that we are – that all of us are – then being expressions of God’s love in the world just follows naturally.
Read MoreCommunity: Friday
Ongoing conversion happens only in community life. We can’t do it for ourselves. I had a college chaplain who was very fond of saying “There are no solo Christians,” and he was absolutely right. Everyone finds their community – or their overlapping communities – that leads to their conversion.
Read MoreCommunity: Thursday
Community can offer a container that’s safe enough and supportive enough for the conversion process to take place. You have a group of people saying, “You can be who you are, we’ll support that, even if it’s painful, even if it’s uncomfortable.” That allowance helps us confront our own wounds. It helps other people – and ourselves – heal.
Read MoreCommunity: Facebook Live
Community: Wednesday
There’s a portion of our Rule of Life that’s been very helpful to me in living in community. It talks about silence as a gift that allows us to recognize and revere the mystery of every person. Each person is a mystery to us, and there are aspects of that person’s life that we will never know, no matter how well we know them. Only God alone can know this person as they truly are. This is a way to open our hearts to greater compassion.
Read MoreCommunity: Tuesday
We don’t do church alone because God isn’t alone. God is community and invites us into community. God chose a family to bless and save the whole world through Abraham. No one person could do it alone. The Christian story, and all of the stories of scripture, are about a people. Our story is one of families and of communities.
Read MoreCommunity: Monday
The very nature of the Triune God is community. The Father, Son and Spirit are One in reciprocal self-giving and love. Because human beings are made in the image of a relational God, humans are not meant to be separate and isolated from one another. Rather, we are called to live together in shared community.
Read MoreCommunity: Video
We’re not only a gathered people, we’re also a sent people. Jesus says, “I send you into the world. Just as the Father sent me into the world, I’m sending you.” We need to be sent out from the church building itself – and from the church community itself – to have a wider rippling effect in the world.
Read MoreOn Community
From a conversation with Br. Jonathan Maury, SSJE
Read MoreCommunity: Homily
Being in loving relationship means that the truth of our very selves will be revealed. When we have chosen to love, no matter what, there is no place for us to hide from ourselves. We learn that not only do we need to love others for who they are, we need to love ourselves for who we are.
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