Called Deeper Together - In Our Brokeness, Made Whole Together

One of my favorite reflections from Servant of God Dorothy Day, perhaps the most influential Catholic individual in my life, says, “We cannot love God unless we love each other, and to love we must know each other. We know [God] in the breaking of bread, and we are not alone any more…We have all known the long loneliness and we have learned that the only solution is love and that love comes with community” (The Long Loneliness). I think Day sums up so well the antidotes that community and relationship are to cultural/societal challenges of loneliness, individualism, and isolation. Community calls us to a deep love for and empathy with those with whom we share life. It calls us out of ourselves and into the realities and feelings of others–and it prompts us to share more fully of who God has created us to be, with both our shining characteristics and our work-in-progress traits too.

If I had to narrow my own experiences of community to a central theme, it would be the coexistence of brokenness and healing. Community has taught me so much about what I can share and who I am at my best; along with that, it has also shone a light on my shadow side and on the things about myself that I’d rather keep hidden. Along with Day’s words, I return regularly to something sketched in the margin of an old journal from a social justice faith formation group (whose source I did not note, unfortunately):

“I pray that you are broken. Broken beyond doubt. I pray this because this is how you must grow. When you are broken beyond doubt, you can see clearly that your God is already and always with you. When you are broken beyond doubt, you can walk humbly and softly with others, who are also broken. I pray that you are broken. That way, you are also blessed and broken to be shared as and in the Body of Christ.”

In healthy community, when there is mutual trust and an abiding care for one another, I can acknowledge what I struggle with and ask for the love and support of those around me as I try to heed God’s call. I can more fully and completely trust in the work and presence of God’s grace moving in my life and in the healing and wholeness that come from that. Continually growing and becoming feels less daunting when I have companions on the journey to exchange support and encouragement. Together, we acknowledge our individual needs and “growing edges” but also rise up to our joint call to live and work as the Body of Christ, broken and sent in our world today.

Jesus himself modeled for us the importance of community in both the spiritual life and the everyday life. In his great wisdom, Jesus knew that living his vocation and mission necessitated the support of others–his disciples, those with whom he shared meals, those who sought after him to learn from him–with whom he could pray, laugh, spend time, consider holy texts, mourn, be joyful, and connect. His disciples especially were the ones he turned to in times of need–his own and others’–and whom he lifted up as well.

In different seasons of my life, my engagement in community has taken different shapes, among them being a part of parish communities; justice work with a coalition of interfaith leaders; living in several iterations of intentional faith-based community; journeying with my Clinical Pastoral Education cohort through chaplaincy training; and nurturing deep, intentional relationships with family and friends. Each of these communities has been unique and different from the others, but there have been unifying commonalities across them all. We know each other well, we pray for and with each other, and we offer support and encouragement while holding each other lovingly accountable to our sets of values, our priorities, and the lives we each feel called to live. We don’t have to hide from our brokenness, but instead, when we let our fullest selves be seen, we find a closeness to others and God that does not come otherwise.

When we are “broken beyond a doubt,” we can clearly see that God is already and always with us. We can walk humbly and softly with others. We can experience love and belonging that supersede loneliness and isolation. We can live fully, truly, wholly—and together. It is in community that we find healing, love, and compassion—all things that show us the palpable signs of God all around us. Just as the Body of Christ is blessed and broken for all of us, we are invited to allow ourselves to be blessed and broken for and with one another.

Going Deeper Together:

• Read the expanded excerpt from Servant of God Dorothy Day’s autobiography, “The Long Loneliness,” from which the quote above was taken. What stands out to you from her words, especially as you think about community involvement and support in your own life? The Final Word Is Love – Catholic Worker Movement
• One of the central tenets of the Spiritual Exercises is acknowledging and accepting oneself as a “loved sinner” - a person with flaws and faults who is fully, wholly loved by God. What experiences of relationship and community have you had where you’ve felt this unconditional, nonjudgmental support and accompaniment from those around you?
• Reflect on the prayer attributed to St. Teresa of Avila in light of the communities of which you are a part. How do you bring Christ’s living presence to those with whom you share the journey? How have they brought this presence to you? “Christ has no body now on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which to look out Christ’s compassion to the world. Yours are the feet with which he is to go about doing good; Yours are the hands with which he is to bless us now. “ [St. Teresa of Avila]

Photo by Jeremy Yap in Unsplash

Kristen Schenk

Kristen has been deeply shaped by Ignatian spirituality during her time as an undergrad at St. Louis University, a Jesuit Volunteer in Belize City, and a graduate student at the Institute of Pastoral Studies at Loyola University Chicago. She has worked in Catholic parish ministry, community organizing, spiritual direction, volunteer support and formation with Jesuits Volunteer Corps, and ministry with people with developmental/intellectual disabilities. She spent her most recent professional chapter as a pediatric hospital chaplain and now works in chaplain research. Kristen is passionate about accompanying others through the highs and lows of their lives and spiritual journeys and about joining with others to co-create a Church and world with greater justice, equity, and inclusion for all. She lives in Chicago with her spouse Patrick and their three young sons.