Community... and all that comes with it!

“We have all known the long loneliness and we have learned that the only solution is love and that love comes with community.” -Dorothy Day

There is definitely something intrinsic to our human condition that compels us to desire and seek out community.  That feeling of 'belonging' and 'connecting' with others fulfills our need to feel complete despite the very essence of our incomplete humanity.  If I think back on my life, most (if not all) of the memories I have are of experiences I've shared with other people.  I remember one of my first experiences of a faith community when I was in probably sixth grade and I participated in the vibrant youth group at our local Episcopal (gasp!) church in Massachusetts.  We'd gather together for what was marketed as social events, but there was always a strong faith component.  The highlight of the year was the annual ski trip to New Hampshire.  We'd pile into mini-vans with the brave parents who volunteered to chaperone 40 middle school students, and head north.  We spent the days on the slopes, the evenings around the fire telling stories and laughing until we cried.  Somehow the minister always tied faith into those experiences, in the form of having us write letters to God and ourselves, or 'casually' bringing up faith after the fifth cup of hot chocolate.  These moments of introduction to an authentic faith community are perhaps what drew me back to the Episcopal church when I was disillusioned and angered with the Catholic Church over the sex abuse scandal and the lack of fellowship and servant leadership I felt some 15 years later as a young adult.  I found a similar crew of people at an Episcopal church in Philadelphia.  Though we didn't need adult chaperones and (unfortunately) didn't go skiing together, I felt that same sense of authentic community and spiritual companionship with those people.  And yet, something was unfulfilled in my heart.  As much as my heart broke when I thought about the sex abuse scandal and the reactions of the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, I couldn't deny the fact that I was Catholic.... it is in my bones, and being a part of the little 'c' catholic and big 'C' Catholic community is in the very essence of my being.  It felt like I was denying a part of who I am.  Just like some of us might not 'like' every element or people in our families, we can't help but deny our affiliation and the impact our familial community has on our lives.  So even though I can get frustrated, disappointed or saddened with the Catholic Church, it seems like I can't leave it even if I try, because it is within me.  And that desire to be in community is most authentically fulfilled, for me, within the Catholic Church.
I am constantly challenged in my lackluster commitment to the Church by the witness of many others who maintain their identity even in the face of hurt and confusion.  The Boston Globe and Huffington Post had two interesting pieces about GLBT folks in the Boston area who remain Catholic despite the Church's teaching against homosexual behaviors (CLARIFICATION: the Catholic Church does not teach that one's sexual orientation is sinful, but rather teaches that acting on a same-sex sexual orientation is sinful... a distinction between the person and the act-- it seems people have the misconception that the Church hates people who are gay, which is not authentic Catholic theology).   This came up because of a flurry of controversy when a Boston area Church advertised a mass that would be part of the Boston Pride festival with the theme 'All are Welcome'... and then the mass was squashed by the hierarchy... and then responses from all sides and from the top down have floated all over news sources.  But check these articles out: Worship in the Face of Rejection and How to Create a Welcoming Catholicism  Regardless of your religious or political beliefs, it does speak powerfully to our intrinsic desire for community, acceptance and love...  And perhaps sheds some light on what we need to consider as we move forward in developing those communities.
And, while you're at it, check out the video below (totally unrelated)....  I'm feeling a little behind the technological times- the Pope has an iPad and he tweets?!?!  I thought blogging was a big step!