Staying Connected

I wrote this post over a year ago but I never felt quite comfortable in publishing it. I now think it’s time…

I have my friends in Washington DC on speed dial. I am only a few clicks away from video chatting with my family in England. I regularly send emails and texts which could wait until we meet in person, but I choose not to delay because of the ease of communication. We live in a world in which we are increasingly connected to one another…

This idea of a deep connection between people in far-flung locations is nothing new. Catholicism has clearly understood this concept for two thousand years. I mean, think of all the things that Catholics “share”. Regardless of where we are in the world, we are all washed in Baptism. We share in the same Spirit. This connection through the Spirit is indeed profound; we are all bound together, even with those who have already died and are in Heaven. We pray common prayers such as the Our Father and Hail Mary. We share a common Sunday liturgy. We proclaim the same creed. And finally, of course, we share the same Eucharist meal.

“Connecting…”

As I’ve moved around from place to place I have left good friends wherever I’ve stayed. Leaving good people is always tough of course, but I’ve found that those who are united with Christ really do have a special bond and remain connected wherever they may be. We have been joined in the one Spirit, share in the one loaf and as St. Paul says, because of this, we are one Body.

I first began regularly praying the Liturgy of the Hours when I moved to America. Doing so filled me with great comfort. At a time when I was feeling quite isolated from everything familiar to me, it was nice to know that Catholics around the world were praying the same psalms as I was that day.

Both Easter and my birthday fell during my initial three-month stay in the United States. I remember being quite concerned about this. I wasn’t too fussed about my birthday, but I remember being nervous about celebrating Easter away from home, since for the last fourteen years or so I had always celebrated it in the Abbey near my parental home. I wasn’t sure how I was going to react to being somewhere else. However, that Easter I saw how truly universal the Church really is. We celebrated the same liturgy I would have celebrated back in England. I went to that Easter Vigil feeling rather homesick, but I left with the feeling that home wasn’t in fact so far away…

“Connection Failed, Please Try Again”

I have a friend who chooses to no longer have any contact with me. This causes me continued sadness, but I comfort myself in the knowledge that our relationship can never truly be severed.

Earlier in our friendship we had gone on the same pilgrimage and on one day we went our separate ways to explore the city in which we were staying. Later that day I found my way into one of that city’s many churches. As I entered, I saw in a side chapel one of the most vivid crucifixes I’d ever seen. With my eyes transfixed by the crucifix I walked into the chapel and knelt down, only to discover I was kneeling right next to my friend. Of all the chapels in all the churches…

Following the rupture in our friendship, that image of us both kneeling before the cross is one which gives me great comfort. Although we no longer have any contact with each other, we do continue to kneel before the same cross and one day, I pray, we will worship before the same throne in Heaven when all pain will be wiped away and He will have made all things new.