Worshiping in Community: Keeping it Real

(On the Memorial of St. Ignatius, it seems good to feature something from a book dedicated to helping us learn Ignatian techniques.)

There is something in me that always protests, usually silently, whenever someone declares that they don't need to go to church, that they can worship God by themselves. For a very select group of people that is true, but most of us do not have the attributes that were granted to those of the Church Fathers who went to the desert alone. I, for one, really can't contemplate 16 years on top of a pillar. However, I digress. That is another matter.

The excerpt below points out the many reasons worshipping in a community is so important. I have only been a Christian for a relatively short time but have experienced examples of all the things mentioned below.

... Spirituality cannot be a solitary endeavor; it must be grounded in the life of a community, or else it becomes little more than an isolated and ineffective version of self-help. Spirituality that is grounded in community is like the house built on rock that Jesus described (Mt 7:24); it is less likely to be blown away by the winds of change that inevitably move through our lives. When our spirituality arises from our participation in community, several things happen. First, we are challenged to see our prayer as one part of the larger exercise of living the Christian life, for we must apply our prayer to the ordinary problems of living with other people. This prevents us from treating spirituality solely as a private exercise. We will be in a position to encourage others in tough times; in turn, they can help us to persevere in periods of spiritual dryness. Second, participation in community worship means we will be confronting ideas that make us uncomfortable, pushing us outside of the natural comfort zones we develop in our spiritual lives. This point, I think, is difficult but important. It's easy to fall into patterns that must change as we grow. Third, we will begin to see our own spiritual lives in some perspective by seeing the struggles and issues of people who are both younger and older than us. Seeing what younger people confront can make us cognizant of how much more we must still grow. Considering the spiritual journeys of people around us can help us to navigate the changes we, too, encounter...

The Ignatian Workout:
Daily Spiritual Exercises for a Healthy Faith

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity