This weekend was the University of Dallas Ministry Conference. Lots of people from lots of walks of life. My two talks were on collaboration and spirituality. Simple enough? Straightforward? Not so much! As people listened to the call to share the mission in their own gifted way and call forth the gifts of others in the talk on collaboration, what came out was the pain of those for whom this is not happening. People shared stories of parishes in which parishioners do not get along, Anglos not speak ing to Latinos. We heard about parish clusters that are not sharing funds or resources even for poorer parishes going without. There were other stories of trying to work with pastor or staff that do not share a vision of collaboration. And then there were stories of young adults leaving communities where their elders were either fighting or too tired to care any more and blocking the way for change.
The second talk on spirituality was called "Seeking God." I think I should have called it "Finding God" because that seems to be our challenge. We explored the history of spirituality in which we have moved from a distant God to an accessible God to realizing that we are called to find God in one another. That last, it appears, is the hard part. Easy enough to do that with saints! But what about sinners? People poured out stories of struggling with the results of sexual abuse of minors, or fear about sons and daughters who have lost their way. There were stories of people who just don't care side by side with stories of people arrested in foreign countries because of their belief in God.
I came away from both sessions feeling overwhelmed, near tears, and rather helpless. How can one find God and share in Jesus' mission in the face of such difficulties? But is that not what we are called to do? Just that. We are called to be disciples, to care for one another. This is not a nice faith we have. It is one that calls us to do difficult things as we grow and explore who and what God wants us to become. It invites us to discover who God is becoming in and amongst us.
We cannot shy away from the poor or the ugliness in life. They are with us even us Christ is with us. In the words of William Reiser: It is their words, their sorrow, their anguish and pain that pour from our lips as we pray.
