A Healthy Community | August 12

Click here to read the daily readings from the USCCB website.

Community is very important in the life of a Christian disciple. Sure, Christians can still pursue holiness and closeness with the Lord without it, but community makes it so much easier. In my own life, I’ve had amazing communities and I’ve had not so amazing communities. Friends would lift me up and encourage me to fight hard at my relationship with Jesus. Other times, when I’ve been more alone, it takes everything I have just to do the minimum.

Today’s Gospel isn’t specifically about leaning on a community in your own walk with Jesus, but it names some of the marks of a healthy community. It will work together to call people to live as they’re meant to. It doesn’t seek to embarrass or target, but it rejects those to blatantly refuse to repent. It works together to accomplish the will of God and bring about His Kingdom on earth.

If you have a good community, praise God. Go deeper. How can you continue to push each other? How can you reach out and draw others in?

If you don’t feel like you have a good community, where can you start? It can be so, so challenging, but maybe just start with one friend. Tell him or her that you need accountability and encouragement. Have a few other Christians over for dinner and let them know you want to talk about faith. Honestly, even shoot me and email and let me know how I can help. Grassroots is best. Not everything needs to come from the parish.

But remember: community is not the end goal. A community is good as long as it is completely focused on Jesus. When a community thinks about itself more than Jesus it has become an idol. Friends are good, but not better than Jesus. 

 

-Amanda Benner, Director of Evangelization