Category: Spirituality

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Called to community

Habemus Papam – We have a new pope. Pope Leo XIV. The first American pope. The first Peruvian pope. The first pope with dual citizenship. The first Augustinian pope. Known for building bridges, for being traditional in practice and compassionate in deed, and for being of even temperament, the new pope opened the windows in a dark world and offered hope.

Scrolling through social media, I see people stating, “I’m a lapsed Catholic, and now, with Pope Leo, I’m thinking about going back.” or “I’m a [insert Christian faith tradition here] but with Pope Leo, I want to explore the Catholic Church. This igniting of spirit and search for faith is a sign of the hunger in the world for the teaching – and living – that Jesus Christ showed us. A deep longing for something more than the secular world is offering in the moment.

As a spiritual director, this is exciting. I want to welcome all these people into my sacred spiritual direction space and say, “Let’s explore together where God is calling you to be in community to live, serve, pray and worship. Whether you are Catholic or not, God is longing to be in relationship with you too. “

That stirring people are feeling shouldn’t be taken lightly. It isn’t a time to jump ship from a current faith community or leap into to the unknown or the comfortable. It is a time to be thoughtful and discerning. Why? That stirring is God calling.

God calls us into community and relationship with each other in service to one another. Your gifts balance mine and together we can create something beautiful. Pope Leo’s election has inspired people to come back or enter into a community, and that could be a faith community like the Lutheran, Catholic, Jewish or other faith tradition OR it could be a community of those active in social justice such as working as a volunteer in a community for the unsheltered or at a free store or a ministry such as knitting prayer shawls or leading a spiritual book study or using leadership skills such as serving on a board or stepping into a new role in your work. This doesn’t mean sometimes God just wants you to sit and be still on Sunday, and God also gave you gifts to use. “Don’t keep your light under a bushel.”

There are many ways to be in a community and live out your faith which can extend beyond going to “Sunday services.” Understanding what that means for you and your gifts in service to others takes trial and error. Sometimes the place is to serve is only for a season and sometimes it is longer, but it is never without reason. Oh, but when you hit that sweet spot and you know in your heart you’ve found your community, that place where you are living your fullest potential in the light of God, it is motivating and joyful.

Pope Leo created a stirring in many people and understanding that movement within you and what it means can take time. And I am so excited to see people experience the touch of the holy spirit. I pray people pause to deeply listen and follow where it leads.

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Stepping In | Part II

I wrote at the beginning of the year, my intention for 2025 is to step in. And, with Lent approaching this week, I find it is a good time to check in to see how I have stepped in, where I haven’t and where I should.

The events around us are moving quickly.  On a macro scale, many are not aligned to my personal values or hopes. On a micro scale, in the community of family, friends, and colleagues I  journey with daily, they are very much moving in the right direction.

I find in these moments when the macro and micro levels are polar opposites, I feel a sense of paralysis. Are the simple acts of kindness, support, and leadership I am providing enough? Should I do more? And if so, what is “more”? Is there anything holding me back from stepping in?

I reflect on the cliches such as “God is in control” or “all things work together for God’s goodness and glory” or “sometimes you need to tear down in order to build up”. Those are all true and yet, for me, not truly helpful at this juncture.

I have a fundamental belief we are all blessed with gifts to serve God and others. God doesn’t call us to be passive or to be bystanders. Could God tear down and rebuild our world? Of course. We have the story of Noah or Sodom and Gomorrah which tell us God can destroy and rebuild without our help. But, is that what God wants? I offer to you it is not. Not unlike Esther, we are “called for a time such as this.” God wants us to step in.

In my spirit as I write this, I feel God is pushing me forward, saying YES! STEP IN! And my answer back is, how? There are so many opportunities, how do I discern which is the “right one”? The answer to the question is there isn’t a “right one”, there is this one. The next right step in front of me.

That could be allowing someone to merge in on the interstate, engaging in conversation with the check out clerk or holding a door open for a neighbor. How we step in doesn’t have to be grand – it can be simple. The point is to take the step and let the next right step unfold before me. It is a deep trust that yes, God is in control and God wants my participation in bringing forth a “new heaven and a new earth” (Rev 21:1). God could certainly work faster without us, and God wants to co-create the world with us, give us agency in the communities in which we live, work, play, heal and pray.

It is in doing the simple, everyday acts we bring hope. We can counter the hate, vitriol and deception which make for “good television” but are not the community or world I want to live in. We create ripples of change in our inner circles, which God will spread to others. We can move mountains one rock, one pebble at a time because God has called us, “Only to do justice and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8) and “do to others whatever you would have them do to you,” (Matt 7:12).

To step in doesn’t need to grand. We only need to take the next right step in front of us with confidence and faith that God will do the rest.

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Liturgy and Ministry | The need for both

I had never felt more alone or lonely than my junior year of college. I was studying in Germany at a time which predates email, social media and even cell phones. I was literally disconnected from my friends, family and all that provided me comfort.

It was also during this time the first Gulf War occurred. There were protests in my German university town, I was spat upon going to class and painted on the garbage dumpster in the courtyard of my dormitory was, “Amis go home” (Amis being short for Americans). It was unsettling some days and frightening on others. On top of the usual culture shock from living overseas, I felt shaken by the anger I felt around me.

During this time, I still went to Mass on Sundays, but as I felt more and more unsettled, I went to Mass more frequently until I was going almost daily. The liturgy put me back on solid footing. The structure, the prayers, the format were all known to me. And although it took me a while to be able to fully participate in German, I could always walk up to the alter during communion, hold out my hands and say Amen. It made me feel as if I was part of something larger than myself.  

The most basic definition of liturgy is the order of corporate worship services. It is a time to join as a community in praise to God. We learn about Christ’s teaching and how to engage with our faith to deepen our relationship with God and each other.  

As I sat in Mass this past Sunday, I realized I didn’t need liturgy. I needed ministry. In the Greek language used in the New Testament, ministry always centers on acts of service to others. It is listening to the needs of others and being the hands and feet of God to attend to those needs. Christ calls us to watch over, lift up, and strengthen those around us.

While liturgy is ritualistic in nature, Pope Francis, in an apostolic letter, Desiderio Desideravi, stated that “a celebration that does not evangelize is not authentic.”  And he has cautioned against “putting the rite before what it expresses”. My interpretation, Pope Francis is telling us to not just go through the motions or follow the rules because the institutional church says so.  We need to approach liturgy with a sense of wonder and awe. We need to make it come alive and most importantly, meet the needs of the people gathered. In other words, minister through the liturgy.

Liturgy provides the comfort of the known and is grounding. Ministry helps us navigate what is unknown and provides companionship as we walk forward into uncharted waters. We need both.

I find my scale is tipping toward needing more ministry. Not only do I need more ministry for myself, but I also need to discern how God wants me to minister to others. My fledging spiritual direction practice is one path, and I wonder in these times when hatred is becoming accepted and even normalized, how can I do the opposite and show more tenderness, love, compassion, and mercy?

I may not be able to practice ministry on a grand scale, and yet, I am not powerless. I can do so on a daily basis – with the staff, my friends, my family and to every person I encounter. Kindness, mercy, grace can have ripple effects. I need to deepen my faith and trust my simple acts of ministry will spread into the larger waters and be passed along to others.