Last night we had faith formation for Confirmation at our parish. It was the second session of the year. I was at the front of the classroom, getting things ready when a young woman stepped up and asked if she could have the material handed out the previous since she’d been unable to make it. I asked her name. When she told me, I must admit my joy. I knew her. I’d taught her in the 6th and 7th grades. She’d grown and changed; I felt badly that I hadn’t recognized her but oh so good that our paths had reconnected.
This is a special year for me, being able to work with 17 sophomores whom I’d taught years ago. I relish every session. I pray for them in between classes. And I pray that I may bring Christ to them in meaningful ways that help them in their journeys. I’ve learned much from them; I pray it is reciprocal. And I believe that it is especially important when our paths recross; it isn’t an accident. There is more for us to gain together.
Companions on the journey, we are working together to strengthen one another’s resolve, to quiet one another’s doubts, to engage our hearts and minds, to help us find the purpose the LORD had in mind for us from the beginning. I’m there to help them articulate their questions and to search together for the answers prayerfully and faithfully. This year it is especially exciting because the parents are participating in every other class, so what begins in the classroom can be carried out into their fuller lives.
I am blessed because I know my role in this situation. But we are all called to be companions to others along the way, helping one another to live the lives we are called to live and to be the ones we are created to be. Some of the miles, we will find ourselves the “guides,” and others we will find ourselves reliant upon the other for support. But always we are both dependent upon our LORD who graces our relationships and whose Spirit guides us.
It is becoming increasingly difficult in the modern era because of the distancing imposed by a culture bent on “remote.” It is becoming increasingly difficult because instead of one on one, side by side companioning of one another, where we can see and hear and sense what is happening and what is needed, we must rely on what is “shared” selectively through social media. And it can be deviously deceiving.
But we can insist on true companionship. We can insist on side by side. We can reach out to one another. We can connect personally and re-connect. We can truly companion and not simply “follow.”
We are created in relationship for relationships. Everything in the law and the prophets, in the Old Testament and the New Testament, in Jesus’ teaching and example call us to right relationship: a loving relationship with our LORD that enhances and enriches all our being and a loving relationship with all our sisters and brothers across the globe. Let us resist the modern mode of “remote” and seek personal companionship with others on the Way guided by the Spirit.
Until tomorrow, let us all love well.
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