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INTENTION : |
That all who suffer loneliness may experience the closeness of God and the support of others.
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Although highly successful in her work, Lorna was so plagued by loneliness that she persuaded a man to marry her and give her a child. But the relationship didn't last long for she had to call the police to throw him out because he became violent. Like many others in our days, she ruined her life by fear of loneliness.
Loneliness has become a prime affliction in our society. Probably the growing competition and rivalry which pervade our lives have created in us an acute awareness of our isolation. This awareness in turn forces many of us to search intensely for an experience of union that could free us from this feeling of seclusion. The problem is that in our anxious search we ignore all too easily - what intuitively we know very well - that no friendship, no intimacy, no community will ever be able to satisfy our desire to be released from our lonely condition.
The Christian way of life does not discard loneliness; on the contrary it embraces it as a precious gift because, as suggested by the Pope's universal intention, loneliness could become a stepping-stone to closeness with God. The desert Fathers and Sisters can show us the way. Feeling out of place with their society, these hermits faced their estrangement by withdrawing into the desert to seek God and to reflect on the realities that matter.
of course, human withdrawal can be agonizing. Confusing ideas, destructive emotions and disturbing images jump in our mind. But the hermits overcame their interior struggles not by relying on their own reasoning powers but by surrendering themselves totally and unconditionally to our Lord Jesus Christ.
Only Christ can overcome the powers of evil that assail us so convincingly. If we keep the eyes of our mind and heart on Jesus we will gradually become aware of a loving presence regenerating us from the depths of our being. Then we dare to face our true vulnerable nature and give up our clinging fear.
During this demanding interior journey human support is very helpful, as the Pope's prayer intention recommends. Support is found when the lonely person meets people who are able to pay attention to him. This is difficult because people are often so engrossed in their own needs and tensions that they cannot provide the space for someone else to enter into their life without feeling an intruder. Only those of us who have processed their internal turmoil and anchored themselves in Christ will be free enough to let others into a space where they can find their own soul.
When a person feels totally accepted and welcomed, free to be close or distant, he becomes aware that he does not have to escape his pains of loneliness but to mobilize them in a creative search for new life. Thus, through prayer and human support, the pains of loneliness are not disposed of but confronted and embraced, allowing them to open the way for new wisdom and hope.
Fr. Raymond Pace, sj
National Secretary AP Malta
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