Being Present to Others

I always enjoy returning to my home parish of St. Joseph's, New Plymouth, in New Zealand over the Christmas period. There is something refreshing and nourishing about going back to familiar places and meeting again with friends. Each time I visit, there are fewer familiar faces, and many of those faces have a couple more wrinkles! Somehow that makes the encounters and the conversations more poignant and significant. As a returning visitor I appreciate that I bring a limited, outsider's view and there is a curiosity in me about all the new faces from many different ethnic backgrounds which now make up this constantly changing parish community. At a lively midnight Mass on Christmas Eve I noticed a woman in a beautiful brightly colored sari walking into church behind more casually dressed long-term locals, and I quietly mused at the contrast of dress styles in our modern church communities.

I was also impressed by the faithfulness of the regular Mass-goers. Simply being present to others is a significant dimension of any community, and I wondered about the variety of reasons which drew together the individuals attending those Eucharists. For some it is obviously a chance to pray together as a community on a regular basis. Many would probably be seeking the social nourishment of human company as there was a noticeable vibrancy about the way parishioners greeted each other when they gathered. The familiar faces for me were mostly the older parishioners, and many of them would presumably be regular attenders because they are seeking the sense of community. In our sacred scriptures we read and hear about the faithfulness of God, but there is also something uplifting and inspirational in the faithfulness of our regular attendance at community Eucharists.

It is clear to me why refugees and recent arrivals from overseas value the solidarity that they enjoy when they gather with their own ethnic groups. For Christians, that often means attendance at Eucharists and for people of other faiths it can also be at their gatherings for prayer. These gatherings can play a vital role in the stability of our social fabrics. Every thread of a different color, the old and the new, is valued in the structure and the weaving of our social fabrics. And yet when people face persecution or oppression they will always take huge risks to let go of their homes and communal networks in order to seek a new life, security and safety in other lands, especially for the sake of their families.

All of us seek life and love in many different ways, because ultimately we are all reaching out for the life and love of God. That striving for life and love draws many of us into our Eucharistic communities. Such communities are built up and shaped by the stirring of the Holy Spirit within each of us. It is that same Spirit which draws us out from our dwellings to be nourished as we pray together and then sends us out again to hand on the Good News to others. It is those moments together where we can tap into the God-energy which can carry us quietly through our weeks of stress and busyness. Those experiences of being shaped by the Spirit can help us overcome the moments of doubts and inner darkness when they arrive.

During the Eucharists I attended at home I was also reminded of the different ways the Spirit was working through the variety of ministers, each with their different role and different charisms but all cooperating. There were readers, choirs, musicians and Eucharistic ministers as well as altar servers alongside the priest. Many of the Eucharistic ministers were sent out at the end of the gathering to carry the Eucharistic experience beyond to the sick at home.

I think the gift of this experience in my home town challenged me once again to be open to the multitude of ways in which the Holy Spirit is working and shaping our world.

Columban Fr. Brian Vale lives and works in Australia.