Faith In Action

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WHY FAITH NEEDS SHARING
“It’s About Time” Column
October, 1998

Sometimes challenges help me clarify what I already believe. That is what happened the other day. As our parish was having its sign-up for Renew 2000 small groups, someone asked me to explain “just why is the church always pushing group sharing.” According to this person, faith was just as strong or stronger in past years when parishes didn’t spend so much time signing up people for in small groups. I appreciated the question because it gave me a chance to verbalize the value of faith sharing. My response included the following.

Faith articulated is often faith re-discovered.

First of all, faith articulated is often faith re-discovered. To have to speak about what one believes helps that person find ownership in it. I recall a young woman who always had a strong sense of God but was quiet and reserved about it. She was not excited about sharing her deep thoughts because she felt they were only for her. Yet she joined a small group. This group noted her reticence to share and respected it. One day, however, as the group was meeting, something someone else said triggered this woman’s own experience. She began talking about her view of God in her life. She told the story of how an illness in her family had caused tremendous pain to all, but through prayer the family actually became stronger. After she finished telling the story, she added that her sharing was much like her family struggling together. It had helped her come to grips with her own belief system.

That insight leads to a second reason for people to come together to share their faith stories: they are affirmed and supported by being with others who also believe. There are so many people who fear that they are the only ones out there who really believe. They get the notion from media or the consumer world that living by a moral code and acting on Christ-like principles doesn’t happen any more. There can be a tremendous loneliness in practicing one’s faith.

Meditation is not just a “feel good” exercise.

By sharing that faith and hearing others share theirs, a bond that gives strength and courage starts to form. It actually becomes easier for people to live up to their own standards when others have validated those beliefs. Evangelization, a much-talked-about word in today’s church, flows from story-sharing. Discovering God’s activity in one’s life usually leads to a deepening desire to respond to the Divine presence. That in itself would be sufficient reasoning for churches to foster small groups among their members. But there are other reasons as well.

No single person has a corner on the market for wisdom. People can always learn from each other. When I as a priest join a group -- as I have done for Renew 2000 -- I make a point of not becoming the answer man for all the inquiries. Not only would that destroy the process, but it also would prevent me from learning. Often what others say, flowing from their own experiences, lends a new insight into my understanding of the Gospel. I am pretty sure that my preaching tends to change whenever I participate in a group. Finally, a lofty and theoretical reason for group sharing should not be overlooked. That is the communal nature of Christian faith.

Perhaps because of the rugged individualism found in our nation, faith is often considered something totally private. Thus we have phrases from people that they “can pray on their own at home instead of going to church,” or “can take a walk in the woods and commune with God there.” Personally, I think that woods walking is very beneficial to faith and I truly hope that folks pray on their own at home. Nonetheless, faith is basically and fundamentally relational. To have only the individual and private sense of faith is to have only a part of the Catholic heritage. Ever since Jesus called together a group of followers, the roots of our faith have been found in people coming together and not trying to go it alone. Although Jesus functioned more as a teacher than as a group facilitator, it is likely that the apostles often shared with each other their personal experiences of the Lord and his message. Perhaps in past days churches did not put such great energy into forming faith-sharing opportunities. I suspect that families and tightly-knit ethnic neighborhoods provided much of what was needed at that time. Today, however, the creation and promotion of the sharing of one’s story with other men and women of faith can be a great blessing to those who participate and to the church in general. Fr. Herb Weber