It’s good to be together again

A year is a long time to be separated from the communities you belong to. While many of us have already returned to Mass some time ago, it hasn’t been the same. Without coffee and rolls—or a time to socialize after—we missed visiting with our friends at church. Waving as you pass by on the way out to your car isn’t enough time to keep up these relationships. Many of us also missed going out to eat, to watch a movie, to shop with family or friends, or just gathering at the local café or coffee shop to talk about the news and weather.

Why is being together so important to us? Our faith teaches that we are made in the image and likeness of God. Each of us have an innate human dignity. Even if our human dignity is violated by ourselves or others, it can never be lost completely. We are also relational beings, reflecting the mystery of the Holy Trinity with one God in the three persons of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit who exist in relationship to each other (Catechism of the Catholic Church 253-256). We do this by living together in society.

This need to live in society is at the heart of our human nature. Quite simply, it’s the way we are made. We are both designed and commanded by Christ to love God and to love our neighbor. Our happiness depends on this. Research is now showing—as we’ve also seen in our counseling program at Catholic Charities—that the isolation and loneliness so many people have experienced during COVID-19 is linked to an increase in anxiety and depression. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “The human person needs to live in society. Society is not for him an extraneous addition but a requirement of his nature” (1879).

That being said, I am also thankful for many of the blessings of technology. Through phone and video calls we have been able to connect with family and friends in ways we couldn’t only a decade ago. Of course technology has its drawbacks and serious concerns too, as many of us are aware. Yet at work, virtual meetings have helped us maintain relationships first with our clients but also with our colleagues and other service providers and, of course, our supporters. While I have missed seeing everyone at conferences and events, phone and video are much better than nothing! 

Yet even as we invested in new technology this year for telehealth services, we also had to make the difficult decision to postpone or cancel different events at Catholic Charities. It may seem like forever ago but it was just March 2020 when we were blessed to host our Fargo Caritas Award Luncheon honoring Dr. Lucho Espejo for his service to the poor in the medical field just a few days before everything shut down. However, our Bismarck Caritas Award Luncheon scheduled for May 2020 was postponed first until November and then until this year. That’s why we were so excited to finally honor Marci Loomis for her service to the poor through the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Bismarck on May 11. We were also thankful to gather together again for our semi-annual Catholic Charities All Staff Training in April.

A year is a long time to be apart from those you love and care for. In my conversations with supporters, the greatest suffering for many has been being unable to see their grandchildren or their grandparents for so long. As much as we can do online, this past year has shown that no amount of technology can ever fully replace human connection. How do you give someone a big hug on a video call? How do you give a hearty handshake or a first bump on the phone? You can’t. That’s why we are so blessed that things are opening up again here in North Dakota.

We look forward to seeing our family, friends, and all of you in person soon. It has been a long year, but it is so good to be together again!