Wounded and gifted

Last Sunday I joined the Jesuits from Corpus Christi Community in the Melbourne suburb of Greenvale for their Thank You Day.

The community of homeless men with their chaplains, carers, volunteers, neighbours and friends gathered to thank one another and to thank God for making their house a true home. The community at Corpus Christi strives to make their home a place where wounded souls can find acceptance, nourishment and healing.

The first reading at the Mass, from the book of Exodus, included God's command to provide special care for the most vulnerable - the widow, the orphan and the stranger. During the prayers of the faithful, one of the men picked up on the mention of orphans. Many of the residents of Corpus Christi spent time in orphanages as children, and for many of them this experience goes to the heart of their woundedness.

Last week, I spent some time with members of another wounded community, the students and parents, Jesuits and staff, friends and alumni of Xavier College. The Xavier that they saw in the media was not the Xavier they know, a place that is committed to social justice and with deep spiritual values. They are asking now about how we can reconcile what has happened, and do better in the future. 

We can learn something about this from the men at Corpus Christi, who understand what it means to be wounded spiritually.

There is a woundedness at the heart of being human. It grows out of alienation from God and from each other. It is seen when we fail to respect each other's God-given dignity, and when we avoid spending time nurturing relationships with one another and with God. Theologians call it Original Sin.

The beautiful thing about the men at Corpus Christi is that they no longer try to pretend that they are anything other than fragile, weak and needy people in need of the love and support of a community of friends. In prayer, they reach out for the love, forgiveness and healing of our merciful God. With God's grace, at Corpus Christi they have also discovered that they are good and gifted in their own ways and that each one has his own contribution to make to the life of the community and to the healing of others who are hurting.

Those of us who are privileged to know people like the men at Corpus Christi receive a great gift from them. They help us to face the truth about ourselves. We are the same as them: fragile, weak and needy. If there is goodness and giftedness in us, as indeed there is, then it is there by God's grace.

At the Year 12 Xavier College Valete liturgy and dinner last Thursday, as at similar graduation ceremonies around the country, parents, students and staff came together to remember with pride the gifts that they have developed and shared in their time there. If this pride is coupled with the humility of knowing that God is the source of every good gift then there is every reason to hope that they will continue to grow in grace.  

There will be a review at Xavier College to try to learn how a very good school can become still better. There are lessons for the school administration and staff as well as for students. There will be many facets of the review, but one of the underlying assumptions will be that we have much to learn from vulnerable, wounded and gifted people like the men at Corpus Christi who show us the truth about ourselves.