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THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY

Thought for the Day #38 - Wednesday, April 22, 2020

“The Virtue of Loneliness”

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The virtue of loneliness.
Loneliness in isolation is a hardship which can be painful. We talk about
physical distancing, but in fact, we can be in a crowded subway or bus and still
feel alone, lonely and isolated. It can also happen in your family, in moments
of perplexity, of misunderstandings, when you feel alone and cast aside. Of
course, there is also the loneliness that can come to you when you have maybe
lost your parents, lost your brothers and sisters, maybe you find yourself at
home living alone.
But what can we learn through loneliness? How can we experience loneli-
ness in a way that can strengthen our lives? And how can this time of solitude,
somehow imposed on us in this confinement, become an opportunity for per-
sonal growth?

I would like to suggest two avenues.

First, become aware of the meaning of solitude and the pain of loneliness that
can accompany it. God himself declared in Genesis, «It is not good for man to
be alone.» So, loneliness is a reality, but at the same time it is a reality that we
need to overcome, we need to transform, to open up.
Through the experience of loneliness, we might soon realize that the world
is not enough. We could have everything in life, all the material goods, all the
wealth, excellent health. But the world is not enough. We are made for more
than this world. We are in this world, but we are made for more than this
world. We have a thirst within us for the infinite, a thirst for the absolute. Our
solitude is an opportunity to become aware of this thirst, the thirst that dwells
in us, that is the thirst for God.
The second avenue is relationship. To be alone is to discover that we exist as
pathways, links to each other, that we are beings of relationship, meaning there
is always a human mission, how do I relate to others? How do I approach my
relationship with others? The greatest, most beautiful, and most fundamental
things to build in our lives are our relationships, in all contexts, work, leisure,
and family life. But it is always a question of relationships with others, at the
same time as it is a question of our relationship with God. We are made for
more than the world in which we live. We are made for the Kingdom of God!

Collection of texts by the Most Rev. Christian Lépine 49