By Derek LangI just attended Jonathan Snoek’s graduation ceremony for the Kitchen of Champions Culinary Program at St. Vincent de Paul’s. Yeah, Jonathan! It was a jubilant occasion. Lots of happy faces and hoots and cheers. But it was also a moving experience. Each graduate shared their stories or gave thanks. There were a couple of graduates who had been in prison. Another graduate recited a poem he wrote, sharing about the horrors of violence and death in his life and a haunting phrase, "my father inhaled crack and exhaled his future."
One common theme though was the gratitude each graduate had for the program, family and friends who supported him/her. There were lots of big families at the celebration and everyone cheered for each other. It was impossible to understand the depth of each person's challenges, but there was no doubt that the community here was a huge factor in each person's success. How important it was to have community.
Our scripture for this Sunday is Paul's letter to the Philippians. He encourages them, and us, to humble ourselves and to help one another. Sometimes it seems the phrase "love thy neighbor" gets watered down to be something like "do a good deed." But tonight, I am humbled by the importance of community in being there for each other. That bond that we have even when we are strangers transcends all boundaries when we say - just as Jesus said to His disciples, "I am here with you." And it makes all the difference in the world. As we continue our study of Philippians, may we consider our practice of community.