Broken is the way of Christ

By Mary Regina Morrell
©Catholic Online 2005

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"We were utterly weighted down beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, we had accepted within ourselves the sentence of death, that we might trust not in ourselves but in god who raises the dead." (2 Corinthians 1: 8b-9)

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My home is filled with broken things - a pelican (not real!) whose head broke off when the dog knocked the statue over; another pelican whose large beak was broken when the cat pushed it off the table; the shade of a candle lamp; the handle of a ceramic milk pitcher; a china dragon and a Celtic cross, just to name a few!

We should have stock in a glue company and our family motto could be, "Life happens, stuff gets broken!"

So I sort of knew what was coming when, at a recent choir practice, a friend leaned over to me and whispered, "Would you like another statue for your office?"

I knew immediately what she was asking - the statue was broken and needed a place to "be."

She went on to continue that she had a small, family statue of the Infant of Prague that had been broken and glued together many times. She wanted me to have it.

Now, for someone else that might be a strange or even unwelcome gift but for me it was heartwarming.

You see, this friend knows of my unusual habit of collecting broken religious statues. She read an article I had written some time ago about the two statues of "Mary of the Broken Hands" that grace my office.

I was touched that she should think of me and have since made a space for the Infant on my desk.

What value do I find in broken statues that I would keep them so prominently in view?

They remind me of the value of broken people.

Broken people are God's people, the special friends of Jesus and the ones who can, if we allow them, keep us humble in our own struggle to either endure, or, hopefully, embrace the life we have been given.

For them, life has happened and they have been broken in the process - perhaps physically, perhaps mentally, perhaps spiritually - and perhaps in ways that we could never fathom.

I keep those statues to be reminded that it has been my own brokenness that humbled me into surrender and called me again to faith, hope and love of God above all things.

I keep those statues to be reminded that while sometimes we play a part in the brokenness of others, either knowingly or unintentionally, always as Christians we are called to do what we can to "glue" things back together.

These statues remind me that our Church and our parishes are filled with broken people who have come looking for the love and mercy of God and hope for the healing of their wounds, and as is written in Scripture, it is our charge from Christ to be conduits of all three: "Let us hold unwaveringly to our confession that gives us hope, for he who made the promise is trustworthy. We must consider how to rouse one another to love and good works. We should not stay away from our assembly, as is the custom of some, but encourage one another, and this all the more as you see the day drawing near (Hebrews 10:23-25)."

I treasure these statues because they remind me, also, that to throw away the broken soul is to throw away Christ, who was himself broken, and who continues to be broken every day in the Eucharist so he can heal the broken of the world.

To be broken is to know Christ, and that is something I wish always to remember.

Contact

Diocese of Metuchen
http://www.diometuchen.org NJ, US
Mary Regina Morrell - Associate Director, Office of Religious Education, 732 562.1990

Email

mmorrell@diometuchen.org

Keywords

broken, healing, love, Christ

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