Repairers of the Breach: Reconciling Division, Healing Community

A Day of Reflection

• Saturday, Sept. 25 (Registrations close Sept. 22)
• In-person and live-streamed
• 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. central time
• Sign in begins at 8:30 a.m.

Facilitated by Fr. Joseph Nassal, CPPS

You shall be called the repairer of the breach,
the restorer of streets to live in.
                        — Isaiah 58: 12

Times of crisis often bring people together in a spirit of compassion and understanding that “we are all in this together.” Regrettably, today’s political climate and the pandemic have increased polarization in society and those divisions have seeped into the church.

As your parish family comes back together after physical separation caused by covid for more than a year, you may find “emotional” separation caused by different beliefs. As parish leaders, we need skills to repair the breach. This one-day retreat will teach you some of those skills.

• How do we address the issues that divide us without distancing or dismissing those with whom we disagree?
• How do we live the call of the prophet Isaiah to be “repairers of the breach”?
• How do we seek to find our common ground around the table of communion?

Our times are not dissimilar to the early church in Corinth. It too struggled with division and disunity. St. Paul reminded that community — and us — that we have been given “the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5, 18). This day of reflection will explore what that means and what we need for that ministry.

Reconciliation is about restoring relationships. Our relationship with God and with one another is revealed in the language of covenant. Our challenge is to live this covenant of love as we seek to be a reconciling presence in our faith communities.

Please join us for this day of reflection.

Fr. Joe Nassal is a Missionary of the Precious Blood who has been engaged in retreat, renewal and reconciliation ministry since 1988. He is the author of eight books including The Conspiracy of Compassion, Rest Stops for the Soul, and Premeditated Mercy. Ordained in 1982, Fr. Joe was provincial director of the Kansas City Province from 2011-2019. He now lives in Berkeley, California,  where he is part of a team to establish a Mission House of Prayer for those who minister on the margins.

“Hands Across the Divide” sculpture by Maurice Harron, photo by diego_cue.  Creative Commons Licenses BY-NC