One of the advantages of living in Europe is that the continent experienced wars and hard times, learning to either live in a community or perish individually. The need for community seems to elude Catholics in America, as they continue to pretend that nothing horrible will happen to them in the future and that individuality is an American ideal to be preserved.
Do we know how to network? Is it possible to do so in your area? Some of the trad readers share with me that they are members of strong communities.
Many young people want community, but do they want to sacrifice the time needed to build such?
Ironically, the Catholic Church has taught a healthy balance between the personal responsibilities of the individual and the need for community life. For awhile, in the 1970s, some of us experienced communities among the laity, but these have faded.
Our parish lives have become less homogeneous and more and more people live far away from their local churches. Masses in one parish with which I am familiar only occur twice a week. Communities which use to go to daily Mass are dwindling from the lack of priests.
However, in my humble opinion, the laity must be responsible for building community. Families form the basis for communities and can gather the elderly who are alone and the singles. Families can even adopt priests and invite them into the homes, creating the link between the base communities and the hierarchy.
I highly recommend that lay people consider base communities now. Remember the Pope Emeritus' famous vision of the Church in the future. Small isolated communities in a sea of unbelief.....but communities.
Pray, think, reflect, act.
