The Healing Power of the Body of Christ: An Ecclesial and Neurological Argument for Social Connection Despite Social Distancing

Abstract

The modern crisis of social isolation is a devastating and lethal phenomenon encompassing many dimensions of human life: the sociological, psychological, neuro-psychological, and spiritual. Loneliness and disengagement leave existential longings within the hearts and minds of persons, causing depression, anxiety, and the fragmentation of community. Yves Congar’s ecclesiological and pneumatological theology explicates the fulfillment of humanity’s deepest longings when individuals gather as a communal body realized in the ideal form of the Church, a supra-ecclesial community. When people share their unique charisms gained through the grace of the Holy Spirit for the good of the community, a healing grace permeates into individual hearts and restores communal relationships. The article has three sections. The first section describes the detrimental consequences of isolation and the spiritual perils of social distancing and human separation. The second develops Congar’s theological insights into how community allows for participation in the life of the Trinitarian God. The third section applies Congar’s theological principles to practical pastoral healing remedies for the tendencies of division within the present age, especially dealing with the global pandemic. When each person becomes receptive to the action of the Holy Spirit, who unifies the Body of Christ, the fullness of life emerges.