The fellowship church

Ever so many years ago, I recall a parishioner saying to me: “I come home from work on fridays and often I don't go out of the house until it's time for work on Monday morning. Sometimes I think I'll go stark raving mad — other times I'm afraid my thoughts are self-destructive.”
Fellowship is one of the Greek words which describes the church in the New Testament. The word means sharing, a partnership, not selfish-getting; sharing with the less fortunate. The word also refers to anything from a business partnership to a marriage. A 19th century author, William Morris, wrote: “fellowship is heaven and the lack of fellowship is hell.” Churches ought to be the first to heal the wounds of lonely people but often we keep our distance. St. Paul says: “We are members one of another.” Many suffer from the sickness of loneliness because of the breakdown of the family unit. We are not really human until we have learned to live with others. As food is a need, so we need to know that we belong, that we are wanted, accepted, understood and loved. We have to draw ourselves out of ourselves and draw ourselves to our neighbours and draw ourselves to God. We must love to be loved!