Lonely but Not Alone

I came across a statistic a few days ago that said 52% of Americans report feeling lonely.  I’m not sure how accurate this study was or what kinds of questions the participants were asked, but either way, it caught my attention.  In a world that is so busy and filled with almost constant activity and in a time where we are so connected through the use of technology and social media, how can so many people feel alone?

No matter how many friends we have, how many people we are surrounded by, or how great our families are, we have all probably felt lonely at least one time or another.  Maybe it was in high school or college and you experienced feelings of loneliness when you weren’t invited to do something.  Maybe in the workplace, you felt like you couldn’t connect to any of your co-workers.  Maybe it was on a random weeknight or weekend sitting at home and you felt like you didn’t belong or that people were too busy for you.  If not any of those experiences, surely, you’ve been in situations where the people around you didn’t share your faith and you felt like it was you against the world.  As painful as the experience of loneliness can be, it is a part of the human condition.

Even Jesus experienced loneliness.  In the Garden of Gethsemane and on His journey to the cross, He felt abandoned and alone during the most intense and difficult moments.  And in these moments, he cried out to God the Father.  In His agony, He showed us how to endure the loneliness we will experience in our own lives.  Jesus suffered the ultimate loneliness and made the greatest sacrifice so that our times of loneliness could be filled by His love and presence. 

​Jesus will not always take away our feelings of loneliness.  But He will walk through them with us.  He wants to comfort us and fill us up with the love that only He can give.  He promises to be “with us always” (Matthew 28:20).  We will feel lonely at times but we must remember that we are never truly alone.

When we experience loneliness, it is the perfect time to place ourselves before Jesus and ask Him to speak into the broken and hurting places.  Ask Jesus who you are to Him and ask Him to reveal His heart to you.  Eucharistic adoration is a great place to listen.

We are often tempted to fill the empty parts of our hearts and lives with everything but the One who we’re made for.  When we feel lonely and it seems like nothing is satisfying this ache we have, we must remember the words of St. Augustine, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”