29
Fri, Mar

Community, in the context of consecrated life, is a fundamental element of religious life and it can be considered, together with charism, consecration and mission, as one of its four wheels. In this perspective I would like to define community as «sense of belonging» or «communion».

Man's vocation is communitarian by nature. God himself, a mysterious Trinity in perfect unity, man’s very origin, desires that all should form one family, relate with each other in the spirit of brotherhood as all are destined ultimately to the very same end: God himself (cf GS 24). And from the depths of one's being there is the natural need of a companion, a friend, a mate with whom to share one's life, dreams, ideals, mission and future.

In our Pauline context, knowingly or unknowingly, when a candidate enters religious life or the aggregated institute or association, one does not only enter an Institution but a Family of many brothers, sisters and collaborators. However, wounded by sin and loaded with a personal baggage due to one’s temperament, attitudes, behaviors and influenced by earlier familial, cultural and religious formation, integrating one’s self into the community in a manner that is both constructive and productive could be a difficult journey of a life time. Common issues in community life include individualistic tendencies and conflicts in the exercise of personal freedom and the virtue of obedience.

The community is both a place and an ambience. Ideally, it is communion of persons. It has for its goal the perfection of charity of its members, realized through the practice of evangelical counsels and other observances that promote, sustain and perpetuate communion of life. It is the locus where one gauges personal progress, where one exercises personal responsibilities, and where one learns to humbly respect and patiently accept others as friends and collaborators despite personal differences. It is in the community that the virtue of love through the action of the Holy Spirit is perfected. Jesus himself, in the midst of his close-knit community of Apostles at the Last Supper, prayed: «Love one another as I have loved you». It is this same love, in fact, that all men will know that they, and consequently us, are his disciples! Community is possible because it is built up by the Word of God and by the Eucharist and by the action of the Holy Spirit, purified by mercy, especially in Reconciliation and made fruitful by the persevering exercise of one’s proper mission. To experience communion requires, therefore, a need of an experiential and progressive conversion by saying «yes» to the community, that is, saying «yes» to God, to others, to events, to responsibilities and to possibilities within the same community. Through daily conversion the person allows Jesus Master to be formed in oneself so as to will as He wills, to think as He thinks and to love as He loves. Let us recall our Pauline program of life that we encounter everyday beside the Tabernacle: «Fear not. I am with you… Be sorry for sins», hopingly, no longer etched in cold stones but in the hearts of flesh.

The title above could also be rendered as: «Saying ‘yes’ to the community through conversion». I would like, however, to state my personal conviction. Both «I» and «community» are not contrasting realities. The two, in fact, can go well hand in hand and it could be a liberating experience of a life time when, «with a little progress each day», the integral «I», mind-will-heart, thinks, acts and loves with the Trinity, Truth-Way-Life, when «I» journeys with others harmoniously despite diversity, when «I» thinks of God first, others second and «I» last, and when «I» can truly confess, «I live no longer I, it is Christ who lives in me».


 Italian version

Agenda Paolina

March 29, 2024

Passione del Signore (viola)
Astinenza e digiuno
Is 52,13–53,12; Sal 30; Eb 4,14-16; 5,7-9; Gv 18,1–19,42

March 29, 2024

* SSP: 1947 a Santiago de Chile (Cile).

March 29, 2024SSP: D. Felipe Gutiérrez (2004) - Fr. Natale Luigi Corso (2014) • FSP: Sr. Teresa Bianco (1995) - Sr. Guglielmina Oliboni (1995) - Sr. Mansueta Chiesa (2005) - Sr. Lucia Migliore (2007) - Sr. Carla (Clelia) Ferrari (2012) - Sr. Mary Bernadette Fitzgerald (2020) - Sr. Maria Carmen Conti (2020) • PD: Sr. M. Cornelia De Toffoli (1996) - Sr. M. Veritas Montecchio (2017) • IGS: D. Michele Sarullo (1993) • IMSA: Giuseppina Sanfilippo (2009) - Rosetta Budelacci (2022) • ISF: Egidio Pitzus (1997) - Giovanni Sticca (1997) - Antonietta Turco (1997) - Isabel Sabugo (2002) - Giovanni Italiano (2011).