Community Life
The early Church gathered around the Risen Lord is the protype of our community. United by the Spirit of love and a common vision, we walk the way of faith. Life in community, to which the Lord has called us, is both a gift and a task.
The gift of community with Christ and one another bestowed on us in baptism is renewed and strengthened in the Eucharist. This challenges us to make our love for one another a daily reality.
Love expresses itself in mutual trust and esteem without distinction of persons. We deal sincerely with one another and are sensitive to each other’s feelings. In spite of disappointments, we do not cease to trust but continue accepting one another in faith. We are ready to listen and to speak candidly with each other.
We think and talk kindly about others without prejudice, refraining from harmful criticism. In loving concern, we look for ways to support and serve each other.
Whenever we pray and work together, celebrate and take our meals in common, value genuine silence and share our joys and sorrows, our common search for God becomes evident.
Essential to this is the service of the superior and the obedience we render to her and to one another.
The Spiritual growth of the individual and of the community are interrelated. Each of us enriches the community with her gifts and abilities, which are in turn fostered by the community. The more we learn to live with each other’s strengths and weaknesses, the more we mature as communities. This creates a basis for genuine friendships to develop. Yet, we cannot be spared the experience of loneliness and must accept it as part of our existence.
Because we often fail in our love for one another, we need forgiveness and renewal. We who continually receive God’s mercy are enabled and obliged to forgive one another sincerely after failures. Conflicts are unavoidable in community life. It is important to face and solve them in honest dialogue. Sometimes, however, they can only be borne in patience and prayer. Through the difficult yet liberating service of reconciliation, healing takes place in and through our community. Thus, we strive to become ever more communities of peace.
Our common goal enables us to maintain unity in the midst of our plurality. The variety of characters, backgrounds and cultures in our international community is enriching and challenging. By our own readiness to forego our own preferences we learn to appreciate the values of others and to adapt ourselves to different ways of living, gaining the flexibility and adaptability we need as missionaries.
The spirit of hospitality should pervade our communities. We are open to those whom we live, especially the poor, with whom we share the material and spiritual goods of our common life.
When we live in love, joy, and peace, we give witness to our God who calls all to community with Him and with one another.