Community

For the past few weeks here at the Novitiate House, we've been having a Monday night class on the Vatican documents related to Religious Life. In our last class yesterday, I was particularly struck by the conclusion of "Fraternal Life in Community" by the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. (I only wish that they'd come up with a better term than "fraternity" in describing a way of life that for the most part is lived by women religious ...)

A religious community, as an expression of the Church, is a fruit of the Spirit and a participation in the Trinitarian communion. For this reason, each and every religious is committed to feel co-responsible for fraternal life in common, so that it will manifest clearly their belonging to Christ, who chooses and calls brothers and sisters to live together in His name. ...

For some consecrated persons and for some communities, the task of beginning again to rebuild fraternal life in common may appear daunting, even utopian. In the face of certain past wounds and of difficulties in the present, the task may appear beyond feeble human capacities.

It is a question of taking up in faith a reflection on the theological sense of fraternal life in common, of being convinced that through it the witness of consecration flows.

Good words to reflect upon as I begin living with my new local community tomorrow!