Weekly Lenten Reflections 2005:
Week 5
Refrain: Shepherd
me, O God, beyond my wants,
(BB 514) beyond
my fears, from death into life.
1. God is my shepherd so nothing shall I
want,
I rest in the meadows of faithfulness and
love,
I walk by the quiet waters of peace.
2. Gently you raise me and heal my weary
soul,
you lead me
by pathways of righteousness and truth,
my spirit
shall sing the music of your name.
3. Though I should wander the valley
of death
I fear no evil for you are at
my side,
your rod and
your staff, my comfort and my hope.
4. Surely your kindness and mercy follow me,
all the days
of my life;
I will dwell in the house of my God
forever more.
THEME: “The evil twin” of the common life:
sociability.
401. We are
called by God to a community of faith, fraternity, and apostolate. Following
the example of the first Christians we share with our confreres our faith
experience, our friendship and fraternal living, and our apostolic activities.
402. Gathered
in the name of Christ the Savior we are assured that He is in our midst as the
continuing source of our unity, our strength, and our apostolic effectiveness.
404. In our
community life we respect the individuality of each member. We accept
differences, and we recognize the wealth of gifts which enrich our community.
We try to overcome our failings and pardon one another, mutually bearing our
shortcomings and limitations with patience.
405. Mutual
understanding and acceptance are essential for the well-being of our community.
Hence we enter into dialogue with one another to discover what is good for the
individual, for the community, and for our work for the
411. The
better we live a fraternal and apostolic community life, the more it [our
community life] becomes a sign of God’s love and a prophetic witness that
Christ abides in us and unites us in love. (SDS Const.)
In the first
four weeks of our Lenten recollections we concentrated on the “evil
twin” and how to identify it in the way we live the evangelical counsels:
celibate chastity, poverty, and obedience. In our remaining conferences I want
to consider common life and apsotolate. Of course Salvatorians do not actually take vows of community life or
apostolate. Nonetheless, like the vows, community life has its evil twin we
must be aware of. Why? Because like the vows, there is an
inside and an outside to community life. There is what we do and what
people see (the outside) and there are our motives for and reactions to living
the common life (the inside).
When discussing common life, most of
us immediately think about how well we get along with others. Are we popular,
do we fit in, are we accepted and included. All these are good things in
themselves. But to insure them we often go a step farther and cultivate the
evil twin of “sociability.”
If we are not careful we end up packaging ourselves. We select and display the
appropriate feelings to the appropriate people at the appropriate times. If we
know someone likes this, we do it. If they don’t, we refrain. We talk
about what they want to hear; we go along with what they suggest; we even
detest whatever they dislike. Anything to get along, and to
be accepted.
Of course common
life calls for painful compromises and accommodation. But when
sociability becomes our chief
motive and the goal, then we are in trouble. For in religious
life, the common life is never an end in itself. We live community life for the
sake of something else. As Salvatorians, our goal is
apostolate. We live together for the sake of effective and authentic ministry.
Especially today, ministry demands deep authenticity. We cannot be fakes and be
good priests or religious. And where do we learn to be authentic? In community. There we discover who we really are; how to
express and how to control ourselves; how to risk and how to share; how to give
and when to hold back; when to confront and correct a confrere, as well has how
to accept correction.
But if in our search for social
acceptability we sacrifice everything authentic about ourselves, then we are
truly lost. Sure our community accepts us. But who are they really accepting?
Me, the real me, or some fake, inauthentic self . . . someone who is always
happy, who never complains, who never confronts or corrects a confrere, who
never risks showing his true feelings, who never shares with anyone his
struggles or doubts, but who always gets along! And to have a whole community
filled with such people is to have no real community life at all!
“Fraternal
life!” Despite cultural differences brothers everywhere share
certain characteristics. They love one another. Each wants the other to succeed
and will do all he can to help. At the same time, they expect and demand much
from one another. Between true brothers there is no room for half-truths or
hiding. They bear one another’s burdens, but that does not mean they
simply excuse every failure or all bad behavior. They are unwilling to let the
other bring disgrace into their home or upon their father’s good name. If
sometimes this entails straight talk and even confrontation, that’s ok. Because between brothers peace and sociability are never the final
goal. Something greater is at stake.
For us religious that is our personal and communal holiness, and our
work to build the
By Fr. Dan, SDS