Community and Fraternal Life A sense of community will make them joyful and ready to place themselves on an equal basis with all people, especially with the lowly for whom they shall strive to create conditions of life worthy of people redeemed by Christ. (OFS Rule, Art. 13 b) Think about all the relationships you have in your life. In order to strengthen and nurture those relationships, you must spend quality time with the people in those relationships. During this time, we dialogue, we listen, and we get to know the other person. In our relationship with God we must spend time with |
Today we need our communities and fraternities. Lives have become busy. Loneliness has heightened and, more and more, people are hiding behind the screens of their online devices.
It is said that people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. This applies to all of our relationships, and our apostolic mission is to let people who are struggling know that they are loved. It is also an important message to consider in fraternity. It is important that we develop caring relationships with our brothers and sisters. It is also important that we extend our interaction beyond our monthly meetings. What about taking some time occasionally (setting time aside) to just chat with each other about what is going on in our lives, and offering support and encouragement? This builds community, and community builds vibrant, healthy fraternal life.
(taken from Catholic Teaching and Fraternal Life, Carloyn D. Townes, OFS, National JPIC Animator)