The Common Life
Community life is essential to a friarly life, and that is reflected in our daily schedule. Every day, there is time set aside to recreate together and eat together, and brothers often go beyond the minimum amount of time expected for time together. The main reason we are gathered together in community is so that we might live in harmony of the house, of one mind and heart in God. This harmony, though, is a high bar to clear, and there can be plenty of obstacles. Brothers with different temperaments and personalities sometimes irritate one another, brothers can be jealous of friendships that other brothers develop, and all brothers bear numerous responsibilities.
I read the Constitutions governing Common Life and am painfully aware of how frequently I fail to live up to the high standard that I see in them. This is true for many Dominicans. But if we friars act virtuously, we are not discouraged, but delighted in the knowledge that the life we have chosen gives us such a standard to meet. This motivates us to try all the harder to be excellent in gentleness and communal charity.
A brother said once that community is a school of charity. It’s a school where saints are made. No wonder we have so many.
I read the Constitutions governing Common Life and am painfully aware of how frequently I fail to live up to the high standard that I see in them. This is true for many Dominicans. But if we friars act virtuously, we are not discouraged, but delighted in the knowledge that the life we have chosen gives us such a standard to meet. This motivates us to try all the harder to be excellent in gentleness and communal charity.
A brother said once that community is a school of charity. It’s a school where saints are made. No wonder we have so many.