During the weekend 21 and 22 of February, the Comboni Lay Missionaries gathered in Viseu for the sixth formation meeting on the theme: “Community: Challenges and Opportunities” oriented by the community-life of Oporto. The meeting was held at the Monastery of Santa Beatriz da Silva, who graciously welcomed us and we are very grateful for that.
During this meeting, we had the opportunity to reflect and understand in depth what is community life. The community appears at the beginning of the Bible, when God says, “It is not good for the man to be alone” (Genesis 2, 18). So, in fact, we are called throughout our life to live and be community. As Susana said: “The world is our structure. People are our home. Without this world we cannot have another, without people the human been does not live”. Thus, it must be with people and for people that the community exist.
“We have to be parts of one body”
The community is everywhere, in every field of our life: school, work, family, friends, church, catechesis and mission. However, we can only speak fully of community if we accept Jesus Christ as a member of our community, as the brother who loves us so much to die on the cross with the weight of our sins. Jesus loves us and is part of our community and together with the Father and the Holy Spirit are the center, the heart of any community. Like them we must be one voice, be one soul, we must be parts of the same body. This is the real challenge of being community. This is because we are all different in our weaknesses and qualities. And God calls us individually by name. God calls different, sinners. God calls us. And we are, with all that characterizes us, who form community.
“We have to be parts of one body”
And the question we ask many times is: Does the community work despite the differences between people? Yes, it is not easy but it is definitely possible. It works if we know our center, if we are honest with each other, if we use the gifts of each to serve in things where we’re good. It works if we have the humility to share tasks. But not to divide but to unite. Thus, the community goes through faith in the other. The community is a matter of love in which there is only one heart, one mind and one voice. Stop being “me” to be “us”. Where everything is put together.
“The community is love”
The community is undoubtedly love. The love that comes from God, born of Him who loves us first in an overwhelming way. It is this love that moves the world we are called to be for our brothers. And as S John Paul II said: “Love is an act of will.”
So depend on us to forgive, excuse, want to love the others, choose to love despite all its faults and errors, which I also have, and love with our differences and our weaknesses.
By: Paula Sousa
