Unity of hearts is challenging
Unity of hearts is challenging because it is where my uniqueness meets the uniqueness of the other. Often the uniqueness of the other is presented as a threat to me. Especially if I fail to see the good in the uniqueness of the other which will enrich me. And there is no real unity if I fail to see the uniqueness in the other. So, this is challenge. Only the Spirit of God who is the cause of our uniqueness can bring the real unity where you see the uniqueness of the other and welcome it as complementing your uniqueness. Realize the need of the Spirit of God in between persons and make sure the presence of the Spirit of God in between you and the other for a perfect unity. Creating unity is creating heaven for you and for the other. Don Giorgio
The value of a community
Start with a spiritual exercise. Ask yourself: What is the value of a community for you, or more specifically: what is the value for you of this community in which you now live or in which you previously lived? And I'll tell you right away: Don't just look at this question in theory, but in everyday practical life. I think that the pursuit of unity depends largely on the value you place on community. If the community is of value to you (and not only on paper in a constitution, but in everyday life), then you will also want to meet the concerns of the founder, Rev. Johannes Schneider, and seek and deepen the unity. 1 + 1 + 1 = 3 Why do people form a community? There are many good reasons for joining a community: - Strength in togetherness Men and women can very quickly be overwhelmed by tasks, difficulties and hardship. The experience of not being alone strengthens everyone in what they do. You can achieve more together than alone. - Difference in diversity Creativity plays a big role in our lives. This applies to the design of everyday life as well as to solving problems. Working groups are therefore often formed. A community is a good space in which ideas can grow and develop. - Joy in the community By joining forces (e.g. when doing sports and games, experiencing nature, making music and singing, while traveling) people experience a lot of joy. All of these experiences can be summed up briefly: Community strengthens and helps the individual. Or expressed mathematically: 1 + 1 + 1 = 3 More than the sum of the individuals The criteria just mentioned speak in favor of a community, but are not necessarily mandatory for such a community. Each individual could also live a spiritual life without belonging to a community. You can also see and experience that: that a community is only sought and lived when I have a need (e.g. need for support). - But I dare to say that this alone is not enough to strive for unity. That is only possible if I see something “more” in the community that is valuable and worth striving for to me. The value of communication The following exercises were carried out at marriage seminars: Each couple should build a house with already labeled blocks. What was important to them was put in the foundation, what seemed unimportant to them was put on the rubble. The houses were then presented. Many couples have reported that it was not the presentation of the finished house that was decisive, but that the communication that took place during the construction of the house was particularly valuable. The value of the superfluous There is a great temptation to distinguish what is necessary from what is not necessary in life and to separate yourself from everything that is not necessary: I do not need that, it is superfluous. An interesting experiment in addition. To stand you need a few square centimeters of earth on which you have placed your feet. But if the earth (or better: the ground) were withdrawn from you all around, you would quickly get dizzy and scared. Even if I don't need the floor around me to stand, they give me support and are important. Spiritual exercise: collect in a table (with 2 columns) what is absolutely necessary and what is not absolutely necessary at first. And then go to the second column (not necessary) and see what value these things have for you. The value of others The strongest motivation for the value of the community still seems to me to be the appreciation of the individual. Joining a community is often shaped by the appreciation of another. Incidentally, calling stories also often have their origins in the fact that I learned to appreciate and love someone. Search and deepen the unity The value I see in the community is a good motivation to strive for and deepen unity. To put it provocatively: whoever sees the community as merely a functional association will use every opportunity to step out of the community internally and perhaps also externally. Conversely, however, the value that a community has for me can promote my own identification with the community and deepen my contribution to unity. Or again expressed mathematically: 1 + 1 + 1 = 4. Prelate Dr. Stefan Dybowski June 17th, 2021 monthly lecture St. Augustinus Monastery, Berlin-Lankwitz
“”Under the ashes a secret fire” (part 2)
In this 2nd article on Sr. Joan Chittister's book, I would like to invite you to reflect on religious vows, specifically the vow of chastity that Sr. Joan made in chapter 11 of her book in the context of sexuality, perfection and devotion describes. Sr. Joan has given this chapter the title “Call for Love”. And again I have to say that these pages, like the entire book, are a kind of explosive, a challenge and provocation that force you to rethink principles that have been lived and believed up to now. But those who face this challenge can experience a vastness and liberation, especially in this vow, which is often seen as a restriction, which enriches life and makes it worth living. Sr. Joan describes, among other things, how chastity was lived and understood over centuries, especially in women's communities: “Religious life became an exercise of disembodiment, a spirituality of genderlessness, distance, security and fear ... In such a climate the encounter between people was at the bottom of the ladder of spiritual development. Friendships in the communities were limited to fleeting contacts ... Life was there to be denied ... Work replaced human relationships. Community life became a life in which strangers learned to be lonely with one another. " The author describes the situation as it was common in most women's communities until a few decades ago. And even if we have been trying, at least since the 2nd Vatican Council, to open ourselves to a new and contemporary order theology and to revise our constitutions and rules of life accordingly, this centuries-old thinking is still written down in our heads in many ways. And a traditional thought pattern to change a mentality is one of the most difficult and tedious tasks and challenges. But the author also shows what vision she has for life as a religious and how it can succeed in integrating chastity, sexuality, love and the ability to love in religious life: “A chastity that makes love and friendship impossible, that distrusts privacy and refusing to allow personal feelings, misses the point of chastity. Chastity is not about not loving. It teaches us to love well, to love generously, to love energetically. ”And elsewhere:“ The ability to show feelings is a gift. If she is circumcised ... she will corner people. If it is released, the soul gets wings…. Without love, life dies away and leaves us empty-handed. " In this context, I remembered a meeting with fellow sisters on the subject of chastity and sexuality in religious life. We talked about the fact that our body, even our sexuality, is a gift from God, nothing unclean and bad and that we, as women religious, must also become aware of these gifts. Even if we do not live out sexuality, we have to accept it and channel its energy, tenderness and the ability to love and give it to all the people we serve. In this way, it helps and enables us to love ourselves and others without tying us to one person. For many sisters (all of them at an advanced age) this was a revelation and liberation. One sister said: We should have been told that years ago. Sr. Joan put this in a nutshell: “Love without sexual practice, wonderful because of its tireless attention, teaches us the beauty of the loving soul and the fulfillment that accompanies the overwriting of the self, the I-am, for the sake of others . To teach chastity without love means as much as teaching spiritual exercises without God. " I want to end my remarks with the opening quotation of Chapter 11 “Call for Love”. In my opinion, this quote from Henry Ward Beecher sums up everything the author has written on the subject: "I did not know how to worship and worship God until I knew how to love." I hope I have made at least some of you want to read Sr. Joan's book not just in part, but in full. It's worth it, even if it makes us uneasy at first. But it leads further, broadens our horizons and gives us an idea of the beauty of religious life, which we often overlook or cannot see in our everyday life because its beauty is encrusted and hidden under the ashes. May the book help us to rekindle the embers, indeed the fire, in us! Sr. Petra Ladig