Community, Fraternity, Brotherhood and Brothers

 

As we enter into this month of remembering and praying for our deceased loved ones our province of Friars was brought into this month in a very real way. This past week two Friars died (from Saskatchewan) on the same day just hours apart from each other. They both now are enjoying their heavenly reward and hopefully finding a few minutes to send some prayers our way.

The death of these two Friars even though I did not know them got me thinking about community, fraternity, brotherhood and brothers.

 

The desire to belong to a community is something that we all long for in our life journey. Our families are our first communities and I believe because of this, good or bad, we desire to create or become part of other communities our whole life long. That is true for me, besides my family I have belonged to several school and church communities, each of them being blessings and helping me to grow. As I lived on my own for several years the awareness of community was something I sought, worked at creating and was thankful for each experience. As I discerned if religious life was for me, community was one of the benefits that kept surfacing. Now that I have been living in community for over 2 months, that desire is still there and it is opening me up to new challenges, encouraging my gifts, helping me to develop new ones and to appreciate the balance of community and individual time. I am thankful to live in a home, full of men of all ages, from all walks of life, who have a deep relationship with Christ and are full of passion and hope.

 

Fraternity is one of the gifts and one of the challenges of belonging to a religious community. Fraternity is a common bond that in sense makes of us a family. Fraternity as a gift means you have built in support and encouragement. Fraternity as a challenge means you deal with personalities and interesting input.

I am appreciating the gift side and growing from the challenge side. Fraternity does cause one to be more aware of the value of praying for others… ‘Dear Lord, please be with Friar A as he struggles within a ministry setting that he works.’ Or ‘Dear Lord, please grant me the patience to accept Friar B and his smart remarks today.’ You see Fraternity in a religious community does not strip you of your humanity, in fact I think it makes you more real and honest.

 

Brotherhood which in a sense is fraternity yet it is something more. Brotherhood is what makes one stop and listen a little more closely. Brotherhood is what causes one to ask questions in a caring way. Brotherhood is what makes one put aside their own agenda and help another. Brotherhood is what opens us up to understanding Christ and his followers. Brotherhood is our common bond, what unites us in our desire to follow in the footprints of St. Francis as we seek to be more like Christ. Brotherhood is what will shine forth in the week ahead as details are handled and comfort and sympathy are shared so we can celebrate the life and lay to rest two brother Friars.

 

All of this got me thinking me about my own brothers and a couple other guys who are like brothers to me. These are the guys who taught me about fun, taught me to roll with the punches a bit more, helped me to endure teasing better, challenged me to express myself and in their own way encouraged me to ‘do my thing’.

 

My own two brothers are so different from each other and myself, but I am so thankful for that, as it is helping me to embrace fraternity and brotherhood in a more grounded way. I appreciate how they have approached life, their drive and determination and I will give them credit for lessons learned that are so benefitting me now… like knowing when to keep your mouth shut, when to tease someone, when to dig in and when to let someone do it on their own.

 

The few other guys who are like brothers to me, have helped me to be honest, have listened well, have asked good questions and like my own brothers have caused me to laugh and enjoy the journey. My brothers from other mothers are true gifts and because of them I can embrace this brotherhood, because I know I still have them in my corner as well.

 

My brothers and those like brothers have taught me about forgiveness, understanding, perspective and sacred bonds. These are true gifts for the journey. Thank you to these remarkable men in my life.

 

Note: At this time I would like to also mention that I have an awesome sister, two pretty fantastic sister-in-laws and pretty great brother-in-law! J Just want to put that on the record for they too have helped me appreciate brotherhood.

 

Anyways…

Community, fraternity, brotherhood and brothers: God at work in all of them.

God blessing my journey because of these gifts.

 

Lord our God,

Thank you for community. For the gift of others who build your kingdom and help us on the journey.

Thank you for fraternity. For the common bond that draws us together.

Thank you for brotherhood. For the gifts and challenges.

Thank you for brothers. For the sacred bond, special moments and forgiveness.

Thank you for calling us into relationship with You

and discovering this gift through the encounter of those in our life.

Amen.

 

May Brother Adam and Brother Barthole rest in peace. May perpetual light shine upon them.