Constitutional text - Chapter Tree - Our Community life

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C O N S T I T U T I o N A L T E X T T H R E E
o R I G I N A L T E X T
''Tua t they may all be one. • . so that the world may believe .•• "
(Jn. 17:21).
In response to the call of God, and to realize the prayer of Christ,
we have cho$en to live as brothers within our Congregation.
It is especially by the brotherly love uniting all its rnembers that
our Congregation will be a sign of God's presence among us and of
the power of the Gospel to bring together, in a community of brotherhood,
men of every language, race and nation.
In this spirit of love, each member is responsible for the vitality
of the cornmunity in which he lives. His personal development will
take place as he actively participates in a corrnnon effort by all members
to create an atmosphere of truth, confidence and cordiality.
Our same love of Christ inspires a spirit of solidarity in our apostolic
t asks. For this reason, we are called to work in conjunction
wi th one another, uni ting our efforts for the building up of the
Church.
Loving one another in a spirit of real brotherhood, bearing with
each other's faults when the occasion arises, we shall make every
effort to assist one another, even in the small details which goto
make up cornmunity living; we shall surround our sick and infirm brothers
with special concern and faithfully recorrnnend to the Lord our
departed.
Each of us strives to lead an intense life of personal prayer and
union with the Lord. At the same time, in order to strengthen the
bonds of brotherhood which unite us, it is necessary that we come
together to pray. Corrnnunity prayer, especially the Liturgy, expresses
solidarity. It is the source from which we draw the faith and
love we need to accomplish our mission.
For the same reason, we shall talee advantage of the opportunities
for togetherness offered by corrmunity meals, recreation in cornmon
and other practices which express human friendship in our respective
countries. These are occasions for making our spirit of brotherhood
a concrete reality.
Finally, if our comnrunities are to bea living sign of Christ's love
for all men, they rust always be open, extending a warm welcorne to
priests, religious and layrnen and especially our relatives. Our hospitality
will thus be a sign of our joy and of our desire to be "all
things to all men" (1 Cor. 9:22).
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