A postulant's take on community life...
People often ask me, “What is the
best things bout the convent?” Without hesitation I am able to reply,
“Community Life.”
Then follows the inevitable question, “So, what’s the worst
thing?” To which I can reply with the same vigor, “Community life.”
Both answers are totally true. Even our founder, Bl. James Alberione, says that community life well lived is one of our (the
Daughters of St. Paul) three main penances…but it also is to be one of our greatest
joys and consolations.
St Louis Community 2012 |
I’ve experienced
this to be true from living in a community of 10 in St. Louis. We are
definitely each other’s greatest trials AND
each other’s greatest joys… and frequently it’s happening simultaneously! Sometimes
I find myself siting in chapel wondering why I live in community after a day of
constant correction and catering to someone else’s needs. Then only a minute
later I’ll find that one of my sisters has done something kind for me for
absolutely no reason. It was only a small action but it was done simply out of
love. More often I find these small instances of love to be the norm around the
convent.
Often it’s very little things, like
someone taking time out of their busy day to help me or to answer my questions,
or folding my laundry before I get to the drier, or leaving a note on my door
to let me know that I’m being prayed for. I sometimes see sisters doing little
things for each other and it makes me smile. It’s often little, simple things
but it’s truly beautiful to see the amount of love that is poured out everyday
in the ordinary, mundane tasks of life.
Just the other day, I saw one of
the sisters here in Boston taking one of the older sisters outside for a walk.
One sister is always making sure that the honey bottle is filled even though I know she never uses the honey.
People are constantly wiping up spills and picking things up off the floor out
of love for the community. It’s beautiful to watch love in action. Most of the
time you aren’t sure who just made your life a lot easier or a little better, so
my little solution is to turn around and share the same sisterly love with
another member of the community.
Now I know I’ve just made the
convent sound like a little paradise…so don’t be fooled! We definitely do
things that drive each other up walls…but that happens in every family I
suppose. It seems to me, that even though we can drive each other a little
batty sometimes, the love and joy FAR outweigh the small annoyances.
It’s in the trials that we learn to
grow, and it is love… a deep love… that unites us together.
This is our life. This is our joy.
Thank God for community.
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