Community Life
"We have been called to love as Christ himself loved, and we have chosen to live in community so that we may practise how to become sisters." (General Congregation 2005)
Community life
is a source of joy, mutual support and sharing together;
it is also a place of conversion and forgiveness.
Living together as sisters in community is made up of the ordinary events of daily life:
the welcome of each other, community prayers, meals, daily tasks, and times spent together; the sharing of news, our worries and our joys; and the interest and concern we show in the mission that has been entrusted to each one.
Or life is also structured by a rhythm of personal prayer, celebration of the Eucharist and community prayer which brings us together two or three times a day.
Each sister is responsible for finding space in her day to include moments of personal prayer, (meditation, spiritual reading, review of the day) and regularly takes time out for a day of silence.
«To nurture above all
our belonging to Christ,
nourishing a spirit of praise,
blessing and gratitude
where adoration is expressed,
in humble service.»
The times spent together as community are particularly precious in helping to keep alive the relationships we have with each other. In cases where the community is dispersed - due to the commitments of some of the sisters - the timetable will be discussed together and adapted. This necessarily implies that we all need to be clear about our priorities.
As well as the habitual rhythm of the community life, each individual community plans its own specific times of sharing (weekly and monthly meetings), as well as retreats and outings together.
Feast-days and week-ends when the sisters come together for reflection or visits from one community to another, are all occasions for meeting each other.
«The Community builds itself up and invents itself each day, by means of the participation of each one »
(General Congregation 2005)
