Fraternal life
Jesus Christ, if You are not alive among us, the fraternal ideal will become impossible.
Saint Paul tells us in his letter to the Ephesians:
“I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.
Be completely humble and gentle; be understanding, bearing with one another in love.
Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit, through the bond of peace.
Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is good, constructive, and timely, so that it will benefit those who hear it.
Put away from you all bitterness, wrath, anger, insults, and malice.
Be kind, understanding, forgiving one another as God in Christ has forgiven you” (Ephesians 4,1-3/29-32)
Dear friend, in this text from Saint Paul, we find a good examination to take our temperature regarding our life in relation to others.
Another well-known text from Saint Paul is the Hymn to Love, from I Cor. 13; this is also very demanding, which I encourage you to meditate on entirely, as it also deserves to be pondered to examine whether our devotional life is consistent with our fraternal life. Here I leave you some verses that make us question ourselves:
“Love is patient, love is kind; love does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud; it is not rude or selfish; it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs; it does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres…” (I Cor 13:4-7)
Love is often put to the test in our relationships, especially when we encounter other brothers and sisters in God, with whom our relationship becomes difficult due to diverse circumstances. However, the first condition for loving, dear friend, is to respect one another. Even if there is no affinity or a close friendship cannot be formed with “the other brother,” there should always be respect.
Pray slowly and meditate on the following prayer:
Jesus Christ, our Lord and our brother,
place a bolt on the door of our heart
so that it may not think evil of anyone,
judge unfavorably,
make false assumptions or misinterpret;
so that we may not invade the sacred
sanctuary of intentions.
Lord Jesus, unifying link of our fraternity, put a
seal of silence on our lips in order to block any
murmuring or unfavorable comment, to zealously
keep confidences until death, knowing that the
first and most perfect way to love is to keep
silence.
Make us kind and understanding. Give us
a spirit of courtesy so that we may have for
one another the consideration we would have
for you. And at the same time, give us the necessary wisdom to surround this courtesy with fraternal trust.
Lord Jesus Christ, give us the grace to respect one another. Amen.
(E-43 “The Grace of Mutual Respect”)
This sentence is demanding because it entails great delicacy and charity, to respect and remain silent – even from our own thoughts – toward others, and that cannot be easily achieved without having a close relationship with the Lord, through prayer and by living very attentively to the feelings and impulses that arise spontaneously in our hearts. That is because the good and the bad always come from inside. That is why, dear friend, you must live focused towards the intentions of the heart, to transform those aggressive or negative impulses into patience and kindness. But that is not easy while living a careless life.
Prayer:
“Deliver me, Lord, from all the bondages that were imposed on me by a conventional society, by the environment in which I live, by fashions, by pastimes, so that I may give myself better to my brothers. Lord, to be able to think more of those around me, teach me to be content with little and to use only what is necessary, not to create artificial demands for myself, not to worry too much about myself, so that I may follow You, my only wealth, and serve my brothers selflessly. Amen.”
Dear friend, I know that everything I have outlined so far is quite demanding… Let’s say, it is an ideal; however, do not make it an epic crusade; you will achieve it in your daily interaction with the Lord, through prayer: Ask Him for the grace of fraternal love, knowing that He is interceding for us before the Father, and little by little, with God’s help, you will acquire the traits of Jesus, our model of life in the world, and you will progress on this path toward the Love of God that is manifested in our dealings with others.
I give you this maxim, dear friend: The mystery and secret of fraternal love is, and will always be, in imposing our own faith convictions over spontaneous reactions and impulses: Even if I do not like that person, or they behave badly, their God the Father is also my God the Father. The God who welcomed me and forgave me freely is also the same God of that person.
It was your great commandment, your last will
and distinctive banner for those who follow you:
that we love one another as you loved us; and
you loved us as the Father loved you. That was
the source and magnitude of the model.
(E-37 “The Grace of Fraternal Love”)
Finish by praying the Our Father and pause, for a few moments, at the phrase: ‘Forgive us our trespasses as we also forgive those who trespass against us.‘
May the Lord bless you and keep you.
Listen to this Song of Saint Francis of Assisi:
“Make me an instrument of your Peace” (from the Song Book in Spanish #26)