January Article - Community of friendship and love

Augustinian Professed brothers on their retreat in Tagaytay.

For Augustine to achieve a perfect community one must create an atmosphere of love and friendship. As the Ratio Institutionis 29-30 would elaborate it more clearly, which says, “(29) Community is the fruit of charity and is expressed in friendship which brings forth and nourishes loyalty, trust, sincerity and mutual understanding…(30) Friendship in Christ not only favors the development of each one’s personality, but it also increases freedom in the community itself, in which a healthy openness of mind fosters dialogue and enjoys a necessary autonomy with which to serve God better…” We can think then that this is the foundation needed in order to achieve the ‘friendship in Augustine’ in the community. What is this friendship then that turned to be the root of building a community? Let me share this wonderful song that would help us in defining what friendship is. But, I’ll just pick the lines that had struck me since it would take space if I write the whole piece.  

“What is friendship, what is love? It is reading books together” For Augustine studying is a must so that we have enough knowledge on the scriptures. When we preach on the pulpit we have a good homily. We must study hard through reading books in order not to lead us in heresy when we preach. Augustine even did this when he went for a leave after his ordination and study the Scriptures. But in my personal experience, reading books together creates an atmosphere of common experience. Upon having that common experience with a brother we can confer ideas and thoughts about what we have just read.

“What is friendship, what is love? It is cheering up your brother.” To live and profess the vows in the community it entails an oath in front of God. This tells me that while inside the community we must treat our brother as a family. We must show affection towards each other. One of it is the abovementioned quotation. Cheering up a brother is a way of enlightening especially if the brother is in the middle of a problem. It is also a kind of support to brother especially when there are examinations in school.

“What is friendship, what is love? It is friendly disagreement” Here on earth we can never attain that perfect state of community. Friendship does not always entail happiness. But there are also times that we can have heated disagreements, miscommunications and the like. It is part of our reality. It is good to be angry sometimes but planting hatred on a brother is a not good. We may have come from different backgrounds but I think it’s not the reason to hate a brother. We just need to understand each other.

“What is friendship, what is love? It is missing someone absent” This line asks us on how we show our concern for our brother. When somebody is absent in our common acts are we that affected and immediately look for him if he is fine or not? To look for a missing brother maybe our decano and infirmarian’s task yet it does not mean that we should only rely on them. We also must show our concern for them. I remember when I left Cebu for Manila, I have missed too much from my family that it made me homesick. I missed them because they are not only my family but I also love them. To show that you missed someone is at the same time a manifestation of love toward him.

Above all this, community life is really about friendship and love. Other lines that I liked much are ““What is friendship, what is love? It is forgetting and forgiving… It is a expressive smile… It is teaching and is learning.”