Parable and Conscience Meditation July 7

Community  July 7

Our commitment demands a continuous fidelity to our brothers and to our common will to live and work together (Const. 14.2).

During his life before his conversion. St. Augustine was known to be a social man, always in the company of his friends, often in unworthy pursuits together.  The “community” tendency marked his whole life, especially after his conversion in 384.  In 386, he went to Cassiascium in North Africa with friends and his son, Adeodatus, to live a community life in search of the meaning of Christianity.  In 389, he returned to his home town to replicate the community life at Cassiascium with his friends.  As bishop in 395, he continued the development of community life with friends.  The place of friendship in his communities is remarkable.  Friendship between two persons is based on a common project, e.g., the pleasure of a hobby or the sharing of work.  It is the shared project that attracts the one to the other and brings them closer over time, towards being “one soul and one heart.”  For Augustine the common project was “the search for God.”  It was this shared passion which sustained true friendship for him and which became the base for Augustinian religious life.

It's fraternal union that kills the leopard.  (Shi)