My idea of the communal living started when I was in elementary school. I lived across town from my friends and I always wanted to live close to them. I used to think it would be cool if all of our families lived together and ate together. This would mean I could always be with my friends. Hating to be alone, this desire stayed with me through high school. I gave up on the idea for a time when I realized my friends and I may not be friends for ever. Though the idea of a religious community was conceived in my head when I decided that I will home school my children.
Then College! I loved all of my new friends living together on campus. It was hard to keep drama down to an acceptable level because the people in this "community" were very selfish and self-serving. Here problems without number rose. This did change my idea of if it were possible to have a community just because people are too selfish. Over time the base of the community, in my mind, would be to share resources and have lots of party time. We would always have someone to play video games with or to eat with. I attempted to obtain this dream by always having roommates. This did not work so well, I ended up living alone. I decided at this point I would NEVER have a roommate again because I liked the freedom.
Then Catholicism! Here I met John and Katie Russell. After becoming their roommate the idea of the community started be cultivated once again. John was instrumental with this occurring. He also added the idea that we would eat, live, learn, and worship together! How wonderful! All would be shared. We would give our all and therefore, no one would have given more than another. Ideally we would need to have a strong list of beliefs that we all hold dear. (Note the word rule was not used. I do not think people should have rules.) These beliefs would be our guidelines. With Christ as our center and our leader, we shall not fail!
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6 comments:
I believe that a good Christian community has a "Rule," just as the Benedictines have the Rule of St. Benedict and the Augustinians have the Rule of St. Augustine.
Yes, I agree some sort of constitution would be necessary, so that everyone knew what they were entering into and we could maintain the kind of community that we wanted. In order to insure that everyone would do their fair share, for example, there would need to be some kind of authority to divvy (sp?) up responsibilities--even if this authority were just a council of families with voting power.
Ultimately and ideally I believe that a Christian community ought to be headed by a bishop (a.k.a. abbot or overseer) whose authority is to be absolutely obeyed "even as Jesus Christ does the Father" (St. Ignatius of Antioch).
That being said, I do not envision a tyrannical bishop who divvies up tasks according to his whim. Rather, many orders have a "chapter room" (hence the name of this blog) wherein such matters are discussed more democratically, although the abbot retains the final say on any matter.
I would gladly follow the dictates of a holy man who was deeply concerned for the members of the community. It seems that it would be ideal to find someone who was experienced at living in community--perhaps "borrowed" from a local monastery.
Yes. Or, the community could gather and be for a while - operating conciliarly as it grows and develops - until, from within the community, a celibate man elected by the community could be elevated to the episcopacy.
But, perhaps the way you suggest is better. There are sometimes problems with authority placed on the shoulders of one who was previously an equal.
Then again, this is only the case where there is a lack of charity, and it is what Jesus Himself did - granting primacy to Peter and appointing James the first bishop of the first Church in Jerusalem. Once, they were "just" apostles like other apostles. Then, they were given authority over other apostles. I am sure there was some grumbling (being human, the apostles were noted for their grumbling), but charity prevailed.
If our community had a worthy celibate man, I would have no problem electing him. But considering the likely size of our community--at least at first--we might not even have a single celibate man in our number.
The points you make about a leader being chosen from among equals is valid--both your reservations and your faith in the power of charity. But I was thinking more of finding someone who was experienced in the kind of community life we are seeking. Such a man would already understand the difficulties of obedience and sharing property with others. Further, the best leaders are usually those who know how to serve well and obey, two things I imagine monastic life provides excellent practice in.
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