1.
THE MEANING OF BROTHERHOOD
Brotherhood can be defined as the
capacity of human beings to love and serve the others in communion with the
creation. God has put into the hearts of each and every one of humans the law of
this innate spiritual and social nature. Besides this noble quality of humans there is
also a hidden desire to be egocentric persons. This egocentrism of humans goads
them to exploit the others and the created things and overpower them. An
egocentric person will try to talk to others out of loneliness for his or her
own advantage but a genuine brother will talk to others out of concern for
others, no matter who the other is whether he is right or wrong person. There
are grades of this brotherliness a person can ascend towards perfection. It
depends on one’s ability to control his egocentrism and grow in altruism.
11 Hierarchy of Brotherhood
The more humans grow in altruism the higher
will be the grade of their Brotherhood.
When the growth of this brotherliness the highest level humans will
experience bliss, an experience of transfiguration. To experience such a bliss humans have to
claim the five stages of Brotherhood: There are interconnected
stages or steps to claim the Mount of the Calvary of Brotherhood. Each stage is higher than the preceding one
like the steps of the stairways. We have to claim step by step as it is graded
higher and higher but intertwined as one path to perfection. It
is more a matter of living the Brotherhood primarily as a human person and leading ultimately to Christ-centred life.
It is to live happily in
appreciation of the wonder of being alive and take a journey towards perfection. On this journey one has to meet a lot of blocks,
hardships to strive forward to the goal as one makes progress in prayer life through
way of purification, way of illumination and the way of union the three ways to
spiritual perfection of Bl. Alberione his book “Donec Formetur Christus in
Vobis”(1). As one can progress towards
contemplative prayer one can also
progress towards perfection of Brotherliness and reach perfect Brotherhood. In this process one has to take one step at a time starting from Universal
Brotherhood to human brotherhood; from human brotherhood to
Christian Brotherhood; from Christian Brotherhood to Religious Brotherhood and
finally from Religious Brotherhood to Pauline Brotherhood.
1.1.1.Universal
Brotherhood
The Universal Brotherhood is the
first step to experience the bliss of Brotherhood. It is a starting uniting
people and the nature in communion with the creator. It is to work towards the
transcendence of the spirit, regardless of belief, nationality, gender and
economic status. It is a
totality of human life in relationship with the universe considering
everything, humans and creatures as brothers and sisters. The whole purpose of
creation is to live in harmony with each other and the universe.
The
cause of all the problems, tensions, worries, confusions started from the fall
of Adam and Eve because of their selfishness and pride. This tendency of human beings
is prevailing even today due to spiritual blindness, worldly motivated value
systems and the attitude of ‘I and I alone.’ Human values are corrupted by egoism
leading to the virus of “I” sickness. Human Brotherhood goes against this
attitude of ‘I am right, you are wrong’ and make the human beings consider that
all are equal. Humans with nature and the nature with humans praising God for
his marvelous works.
Universal
Brotherhood leads us to become part and parcel of the nature and read it like
love letter from the creator. The more we read with heart and mind the more we
will understand the person who has written it; the more understand the more we
fall in love with the Creator. We will not throw away the letter or destroy it
but read it again and again and keep it safely for thurther reading. We will
become co-creators and together with Daniel we will sing “Sun and moon praise
the Lord; thunder and rain praise the Lord, shining stars praise the Lord to
him be glory forever. (Ps 148,3)
It
calls for an integrated spirituality of Brotherhood. As we belong to the earth
we share a common destiny with the earth. We need to fill the earth and all
living beings with a fellowship of Brotherhood. Human participation is our
indispensable duty for maintain the creation. St. Francis of Assisi the model
of universal brotherhood lived his life such a way that even the birds and
animals used to surround him. He used to call them as brothers and sisters and
prayed:
“Be praised , my
Lord, for Brother winds
And for the air,
cloudy and clear and all weather!
By which you give
substance to your creatures!
Be praised my Lord
for our sister mother earth,
Who sustains and
governs us,
And produces fruits
with colorful flowers and leaves.
Saint Francis often said to his followers, “What a man is
before God, that he is and no more.” With great humility, Francis had often
applied these words to himself.
As many of us know, when Francis lay there on the earth, he
was bearing on his body the stigmata—the brand marks of Christ. These sacred
marks remind us how closely Francis had become identified with Christ. He was
also filled with awe because of Christ’s overflowing love: As we read in John
15:13, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s
friends.” (2)
The gesture of Francis lying naked on Mother Earth
strikingly reveals how comfortable Francis had become with the whole world of
creation, including his human body. Like Adam before the fall, Francis was not
ashamed of his nakedness. Francis had become keenly aware that Jesus, in his
incarnation, had entered our world and transformed the earth (and the human
form) through his saving presence among us. Saint Francis had come to believe
that both the earth and his body—through the incarnation of Christ—had become
profoundly good.
1.1.2.Human
Brotherhood
Human Brotherhood is to go against the human tendency of
being more and having more. It is also trying to control the human tendency of
distinguishing or
elevating oneself from others and make oneself feel good about him. Human
Brotherhood becomes authentically human only when the Brothers, in their loving
and serving are broken for their fellow human beings. It begins with considering every one as a
“significant other” and become really human in the presence of the other, It is
natural for human beings to long for acceptance and love from others. Genuine
love and acceptance we can obtain when we consider the other as a source of
wealth.
It is the other
who encourages, appreciates and helps us to enjoy life. The “significant other”
is a person with whom we can share, our thoughts, feelings and emotions and
grow. The greater the “significant
other” the greater will be the capacity to grow in human Brotherhood. When we
open our hearts and minds to the other our love and respect for each other
increases leading to a gift of fellowship. We can outpour our heartfelt love
and build a human Brotherhood of relationships and be enriched
by genuine love for one another.
God created all
human beings in the same level and loves all. One person is not more important
or valuable than any other person. A
Brother need not have a title to make himself feel valuable when God has
already established his value as a Human person. Being a child of God is the highest position
imaginable. No human title can begin to compare with this reality of being a
child of God.
All special titles and human
recognition are ultimately worthless. They may have some value here on earth but
only temporal. At times human
organizations seem to exalt some people but it is for the functioning the
society or organization. We should not
consider some people are important and others are not. This kind attitude
or feelings may divide human Brotherhood and build walls around us, leading to
hatred deep within some of us. Unhealthy pride will goad us to closed up relationships,
refusing to accept others as they are; not to respect others as our brothers
and sisters. It is only by understanding the human person as the image of God
one can respect and love the humanity. All the humans become brothers and
sisters for those who understand the human Brotherhood. It is by loving and
serving human beings that we love and serve God who the author of the humans. In
this regards the well known
Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore in his Geetanjali tells: about the presence of
God in the ordinary activities of human beings:
“Leave this chanting and singing and telling of beads! Whom dost thou worship in this lonely dark
corner of a temple with doors all shut?
Open thine eyes and see thy God is not before thee! He is there where the tiller is tilling the
hard ground and where the path maker is breaking stones. He is with them in sun and in shower and his garment
is covered with dust. Put off thy holy mantle and even like him, come down on the dusty soil!. Deliverance?
Where is this deliverance to be found? Our master himself has joyfully taken
upon him the bonds of creation: He is bound
with us all for ever. Come out of thy meditations and leave aside thy flowers
and incense! What harm is there if thy clothes become tattered and stained? Meet
him and stand by him in toil and in sweat of thy brow.” (4)
Tagore asks the hummanity to go beyond the four walls of
their shrines to to meet God in human beings. God lives with the humble and the
poor people of this world. He lives with those who work hard to support their
families. If the we want worship God we must worship God in the temple then go
out meet the humanity in the world. Tagore thus glorifies the life of the humble human
beings and discourages the ascetic way of life at the cost of human Brotherhood.
Bl. Alberione wrote to his spiritual sons and daughters a booklet entitled “Via
Humanitatis” about the journey of human beings towards God. He outlines the
history of God’s presence in the world and in human beings from the time of
creation. (5)
1.1.3.Christian
Brotherhood
Christian
Brotherhood is Christification of the human Brotherhood. All the activities of the Brothers are
oriented in the name of Jesus Christ. In
this regard in its introduction to the “FRATERNAL
LIFE IN COMMUNITY” the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life states, “The love of Christ
has gathered a great number of disciples to become one, so that, like him and
thanks to him, in the Spirit, they might, throughout the centuries, be able to
respond to the love of the Father, loving him "with all their hearts, with
all their soul, with all their might" (cf. Dt. 6:5) and loving their
neighbors "as themselves" (cf. Mt. 22:39).
The
lived experience of Jesus Christ makes them to be united with one another in
the community. It is a brotherhood of
Jesus Christ. During His life here on earth, Jesus lived this universal and
human brotherhood and proclaimed himself as a Brother to His disciples. A very
clear proof of this statement is found in the Gospel of Mathew Jesus telling to
Mary Magdalene: “go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my
Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” (Jn. 20:17). The depth of
Christian brotherhood emerges in this statement of Jesus that the Brotherhood
of the disciples among one another and with Christ is closely connected with
the Fatherhood of God.
In
this regard in the document, released by the Vatican’s congregation states that
Jesus is a Brother to his disciples saying, “Jesus Christ first of all became brother,
shared our flesh and blood and was in solidarity with the sufferings of his
brothers and sisters.”
“The
Brother develops his baptismal priesthood through brotherhood,” the document
states. “Through it he becomes a bridge between God and his brothers, anointed
and sent by the Spirit to bring the Good News of the love and mercy of God to
all, especially to the least of his brothers, the weakest members of humanity.”
(5)
Imitating
the example of their Lord and Master the early Christians tried to live out
this brotherhood. “They were united in one mind and heart.” (Acts 2,42-45).
There were no power structures that created inequality or subordination in the
community as they were pursued by the words of Jesus , "Don't
let anyone call you 'Rabbi,' for you have only one teacher, and all of you are
equal as brothers. And don't address anyone here on earth as 'Father,' for only
God in heaven is your Father. And don't let anyone call you 'Teacher,' for you
have only one teacher, the Messiah. The greatest among you must be a servant. (Mt.
23,8-11).
The
disciples were very faithful to words of Jesus and not allowed themselves to be
called Father since the cult of the title Father obscures the uniqueness of God
as Abba and thus in the process distorts the quality of brothers in the
community. Therefore each member of the
community was called “Brother” as this term signifies a symbol of love to promote an
awareness of the response to the call of God to love and serve one another. This
title represents a significant way of being in the ecclesial community in which
he is the prophetic memory of Jesus-Brother, who told his followers: "And
you are all brothers” (Mt 23:8) (6)
The
Pope encourages all Brothers to live the Gospel message in a prophetic way with
respect to the charism and tradition of their particular institute.
To
be the brothers of Christ it is also needed to be conformed with Christ in doing
His Will as He declares in the Gospel of Mark, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked, Then
he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother
and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and
sister and mother.” (Mk 3,32-35)
In
this community of Brothers there were only doers of the Will of God. The worth
of a person is judged purely by the standard of obedience to the Will of God
and not by that of the distinction of hierarchical position or caste or sex.
The community of the Brothers of Jesus consists of members who are equals; all
of them have equal rights and duties even though they have different functions.
In this regard Pope Francis urges,
“There indeed we find true healing, since the
way to relate to others which truly heals instead of debilitating us, is a mystical
fraternity, a contemplative fraternity. It is a fraternal love capable of
seeing the sacred grandeur of our neighbour, of finding God in every human
being, of tolerating the nuisances of life in common by clinging to the love of
God, of opening the heart to divine love and seeking the happiness of others
just as their heavenly Father does. Here and now, especially where we are a
“little flock” (Lk 12:32), the Lord’s disciples are called to live as a
community which is the salt of the earth and the light of the world (cf. Mt
5:13-16). We are called to bear witness to a constantly new way of living
together in fidelity to the Gospel. (8)
This
petition of Pope Francis highlights that the Christian Brotherhood is like a pearl that Brothers cultivate with
special care a prophetic memory of its origin and an encouragement to return to
it.
1.1.4.Religious Brotherhood
The Religious Brotherhood
emerged as a witness to this Christian brotherhood in the Church. It is a
specific and a radical calling to live the Christian Brotherhood. This gift is not for all but
only those to whom it has been given as Jesus says, "Not everyone can accept
this saying, but only those it has been given to. The one who can
accept this should accept it.” (Mt
19,12)
This radical and prophetic calling of Jesus
involves great sacrifices from Brothers such as total detachment from all that
the world gives: They also must sacrifice even the spiritual worldliness of
honor, respect, In this regard Pope Francis states, “In contrast to the
spiritual worldliness; a hazardous trap of the devil, the Religious Brotherhood
has blossom as the prophetic
memory of Jesus-Brother, who told his followers: “And you are all brothers” (Mt 23:8)
(9)
As the Brothers give up all that the world gives by
submitting themselves totally to Christ and take on whatever mission they are
directed their sacrifice becomes means of spiritual growth, because of their
adherence to the way of life of Jesus. Their life of prayer strengthens their
fraternity with the other
members of his community to grow in deep
communion with God.
They
help each other and become means to one another’s holiness. Brothers see
themselves as part of a brotherhood which advances God’s kingdom, rather
than as isolated missionaries.
Their
community becomes a spiritual family by
their life of togetherness, in their
prayer and work. In this regard the Apostolic exhortation of vita consecrate
states:
“Religious
Brotherhood is a Brotherhood of willingness to serve the Lord and His people by
being part of them. “Being part of this
people and its mission, the Religious Brothers live the call to be memory of
the covenant by their consecration to God in a fraternal life in community for
mission.” (10)
Thus the Brothers make more
visible the communion that all God's people are called to embody with total detachment
of heart, mind and will as Jesus says “be perfect, just as your heavenly Father
is perfect” (Mt 5:48).
Religious Brothers
find their natural habitat in this context of communion, by way of belonging to
the People of God, and they are also united with all those who, by religious
consecration, reflect the essence of the Church, the mystery of communion. In
it they keep alive the obligation of brotherhood as a confession of the
Trinity. (11)
“At the root of a Brother’s
vocation lies a profound experience of solidarity that essentially matches that
of Moses before the burning bush: he discovers himself as the eyes, ears and
heart of God, the God who sees the oppression of his people, who hears their
cry, feels their anguish and comes down to liberate them. In this intimate
experience, the Brother hears the call: "Come, I am sending you to Pharaoh
to bring my people out of Egypt." (cf. Ex 3:7-10). Therefore, the
dimension of communion is closely linked in the Brother to a fine sensitivity
for everything that affects the least privileged of people; those oppressed by
various forms of injustice, abandoned on the margins of history and progress,
those who, ultimately, are less likely to experience the good news of God's
love in their lives. “ (12}
“The vocation of the Brother is not only
intended to be that of a recipient of God's love, but also of being a witness
and mediator of that same gift, of the project of communion which God has for
humanity and which is based in the Trinitarian communion. This project, the
Mystery which has been revealed to us in Christ, seeks to establish a
horizontal relationship between God and humankind at the very heart of
humanity, precisely where God wants to be present. Relationships of affiliation
are thus transformed simultaneously into brotherly relationships. For that
reason, saying "brother" is like saying "mediator of God's
love", the God who "so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so
that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life" (Jn 3:16) (13)
1.1.5.The Pauline
Brotherhood
The Pauline Brotherhood is to live
in the Divine Master who is the Way, the Truth and the Life and preach the
Gospel through the Modern means of communications as St. Paul lived, responded
to his call by living and preaching the
Gospel. Being the disciples of Jesus and
imitating St Paul as their patron the Pauline Brothers are called to live like
Jesus and “get involved in the spreading of the Message of Salvation by means
of the media of social communication as wel as in the formation of men to the
right use of same media.” (14) like St Paul thus actualize it in their daily life of commitment so as to say together with
St Paul, "For me to live is
Christ."(Gal. 2:20) In this regard the Documents of Special General Chater
states: “In 1924, was formed the first group of brothers who who, in the
congregation, have assumed the name of Disciples of the Divine Master.” (15)
The
Pauline Brothers consecrated and
grafted, through Baptism, to Christ,
“the first born of many brothers.” (Rom 8:29) and docile to the teaching of the
Gospel, “As to you, avoid the title “Rabbi” One among you is your teacher, the
rest are learners” (Mt 23:8) all the members of the Pious Society of St Paul
profess the same religious life, aim at the same apostolic end, are guided by
the same constitutions, share the same spiritual and material goods and enjoy
the same rights.” (16)
They
are called by God to communicate to humanity the fullness of the mystery of
Christ with their lived experience of the whole Christ (Master, Way, Truth and
Life) . Through the Word and the Eucharist the Brothers are nourished in
Christ, and in Him their prayer, ministry, consecration and brotherhood find
unity, producing a total living synthesis in love. Devotion to Jesus Master
leads to a perfect worship of God and the more the Pauline Brothers live it the
more they resemble Jesus Christ.
To actualize this reality in their
life, the Brothers are faithful to their prayer life and imitate St Paul their patron of humility who says,” To me,
who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given.” (Eph.3,8) Graced by Spirit of God they live a simple life of fraternity
like
that of Jesus Christ who “emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, coming
in human likeness, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death
on a cross. Therefore God exalted him to the highest place.”
(Phil: 2:7-9).
The greatest person is the person,
who serves others the most but unknown to the world, hence the Pauline Brothers
are not well-known to the world but hidden within the four walls of their
community live in fraternity in loving one another with brotherly affection and
experience Jesus Christ in the community. In fact they believe in the words of
Jesus saying “For where two or three gather in my
name, there am I with them.”
(Mt. 18.20) and experience Jesus in
their community that is formed in His name.
They then express this experience of Jesus to the world by working in
their apostolic sectors.
Their status is not measured by
their title or an office of honor so as to attract friends and well wishers.
Instead their greatness is determined solely by how they are faithful to their
commitment of service. This is what makes them the greatest in the eyes of God.
The more they humble themselves, the more
is their greatness.
As
Jesus called his disciples and lived with them during his life in Galilee the Pauline
Brothers are called to live with Jesus in communities. Then as He took them to Gerusalem to suffer
and die for them the Brothers too are asked to claim the mount of Calvary to be
crucified with Him in the Cross of Committed Life. This is being done by accepting their daily
sufferings for the sake of thier brothers in the cross of their community life.
The three nails symbolize their three vows: poverty, chastity and obedience..
When
Jesus was walking on the way to Jerusalem he told them that He was going to be
handed over to the sinners and would be crucified, further he also told them , “Whoever
wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow
me.”
Hearing
all these sayings of Jesus about his death on the cross and the cross that his
followers have to take up the apostles were feeling very sad. They were almost
disappointed to follow Jesus on that way of suffering and death. So Jesus
wanted to strengthen their Vocation to follow him and they would experience the
glory of resurrection after their suffering and the transfiguration event was
only a foretaste of that glory. .
When the Pauline Brothers feel loneliness, humiliated,
hopelessness, etc the Lord shows them the glory of His transfiguration as
reward for their fructification. But this Transfiguration
demands from them an acceptance of their disfiguration. In the life of Jesus
the cross was the medium of his disfiguration. If the Brothers want to experience the transfiguration and
resurrection they have to be configured with Jesus with the three nails of
humility, detachment and charity on the cross of their community life. If they are faithful to the full in fact they will
experience the transfiguration event in their community.
What they have to do is to continue redoing or determine to
their determination of their commitment to Jesus. . They have to persevere in
their simplicity and humility and if they fail make effort to die to their pride and egoistic tendencies
attractions towards spiritual worldliness. Be free from the clutches of
attachment of worldly things so much so not to be possessed by them. Be
charitable not only to those who are charitable but to all persons specially
the elderly, disabled persons in the community.
Whenever their commitment disfigures them, when they
find difficulties to fight with their
ego and pride, attachment to all kinds of comforts that the world gives turned
to Jesus in prayer. They have practice
the three ways of their Founder James Alberione has given in his book “Donec
Formetur Christus in Vobs” : Way of Purification, Way of Illumination and the Way of Union with God.
When they are focusing on God in these three steps of
prayer, In the silence of my heart God will purifie their hearts and liberate them
from the clutches of all sorts of attachments. They find that their Vocation to Pauline
Brotherhood is passing through three stages of disfiguration with Jesus,
configuration with Jesus and transfiguration with Jesus.
1. JAMES
ALBERIONE, Donec Formetiur Christus in Vobis, Rome, 2001, p. 189
4. Cf.
G. MAURO FERRERO, SSP The way of Humanity Through Christ, with Christ, in
Christ, Rome, 1990 p. 7
6. Cf. JOHN PAUL II, Post Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Vita Consecrata (25
March 1996), 60.
7. POPE FRANCIS, Apostolic Exhortation (November
24, 2013) Evangelii Gaudium 99.
8. IBID No. 91
9. IBID No. 93
10.VITA
CONSECRATA No. 72
11.
VC
41, 46
12. IDENTITY AND
MISSION OF THE RELIGIOUS BROTHER IN THE CHURCH, Vatican, October 4th,
2015 p. 5
13. IBID p. 11
14. INTER MIRIFICA (Decree
on Means of Social Communication) IM 3
15. DOCUMENTS Special
General Chapter 1969-1971General House, Rome, 1984 p. 9
16. IBID p. 10
