SSS-Religious Community Life: A Reflection

As I observed, our commercialized society, as of now, is tending towards individualism where human achievements are idolized and freedom becomes the mantra of our present day youth generation.

Despite of this strong a current of ‘individualism’ that seemingly drives our contemporaries away from one another in order for them to fulfill their individual dreams as they tread on their individual paths so as to find their place under the sun with their ambition of rising above the corporate ladder of this material world-- a radical gentle stream of opposing current called ‘religious life’ finds its way to flow freely with the Spirit of God towards unity in diversity. Unity with the Catholic Church in glorifying God through Consecrated Religious Life; and diversity in responding to God’s call as a religious Priest or as a religious Brother.  In this religious community is where each member, after leaving everything behind and surrendering his life to the will of God, becomes a brother to one another. Each one of us is committed to love God through one another in the exercise of our vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience—a freedom that all of us embraced to share to others. Perhaps, this dwelling place for many among us, being its members, ‘is a heaven placed here on earth.’

Community life is inspired by the loving act of God. God, who is the Holy Trinity, is the perfect model community of lovers and beloved—God, the Father loves the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ; and the beloved Son, loves the Father in return; and the God, the Holy Spirit communicates this wonderful eternal dance of love between God, the Father and God, the Son. Through Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit continuously inspires our community to remain faithful and to ceaselessly love like God. The Holy Spirit made present the living presence of our Lord Jesus Christ in our midst through the Eucharist… the Holy Body and Holy Blood our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the beloved Son given to us by the God, the Father out of His generous love for all of us.

Our SSS-religious communities are composed of religious priests and brothers who responded to the call of God. Each of one of us responded to God’s vocation of religious brotherhood where the love for the Eucharist becomes the source, the center and the summit of our life. All of us, who are acting as one body, have dedicated ourselves as servants of God.

Particularly, in the SSS-Scholasticate in Eymard Formation Center (EFC) our religious-seminary where I am, as of now, still in our formation years as a Scholastic, just like perhaps in other religious communities, realities of life happen. Religious-seminarians with their own pasts, presents and potentials are fused together creating a sub-social fiber in lieu with the Eucharistic footprints of Fr. Eymard which is the charism of our congregation. As I experienced, within the long process of my formation, this fusion of various religious-seminarians has sometimes caused us painful disruptions but has lead us, finally, to discover the joys of being with one another. Admittedly, we, religious-seminarians are like children sometimes who usually get involved into rubbing of elbows but this misunderstandings have deepen our knowledge of loving one another culminating in us the virtue of prudence… a sensitivity that gives deeper meaning to the essence of our brotherhood. These individual differences have moved us to laugh and, sometimes, to cry, and have made us to realize the many forms of genuine love that are expressed by each one of us to one another.  These experiences enabled us to transcend our personal shortcomings so as to respond maturely to what we are called for—to be a community of SSS-Brothers and Fathers serving God… to be a community of Eucharist to others.

Prayer life binds our Sacramentino communities. Together, we adore our Lord Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. In our prayers we lift to God not only our personal intentions but also the intentions of the many people whom we promised to pray for. Our prayer transforms each one of us to become like Jesus. We become witnesses to the goodness of God through the presence and generosity of one another. Each one of us becomes a gift to one another.

To define intricately what community life is all about depends on the personal witnessing of each one of us. For me, it is being with God together and serving Him together through the inspiration of one another. We, as brothers to one another, are called to suffer with, to die with and to be resurrected with one another. Together, we share the joys and the pain. Like the Eucharist, together, we are taken and broken… together, we are given and shared.

Every time we celebrate the Mass as a community… we become faithful witnesses to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in the form of the Eucharist. Within the womb of the present day busy society, our religious community remains a prayerful haven where inner silence of peace that springs from Jesus Christ Himself has become the music that sings with us together with the great harmony of all creations of the entire universe.

Join us in our mission. Pray with us for more vocations!

Br. Dennis DC. Marquez, SSS