Living for Community

This week, there was a consistent theme of community – in the apartment, the city of Brindisi, the CARA, the Caritas, and the world at large. At Caritas, we talked extensively about how the organization focuses on community. To achieve community, Caritas Italia believes in the power of presence. When destruction hits a city, the organization does not rush in to bring aid. Instead, they listen to the cries and needs of the people and work on forming relationships out of desolation.

Father Don Pietro made the point, “if I need a new pair of pants, yet you bring me a jacket, what good have you done?” Nothing. One cannot rely solely on one’s own knowledge or assumptions and expect progression for a community at large. Working insieme is the answer.  

As I reflect on the idea of a community, the imagery of men and women carrying torches comes to my mind. There is no leader in the community. Each person standing there, present in the moment, has made the decision to be there. The flaming torch is symbolic of one’s calling in life, passions, misdeeds, faults, and history. The knowledge that it casts is used to light the way for the single person and for those around him or her. One flame does not compare to the power and strength of many torches, which form an enlightened path for all. Each person uses his or her flame to be a part of something bigger: a community.

While at Spring Hill, I was forced to see the humanity in every person, as they walked across the campus. Although I now walk different halls and avenues, I am called to seek the humanity in each stranger I meet today. I believe that this is part of the inherent responsibility we carry as Jesuit-educated citizens of the world. By respecting one’s humanity, the first step towards a living community is completed.

Unfortunately, for some, a simple truth has been lost: the good Earth was made for everyone. Greed has poisoned the souls and minds of men and women alike, which has barricaded our world with hatred and war. This evolutionary encirclement has closed us off from development. Yes, we have become smarter as a society; however, this knowledge has made some people cynical and hard, enraptured by success and money. In a way, they think far too much and feel too little. We have developed exceptional speed, yet we have closed ourselves in, fearful to share this knowledge with the rest of the world. We are driven by success for the singular being, rather than the whole community.

I write this with hope, however. This greed and bitterness will eventually pass us, and human progress will continue. What must be recognized is that we, the people, have the power to make this a beautiful, free, and just world. The only way we can do this is if we unite as a community in the fight against injustices and speak for those voices blocked out by ignorant clamor. We can fight for a new world and community that does not stand for greed, hate, or intolerance. We can fight for a world of reason, progress, and happiness.

As Jesuit-educated citizens of the world, I believe it is our responsibility to fight and to serve selflessly in this selfish world. Although your torch’s flame may flicker or burn you with self-doubt, pain, sadness, or suffering in your lifetime, never let that detract from your calling to “go out and set the world on fire.”

Magis,

the chameleon