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A disciple who
assimilates the spirit of the Second week shows respect and
patience towards others. He will adjust the pace of his apostolic
commitment to that of his family or group in order to walk along
and encourage them with understanding and care. The first
apostolate of the Christian is at home, in the community. The
disciple brings a word of peace, first of all, to those with whom
he lives. This is his duty. And our duties are certainly God's
will because our duties are this small world in which we, and only
we, can make a difference. If we do not bring love and peace to
that little world nobody will. Only after trying to bring God's
love and peace to the world in which we live can we offer our
services to other apostolic projects.
Another sign by which
we know that a disciple is been moved by Christ's Spirit is that
she comes to the community as a sign of unity not of division. If
we think that it is in the name of Christ that we bring tension to
a community by creating factions or comparing persons and groups
we are wrong. Instead of working in the name of Jesus we might be
moved by the desire to see our project or goup prevail over all
the others. A true disciple of Christ shows great understanding
and acceptance of other projects and groups, wishing to serve and
cooperate with them.
The Spirit of Christ
is a spirit of SERVICE. The one who serves, like Jesus Himself,
kneels down to wash the feet of those who are served. The one who
serves, after working in the field comes home to put on an apron
and wait on the master's table. If the master arrives late, the
one who serves doesn't show impatience or utters harsh words at
him. The servant waits by the table, may be a little frustrated,
until the master arrives and sits down to eat. If the master
doesn't eat the food prepared with great care, or complains about
it the one who serves doesn't insult the master or force him to
eat it any how. The good servant doesn't take away the food in
anger, promising that the next time the master will ask for food
he might rather go somewhere else.
When we do apostolic
work with Christ's spirit of service we are patient with those who
might not appreciate our work. We wholeheartedly go on with a
seminar prepared for 100 persons when only 20 show up. We do not
resent the 80 friends who looked down on us and did not come. Nor
do we promise to give them the door next time they come asking a
service from us. The disciple who does apostolic work in the name
of Jesus has a humble heart and great patience because is moved by
the same Spirit of Him who came to serve and to be served. The
disciple encourages collaboration within the community and knows
how to work with different priests, groups and leaders with a
spirit that doesn't compromise on the goals but knows how to be
flexible on the means to attain them, always looking for new ways
to bring the Good News of Christ to those for whom he or she
works.
Thus our movement of
Companions of Jesus should be ready to collaborate with other
persons and movements, even if they take the credit for the
activities and projects. We should wish to detach ourselves from
any form of self interest. We. should not be paralysed by
prejudice against us. We should try to serve the community even in
ways we do not like very much.
The Meditations of the
Second week become especially relevant in these apostolic
experiences. In the Meditation of the TWO STANDARDS we learn that
the Christian means to bring salvation to our world are not
riches, self aggrandizement and power but rather those in which we
accept our weakness and poverty putting our confidence in God. The
disciple learns to put God's love and the service of others above
everything else. In the eagerness of an apostolic project the
disciple keeps under a watchful eye his self-interest and prays
for interior freedom, wishing to serve the interest of God's
Kingdom above everything else.
THE THREE DEGREES OF
HUMILITY help the disciple to see how much the love for Christ and
the desire to serve Him are growing stronger in her heart. How
much she is denying her own will, her self-love and her
self-interest. The disciple remembers, as we have said, that the
foolproof sign of her Christian spirit is the peace and unity she
brings wherever she goes.
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