You should put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
A community bears with one another and forgiving to one another. if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection. And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body. And be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another, with gratitude in your hearts to God.
And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
REFLECTION
Communities build friendship among those who share common concerns and interests. You get to know good friends who share heartfelt compassion and kindness. Friends I dear most, are those who are humble and not self-centered. They are gentle and patient; ready to listen when I needed somebody to talk to.
In the subdivision or village where we reside today, our parish church embarked on a mission to establish small churches called Basic Ecclesial Communities or BECs. It’s primary objective is to bring neighbors closer to one another regardless of their religion.
In rural areas, where people do have time to mingle with each other, this has been a common part of their lives. What makes it difficult in the urban setting is that most of its residents are busy professionals and once they reach home, all they just wanted to do is to enjoy the comfort of their own privacy. In the first place, this is one of the very reasons why they decided to live in a private village or subdivision.
Only in times of distress or calamities will they begin to realize the value and essence of being part of a community.
I remember the times when we first moved to this village. Just like the rest, I decided to find a place where I can escape the noise of the city so to speak, and settle peacefully in a private and quiet environment. If I wanted to entertain people and friends, I do it in the office. My home is only open to the family’s close relatives. Anyway, I usually leave the house early in the morning for work, and by the time I get back, it is already very late at night. On weekends, I see to it that I share quality time with my wife and kid. This is the reason why I do not want to entertain visitors at home.
I thought I have done a great favor to my wife and kid in transferring them to a place where we can really spend time in private only to find out that it was the opposite. In times when I am not at home, my wife began to have fears in terms of their safety. This started when one night, she saw some strangers in front of the house trying to enter though the fence. She turned the lights of the living room on and it scared them away. Since then, she began having sleepless nights even when I am around.
One day, my eldest sister who lives blocks away but from the same village, visited the house and invited my wife to join a renewal community called Handmaids of the Lord. Here she met other residents and they became friends. She started to visit other houses and in no time, she became part of the larger village community. Fear left her and she became actively involved in a lot of activities not just on our immediate neighborhood, but on the entire village as well.
Her decision to join a renewal community is to learn more about God. In the process, God took her cares away by bringing her to a much bigger home where she is secured that at any given time, even when I am not around, many of her friends will always be ready and available in case of emergencies.
Read: Colossians 3:12-17
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