A CFR lay brother comments on:

PENANCE AND THE LAY BROTHERHOOD

The foundation of penance is the quest for love. Penance itself is the process of conversion one must undergo in order to arrive at love. Love is the very life of God in the soul of the Christian.

Every Christian is called to a life characterized by love with all of its implications; namely generosity, sacrifice, selflessness, joy, cheerfulness, forgiveness and thoughtfulness. This is essential for the lay brother. They are as blossoms on the vine of a fruitful religious life.

Penance does not exist in a vacuum. It can only exist when it is sandwiched between the desire of the heart for love and love itself alive in the soul. If one of these is missing then penance is none other than a deception or vain illusion. One never undergoes true penance without first seeing love or the desire for that love. Penance is only as true and pure as is the desire. By the same token, it is only as true and pure as love makes it be. By this I mean that love already given to the soul prompts the soul to desire more love. The desire, through ongoing penance, allows our Lord to fill the soul with more love.

Our Lord revealed to us two channels in which we are to love; namely love of God and love of neighbor. Therefore the religious undertakes the task of penance in his life of love of God and in his dealings with his fellow man.

Love of God: A lay brother willfully and publicly makes a commitment to surrender his entire person to God by making public vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Immediately we see the vast discrepancy between the ideal of total surrender to God and the fallen nature of the brother. This huge inconsistency is the arena in which penance is lived out. This is the soil on which the toil of penance is applied. It is proof of the mercy of God that God should accept and be pleased with the brother's profession of vows even though he is vastly removed from living the ideal of the vows: union with God.

The brother, by self knowledge, begins the road to conversion and does penance. He thinks he can see the goal of love and only by the free gift of God does he have some idea of where he needs to grow and change. By the light of the grace already at work in his soul, he recognizes dimly the next step to take to follow the path of love. He receives the sacraments and does his best to avoid evil, striving to give himself more totally to the service of God and neighbor. Little by little he grows in holiness and the glowing flame of love prompts him to go deeper in his daily conversion and to do more penance. At some point, the brother is taken by God Himself and is formed by the work of the Holy Spirit with little effort from the brother. This usually occurs through the unfolding of daily life and the abandonment to Divine Providence.

Love of neighbor: By virtue of his religious profession he commits himself to the care and service of the body of Christ. The religious can see clearly that he is rooted in vice and self-centeredness. Yet, simultaneously, he desires to excel in charity, pursuing the way of sacrificial service to God's own people. God gives him the desire to serve others. The way this is brought about is through his particular apostolate (works of service) and in fraternal life. Penance can be undertaken in many ways in his interaction with people. It comes by actively doing things that he would otherwise despise in pursuit of living out a deeper love. It also comes passively as the differences between himself and others around him emerge and offer a formidable hurdle to overcome in a Christ-like way. The demands of the apostolate, the obligations of community life, the neediness of the people around him all work to shape him into a more perfect image of God. They are the points where the old man dies to self and is pounded and crushed only to be reborn in the love of God.

The lay brother is entrusted with the task of becoming the image of God in the midst of a dark world where God is not easily found. Penance and daily conversion are essential to his vocation. He seeks and finds God in a deeper way; therefore, he desires to go still deeper in his love of God and neighbor.