Almost a ago, I bumped into a group of young people who were preparing a fund-raising dinner to help another parish that wanted to revive its youth group, Antioch.
I wished them all the best and told them they are doing very meaningful work, since we do lack a sense of community not just in our churches, but also in a good number of groups we belong to.
This lack of sense of community was what we’d discuss with parents and students of Ateneo de Manila High School in the mid-’90s. We noticed that, given the bigger population, plus more distractions, more stress and more dangers or threats, people tended to keep to themselves more.
It was not uncommon for our students, who had lived near each other for years in one area, to get to know each other only when they became classmates in one class. We started to make a very conscious effort to build a community in the school. We believed that young people could best be formed in a nurturing community.
Today, Trinity Sunday celebrates community—it is the day to pray for the building of more communities. There is a meditation in the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola that I invite you to consider as starting point.
In Ignatius’ contemplation of the mystery of the Incarnation, he asks us to contemplate the Trinity, Father, Son and Spirit, who in their majesty in heaven, watch what is happening in our world. Out of concern for our good, they decide to send the Son. The Son is sent to the world to save humanity.
Here we see key qualities of a community worth emulating. First, the Trinity is a community that is concerned and empathizes, and makes concern for humanity its business.
Second, the Trinity is a community where the members dialogue or converse, to allow the emergence of ideas and, eventually, consensus.
Third, the Trinity is a community that makes a choice and acts; a responsive community.
Fourth, the Trinity is a community that missions its members—a union of hearts and minds expressed in mission.
Urgent need
One of the urgent needs now in our society is the formation of caring communities that will care for its members, especially the younger and the less powerful.
A caring community not just provides for the basic needs of its members, but also allows them to develop and be their best, to excel.
As we often say of the Trinity, they are three persons in one God. This solid union is rooted and grounded in love and allows the diversity of their persons—the Father, the Son and the Spirit. They are uniquely themselves in this union in love.
This love overflows into love for others, into empathy with humanity.
It will be good to examine our communities: our families, our organizations, our workplaces, our churches, our neighborhoods, etc. How caring are these communities? Do our members feel secure and supported enough to spread their wings, to and aim high and aspire to excel?
One of the things we also “struggled” with at Ateneo was how to teach our students to handle failure. Without planning for failure, we wanted them to feel and understand that failing is just as important as succeeding, in the process of learning and excelling. Often the mind can grasp this, but it is how one feels that will make one either take the risk or play it safe.
It is when people feel they are supported and loved unconditionally that they learn to take the risk. They will not be fearful of failure. They will have the courage to try and to risk. Their spirits will be nurtured to also love and care for others.
Atmosphere of caring
In the dialogue and conversation among the Father, Son and Spirit, we witness the atmosphere of a caring community that allows each member to express himself. In the diversity of their persons, they come to a consensus in this dialogue and conversation.
How real is this in our communities? How much do we respect each other’s point of view? How well do we really listen—and hear and understand what the other is saying? How open are we to knowing the context or situation so we can better understand where he or she is coming from?
How honest are we in what we say? How respectful are we of those who listen to us? How faithful are we to the truth when we speak?
Dialogue and conversation are premised on respect—but ultimately the point of consensus is always the truth.
The third and fourth qualities of the Trinity as a community are qualities to be taken together—a responsive and mission-oriented community. A community’s ability to make choices and to act springs from it sense of mission.
In a sense, these qualities are the synthesis of the other qualities. The Trinity’s ability to respond—a community’s ability to respond—comes from its concern for others, the union of hearts and minds with others. This is empathy.
The common ground is a shared mission and vision of the future of the community.
The Trinity is an icon of what community is or ought to be.
The Trinitarian inspiration of our faith is much more than a pious thought and abstruse doctrine. It must give life and fire to the spirit and soul of the communities we belong to. It must inspire us to build communities.
