‘The brothers shall honour one another with acts of kindness; they shall bear with the greatest patience the infirmities of others, both physical and moral; they shall eagerly obey one another; no one shall seek what he deems useful for himself, but what is useful for others; they shall lavish upon one another, in all purity, the charity of brothers”.
Fraternal life is another great means of encountering God. Saint Benedict places great emphasis on the quality of fraternal relationships, but Jesus also said: “Whatever you do for the least of these, you do for me ’ (Mt 25:40).
It is therefore especially in our brothers who are suffering that we believe God himself makes himself present to us. Fraternal life is a challenge: instead of being a reflection of God for our brothers, we can sometimes be a barrier, signifying nothing but ourselves.
We are not saints, but sinners striving to be converted, with God’s help, in the light of the Gospel. Our fraternal life is not without its difficulties. Yet it is also, without a doubt, one of the greatest sources of comfort in our lives.
