In today’s fast-paced materialistic society, who would want to read about a group of men who have decided to drop career ambitions to focus on prayer and community life?
And doesn’t their vow of poverty somehow conflict with the use of technology?
These are some of the questions we asked ourselves as we set out to start a blog about our community of brothers here in Assisi, Italy. We hale from six countries, three different continents, and range in age from 23 to 63. Some of us are priests, others are in their first year of studies. What unites us is a desire to live out the Gospel life of Jesus with the apostles as proposed by Francis of Assisi. We don’t marry, vow to obey our superiors, and have nothing of our own. It’s all geared to strengthening the love of Christ in our brotherhood.
We believe that we have something to offer today’s society. His name is Jesus.
We don’t choose this life because we have something against marriage, material possessions or living out our own individual dreams. These are all good things. We choose this life because we know Jesus and we believe that He has called us to live in this way to know Him better and tell others about him.
So does this mean we want everyone to live like us? No. But we do want everyone to know Jesus. In fact, it’s His love, a love that is willing to sacrifice even for His enemies, that is lacking in today’s culture. We see it in ourselves, in our inability to let go of our selfishness and do what is best for those around us, in our community. We see it in hurting relationships, broken families, and growing lack of trust in our society.
And it’s here, living in close quarters 24/7, that we brothers daily see these two realities meet: the love of Jesus and our own selfishness.
This blog is a simple attempt to share this journey of our daily lives with you.
