REALIZATIONS

Postulant Sean Bernard Tan

AUGUST 05, 2015

 

SHARING FOR THE COMMON GOOD: A reflection and self-realization to the fifth rule of Saint Augustine about Common goods and the treatment of the sick

 

What is a rule? Why do we need rules? What can these rules do for us? For me? Why must we follow them? Why must I follow them? These are just some of the questions that I kept on asking ever since I was a child. Back then, no matter how hard they would explain the rules to me, I would just play around because I cannot understand it. But, as I grew up, thing became clearer for me. Little by little, I am beginning to understand the what, why and how of things. So, what are rules? Rules are a series of concepts/ideas that needs to be followed in order to attain something. The world would be even more chaotic without these rules, so having them is a must for every country, every city, every barangay, every home, every individual and in our case, for every religious order. There are some rules that we find hard to follow. But, we still need to follow these rules in order for us to be better persons, better citizens of our country and better children of God.

 

Here at the Order of St. Augustine, we follow the rule of none other than our Holy Father, Saint Augustine. Like what I said earlier, we may find it quite hard at first to follow some of Saint Augustine's rules, but as postulants of the order, we need to start following them anyway for the rules will help us prepare for our future ministry as an Augustinian priest, and will introduce us to what I would like to call as the, "Augustinian disciplines of life." I, myself, found the fifth rule of our Holy Father very easy to say but quite hard to follow. The fifth rule is entitled, "The Care of Common Goods and treatment of the sick."

 

From the title above, we can say that this chapter of the rule talks about the common good or the welfare of the community. After reading the rule, I felt guilty. Parang tinamaan ako dun sa rule. At first, I laughed about it, thinking that it maybe just a coincidence but then I relaized that, I didn't follow the rule. There was that one thing that I kept for myself, that one thing that I didn't share. Then, I promised to myself that from that moment on, I would share to the community the blessings that the Lord has given me. Brothers, one thought came to me when I was writing this reflection earlier today. I realized thats sharing is not a bad thing to do. In fact, it's the opposite. We should always be generous towards others. We should share the blessings that we have received from God. Let us also be concerned for the welfare of our other brothers in the couumnity. We should help one another, and not put each other down, and treat one another as part fo the family. And this thing -- this thing, this attitude is what I liked the most about the Augustinians - their sense of community life. They are always concerned to each other's welfare, sharing always to other brothers what they have and what they know. 

 

I, myself has been challenged by this rule to give a little more for the community, to share and care for all of its members. How about you brothers? Are you willing to share for the welfare of the community? What are you willing to share for the welfare of the community?

 

May the Good Lord bless us all, always.