One of the essential aspects of religious life is community life. This community life is based on God’s love, love of the Trinitarian God. Moreover, a religious community, as an expression of the Church, is a fruit of the Spirit and a participation in the Trinitarian communion. For this reason, each and every religious is committed to feel co-responsible for fraternal life in common, so that it will manifest clearly their belonging to Christ, who chooses and calls brothers and sisters to live together in His name. Religious are persons who have voluntarily consecrated themselves by the public vows of chastity, poverty and obedience and who live in the Community. Community life at the service of mission brings us more deeply into the mystery of the Trinity and unites us in love.

Looking back at my own experience in my Religious Life, I came to the awareness how important is Community Life. Without a well knit community, a Religious Life is in fact a difficult reality. If the community does not care for its member, the member may not be able to respond to her vocation zealously. Therefore whatever is done and experienced in a community contributes much to the life of its members, thereby empowering the member to contribute richly to the mission of Christ. This is the sole reason which inspired me to select the topic, “Community for Pauline Mission”, for my dissertation.

This dissertation, Community for Pauline Mission, studies various essential aspects of community life of religious and will draw the conclusion that without meaningful community living as the disciples of Jesus, the Pauline Mission of proclaiming the Gospel through media by Daughters of St. Paul cannot be carried out authentically and joyfully.

This dissertation is divided into three chapters. The first chapter is Community life of Religious in general. It speaks of the understanding of community life that emerges from the Old Testament and the New Testament as well as from the recent Church documents. In the light of these understanding, the dissertation will highlight some of the promises and prospects of Community life of Religious.

The second chapter of this dissertation is Pauline Community Life at the service of the mission of Jesus and his Gospel. This chapter is divided into three sections. The first section presents the Origin of the Pauline Congregation. The second section analyzes the Community Life and Pauline Apostolate. The third section will highlight Challenges faced by Pauline Mission Today.

The third chapter of this dissertation is divided into three sections. First section will highlight the necessity for the Pauline Sisters to be Christ Centered Community. The second section will focus on the necessity of the Pauline Community to be mission centered. And the third session will emphasize the necessity of psycho-personal growth of the Pauline Sisters for a radical following of Jesus as a community on continuing the mission of Jesus in word and deed.

The dissertation concludes that the Pauline of the 21^st century are called to live this faith and to communicate the beauty of Pauline vocation rekindled in our daily meeting with the Master and to proclaim the Good News of the kingdom to the people of our time with all the instrument of social communication.

CHAPTER 1 THE COMMUNITY LIFE OF RELIGIOUS

Introduction

The word community comes from two Latin words, cum that is “with” and unitas that is “unity” and it denotes the life of many in unity .Dominican Friar, Philip Neri Powell, defines community life of religious as “a group of women or men who have been called together by the Holy Spirit to give their lives to one another and pledge to live a religious life of freedom in obedience, poverty in simplicity, and chastity in celibate intimacy, as they serve the Lord." The foundation for this definition comes from the Acts of the Apostles. The passage reads: “They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers . . . . All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need" (Acts 2: 42, 44-45).

The above cited passage from the Acts of the Apostles shows that the early Christians dedicated themselves as much to people’s outward needs as to their inner ones. Jesus brought life: he healed sick bodies, resurrected the dead, drove out demons from tormented souls, and carried his message of joy to the poorest of the poor. Hence the community of religious is to follow radically the life and the mission of Jesus and bear witness to the Kingdom of God here and now.

This Chapter is divided into three sections. The first section studies biblical basis of religious community life both from the Old Testament and the New Testament. The second session explains the recent teachings of the Church on religious community life. The third session will present promises and prospects of community life of religious today.

1. Biblical Understanding of Community Life of Religious

The Bible is record of God’s interventions in history to save human beings and form them as chosen people, Israel in the Old Testament and Church in the New Testament. Both Qahal in Hebrew and Ekklesia in Greek mean “an assembly called together” by God, the community of the chosen people, the sacred assembly (cf. Ex 12:16; Dt 4:10)

This section presents understanding of community life of religious from the Old Testament and the New Testament.

1.1. Old Testament Understanding of Community Life

When Yahweh entered into a covenant with Israel on Mount Sinai after he had freed them from the slavery of Egypt, he told them through Moses: “if you hearken to my voice and heed my covenant, you shall be my possession. You shall be to me a Kingdom of priests, a holy nation.” The people answered together, “Everything the Lord has said, we will do.” (Ex 19:5 -6a - 8b).

The covenant God made with Israel, sealed with the blood of communion sacrifices, was summed up in the two great commandments: “you must love Yahweh your God with all your heart” and “you shall love your neighbor as yourself (cf. Ex 5-8; Dt 6:4; Lv 19:8). Of this covenanted people Psalm 133 sings: “How good it is, how pleasant, where the people dwell as one!...There the Lord has lavished the blessings, life for evermore!” (vv 1 and 3).

When Israel was scattered among the nations on account of their infidelity to the covenant, thus breaking their union with God and with one another, Yahweh promised them in his great mercy: “I will take you away from all the foreign land, and bring you back to your own land. I will sprinkle clean water upon you to cleanse you from all the all impurities, … I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you … you shall be my people, and I will be your God” (Ez 36:24 – 28). It was the promise of a new covenant about which Jeremiah also speaks (cf. Jer 31:31 -34).

The Biblical religion of the Old Testament is a historical religion. God chose a people, the people of Israel. And he walked with them all along their history; he guided them and their history. He not only walked with them but he also wanted them to walk with him; not merely as individuals but as a community. Covenant is the very centre of this relationship between God and the people. The covenant bound Israel to God; they became the people of God and Yahweh became their God. The law contained the covenant obligations: obligations towards God and obligations towards one another. The permanence of Israel as a people and as the people of God depended on their fidelity to the covenant, concretely to their obedience to the law.

1.2. New Testament Understanding of Community Life

God’s promise to make people of God was fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth who sealed the new covenant in his blood “poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Mt 26: 28). Speaking of that redemptive act John states that Jesus was to die “to gather into one the dispersed children of God” (Jn 11:52). Before doing so, Jesus told his disciples during the Last Supper with them: “I give you a new commandment: love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples.” (Jn 13: 34-35). Then he prayed this: “I pray not only for them, but also those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you Father, are in me and I in you, they also may be in us,… that they may be brought to perfection as one that the world may know that you sent me” (Jn 17: 20 – 23). For that purpose he promised to send them the Holy Spirit: “when he comes, the Spirit of Truth, … he will testify to me and you also testify.” (Jn 16:13; 15:26 – 27)

That promise was fulfilled on Pentecost day. Luke tells us that people coming form many nations, who had assembled in Jerusalem, accepted the preaching of Peter and the eleven and were baptized (cf. Acts 2:5, 14, 41). These new Christians remained faithful to the teachings of the apostles, to communion of life, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers … The whole group of believers was united, heart and soul.( Acts 1: 42; 4:32) To his beloved Philippians he writes: “do nothing out of selfishness or out of vain glory; rather, humbly regard others more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but everyone for those of other” (Phili 2:3-4).

In the Deutro Pauline letter we read the following recommendation in baptismal contexts: “ put on then, as God’s chosen one holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience bearing with one another, if one has grievance against another; as the lord has given you so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection” (Col 13:12 – 14). “I, then, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live as a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace …living the truth in love, we should grow in every way into him who is the head, Christ for whom the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligaments, with the proper functioning of each part, brings about the body’s growth and builds itself up in love” (Eph 4:1-3. 15-126) . As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good steward of God’s varied grace. Whoever preaches, let it be with the words of God; whoever serves, let it be with the strength that God supplies, so that in all things God may be glorified through Christ (I Peter 2:22; 4: 7-11).

The above presented biblical explanation clearly show that community life is essential to Christianity, and therefore, to religious life, which is part and parcel of Church’s life.

2. The Recent Teachings of Community Life of Religious by the Church

Following the biblical understanding of community life and its uncompromising significance for being a follower of Christ, and particularly for being a consecrated person, the Church has time and again addresses through various ecclesiastical documents the importance of community life of religious. The Magisterium of the Church, through doctrinal documents that guide, illuminate, compare and promote certain realities throughout history, has attached importance and value to the theme of consecrated life, as a way of life for people, which fulfils and demands a mission within the Church itself, focused on the transmission of the Gospel based on experience of fraternal life and the radical following of Christ.

Vatican II has contributed greatly to a renewed theology of religious life, of which community life is integrated part. Its main document states that it belongs to the very life and holiness of the church and places it at the very heart of its mystery of communion (LG 44). It describes church as a kind of sacrament, a sign and instrument of intimate union with God and union among human beings (LG 1). This mystery of communion it goes on to say, hidden in the heart of the Father, was revealed by Jesus of Nazareth and is being fulfilled by Holy Spirit. This opening section of Lumen Gentium ends up with famous words of St. Cyprian: “The church is people made one with the unity of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit.” (LG 2-4)

Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium) continues to remind us that religious life is rooted in baptism. The vows which religious make are meant to help them “derive more abundant fruit from this baptismal grace which enables as a person to die to sin and to be consecrated (LG 44). In its Decree on Up-to-Date Renewal of Religious Life, the council tells us that the purpose of the profession and the practice of the evangelical counsels is to help religious in their pursuit of perfect love, to follow Christ more closely and imitate him more closely (PC 1) The love is first of all directed to God. He is to be loved above all else because he loves us first. Then it is directed towards one’s brothers and sisters in the faith (cf. PC 6). In number seven (PC 7) it dwells on the former and in number eight (PC8) speaking of the apostolate, on the latter. Thus the council devotes the whole 15^th section to community life among religious. It says among other things:

A community gathered together as a true family in the Lord’s name enjoys the Lord’s presence (see Mt 18:20), through the love of God which is poured into their hearts by the holy Spirit (see Rom5:5) For love sums up the law (see Rom 13:10) and is the bond of which makes us perfect (see Col 3:14); by it we know that we have crossed over from death to life (see 1Jn 3:14). Indeed the unity between the sisters and brothers is a sign that Christ has come (see Jn13:35; 17:21) and is a source of great apostolic power. (PC 15)

The Trinitarian basis of religious life was beautifully systematized by St. John Paul II in Vita Consecrata, . It summarizes the reflections and requirements of the Synod of Bishops and Major Superiors of religious communities. The document is a timely reflection on the call that God has sent, sends and will continue to send to men and women to involve themselves in the extension of the Kingdom of Heaven. It covers a great deal of ground, and invites people to contemplate the option for consecrated life. It emphasizes the importance of consecrated life for the Church today , its mission as a place where the communion between the One and Triune God is made visible, its role as being bound but at the same time binding to God’s Holy Church. Finally it describes what the formation process ought to be, beginning with the motivation for new vocations from the standpoint of vocations’ promotion and ministry.

The exhortation Vita Consecrata of St John Paul II, following the introduction where the great value of consecrated life for the Church, in its various expressions, is highlighted, places it in the experience of the disciples on Mt Tabor, where, in the episode of the Transfiguration of the Lord, the communion of the Most Holy Trinity is expressed. It is this communion that the Church asks consecrated life to bear witness to in the world as unequivocal expression of the experience of the Kingdom of God in the midst of humanity. It centers all of consecrated life on the person of Jesus, who, as his legacy, left us his humanity in the humanity of every human being who suffers and is at our side, and who permits us to configure ourselves with the Master day by day.

The document concludes recalling the importance of religious life for today’s society, as a place where the grace of God abounds, as a response to the questioning of an utilitarian world that measures us according to the immediate usefulness of our actions, and feels that a lifestyle like the consecrated life is useless, and that giving one’s life up to the service of others, in the wake of the Lord, is meaningless. It also reminds us that in heeding and responding to the Lord’s call, we are being called to love him with a faithful and undivided heart.

Pope Francis encourages the religious in the following words: “In these days when fragmentation justifies widespread sterile individualism and when the weakness of relationships breaks up and ruins the care of the human person, we are invited to humanize community relationships, to encourage communion of heart and spirit in the Gospel sense, because “there is a communion of life among all those who belong to Christ. It is a communion that is born of faith” that makes “the Church, in her most profound truth, communion with God, intimacy with God, a communion of love with Christ and with the Father in the Holy Spirit, which extends to brotherly communion”.

The above section, “the recent teachings of the Church on life of religious by the Church” enabled us to understand that there is no religious life without the life of communion and community life. Community life is essential aspect of religious life. Since consecrated religious life is neither lay nor clerical, the identifying marks of the religious is living out the Trinitarian love in and through the religious communities and approved and accepted by the Church and nourished and strengthened by the sacraments of the church.

Having gone through the understanding of community life from the bible, both from the Old Testament as well as the New Testament, this dissertation will move now to the third section of the first chapter, “Promises and Prospects of Community Life of Religious.

3. Promises and Prospects of Community Life of Religious Today

Pope Francis emphatically states, “The fraternal community has enormous power to call people together. The illnesses of the community, on the other hand, have power that destroys.”One of the main challenges community life faces today is to find more sincere relationship with the brothers and sisters of the community, human relational-dimension. Hence, the religious communities should create, as Pope Francis again points out, a spirituality of communion:

“Communion is lived first and foremost within the respective communities of each Institute. To this end, I would ask you to think about my frequent comments about criticism, gossip, envy, jealousy, hostility as ways of acting which have no place in our houses. This being the case, the path of charity open before us is almost infinite, since it entails mutual acceptance and concern, practicing a communion of goods both material and spiritual, fraternal correction and respect for those who are weak … it is the “mystique of living together” which makes our life “a sacred pilgrimage”. We need to ask ourselves about the way we relate to persons from different cultures, as our communities become increasingly international. How can we enable each member to say freely what he or she thinks, to be accepted with his or her particular gifts, and to become fully co-responsible?”

In the religious communities of today, among the members of the community, there is a yearning for companionship, acceptance, respect, harmony and working together. At the same time there is also loneliness, isolation, individualism, independence and excessive privacy among the members. In some instances, religious communities are compared to ‘boarding houses’ – bodies living, praying, eating together, going out to work and returning to sleep. There is no communion. That is why in his book, Community and Growth, Jean Vanier makes the following comments: “Sometimes it is easier to hear the cries of poor people who are far away than it is to hear the cries of our brothers and sisters in our own community. There is nothing very splendid in responding to the cry of the person who is with us day after day and who gets on our nerves. Perhaps we too can only respond to the cries of others when we have recognized and accepted the cry of our own pain.” Hence, the following discussion on “promises and prospects of religious community life” will highlight the essential three aspects of healthy religious community life:

1. Commitment to being on spiritual journey with others; (2), Contributing to something greater than oneself; and (3) Transforming and being transformed into a deeper divine existence.

1.3.1. Commitment to being on spiritual journey with others

There are four factors that are common elements of commitment to a life that seeks deeper relationships and works for a more just and peaceful world. They are working for the common good; appreciating the giftedness of each person, participating in meals and being nurtured by each other; and being open to share everything we have and our common home, earth.

There are times on the journey where the road is unclear and where the road has many twists and turns. The spiritual journey is often a wilderness zone. We need one another to journey together .Creating space for different personalities, diverse opinions, unusual worldviews and various modes of operation can be challenging. Hospitality creates space for variations that can bring about new thinking and innovative action.

1.3.2 . Contributing to something greater than oneself

Pope Francis in Laudato Si challenges us to look very broadly at the common good and to understand all creation as a loving gift and as a “reality illuminated by the love which calls us together into universal communion.” (LS #76)He stresses the connection between care of the environment and “sincere love for our fellow human beings and an unwavering commitment to resolving the problems of society.” (LS #91)

Apostolic communities exist for the sake of the mission. Missions vary depending on the charism of the founders and the needs of the Church and world. The root of all ministry is connectedness to others. We connect to other through our contribution. The core elements of an effective community engaged in contribution are: kindness, generosity ,cooperation, forgiveness and the acceptance of fallibility and mystery. Kindness embodies, love, care and respect and is aware of the vulnerability of others .Generosity takes kindness to the next level. Generosity is the opposite of “tit for tat” and arises out of abundance, not scarcity. The practice of service creates the landscape for generosity. Cooperation is the opposite of competition. It is the commitment to work something out in a mutually satisfactory way .Forgiveness recognizes woundedness. Often for hospitality to happen forgiveness is the door opener, especially when we are talking about hospitality—open, warm, welcoming space—for those internal members of the community. Forgiveness is often related to accepting fallibility—tolerance to accept the human condition. Closely related to forgiveness is mercy. Pope Francis talks about being enveloped in God’s mercy, trusting God’s patience, feeling God’s embrace to become more capable of mercy, patience, forgiveness and love. Mystery is the last of the elements which contribute to abundant communities. McKnight and Block define mystery as:“Mystery is the answer to the unknown. In actualizing its abundance, a community welcomes mystery, for that is a catalyst for creativity. Mystery gives us freedom from the burden of answers. Answers are just a restatement of the past.”

1.3.3 . Transforming and being transformed into a deeper divine existence

In a religious context, transformation happens when we accept invitations to enter uncharted waters, to ask, and to be in conversation around powerful questions. Listening well to others and the Spirit speaking to us through events, people, and the wonders of the universe can transform our thinking and increase our appreciation of the divine presence .In our great sacrament of transformation, the Eucharist, Jesus asks us to do four things to be transformed: receive, give thanks, break, and share. All these are very engaging activities. We are transformed by community and we contribute to the transformation of the community by seeing and living the interconnections among receiving, thanking, breaking

and sharing.

Sometimes it is difficult to receive something. It is hard to admit that we cannot obtain everything we need and want by ourselves, that we need to receive the graciousness of others to live whole and enriching lives .Eucharist means thanksgiving—gratitude for the chance to be transformed into a more gracious person, into a deeply grateful community. The transformation is not just about changing bread and wine, it is about transforming a community to be what we receive—the living communal body of Christ. Gratitude is for all blessings—friends, family, life. Gratitude is the foundation for hope. Hope contains the seeds of transformation. We thank the giver by enjoying the gift.“Eucharist is meant not just to celebrate our joys and gratitude, but also to break us open, to make us groan in anguish, to lay bare our mistrust, to lesson our jealousies and break down the distances that separate us. What the Eucharist asks of us is vulnerability, humility, contrition and forgiveness. Bitterness, hatred, and suspicion are meant to disappear at a Eucharist.”

Finally regarding sharing, Christ shared his life with us, his joys, his anguish, his high expectations and ultimately his death and transformation to new life. Eucharist makes that present today. When we share our lives, we share our energy, our affirmations, our hopes, and struggles. Eucharist, taken in slow motion—is about coming together, gathering as a community of faith; sharing the stories of the heart in light of the stories of those who have gone before us; and connecting with all in the sharing of the meal, the bread of life and the cup of salvation.

Spirituality of Community Life is rooted in continuing commitment, contributing members and transforming processes. It is a spiritual journey which we do not take alone; it is a journey that brings new vistas, new challenges, new opportunities to see and be the interconnections that can continue transforming the world. Spirituality, embedded in community life, can be structured in many ways in an ambiance of receiving, thanking, breaking, and sharing.

Conclusion

As a conclusion to this chapter, the words of Jean Vanier for the community as a place of healing and growth are appropriate here:

The wound in all of us, and which we are all trying to flee, can become the place of meeting with God and with brothers and sisters; it can become the place of ecstasy and of the eternal wedding feast. The loneliness and feelings of inferiority which we are running away from become the place of liberation and salvation . There is always warfare in our hearts; there is always a struggle between pride and humility, hatred and love, forgiveness and the refusal to forgive, truth and the concealment of truth, openness and closeness. Each one of us is walking in that passage towards liberation, growing on the journey towards wholeness and healing.. . . We must not fear this vulnerable heart, with its closeness to sexuality and its capacity to hate and be jealous. We must not run from it into power and knowledge, seeking self-glory and independence. Instead, we must let God take his place there, purify it and enlighten it. As the stone is gradually removed from our inner tomb and the dirt is revealed, we discover that we are loved and forgiven; then under the power of love and of the Spirit, the tomb becomes a womb. A miracle seems to happen.

The current chapter has attempted to give an understanding of community life under 3 sections and in the next chapter will throw light on Pauline community life at the service of the mission of Jesus and his Gospel. For the Society of the Daughters of St. Paul with a specific mission, community life is necessary. Inspired by the Holy Spirit Blessed James Alberione founded the Pauline family with desire to propagate the Kingdom of God through the means of social communication specially using the print media. He felt that print of the secular world ruins many souls so to counteract evil with good he used same means to propagate gospel values to the people.

CHAPTER 2 PAULINE COMMUNITY LIFE AT THE SERVICE OF THE MISSION OF JESUS AND HIS GOSPEL

Introduction

The second chapter of this dissertation enumerates mainly how the Pauline Communities of Pauline Congregations specially the Daughters of St. Paul, founded by Blessed James Alberione is completely geared towards the service of the mission of Jesus and His Gospel. The sole purpose of every religious community is to follow Jesus in words and deeds according to the signs of the time. The various Religious Congregations of the Pauline Family too have this singular purpose of following Jesus by living together as consecrated men and women engaging in active apostolic activities. Every activity of each member of the Pauline Family is at the service of the mission of Jesus and his Gospel. Moreover, all these activities carried out by living together in a community. Hence, community life is indispensable part of Pauline Mission.

The Pauline Mission at the Service of Jesus and His Gospel has its specificity. Blessed Alberione dedicated his life to obey the command of the Lord to go and make disciples of all nation (Mt 28:9). He took it as his mission to meet the needs of the church, to oppose the evil media with good media, to counteract organization with organization, and to bring the gospel to the masses. He taught that the inventions of science and technology should be used for the salvation of people and never for their ruin.

For the Society of the Daughters of St. Paul with a specific mission, community life is necessary. As an expression of the ecclesial community, it is a sign of a new way of living together, founded not on natural bonds, but on the divine call and on faith. Community life is an essential element of our Pauline charism. It is directed to the Society’s specific mission and to the integral growth of the person. (Constitutions and Directory, Pious society of the Daughters of St .Paul)

This chapter is divided into three sections. The first section presents the Origin of the Pauline Congregation. The second section analyzes the Community Life and Pauline Apostolates. In the light of information presented regarding the founding of Pauline Congregation and the way community life is being lived and how the community is involved in the apostolate today, the third section will highlight Challenges of the Community for Pauline Mission Today.

1. Origin of the Pauline Congregation

Moved by the Holy Spirit and conquered by the invitation of Jesus: come to me, all of you, Blessed James Alberione felt deeply compelled to do something for the Lord and for the people of the new century. With prophetic intuition he founded the Daughters of St. Paul side by side with the Society of St .Paul so that the men and women of this new Religious Society might be apostles consecrated in the church for the proclamation of the Gospel with the means of social communication.

Blessed James Alberione, Founder of the Pauline Family , was born on 4 April 1884, of a profoundly Christian family of a poor peasants at San Lorenzo di Fossano in Northern Italy. At the age of sixteen, he entered the minor seminary of Alba. The night that divided the 19^th century from the 20^th century was crucial for the specific mission and particular spirit in which his future apostolate would come to light and be lived. After the solemn midnight Mass in the Cathedral of Alba, the exposition and the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament was followed. The seminarians in Philosophy and Theology were free to remain for adoration as long as they liked. Not long before, there had been a congress, the first James had attended. He had read Leo XIII’s invitation to pray for the coming century. Both spoke of the Church’s needs, of the new means of evil, of the duty to combat the press with the press, organization with organization, of the need to get the gospel message across to the people and of social issues. Particular enlightenment came from the Host and a greater understanding of that invitation of Jesus “venite ad me omnes”; he seemed to fathom the heart of the great Pope, the Church’s call for help, and the Priests true mission. He felt deeply obliged to prepare himself to do something for the Lord and for the women and men of the new century with whom he would spend his life.

And precisely during those hours of adoration, James had the deep conviction of being called by God for a specific mission, undertaking to combat the press with the press and to print and reach the gospel in all strata of society. It was during the seminary studies he met Venerable Francis Chiesa, an outstanding priest for virtue and doctrine, was highly respected and admired throughout the diocese. He was master of philosophy, confessor, spiritual director and, even more, a great model of priestly life. Francis Chiesa and all the seminarians including James Alberione, firmly believed of the need to use the press for the service of the Gospel. Also the young Alberione learned to put always prayer in the first place and to work with love under the gaze of God. In fact, he could already see a head of a powerful organization of writers, speakers, printers and advisers, men and women and lay people and all animated by the sole purpose of sharing the Gospel to the whole world. Since everything was done in the light that came from the Tabernacle , Alberione affirms, everything came from the Tabernacle without the tabernacle there is nothing.

Never does a religious family come to be born from pure spirituality alone or activity alone. Spirituality always takes flesh in concrete expression and action, and is always animated by the same Spirit. The Spirit conforms the Founder and his institute to Christ in one aspect of his life, mission and mystery. The mystery of Christ is an immeasurable, inexhaustible source of every Charism.

The Pauline family includes, the Society of St. Paul founded in 1914, consisting of priests and brothers, four congregations of religious women , each with its own distinct purpose and mission. The Daughters of St. Paul founded in 1915 for Mass Media apostolate. The Pious Disciples of the Divine Master was founded in 1924 for the Eucharistic adoration, liturgical apostolate and service to priests. The year 1938 he founded for the Good Shepherd Sisters for the pastoral animation in parishes. The foundation of the Sisters of the Queen of the Apostles for vocation promotion took place in 1959.

Besides the Religious Congregations, Blessed Alberione founded also four secular institutes. They are the Institute of Jesus the Priest for diocesan priests in 1958 ,the Institute of Holy Mary of the Annunciation, also in 1958, for single lay women who wanted to live a consecrated life, then in 1958 , he founded the Institute of St Gabriel the Archangel for single lay men who wanted to live a consecrated life, and the Institute of the Holy Family in 1960 for married couples who wanted to live a consecrated life. He had already in 1917, founded the Pauline Co-operators Union, for those who wanted to co-operate in the apostolate of the media.

All these ten foundations are united in the same ideal of personal sanctity and apostolate through the media: the giving of Christ as the Way, the Truth and the Life to individual persons and to the world. From 1914 till he breathed his last, he inspired, guided and governed this great Pauline Family. Blessed Alberione dedicated his life to obey the command of the Lord to go and make disciples of all nations (Mt 28:9). He took it as his mission to meet the needs of the church, to oppose the evil media with good media, to counteract organization with organization, and to bring the gospel to the masses. He taught that the inventions of science and technology should be used for the salvation of people and never for their ruin.

2. Community Life and the Pauline Apostolate

All the apostolates of the Pauline family should be carried out through community. For Blessed Alberione, community life at the service of mission brings them more deeply into the mystery of the Trinity and unites them in love. From St. Paul, the Apostle of Love, they learn to appreciate and love each other in their rich diversity of backgrounds .Community is the place of their continuing conversion. Its goal is that individually and together, they should become mature, no longer knocked around by clever religious hucksters, but able to stand tall and straight, embodying the very fullness of Christ (Eph.4: 11-16) which can be further looked into as follows :

2.1 Divine Charity

The purpose of the apostolate is to bring humanity back to union with God and union among themselves through divine charity. It demands total sharing of the person who serves in the apostolate and gives witness to the presence and action of the Holy Spirit in and through the person and the community. Community is for mission. It should be an inspiration and support for the life and mission of the members. The community is the place where they release their tensions and are energized for their mission. In their community meetings, they share their successes and failures and they celebrate their joys and sorrows. Celebrations and picnics reduce their tension and break the monotony.

2.2 Respect for Brothers and Sisters

Their life in the community achieves its best expression when they respect their brothers and sisters and recognize their talents, when they let them know of their sincere esteem and participate in their successes, joys and sorrows. At the same time, with healthy realism, they should learn to understand their deficiencies and mutually support one another in patience. The community of the Daughters of St. Paul is not a community of the perfect, but of persons committed to an undertaking of “continual conversion.” (The Constitutions and Directory of the society of St. Paul).

2.3 Collaboration and Communion

Their living together manifests the presence and the love of Christ, who is the heart of the community. We build up communities open to values and hope, which witness to the joy of living together and the joy of an ever-renewed apostolic commitment. They contribute to the growth of the community by sharing the wealth of our person with its gifts of nature, grace, and culture. Conforming to the demands of their mission, which requires collaboration and communion, they participate co-responsibly in community life with its various duties and roles, respecting each one’s competence. (Constitutions and Directory, Pious Society of the Daughters of St. Paul. No.62)

2.4 Prayer

Blessed James Alberione’s life and ministry place before them the inspiring and challenging example of great love for the word of God, devotion to the Eucharistic Master and zeal for the Good news of Jesus. The secret of his sanctity is his unwavering trust in God coupled with his deep humility. It shines out in a prayer of his. “Reconstruct in me, Lord your own self. I want to leave you free to do what you want. Blessed James Alberione has given to the church new ways to express her, new means to invigorate and broaden her apostolate, new capacities and a new awareness of the validity and possibilities of her mission in the modern world and with modern means.

2.5 Affection

Community life becomes joyful only if there is communion among the members. Therefore brotherly and sisterly affection and the oneness of hearts need to be constantly nourished. As a heap of bricks does not make a house, a collection of words does not make a sentence, and a multitude of sounds does not make music, so also a crowd of people staying together does not make a community. A Community can be a privileged place in which the members can live in constant and lively exchange, self-experience and knowledge, a place of confidence, a holy space in which people can grow in loving relationship to one another and to God.

2.6 Selflessness in Community Life

The community is also where we learn to strip away our self-interest in order to serve others. It is here that we learn to share what God has given us, whether it be goods or spiritual gifts. It is also here that we learn to be served, though we are sometimes prideful and reluctant like Peter, who balked at Jesus washing his feet (Jn. 13:2-10). Sometimes we are the washers and sometimes washes, but in many ordinary ways we can learn what submission and service mean. (Community: God’s design for growth article)

2.7 Life of Service

Pauline communities are at the service of Jesus and the Gospel by taking up media apostolate. Prima Maestra Thecla,(co founder of the Daughters of St. Paul) with her deep faith and trust in God, collaborated with Alberione in the initial formation of the entire Pauline family, particularly the Daughters of St. Paul who are dedicated to evangelization with all the means that the technology would provide. She was humble at the same time courageous and nothing was ever enough for her when it came to communicating the Good News of Christ the Lord to the people: She says; "Our field of apostolate is the entire world." Thecla Merlo always personally got involved in the apostolate as everything that they did were new experience for them.

2.8 New Missionary Thrust :

Blessed Alberione has imparted to us a new missionary thrust for the preaching of the message of salvation in the spirit of Apostle Paul through the means of Social communication which was very urgent and relevant in the initial stages of the Congregation as well as today and will be forever. He says:

I have neither gold nor silver, but I give you what I have: That is the “Pauline spirit”; the Pauline family strives to fully live the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the Way, the Truth and the Life, in the spirit of Saint Paul, under the gaze of Mary, Queen of Apostles, a rich heritage that animates the Congregation which includes the consecration and mission.

2.9 New Evangelical Thrust :

Maestra Thecla, the first superior general of the Daughters of St. Paul who collaborated with Fr. James Alberione was a woman of faith who believed fully that the great work which the almighty God had begun through Blessed James Alberione would be brought to completion. She firmly believed in the need for a new evangelical thrust. In fact, in one of her circular letters during a trip to Orient she writes, “we are called to an apostolate so vast that embraces the whole world, we must feel the necessity of helping all those poor souls by doing good to them and contributing to their salvation by prayer and by the entire apostolate”. She constantly imbued the Sisters with a sense of urgency regarding the Pauline Apostolate. She says; “to evangelize the modern world we need to use the modern means of Social communications”.

2.10 View Regarding Common life :

In the past, the common life was viewed in terms of work, but today we all realize that a true life of communion consists first of all in mutual service. It is a life in which the first and foremost work is to love one another so that God will dwell in us (cf. 1 Jn. 4:12). Jesus says that this is how others will be able to see that we are his disciples (cf.Jn.13:35)"The effectiveness of religious life depends on the quality of the fraternal life in common. Even more so, the current renewal in the Church and in religious life is characterized by a search for communion and community”.

2.11 Use of Media :

A community, aware of the influence of the media, should learn to use them for personal and community growth, with the evangelical clarity and inner freedom of those who have learned to know Christ (cf. Gal. 4:17-23). The media propose, and often impose, a mentality and model of life in constant contrast with the Gospel. In this connection, in many areas one hears of the desire for deeper formation in receiving and using the media, both critically and fruitfully. Why not make them an object of evaluation, of discernment and of planning in the regular community meetings?

2.12 Unchristian factor in communities :

The experience of the newly ordained priest and professed religious the un-Christian attitudes they find in religious communities: greed for power, for higher positions and degrees, lack of cooperation, lack of a sense of corporate mission, a sense of this is mine, my territory , individualism, ego- centric attitudes, absence of dialogue and sharing of responsibility, lack of accountability and transparency in accounts; misuse of freedom, boasting, inability to meaningfully challenge one another, consumerism , favoritism, jealousies, destructive criticism, blaming and judgmental attitudes, holding on to past hurts, lack of the spirit of forgiveness . (The Religious Life, JosephMattamSJ)

2.13 Challenges to Community

When they look objectively in to the trends and challenges of the society and the Church today, they can say that they are yet again in a time of upheaval with acute awareness of human rights and justice, with a strong sense of communion and greater awareness of the need to care for the nature, the emergence of a global culture, influence of mass media, fundamentalism, intolerance, violence, etc.

Along with these they also experience a new trend among the people especially the youth, considering the spirituality as something useless, distant, refined and reserved for a selected few. The holiness is considered as something that belongs to the giants of the past, or hermits and monks, each buried in caves and the other places alien to this world. At the same time they cannot deny the fact that there is “in the world at large, a new search for spirituality, a deep hunger for interiority that will respond to the needs of the individual who is called to live in a complex situation than before. This hunger is genuine and sincere and this is one of the signs of our times. The sign is a deep felt need for something that would help individuals to cope up with the situation in which they are called to live. This is a widespread hunger that is not capable of being satisfied with traditional acts of piety and external liturgical Practices”

2.14 The Need for Re-Vitalisation

Pope Francis says: “In a time when fragmentation feeds a sterile individualism and the weakening of relationships is undermining care for other human beings, they are invited to humanize their relations of fraternity, to foster communion of heart and soul in light of the Gospel. “ There is a communion of life between those who belong to Christ, a communion that is born of faith." This "makes the Church, in its deepest truth, a communion with God, a loving communion with Christ and with the Father in the Holy Spirit, which reaches out into a fraternal communion." Therefore, the social and institutional configuration of the Church and that of religious life need to be re-vitalized. Because, to a great extent they have lost the connection to the claims and challenges of the real world and the horrors and the anguish which are indeed threatening people of today.

Therefore, it is the time for them consecrated persons to be open to the promptings of the spirit and come out of their secured walls and get involved with real situation of their people in their concrete difficulties and needs. In other words, the change that takes place in an era, pre-supposes a change in their understanding of the human person its relation to the world and to God. This is a change that leads them to a new paradigm

3. Challenges faced by the Community for Pauline Mission Today

Human history has passed through various stages: each with its particular characteristics. Ours can certainly be called the era of communications. These new means of communications (Press, Mobile, Films, and Internet etc.) penetrate into the most private sectors of life and stimulate new ways of thinking, judging, speaking and acting. Mass Media guide and inspire the behavior of individuals, families and societies. During the past decades, the advances in technology have also facilitated a global communications network that transcends national boundaries and has an impact on public policy, private attitudes and behaviors, especially of children and young adults.

2.3.1 Media Awareness

It is a challenging and confronting situation for them Pauline to plunge into the deep reality of the world today, and grab the opportunity to saw the seed of the Gospel with the same means. They need to find the ways and means to equip and empower people especially the young to increase their ability to react, to accept or to reject the media images and messages and to use media gadgets in a conscious way.

2.3.2 Zeal

According to Fr. James Alberione, “If Saint Paul were to be alive he would continue to burn with that two fold flame of the same fire; zeal for his Christ, and for men and women of every nation. And to make him heard he would ascend the highest pulpits and multiply his word through the instruments of contemporary progress: the press, cinema, radio, television etc.”

2.3.4 Communication

The level of communication within a community is a decisive element for revealing the human and spiritual maturity of its members, their psychological and affective balance, their ability to love, and also the authenticity and depth of their faith. But fraternal communication is also the area most marked by problems, tension , conflicts and even pathologies.

2.3.5 Irradiating Christ

The apostle is one who carries God within his /her soul and irradiates Him to others. The apostle is saint who accumulates treasure and communicates its surplus to humankind. The apostles has a heart glowing with the love of God and the love of man, and can neither restrain nor suffocate what he feels and thinks.

How many times do we ask ourselves the great question; where is humankind heading? How is it moving toward what goal is it aiming as it continually renews itself on the face of the earth? Humanity is like a great river flowing into eternity. Will it be saved ? Will it be lost forever?

The following are the thoughts from Blessed James Alberione. Let us be convinced that this apostolate calls for a superior spirit of sacrifice and a deeper piety. There will be efforts that will prove fruitless, sacrifices of sleep and time, funds that will never suffice , misunderstandings from many sides, special dangers of every kind . The spoken word has the advantage of penetrating the mind more easily. But the printed word has the advantage of being better thought out, better preserved, more readily multiplied in copies.

The fraternal love will be authentic if we succeed in building up the truth in charity both within and around us. A profound, reciprocal knowledge frees us from prejudice and help us understand and accept one another in our plurality of attitudes and opinions.

Conclusion

To conclude, in this chapter “Pauline Community Life at the Service of the Mission of Jesus and His Gospel”, I have highlighted the origin of the Pauline Congregation, community life and Pauline apostolates and the challenges of the community for Pauline mission. I can underscore that community life in Pauline understanding is to contribute to the growth of the community by sharing the wealth of our person with its gifts of nature, grace, and culture. (Const.62) In this way we are able to accept our own potentials and limitations and those of the others and purify ourselves of any prejudices we may have. Each Sister has her own place in the community. She participates co-responsibly in its life, with its various duties and roles, respecting each one’s competence. The complimentarily of gifts forms an organic unity because diversity ( age, education , formation, etc.) is given so as to build up the Body of Christ and so that the members of the community will live in unity, not uniformity.

In the light of the present challenges highlighted in this chapter, the third chapter will present the reflection and proposals towards the relevant and fruitful understanding of community life for Pauline mission today.

CHAPTER 3 PROPOSALS TOWARDS THE RELEVANT AND FRUITFUL LIVING

THE PAULINE COMMUNITY LIFE

Introduction

According to the Second Vatican Council, the Church is a communion, a communion of people with God and with one another. It is a community of faith, hope and charity, a fellowship of life, charity and truth. All this is rooted in Jesus’ abba experience, which is an experience of God as the basis of human solidarity (LG 8, 9). Religious communities, therefore, are communities of the Kingdom of God making visible in an anticipatory and provisional way the values of the end time community (its freedom, its fellowship and its justice) in the concrete historical circumstances of our time. Accordingly, a religious community can be described as an apostolic community of sisters/brothers in the Lord. “In the Lord” points to the religious character of the community. It is not a secular institution, of teachers, nurses or social workers. It is a community of people who are called together by the Lord and are rooted in God.

Pauline community of sisters is a religious community and each sister is called by God. The sisters did not get together by their own initiatives. They have been called, chosen: “You did not choose me, but I chose you” (Jn 15:16). If the Pauline community living needs to be relevant and meaningful in today’s context, the sisters should welcome and live the Word in faith and obedience. This community should be a community of sisters who pray and become Eucharistic community by sharing the one bread and one cup. Further, the Pauline community is a community send out in mission by following radically in Jesus’ way of life, his total dedication to the cause of the Kingdom. Furthermore, Pauline community is a community with one Rule: “the Rule of Love. Love one another as I have loved you.” This is the characteristic by which the world must recognize the Daughters of St. Paul. Accordingly, this chapter is divided into three sections. The first part will highlight the necessity for the Pauline Sisters to be Christ Centered Community. The second part will focus on the necessity of the Pauline Community to be mission centered. And the third part will emphasize the necessity of psychological growth of the Pauline Sisters for a radical following of Jesus as a community on continuing the mission of Jesus in word and deed.

1. Christ-Centered Community

Relationship to God is the basis of a religious community. Commitment to God in personal faith and joyful acceptance of one’s vocation are important elements of one’s relationship with God. The sisters communion with Christ is the source and stimulus for sisters’ love for neighbor ( P.C.6).The Vita Consecrata 72 expresses that the consecrated persons should have closer relationship with Jesus in the following words:

“Whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, those whom
God calls to follow him are also consecrated and sent into the world to imitate his example and to continue his mission. Fundamentally this is true of every disciple . In a special way, however, it is true of those who, in the manner that characterizes the consecrated life, are called to follow Christ more closely, and make him the centre of their lives ”.

The deeper the relationship of sisters with Jesus is, the more fraternal their community life, and the more ardent their involvement in the Pauline Congregation’s specific mission.

For the sisters to be one with Jesus is uncompromising requirement to be an authentic consecrated person in Pauline community living. The sisters should choose Christ through the profession of their evangelical counsels and to bear witness of communion unless their own lives in the Memorial of Paschal Mystery: “By its very nature the Eucharist is at the center of the consecrated life, both for individuals and communities..”(VC 95). The community is built up starting from the liturgy, especially the celebration of the Eucharist and the other sacraments. The sisters should deepen their appreciation of the great gift of the Eucharist and place at the very heart of their lives the Scared Mystery of the Body and blood our Lord, alive and present in the community to sustain and inspire it in its journey to the Father ( FLC 14)

Eucharist is the great sign of the mystery of Christian togetherness. As many grains from one bread, so also we who are many will become one body. Therefore, the sisters should imbibe their strength and guidance from the Eucharist for their daily community living and apostolate. Religious community is a community in journey towards the Father’s home. The sisters need food and drink to sustain themselves as they walk. Eucharist offers the sisters most nourishing food and drink. Fraternal Life in Community no. 12, para 3 highlights that the same Christ who called them, daily calls together sisters to speak with them and to unite them to himself and to each other in the Eucharist, to assimilate them increasingly into his living and visible Body, in whom the Spirit lives, on journey towards the Father.

The greatest joy the sisters can offer to God is their unity. At every Eucharist the religious community needs to present itself to God as a united family. The sisters cannot come before the Lord if they have something against their sister ( Mt 5:23). To make the offering acceptable to the Lord, the sisters should love another and live in unity.

Besides participating in daily celebration of the Eucharist, the sisters should renew themselves everyday through constant listening to the Word of God. Unity is said to be “special gift of the Spirit for those who place themselves in an attitude of obediently listening to the Gospel” (VC 42). Listening to the Word of God should become a life-giving encounter for the sisters in the community. The community should practice Lectio divina, reflection and sharing of the Word of God. Reading Word of God and the Eucharist are the light and strength of sisters apostolic vocation. The sisters must welcome the Word with an attentive, docile and prayerful heart allowing ourselves to be evangelized by the all surpassing knowledge of Christ. The sisters life in community needs to renewed every day through a constant listening the Word of God, and sincere “review of life” inspired by such Word. Unity is said to be “a special gift of the Spirit for those who place themselves in an attitude of obediently listening to the Gospel” (VC 42). The Word of God and the Eucharist are the principal sources of unity in the community. They nourish common life and give it motive and meaning. Reading the word of God in community and meditating on it builds up in the members the evangelical attitudes of intimacy, trust , peace and joy.

Community prayer done well, binds the community together. Praying together and praying for one another has a wonderful effect. If there is no depth in our relationship with God, our relationship with one another too is bound to be superficial .However, the sisters should remember that it is not mere reciting prayers keep the community together but the members of a community share their God-experience that they really pray together.

2. Mission Centered Community

Equally helpful to building Pauline community life is along with prayer centered community is a mission centered life of the sisters. Religious community does not exist for its own sake. The life of a consecrated sister is not a narcissistic turning on oneself, but openness to the outside in order to communicate to everyone the gift received and involve everyone in the dynamic of unity. So a Pauline community of sisters exists for a mission. The primary mission of the Pauline community of sisters is the building up of the body of Christ (Eph. 4:11-12). “You have not chosen me but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain” (Jn 15:16). Like apostolic community the Pauline community must be a community of sisters who are sent on a mission. (Mat 28:19 – 20). Hence, Pauline community expresses itself in service (VC 73 – 74), witness (VC 75 – 76) and proclamation ( VC 77 – 79).

The Pauline community of sisters should share in the common mission of the Congregation. The sisters are gathered together in order to be sent out on a mission. Therefore, the Pauline community of sisters is an apostolic community. It is the responsibility of this community to prepare and equip the members for the apostolate, and to inspire, encourage, support and challenge the sisters in their apostolate.

If the sisters of a Pauline community are totally committed to their mission and devote all their time and energy to work for the establishment of God’s reign and to meet the urgent needs of the people they will have little or no time and energy for bickering and quarrelling. Those sisters who experience joy and satisfaction in their ministry often bring that joy to the community because of this the sisters will not overly be disturbed by the minor difficulties of common living. The superiors should make sure that all the members of their community as far as possible need to have meaningful and suitable ministries.

Additionally, the apostolic mission is entrusted to the community; the apostolate has a communitarian dimension. In fact, the sisters should understand that common life in itself an apostolate which gives “outstanding and striking testimony that the world cannot be transfigured and offered to God without the spirit of the beatitudes .” (LG 31). This insight is underlined by the Blessed James Alberione, the founder of the Pauline Family in the following words: “For us, the common life is born in the apostolate and in view of the apostolate.” Further, Blessed Alberione says to his spiritual daughters in the following words:

“Go to the whole world, because the whole world can be likened to an immense parish, the Pope’s parish. This is your field, in which the gospel workers continue to sow good seed during the light of the day, but the prince of error and evil sows weeds in abundance during the hours of darkness”. This is the challenge placed before each of the Daughters of St. Paul today. Like St. Paul they too are sent to “all nations and to all continents.”

The words of Pope Francis also remind the sisters to reflect regarding their mission whether the ministries are in consonant what the Spirit asked of the founder? Are they suitable for carrying out today those same ministries and works ? Do the sisters have the same passion for the people? Are sisters close to the people to the point of sharing in their joys and sorrows? Who is Jesus for the people of our time ? The world needs Christ more than ever His salvation and His merciful love. Many people feel an empty void around and within themselves; others live in restlessness and insecurity due to uncertainty and conflict.

In this line of thought the sisters need to re-launch their book centers as places that communicate peace, light, guidance, cultural animation and dialogue. The sisters should search for new forms and channels of diffusion so as to go from their usual customary environments and reach the people of today. The words of Jesus, “Go into the whole world” should constantly remind the sisters that whole world awaits them who can give hope and assurance to all those who have lost all hope, families which are in difficulty, the abandoned children, young people without a future, the elderly, and sick and abandoned. And all these merciful acts of Jesus must be carried out in the name of Jesus as one community, as consecrated women of the Pauline community.

3. Psychological Growth

Psycho-personal (emotional) maturity is also equally important for a meaningful and Gospel based community living of the Pauline Sisters. However, the document, Fraternal Life in Community No 26 points out “the communitarian ideal must not blind us to the fact that every Christian community is built on human frailty… The perfect ideal community does not exist yet.” The community of Pauline Sisters is also made up of human beings who are blend of the perfect and imperfect. VanKaam says that “man is by very nature not only authentic but also unauthentic, not only saintly but also sinful, not only strong but also weak, not only directed toward God and others, but also closed in upon himself.” (Arian Van Kaam, Personality in Religious Life 1967).

Communities cannot avoid all conflict. Nevertheless, implicit in the act of making the profession of vows in a community is a commitment to accept the other members of the community as one’s sisters. For this, psychological growth, especially emotional growth, of the sisters is a must. This growth can contribute to the well-being of the community living of the sisters. It is emotional problem that often disrupt community life. Selfishness, envy, insincerity, lack of openness, lack of genuineness, an inferiority complex and the tendency to use others or to dominate others – these are some of the emotional problems that disturb the peace of the community.

Most of the community conflicts arising out of the community living can be overcome by communication. It is the poverty of communication in the community causes most of the conflicts in the community. The lack of communication usually leads to weakening of fraternity. If we know little or nothing about the lives of our sisters, they will be strangers to us, and the relationship will become anonymous. Most of the time communication takes place around problems and issues of marginal importance but rarely is there any sharing of what is vital and central to the journey of consecration. ( FLC 32).

One of the major means of communication in the community is regular community meeting. The community meeting is meant to be a fraternal sharing of experiences ,evaluations, ideas and plans among the members. This helps the members to understand one another better, to participate in the life and activities of the community more fully, to share in the responsibilities of planning and programming and decision making. To make this happen, the superior of the community needs to be open and sincere, and to share information freely with the members. The success of a community meeting depends on how able and willing the members are to love and trust one another, to share their thoughts honestly and to listen to one another deeply. If the Pauline Sisters fail badly to practice love in the community, how can they claim to be radical followers of Jesus Christ?

Forgiveness is very important in community life. The sisters are weak and sinful human beings and tend to hurt and harm one another. If the sisters do not ask other sisters to forgive other sister, peaceful Pauline community living will only be a dream. Common recreations, common celebrations and common picnics can greatly contribute to good community life. These celebrations need not be very expensive or luxurious. They can be simple. Moreover, the sisters in the community should spend quality time with one another for deepening the interpersonal relationship in the community. And without deep inter personal relationships, the Pauline community living will be shallow.

From what we have discussed above so far we can say that sisters with balanced psycho-personal growth in a Pauline community will have some outstanding characteristics. For the sisters common goal will be important. The sisters will be always at the service of one another. Among the sisters there will be mutual understanding and prayerful support, sharing of responsibility, sharing one another’s joys and sorrows. The sisters should make it visible in their daily attitude, “passage from “me” to “us”, “my commitment” to “commitment of the community”, “my things” to seeking “the things of Christ.”

Conclusion

To conclude this chapter, a religious community is a sign of hope for humankind. Everywhere human relationships are breaking up. Humans wonder if it is possible for them to build true human communities. But if the religious, who are so different in their personalities, in their family and ethnic backgrounds, in their human qualities, in their talents and attitudes, can live together in peace and harmony, and if they can build true communities that care for the welfare of everyone, then this is an assurance that sinful, selfish humans can create communities where there is love, care and concern for each one. Such religious communities are good news for the world. Hence, Pauline community living should be a Good News of Jesus for the world, if the sisters want to be committed followers of Jesus.

The sisters should never compromise on especially the following community acts which strongly manifest and foster oneness of heart and mind in community and also enable psycho-personal growth of the sisters:

● Daily celebration of the Eucharist

● Liturgical prayers

● Spiritual reading (lectio Divina and shared prayers

● Monthly recollection

● Community celebration of the sacrament of reconciliation

● Common meals

●Community meetings (planning, programming, evaluation, etc.)

● Works

● Recreation (which includes watching a film and having a debate, picnic)

● Birthday or feast day celebrations

GENERAL CONCLUSION

Even though the religious life lived as it is today with various forms of uncertainties, we cannot doubt its relevance in the postmodern world. It is the responsibility of each individual consecrated person to make the needed shift in her/his life in order to be an authentic follower of Jesus in the 21st century. We too are involved in the crisis of faith that is experienced by the entire Church.

St. Paul was sensitive to the signs of the time and receptive to the new ideas. As bearers of his thoughts and spirit we have the responsibility to change where change is necessary, adapt where adaption is fitting and innovate where innovation is required.

Therefore to embrace the future with hope and faith, we need to keep alive the interior fire that gives meaning to our life and creative dynamism to our commitment to offer everyone “the charity of the truth”. So, in communion with the whole Church we too hope and put our trust in Jesus our Divine Master who assured us: “Do not be afraid, I am with you till the end of time”. Yes, “we believe and we speak: with bold and prophetic faith, we offer every one, Charity of Truth”. We are founded on faith and with a renewed awareness we start afresh in faith like Fr. Alberione who responded to the inspiration to do something for the people of his time and founded the Pauline family. Like Maestra Thecla who accepted the invitation of Fr. Alberione and collaborated with him for the foundation of the Daughters of St. Paul and the entire Pauline family, and like the first Daughters of St. Paul who accepted the mandate to communicate the good news of the Gospel to the furthest corners of the world .

Therefore the Paulines of the 21^st century are called to live this faith and to communicate the beauty of Pauline vocation rekindled in our daily meeting with the Master and to proclaim the Good News of the kingdom to the people of our time with all the instrument of social communication. We are aware that together with the whole church we too need a perennial Pentecost of “Fire in our hearts, words on our lips and prophecy in our gaze. May the Holy Spirit enlighten and guide us to be faithful to the Charism of our founder so as to reach the new shore, where once again the Lord will make all things new and show us a future with rich hope.

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GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.3.3. Transforming and being transformed into a deeper divine existence

1. Origin of the Pauline Congregation

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1.3.3 . Transforming and being transformed into a deeper divine existence