Exerpt from Community and Growth by Jean Vanier

Gloria is reading this book right now and posted this on facebook. I thought it was lovely, thus I am posting it here.

"Some communities start by serving the poor. When they begin, their members are full of generosity - though sometimes a bit aggressive in respect of the rich - and have a rather utopian ideal. Gradually, they discover the need for prayer and an inner life; they realise that their generosity is being burned up and that they are in danger of becoming a collection of hyperactives who put all their energy into external things.

Other communities start with prayer - like many of the communities of the charismatic renewal. But graduallly they discover the need to serve the poor and to develop real commitment to them. Opening to God in adoration and opening to the poor in welcome and service are the two poles of a community's growth, and signs of its health. And the community itself must grow toward a stronger sense of identity, like a body in which every member can exercise its gift and be recognised for it.

If those communities that started by serving the poor do not discover the deepening of prayer and the bonds of love flowing into celebration, they risk becoming a militant group struggling for justice. If those communities that started with prayer and adoration do not discover the waters of compassion flowing from them upon those in pain, they risk becoming legalistic and sterile.

The three elements of community - prayer, or communion with the Father through and in Jesus, presence and service to the poor, and the consciousness of being bonded in a single body - are always necessary for a community to be healthy and to grow.

Jesus called each apostle into a personal relationship of love with him, then he bonded them together in community and then he sent them out to annouce the good news to the poor.

Communities which start by serving the poor must gradually discover the gifts brought by those they serve. The communities start in generosity; they must grow in the ability to listen. In the end, the most important thing is not to do things for people who are poor and in distress, but to enter into relationship with them, and to be with them and help them find confidence in themselves and discover their own gifts...

The promise of Jesus is to help us discover that the poor are a source of life and not just objects of our charity. If we are close to them we will be renewed in love and in faith."

p. 141-142