Lifestyle - Full Document
“A PEOPLE SET APART”
by Philip J. Zeiter
An Agrarian Lifestyle
Mankind has lived a certain way for about 5,000 years, but in the last 150 years everything has changed. Throughout early history, people lived a predominantly agrarian-based lifestyle where they depended on God and one another for survival. The family needed one another and the neighborhood community thrived in supporting and assisting each other. The extended family was an unbreakable unit that dwelled together, taught each other, and helped one another throughout each stage of life.
In our more recent history, the news was passed by talking together in the town square or church plaza, creating a sense of community. People prayed together, ate together, worked together, and played together. They shared their religion, their prosperity, their struggles, and their joy. People realized the need for one another and shared with each other on a daily basis, thereby establishing bonds of love, bonds of community – bonds of unity.
But today, under the guise of progress, civilization has become uncivilized. Inventions in industry, transportation, and communication have progressed convenience, comfort, and competition, but regressed our sense of community. We went from realizing our dependence on God and one another to thinking that we are self-sufficient and independent. We went from a sense of community to a sense of individualism. This transition has left many souls empty without God, as opposed to a fullness of life with Him. The results of this self-inflicted oppression are staggering statistics of divorce, abortion, and suicide. Individualism has created divorce and death; the break-up of family life resulting in the breakdown of social life. Individualism has broken our unity, thus broken our community.
Our modern-day society promotes individualism through the current lifestyle which sends the entire family away from the house for the majority of the day. The father, and now usually the mother as well, go out to work each day for nine hours or more while the children go out to school. Then team sports or music lessons or some other individual activity occupy the better part of the afternoon and early evening so that dinner is left to a whim, and the family has yet to spend any quality time together. The individual has dominated the day. The children (and sometimes the parents as well) are so consumed by their own activities that no one has considered what’s best for another, let alone making the time to serve each other.
What happened to the days when the family would read together in the evening? And why don’t families share meals together? A recent magazine article entitled, “How to stay together as a family,” listed ten ideas. The first one stated, “Eat dinner together at least once a week.” Is that how far we’ve gone? Is that how individualistic we’ve become? …at least once a week? How about every day! And what about breakfast and lunch? The modern-day family average for being all together in the family home, at the same time, is only one hour each day (outside of sleeping time). That’s why we have a sixty percent divorce rate, and that’s why suicide is now the teenagers’ number one cause of death.
Modern technology is a gift from God to give us more time to spend with Him in prayer and with each other in loving service and recreation. However, this technology appears to be working against our unity because while we save some time, we right-away fill it with individual activities rather than communal ones. For example, automobiles, cellular phones and the internet save us an incredible amount of time. But where is it? Somehow, the time we save becomes occupied by doing more rather than being more.
Unfortunately, the cravings of doing more lead to needing more money, so we work more. Then, we eat out more and buy more things, so we work more again to pay for these extras. Then, we get so consumed by the extras that we forget the simple pleasures of life that God intended for us: like a quiet walk with our spouse, or noticing funny little actions of our children, or drinking a cold glass of lemonade on a hot summer day. Where have all the good times gone? When our individual schedules replace our family schedule, busyness replaces goodness.
Yet God invites us to live in His goodness – a unity of life in a community of love, resulting in peace and joy. So let us explore the attributes of our ancestor’s agrarian-based lifestyle to rediscover the advantages it contains in addition to creating unity within the community.
A small family farm reduces the cost of living to help a family work less outside the home. Combining a small farming operation with home schooling and at-home entertainment reduces costs even more. Then, because the family members tend to be at home more often, there is less pressure to buy more stuff or nicer things (because, well; they do). So now mom doesn’t have to work and dad can get home early. So up goes quality time with the family members, and up goes the quality of life for the entire family.
Now there is more work at home rather than more work outside the home. So now we need family work time rather than more individual time. Now we need each other, and that’s a good thing. We need each other to share in the work. We need each other’s prayers. We need to eat, and it’s more enjoyable to eat together. We need recreation so we play together. And we need to rest, and nothing could be better than resting in our own home. So with working, praying, eating, playing, and resting, we now have the five essential components of unity and the time to enjoy them together – to enjoy each other forever.
For a single family, establishing and maintaining a small farm, home schooling the children, and providing for the basic needs of each family member can be a daunting task. It’s a lot of work. That’s why our ancestors didn’t usually do it alone – they had their extended family. God gave us the gift of family for a reason. He gave us each other to help one another with the work, and in so doing to support each other in prayer and other activities. And God knows that certain tensions will occur between people who spend so much time together. And He knows that as we work through these “issues” together, we become more unified with one another.
Resolving conflicts requires extraordinary humility, patience, and forgiveness. And building relationships requires honesty, trust, respect and perseverance. All these virtues come from God and lead us to God. Thus, while growing in unity with one another, we grow in union with God. And as we become more like God, we supernaturally bond with one another in Christ.
It is this spiritual bond that makes our family in Christ. “For we were all baptized with one spirit into one body [the body of Christ]. (I Corinthians 12:12) So developing and maintaining a small family farm together in an extended family or “clan” setting does not necessarily mean a blood-related family. But whether blood-related or not, it does necessarily mean a family in Christ, for without extraordinary virtue, a small family or an extended family community cannot survive. So without Christ in the center, all will be for not. Actually, without Christ in the center, all will not even be, for Christ is all things to all people, “Through whom all things are and through whom we exist.” (I Corinthians 8:6)
The small family farm fosters common goals and generates opportunities to work together as a family to achieve those goals. This of course promotes unity between the family members (and extended family members), spiritually connecting them to one another and to God. The small family farm also brings many physical and psychological advantages to the family. It yields good tasting, healthy food, while connecting us back to the earth, back to Creation – back to Christ. “The Lord God then took the man and settled him in the Garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it.” (Genesis 2:15)
It is important for us to be connected to the earth. We derive a portion of fulfillment through this connection for we were made from it. “The Lord God formed man out of the clay of the ground.” (Genesis 2:7) There is a certain wholeness we receive from working in the ground. It is part of a wholesome life. By connecting back to Creation we connect to our Creator, who generates in us a certain peace, a certain fulfillment, an indescribable satisfaction – a wholeness. “My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him.” (Psalm 62:1)
Maintaining a small farm is hard work. “By the sweat of your brow shall you get bread to eat.” (Genesis 3:19) But God, in His infinite mercy, gives us a certain satisfaction through the human accomplishments resulting from our work. So He didn’t give us work as a punishment, but He provided work as a gift for us. A God-given satisfaction occurs when we reap what we have sown for we receive a wonderful peace while resting after a hard day’s work. And we receive an additional reward as we enjoy eating the fruits of our labor, for there is no greater satisfaction than eating a wholesome meal that was cultivated, planted, nurtured, and harvested with one’s own ingenuity and effort.
God also gives us this work for physical exercise, to strengthen our bodies and to nourish them. Food was meant to be the complete source of our nutrition, as opposed to commercially grown foods, which are generally rich in pesticides and poor in nutrition. With homegrown food there is no need to supplement our diet with vitamins because the food itself is packed with them, as God originally intended.
Homegrown food bursts with flavor. And after working so hard to get it, the wonderful taste and the wholesome satisfaction of growing it ourselves elevates us in thanksgiving for the generosity of God. “The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with Joy.” (Psalm 126:3)
A Christocentric Lifestyle
To live a truly Christian life, Christ must be at the center. For Christ to live in the center of our life, our schedule must be set first by prayer, with all other activities accommodating our prayer times as opposed to the other way around.
Even as good people, in today’s society we have become accustomed to setting our schedule by worldly activities, while praying only on occasion and sometimes only from necessity. Our existing social order doesn’t allow prayer to dictate our schedule. It actually demotes prayer. For example, in any big city, a person who stops to pray in public would receive disdainful looks and negative comments. Our existing social conditions also generate moral dilemmas because most daily social events are based on bodily pleasure rather than the teachings of Christ.
Society at large is moving in the direction of further impurity and further selfishness. What used to be censored from television and considered immodest behavior is now common activity – with full exposure to the youth. The proud mottoes of our times are “Look out for number one.” “What’s in it for me?” “If it feels good, do it.” These sayings are repeated by a vast majority of people in word and action. They completely undermine the teachings of Christ that describe why we must be humble and generous. “Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:4). “Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Luke 6:38).
Another irreconcilable problem is the decline of our educational system with respect to amoral teaching and exposure to evil. Teaching of God has been long since removed and replaced with sex education. Exposure to sex now begins at young ages and children no longer maintain their innocence. The classroom instructions usually insinuate: “When you have sex you should…” Teenage instructions about alcohol start the same way: “When you get drunk you should…”
The assumption of sex and drunkenness is planted in youngster’s minds, and once combined with peer pressure leaves almost no chance of evasion from evil. Even if a child escapes these temptations, much harm has already been done from the exposure of impurities. “The eye is the window to the soul.” (Expression from Matthew 6:22-23)
Our family homes are now constantly bombarded with sinful messages and temptations through the television, internet, newspaper, and even the mail. The television programs of today promote a pleasure-centered life rather than a Christ-centered life. The internet is full of icons and advertisements that promote sex and sin. The newspapers continue to highlight the evils that occur in the world, and our mail is full of advertising magazines which insinuate that happiness is to be found in acquiring more material things or fancier clothes. “I consider it all rubbish, that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:8).
The message of the world, which is basically the message of Satan, desperately tries to attract us to vanity and vice. People of the world make a lot of money by selling products that others “have to have” in order to feel special or to “keep up with the Jones’.” They say that if you look good you “feel” good. Then you can be liked – you’ll feel “special.” This whole message tries to undermine the God-given dignity that we already have through our Baptism. We already are special, for we are children of God. “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God” (Romans 8:14).
We are princes and princesses living in the King’s castle, enjoying the love of His court. Yet by exploiting our weakness, the world attempts to draw us into corruption, and under the guise of happiness, it usurps the interior joy that we already possess – a joy that far exceeds any external pleasure. In this process, modern society rips away the beautiful innocence of our youth. Children who grow up in a “normal” social environment in today’s world are desensitized and no longer have a chance to remain pure. “Avoid immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the immoral person sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you?” (1 Corinthians 6:18-19).
Therefore, in order to live the fullness of life, thereby enjoying the fullness of peace while creating the opportunity to share peace with others – a new environment must be made.
Internal Environment
We bring peace into the world by establishing peace in our own life first. Once we have peace in our hearts, we can then offer it to our families, then to our neighbors, then to our parish, and then to the world. For peace to reign in the world, it must begin in ourselves. In order to achieve peace we start with prayer because peace comes from God, and we receive all good things from God through prayer. “Ask and you shall receive; seek and you shall find; knock and the door will be opened unto you” (Matthew 7:7).
The more we converse with God, the more we become like Him. As we transform into likeness with God we become closer to union with Him. The closer we grow in union with God, the deeper our peace becomes. And the deeper our peace becomes, the more peace we have to share with others. “My soul finds rest in God alone, my salvation comes from Him” (Psalm 62:1).
External Environment
Living in peace means living in God. To more effectively live in God we need support from each other, and to receive full support from each other we need to be united in the Holy Spirit. To enjoy unity in the Holy Spirit we need surrounding conditions that are conducive to love. Surrounding conditions that are conducive to love are those that are conducive to prayer. “For with man it is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God” (Mark 10:27).
Faith leads to prayer, prayer leads to love, love leads to service, service leads to unity, and unity generates peace. We grow in union with God as we serve God by serving each other. Our desire to serve comes from love born of God, which we receive by praying to Him. Our prayer results from hope in God as established in us from faith. Thus faith begets prayer, which begets love, which begets service, which begets unity and peace.
The fullness of life is Christ’s loving peace, which He offers to us now to enjoy forever. We can enjoy peace now by living the Gospel, the living Word of God. “I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace” (John 16:33). But the Gospel is hard to live because of our selfishness and pride. “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 10:39). To find true joy we must overcome our selfish tendencies and our proud ways. In order to overcome ourselves to enjoy peaceful union with God, we need help from God and we need support from each other. We receive God’s help through prayer and we receive each other’s support through love.
We give each other love through service and we serve each other through community. Thus, community with each other leads to union with God. So the fullness of life is found in sharing God’s love with each other in community. Upon and through this service we receive the fruit of our love which is peace in Christ.
The more we grow in love, the more we grow in union with the Spirit. The fullness of life, that is the fullness of peace, is generated from our unity. The more we grow in union with God, the more we grow in unity with each other. The more we grow in unity with each other, the more we grow in union with God. And the more we grow in union with God, the more peaceful and joyful we become.
So in community life we strive for unity with each other, which leads to union with God. The more like-minded we become, the more peaceful and joyful we become. The closer we grow in mind, body, and soul; the closer we grow in unity. Thus, we need to spend time with each other throughout all facets of life so that we can establish common traits in mind (beliefs), body (events), and soul (prayer).
A Family Lifestyle
The fullness of life is found in the praise and honor of our Creator and Provider. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your Mind” (Matthew 22:37). The way Christ teaches us to praise and honor the Father is to honor one another. “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39). In order to fully praise God by loving one another in God, we need to be united with Him. It is through this union with God that we receive His love to share with one another, “For love comes from God” (I John 4:7).
Union with God is called sanctity, and in our sanctification we receive the fullness of Christ’s peace and joy – the fullness of life. Indeed, our ultimate joy occurs when we are fully sanctified. But God, in His infinite goodness and mercy allows us a taste of Christ’s peace and joy in this life, during the process of our sanctification. This process of our sanctification occurs through our relationship with Christ, and through our relationships with one another in Christ. So God gives us the gift of relationships with each other, that through interacting with one another we may grow in sanctity, thereby fulfilling God’s will for us – the fullness of life on earth leading up to the fullness of life in Heaven. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
God did not create us all in one age group because, as in all things, He provides a wondrous variety. So He gives us the gift of relationships in a vast array of colors, shapes, sizes, personalities, vocations – and ages. He gives us each other in several generations so that we may learn from, counsel to, share with, entertain, and enjoy one another in a vibrant social setting. We are indeed social beings for God made us dependent on one another throughout all ages of our life on earth.
From the moment we are born we need our mother’s nursing and nurturing, our father’s protection and provisions, our sibling’s playfulness and laughter, and our grandparent’s thoughtfulness and attention. As we grow into childhood, we continue to need these gifts from our immediate family. Our parents teach us about all the fascinating elements of creation as everything we discover is a new wonder of which we inquire: “How is it daddy?” “What is it mommy?” “How far?” “Where to?” “Why, why, why?” And each new day brings numerous spiritual questions and answers where our selfless parents teach us, counsel us and form us into the little beings of love that we are each created to be. We start off knowing nothing. Every little thing needs to be patiently and carefully instructed and lived by our parents so that we may learn from their experience and example.
Also, parents learn from their children and mature in their faith by serving them, for otherwise adults could easily become the center of their own universe, lost in their own ego. But children have a way of drawing us out of ourselves, in fact, forcing us out of ourselves because of their “immediate” demands and constant needs. Divine Wisdom wills the gift of parenthood for those in the married vocation, where somewhat selfish beings may transform. Out of necessity, parents become selfless people who display self-denial and self-donative love on a daily, hourly, moment-by-moment basis. They can then witness the selfless love of Christ to all those around them while engaging in their own sanctification.
Throughout these child-rearing years, the parents and children form permanent bonds of love based on mutual rapport with each other, grounded in the love of Christ. These properly formed relationships give the children the necessary foundation to establish proper relationships with others in the future. They also prepare each individual to receive a proper psychological understanding of their own personal relationship with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. For the relationship a child develops with his father becomes the basis for understanding his or her relationship with God the Father.
Throughout childhood and adolescence, the relationships formed with our grandparents are also necessary because of the tenderness and wisdom they provide. Grandparents also give stability, dependability and counsel when teenagers pass through those difficult years of growing into young adulthood. Physical, psychological, and emotional metamorphosis happen through chemical changes in a young person’s body when maturing from childhood to adulthood. This necessary change occurs to bring the child from complete dependence on his or her parents to independence from them. It then gives way to their future relationship, which will be a healthy inter-dependence. The parents and the young adult go through this difficult transition together, which can be greatly assisted or stabilized through reserved, yet interactive grandparents.
God gives us the gift of family in several generations because he knows that in order to live the fullness of life we need all of them, not just one or two. For when our well-adjusted, young adults come of age, they now marry and have children of their own. And the first thing they discover is… “Wow, this is hard.” And as they struggle with sleepless nights, manage the affairs of the household, and work long hours for food, clothes, and shelter, just to barely “make it” – the first and most important thing that suffers is their personal prayer life, and with it their own personal relationship. But God knew this could happen, so He didn’t intend for this new family to be alone. He gave these parents and children the wonderful and necessary gift of grandparents.
Now certainly, the parents need them to assist with the children and the housework, and sometimes with the household income as well. And, just as certain, the children need the grandparents. Also, the grandparents need the parents and children at least as much, for they need to be needed. Their vitality can increase with age as opposed to decrease when they remain an active and necessary part of the social order.
Then, as grandparents become great-grandparents, they are needed again by the entire family for their wisdom, and also for their dependence. And this may be their greatest gift to the rest of the family – their need to be taken care of. Just as the parents need the children to draw them out of self-centeredness, now the whole family has an opportunity for care giving. Charity starts at home and this is the ultimate charity – to nurse and care for the aged through all of their physical pains, mental deterioration, and emotional turmoil. “Honor your father and your mother” (Exodus 20:12).
Each member of each generation fulfills a particular need within the social order while assisting everyone in the process of sanctification. Thus, God gives us the gift of each other in several generations, that in developing inter-dependent relationships with one another, we may assist each other in the work of our salvation. We can then receive what Christ calls the “fullness of life” on earth, while insuring the fullness of His joy in heaven. “For I have come that you may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).
An Extended Family Lifestyle
Modern society segregates age groups and our culture today does not promote a common property for the extended family. The extended family used to remain together as a “clan” because that was necessary for survival. In our modern affluent countries, however, most people are far beyond basic survival necessities. Most people don’t live next door to extended family members because they don’t need to – or at least they don’t think they need to.
Most people are now concerned with sensual pleasure and monetary success. Making more money, buying better cars and winning the game have replaced merely surviving and getting to heaven. With this relatively new phenomenon, society now promotes the individual rather than the community. This modern “individual”, being predominately moved by what makes “me” happy no longer needs the extended family. For some people, extended family only represents an unnecessary obligation, as opposed to a necessary advantage for survival. So day care and rest homes are in, and inter-dependence with children and grandparents are out. Divorce and suicide are up, and the fullness of life has become the emptiness of self.
Catholic Family Homesteads restore the gift of the extended family by housing a variety of age groups on a common property. Children can once again visit with grandparents on a daily basis, parents can receive help from grandparents, and the elderly can be cared for by children. And on and on go the interactions and up and up goes the quality of life. And even though each person is not necessarily blood-related to all the others, they are all one big happy family in Christ. “For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother” (Mark 3:35).
A Full Lifestyle
The fullness of life is found only in Christ for He is the Author of it, the Word Himself. “For I have come that you may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). To live in the “Fullness” of life we must live in Christ; not just with Him, but in Him. “Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You, may they also be in Us” (John 17:20). Then, while living in the fullness of life we may receive the fullness of joy. “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete” (John 15:11).
So why don’t we all live in Christ right now, and enjoy the fullness of life all the time? Because living in Christ means living the Gospel, and living the Gospel is difficult because of the effects of original sin. Prior to original sin our soul was properly ordered and our spiritual faculties were strong enough to control our physical senses. Our senses of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching are gifts from God. They are given to us so that while enjoying their good effects, our conscience will be elevated to God in appreciation and gratitude for the beauty of the physical world. These physical senses once remained in the control of our spiritual faculties, thus being an ever-present reminder of the glory of God, continually elevating our hearts to Him in awe and wonder, keeping us constantly grateful for his infinite generosity.
The controlling spiritual faculties are even greater gifts of God, constituting the higher part of our soul: our memory, our intellect, and our will. The fullness of life is found in these faculties because through them we become one in Christ. Our memory serves to keep us constantly aware of God’s loving presence within us. Our intellect, through unobstructed logic and divine wisdom, always discovers our Highest Good. And our will ever seeks the most righteous path in pursuit of union with our Creator.
These spiritual faculties are powerful, and when they operate to their full potential they control our physical senses, keeping our soul in perfect order, thus guiding everything toward God in a continuous act of thanksgiving. We then maintain a constant appreciation of God, born from our gratitude of his existence, goodness, truth, and beauty. In this proper order we live in Christ, and everything becomes ordered through Him and to Him as is proper in His sight. Everything means every seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and touching; everything that moves or has its being in the universe; everything that we perceive or think or hypothesize; and everything that is beyond our perception having its being first in God, existing only because of Him and being maintained by Him because of His continual thought of it. Everything is all properly ordered to God as a great symphony playing in one accord in harmony with Him, while enthusiastically praising the Glory of His name. A multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and peace to His people on earth” (Luke 2:13-14).
This is the fullness of life, and the only suitable use of our existence – to glorify the One who deserves to be glorified. For Holy is His name – Holy is His name!!!
How do we glorify God? By believing in the One He sent and listening to Him. “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased, listen to Him” (Matthew17:5). What does He say? “Be perfect, just as your Heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). How do I become perfect? “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34). How do I follow Him? “The Son of man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:42). How do I serve? “Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). How do I love? “Do to others whatever you would have them do to you” (Matthew 7:12).
But through the negative effects of original sin, I can’t do that. I am no longer properly ordered. My flesh is stronger than my spirit. I am prideful and possessive. I like things; I want things. How can I live this Gospel? “For man it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God” (Mark 10:27). “Everything is possible for him who believes” (Mark 9:23).
Jesus knows about the effects of original sin. He knows of our weakness, so He gives us many gifts to bring us to Himself. First, He gives us Himself in the Holy Eucharist. “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world” (John 6:51). Next, He gives us the Holy Spirit. “The advocate, the Holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name – He will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you” (John 14:26). Then, He gives us His own Holy Mother. “When Jesus saw His mother there, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, ‘Dear woman, here is your son,’ and to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother” (John 19:26). He then gives us the Holy Catholic Church, which maintains for us the Sacraments, the great Deposit of Faith, and each other. It is this gift of each other that is so undervalued, yet remains necessary for the fullness of life.
A Community Lifestyle
We are each a gift from God to one another to help each other grow in holiness and get to heaven. Some people can set a good example while others can directly teach. But regardless of our own particular talents, we are all called to serve in our community as the principle means of our salvation. “For Christ came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:42).
There are several types of communities, some secular and some religious. Secular communities do not maintain heaven as their primary goal, so they are not our focus here. But religious communities are intended to form ordinary individuals into holy saints, and through this sanctity to raise the secular community in holiness. As yeast leavens bread, the religious priests, sisters and laity are called to leaven the temporal order. “Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). Yet no person is able to carry out an effective apostolate without the prayer and support of other people. God gave us each other for this support, which is organized and fortified in community life.
Of the many religious communities existing today, the most broad-scoped order is our regional parish. The Catholic Parish Community provides each individual with religious education and formation, the Sacraments, communal prayer, and social interaction. In parish life there are many opportunities to pray together, work together, eat together, and play together, thus growing in unity with one another while supporting each other in the common faith.
When the Holy Spirit moves an individual or family to develop personal sanctity to a higher degree, God sometimes provides an additional religious community that can further support spiritual growth while complimenting and assisting the work of the parish. This additional community can be an official religious order like the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (S.O.L.T), or the Franciscans, Carmelites or Dominicans, or a lay association approved by the diocese. Such a community seeks to provide an organized way of gathering to pray together, work together, eat together, and even play together to develop unity with one another, thereby supporting and strengthening each other in faith. Through these organizations, people assist each other with spiritual formation while serving in God’s plan of salvation for all mankind.
Some people are moved to yet one more step to insure holiness for themselves and for their families. This way of salvation comes through a “Catholic Family Homestead,” which consists of people who desire to live together in a planned neighborhood established to foster the sanctity of its members and visitors. A common understanding binds the members through a common formation, a common spirituality, a common way of life, a common apostolate, and a common area of land. This commonality allows a greater potential for unity with one another because of the member’s proximity to each other. More opportunities exist (and are in fact built-in to the way of life) to pray together, work together, eat together, play together, and rest together.
Each individual, while growing in holiness, can bring knowledge and example into the parish community to serve and share in the parish while receiving from it as well. Members of a Catholic Family Homestead bring fruit into the parish while simultaneously receiving fruit from the parish, thus stimulating faith and fellowship in each community, supporting one another while thriving because of each other.
A Catholic Family Homestead maintains the opportunity to evolve into the fullness of community life, which we call an “Ecclesial Family Homestead.” Upon approval of this homestead’s members, the pastor of its domicile, and the local bishop, this type of homestead can house the presence of Christ in an Oratory. Then daily Mass and daily exposition of the Blessed Sacrament become available to all members of the homestead in the Oratory during the week. Sunday Mass is attended at the local parish by all members of the homestead, including any priests, sisters or other religious and laity that live in this neighborhood. Also celebrated at the parish location are all Sacramental Rites of Initiation, Marriages, and Holy Days of Obligation. It is critically important that all members of an Ecclesial Family Homestead participate in the life of the parish, and that measures are taken to avoid an “elitist” attitude of the homestead community or any of its members. The intent of all members of the Ecclesial Family Homestead must be to serve and minister to the parish while being served and ministered to by the parish as well.
Thus, an Ecclesial Family Homestead community is a group of Catholic laity, priests, and/or sisters who desire to live in Christ’s peace and to share it with others. The members are divinely inspired to live as neighbors to spend time in all facets of life together, to grow in union with Christ by growing in unity with each other. In so doing, they discover the “Fullness of Life” as brought to us by Jesus, to be experienced through the fulfillment of God’s particular will for each one of us. The Ecclesial Family Homestead offers “A Way of Salvation” for those called to it by God – it is a calling. And those who are called to an Ecclesial Family Homestead will find in it their surest means to sanctity and their greatest joy, for it will be for them… “The Fullness of Life.”
A Multi-Vocational Lifestyle
We are all a gift to one another and as such, God made us all unique. As no two snowflakes are alike, so no two persons are the same. We are all made in the image and likeness of God, equal in His sight, but that does not make us all the same. Actually, we are all made differently (each with various gifts) in order to complement each other, to complete one another in Christ.
We are all created with unique genetic traits, developmental experiences, and personality temperaments. We are also uniquely called by God, in a personal way, to serve Him by serving each other through a particular vocation. God knows our highest good, which is Himself. He also knows the most expedient way for us to arrive at Himself, which is simultaneously the way which will give us the most joy on earth, leading into the deepest intimacy with Him in Heaven. “In my Father’s house are many rooms” (John 14:2).
The Father calls us all to Himself through Jesus. “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day” (John 6:44). The English word we use to describe this “call” is vocation, which is not to be confused with career. There are many possible careers, which do not necessarily lead us to God. But there are only a few vocations and each of them, when discerned properly, do necessarily lead us to union with God, and in and through God they lead us to unity with each other.
A true vocation leads one to union with others in God because He established an inter-dependence among them. The priests, religious, and laity all need one another and spiritually thrive when connected together throughout life’s daily activities, including praying together, working together, eating together, playing together and ministering to others – together.
Each of us within our respective vocations need one another. The priests need to live out their calling to serve others. Without the other vocations, the priests would not be able to fulfill their God-given desire to serve, thus leaving a void in their soul. Likewise, the other religious and laity would not be able to survive without the leadership, instruction, and Sacraments issued to them by the priests. Also, the religious monks, brothers, and sisters are needed by the priests and the laity for their prayers, fellowship and service. And everyone needs the children within family life because everyone needs a sense of family. Also, everyone needs to be brought out of themselves, which most fully occurs through the innocent demands of children.
When God calls a particular person to a particular vocation, He instills in that person a corresponding desire for the ideals of a life within that vocation. Along that person’s physical and spiritual journey, a pleasant unfolding of God’s will takes place through an undulating series of peaceful inner movements (desires) which are prompted by God. These divine nudges gently lead the person to actions which fulfill those desires wrought by God. Each new or re-occurring fulfillment graces the person with a certain inner-satisfaction which generates peace – not the peace of a worldly accomplishment but a peace born of God. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you.” (John 14:27).
One enjoys this divine peace as he or she serves another in response to the promptings of God’s Holy Will. This service to one another accomplishes all things in Christ. It accomplishes the benefit that the receiver needs while generating a peace and joy in the giver. This pro-active human response to the Divine Will assists God in the work of salvation for all those directly involved, and all those indirectly involved (which constitutes the entire body of the Church). “For we were all baptized with one Spirit into one body” (I Corinthians 12:12).
This inter-dependence of each vocation is designed by God for the proper formation and sanctification of everyone. For example, an ordained priest has responded to God’s call as manifested in him through his unique genetic traits, developmental experiences and personality temperament; coupled with certain God-given desires to either lead others, teach others, minister to others, provide for others, or organize others (or all of the above).
This priest, over time, receives from God a strong desire in his soul which cannot be denied. He thirsts for its fulfillment and cannot rest until it is accomplished. And when it is accomplished it gives way to the next sequential part of God’s plan in his life. God’s movements in this priest’s soul are so gentle, yet so continuous and so demanding that to not act toward their fulfillment would generate a constant frustration. Yes indeed, our dear priest needs the religious and laity to serve, and it could be argued that he needs them even more than they need him; which of course is a mutual need instigated by God for the sanctification and salvation of all.
Serving other religious and the laity not only leads the recipients to God, but is in fact the necessary means of salvation for the priest himself. His self-denial, which allows him to serve others, generates a wonderful peace within him, which in turn radiates a heavenly joy captivating all who are graced with his service. Then, this beautiful priest receives the gifts reserved for all those fortunate friends of Christ: “Those who give up family or friends, or fields for me and the gospel shall not fail to receive one hundred times as much in this life, and in the end – eternal life” (Mark 10:29-30).
In like manner, a religious monk, brother, or sister receives a divine initiative from our Creator. The call to serve God by serving others grows, over time, to a point of complete necessity. Then, their response to such a Christocentric life requires the aid and direction of competent priests to minister the Sacraments to them, to guide them in their spiritual journeys, and to befriend them in the brotherhood of Christ.
Married and single lay persons are likewise inter-dependent within the ecclesial body of Christ. They receive an equally special vocation, equally requiring the Sacraments and spiritual direction, for we are all called to be saints. “Becoming a saint is not the extraordinary privilege of a few but the ordinary responsibility of each one of us” (Saint Theresa of Calcutta).
The key to sanctity is found in our loving service to one another. “For the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve” (Mark 10:42). And this service is not intended to be happenstance, but according to a specific plan for each of us, designed by God in harmony with His master plan for the salvation of all of us. This same service is made necessary by our inter-dependence of one another within our God-given vocations. And through this service we receive the peace and joy of Christ which constitutes the “fullness of life.”
An Ecclesial Lifestyle
Ecclesial Family Homesteads promote interaction between priests, religious and laity by maintaining a ‘Way of Life’ specifically designed to do so. The members of each vocation spend time together praying, working, dining and playing. They also serve a common apostolate together to support one another in ministry and to witness the “full” body of Christ. This has proven to be an extremely effective way to minister both spiritual and corporal works of mercy, while developing unity of the members, leading to union with God.
Ecclesial Family Homesteads also foster interaction between vocations because of their housing proximity to one another. Each vocation maintains its autonomy and privacy through separated housing facilities, distanced by land and landscaping. Yet each receives the advantage of healthy interactions without having to drive across town to get them. This proximity makes sharing meals together, working together, and playing together a normal reality. It enables members of each vocation to not only attend Mass together, but also to say the rosary, chaplets or other prayers together as often as desired or needed.
The priest(s) have built-in families, and the families have built-in priests. The other religious are likewise blessed with the immediate availability and friendship of those who God gave them to serve, and those He gave to serve them. By serving one another through frequent interaction, all members grow in holiness while supporting each other in a common apostolate. The individual members, small groups of members, or the whole community can share their time, talents, and treasures with the greater parish community. The parish community likewise shares with the Ecclesial Family Homestead community so that all pray, work, and play together for the glory of God and the salvation of all.
An Apostolic Lifestyle
The “Great Commission” extends to each one of us: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). To proclaim the gospel we need to live the gospel, and to live the gospel we need one another for prayer and support. For when Jesus sent out the apostles for the first time, He did not send them out alone. “He summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two” (Mark 6:7).
We are all called to share our faith, which is not so much a requirement from God, but a necessary expression of the love we receive from Him, for goodness seeks to give itself. And when we are blessed with the overwhelming peace and joy of God, we cannot help but desire to share it with others. “I will praise You, O Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of your wonders” (Psalm 9:1-2).
This expression of our love for God emanates from us in loving service first toward our immediate family, then toward our extended family, then to our parish family, then to our diocesan family, and from there to the world. Charity starts at home. And our parish community is an extension of our home, for it houses our brothers and sisters in Christ. As Jesus sent out the apostles two thousand years ago, He sends us out today. “Do not go into pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town. Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” (Matthew 10:5). In other words, first work within the body of the faithful – of your own faith.
It is our responsibility to seek out the Apostolic Plan of our own parish and to participate in it according to our abilities. As good stewards of the gifts that God has entrusted to us, we share our time, talents, and treasures with our parish. And we share according to the inner promptings of God, in obedience to our pastor and the hierarchy of leadership within the parish community.
As a Catholic Family Homestead community, we serve first in our immediate family and immediate community. We then bring peace and joy to our parish community to give to it and receive from it. We serve in the ongoing parish ministries to leaven the bread of Christ. And we participate in the parish ministries to be leavened by them. “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was leavened” (Matthew 13:33).
After satisfying the parish apostolate, we strive to serve within the greater diocese. We desire to bring as many hearts as possible to the heart of Christ, for as we were freely given, we desire to freely give. The fire of God’s love burns so hot within us that we cannot help but desire to ignite the whole world. “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!” (Luke 12:49).
So we desire to “go out and bear fruit that will remain” (John 15:16). But in witnessing the faith outside, in modern-day society in the modern-day world, the fruit doesn’t seem to last. This is still a very important witness to live and we must do so. And it does bear some fruit, but it is not enough. For as Jesus said, “I thirst [for souls],” (John 19:28) so too we thirst, for we can hardly contain the joy manifest in us by the love and generosity of God – a love that upon drinking from the font of prayer wells up in us like a “spring of living water” (John 7:38).
This river of life bursts open our hearts like the blood and water of Christ that pours forth, distributing to wanton souls the peace and joy it contains. So then, rather than bringing Christ’s love to people only outside of the community’s physical premises, we also invite people in. For when people remain in their everyday element and are consumed by their everyday affairs, it’s difficult and rare for them to experience the fullness of the love of Christ. But everyone can experience this love when properly disposed to receive it. So we aspire to create a quiet, peaceful environment. Then, when immersed in the beauty of God’s Creation, visitors can quiet themselves in prayer to become properly disposed to encounter God – to experience the peace and joy of His goodness. “You fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasure at your right hand” (Psalm 16:11).
Then through hospitality, prayer, formation, and service, conversions may occur in a lasting way. Our objective is to help visitors encounter God in a profound way, to be moved at the core of their souls – to be changed forever. And if movements occur frequently throughout the visit, a full transformation may begin. A process of “re-inculturation” may then proceed to form a new baptism of love, to replace any mal-formation from the culture of death. “No one can see the kingdom of God without being born [again] from water and spirit” (John 3:5).
Hospitality helps visitors relax. Gentle kindness always relieves tension, calming visitors by detaching them from the problems or pressures of their current worldly activities. A simple, warm greeting welcomes visitors into a new realm of peace and tranquility where a quiet, natural surrounding generates an environment that is conducive to prayer. Everything must be arranged to help the visitor find quietude, for there they will find God. “When you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret” (Matthew 6:6).
A place of natural beauty is also important to bring visitors back to their roots; all the way back to creation. Nature exposes the grandeur of God, removing us from a world of our own making while bringing us into the realm of God. Nature helps us realize the insignificance of our daily problems by contrasting them against the magnificence of God. “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!” (Psalm 8:9).
As the hours pass, the visitors make progress in quietude, thus progressing in recollection, thus progressing in prayer. At first, even though the visitors experience quiet outside, there is still noise inside from the cares and demands of worldly thoughts. But over time, while being immersed in God’s Creation, one’s interior becomes quiet. Then one can enter into the inner room of their soul, now recollected, and now properly disposed to encounter God in prayer.
All visitors are invited to participate in the daily prayer routine of the community, as enjoyed by its members. Throughout their visit, guests are exposed to several community members who live a Christ-centered life of prayer, work, and service. And all guests are encouraged to join the families in their daily activities because watching the community members serve one another becomes the primary retreat experience. Proper formation leads us to serve one another as Christ served us. “I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do” (John 13:15). But mal-formation has taught us to serve ourselves. So community members need to witness living examples of service so that visitors may see the peace and joy of those who serve, thus increasing their desire to serve like Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.
Instruction forms the soul by informing the mind about the Truth. Precepts of the truth flow from the mind to the heart to help visitors learn more about themselves, while learning more about God. Wonderful discoveries of the mind then move the heart to love God more, which then moves the body to better serve Him. Visitors can receive spiritual direction on an individual basis through a casual conversation or a formal appointment. And during an organized retreat, visitors will receive instruction through conferences and group discussions. Then, through mental processing and prayer, this instruction to the mind can form the soul.
The Catholic Family Homestead members desire to serve the diocese by inviting people to visit informally, or within a formal retreat. And by extending the four pillars of stewardship: hospitality, prayer, formation, and service, the members desire to help each visitor experience a transforming encounter with God. This begins by allowing all visitors to experience the quiet. For quiet leads to prayer, and prayer leads to love, and love leads to service, and service leads to unity. And unity generates peace and joy. “I have given them the glory You gave Me, so that they may be one as We are One” (John 17:22). “I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace” (John 16:33). “…so that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete” (John 15:11).
Summary
Life on a Catholic Family Homestead is
“A way of Salvation” for those who desire
To live in peace and to share it with others…
And for those who are called to it by God,
It will contain for them…
The fullness of life!
For it will be for them the surest means of sanctity and their greatest joy.
“You have made known to me the path of life; You fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand” (Psalm 16:11).