Se Hace el Camino en Anda: Community Retreat

JVC requires us to hold 4 retreats each year. The fourth retreat will be Re-O/Dis-O* and will be run by Billy, our Program Co-ordinator. But the other three retreats are completely under our control. We decide when to do them, where to do them, and how to do them. JVC gives us a retreat budget each fiscal year. This past weekend, we held our first retreat.

We focused the retreat around the value of Community. Each JV led a session designed to help us better understand ourselves, each other, and to build connections. I won't tell you about the sessions. What happens on retreat stays on retreat. I will share my reflections.

“He who loves community, destroys community; he who loves the brethren, builds community.”

-Diethrich Bonhoeffer

Erin brought this quote into our conversation about the nature of community. It resonated with me strongly. A community is made of people. If the people are unwell, the community is unwell. A community is a cloth woven of the threads of the relationships of the community members. The pattern is designed by the relationships. Our 5 person intentional JV community is comprised 10 one-on-one relationships, all the permutations of 3 and 4 person relationships, and the all encompassing 5 way relationship. That's a lot of relating. There's a lot going on with only five people. So it's important to remember that at the core, the best thing any of us can do for the community is to actively love the four other community-mates. It's not always an easy task. Just as a pre-existing friendship isn't a guarantee of a good roommate, a pre-existing commitment to the 4 values of JVC, especially that of intentional community, isn't a guarantee of an easy community living situation.

“In the community people care for each other and not just for the community in abstract, as a whole, an an institution or as an ideal way of life. It is people that matter; to love and care for the people that are there, just as they are. It is to care for them in such a way that they may grow according to the plan of God and thus give much life. And it is not just caring in a passing way, but in a permanent way.”

-Jean Vanier Community and Growth: Our Pilgrimage Together

What is true of intentional community is true of all communities. Whether it's your family, your crew, your parish, or your co-workers, community is best when the people care for each other first and the community second.

*Re-Orientation (for 1^st years moving to their 2^nd year) and Dis-Orientation (for 2^nd years moving home) is one simultaneous retreat near the end of the year. If you have questions about it, tough, I haven't done ReO/DisO yet so I don't really know how it goes. Check back in 8 months.

And here's photos from the retreat weekend. Blogger doesn't allow much control over layout, it's primarly designed for text based posts. So please excuse the lack of organization.