I belong to a small christian community that is attached to the local parish. We meet weekly to share the gospel of that week. We talk about events that are happening in the life of the parish, about how we can participate as members of the small christian community. At a recent meeting we were discussing plans for the feast day of our patron saint. Jobs were being assigned, a location for the celebration confirmed. Sandra and I were assigned to bring chickens, as were others. The business completed, the snack served I was about to take Sandra and myself home when a member of the group came to me. I recognized her as a employee of the friary. She said to me “I have no money; you buy my chicken”. Full of the gospel and brotherly love I said ok without thinking. Immediately I was sorry I had done this, as I remembered our training at Franciscan Mission Service. How, they had tried to teach us how not to be seen as a source of money or to be used by others because of our perceived personal power. I bought an extra chicken and gave it in her name. I am waiting for the other shoe to drop so to speak. That other request would be coming. This has not materialized thank God.
As part of the small christian community there are a number of financial obligations and non-financial obligations placed on the members. The most common of these are membership dues and work days around the parish and its property. At a meeting about a month ago there was a discussion that the men of the parish were not fulfilling their role as leaders in the parish. Two examples were given. In a special collection on Sundays, the women in the parish were contributing more then the men, almost twice as much. The other was chairs for the church hall. It is the obligation of each men of the parish to buy one chair for the parish hall. The object is not to have to move the pews in the church to the hall in order to have seating for the hall. As a member of the parish and a member of the small christian community I wanted to do my part. Putting money in the collection was easy if I showed I would do my bit to help. The chair on the other hand requires me to go some where buy a single chair and haul it to church. In the states this would be simple, here to go to town requires the consent of others. I'd need to ask for a vehicle when that is granted it comes with strings attached, such as tasks that need to be done while I am in town in order to make the wear and tear and the expense of fuel worth while. There are buses that can take you to town but you must transfer to another bus at least once These buses are mini vans with four seat in each row. One seat folds up to create an aisle. They pack these buses like sardines. Coming from town lugging a plastic chair on a bus is the last thing I want to do. By the time I get the vehicle, the task I want to do is a low priority against the things I must accomplish while I am there. Each week I tell myself I am not going to be one of those men who have not held up their end of the bargin. Finally the stars aligned and I bought my chair. I proudly took it to the church hall. I found it locked. I took my chair to the church office, there it turned out to be one of seven being held there for safe keeping. Until the other men do their duty.
