The call and the presence of the Lord among us today bind us together in charity and obedience to create anew in our own lives the Apostles’ unity with him and their common mission in his Spirit. (Constitution 3)
Today we use the word “holistic” to describe the totality of our commitment. Eugene’s vocabulary for this same concept in the 1818 Rule, and later, was “charity and obedience.” In other words, “heart and head.”
To “imitate in everything the example of our Lord Jesus Christ and the apostles” meant a commitment to BE with heart and head.
Charity and obedience mirrored the two portions of the life of the Missionary. A total love of the Savior and an unswerving obedience to His will, on the one hand. At the same time there was the outward direction towards others:
They will all be united by the bonds of the closest charity, and in perfect subordination to the superiors, in dependence to whom they will live the exact practice of holy obedience.
1818 Rule, Part Two, Chapter One. Regarding other principal observances
The Missionaries were to be a united body connected by the bonds of Christian love and their attentiveness to the will of God as manifested to the community.
Heart: love one another and God.
Head: listen to God’s will as it is shown in one another, and especially in the Rule and through the one responsible for the guidance and well-being of the community.
