As an ecclesial family, we are called together as a Community to help one another grow, encourage one another in the ups and downs of life and fulfill all the goodness and holiness that we are called to live and be. We are ambitious for one another's good, rejoice together in joys and share in sorrows. There is 'a bond of spiritual communion' between the lay and consecrated branches.
The COLW ecclesial family is one juridical structure in Church canon law. This means that each branch: the consecrated sisters, future brothers and priests of the community and now the lay branch, all come under the same canons in the code of canon law of the Church for religious life, as a family of members in all states of life.
Here we are different from other religious orders in that we don't have a top down model with priests heading up the order and the sisters under them, or priests administering the lay branch. Instead we truly are established as a family. Each member lives the gift of their call to COLW according to their state of life.
As members together of this one structure, the unity between us really can build us up as a family. We have a common obligation to love one another and to share in a common fraternity, mission and life. We use our gifts for the good of others and for the needs of those around us.
Whatever mission the Community takes part in will be a fruit of the charism. We are therefore a microcosm of what the Church should be, with different states of life working and praying for one purpose with a desire for communion and unity in the Church. Our witness of communion and unity is important for the Church, especially in today's world.
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