Where is your brother?

The Capuchin Friars of the Custody of St. Francis of Assisi in Cameroon, from Sunday the 7^th of January to Saturday the 13^th of January 2024, gathered in the Dominican Nunery, Bambui, for their annual retreat, preached by Br. Author Nga Abanfegha. This spiritual exercise, had as anchor,  the question by God to Cain in the book of Genesis (4:9): Where is your brother (Abel)? Where is my brother? Br. Author, the retreat director, helped the friars to reconsider the place of FRATERNITY in the life of a disciple of St. Francis of Assisi, who rejoiced in his Testament saying: “And the Lord gave me brothers.” The preacher stressed we all are  members of the same family as friars, infact, that we are all in the same boat where, what affects one, affects all.

Biblical personages were examined in line with the brotherhood such as: Esau and Jacob (Gn. 25:27-34), whereby the conflict between the two brothers brought about their separation especially at the moment Jacob received the blessings of his brother Esau. The page on Joseph and his brothers in Gn. 37 was another opportunity to examine how brotherhood could be shattered; where the brothers of Joseph (all sons of the same father) cultivated hatred for Joseph because he was so loved by Jacob more than the others, he came reporting his brothers to their father (Gn. 37:2), above all, his dreams injected jealousy into the life of his brothers; the consequence being their hatred and desire to eliminate their own brother. Another picture of brotherhood brought for meditation was the story of the Lost Son – the younger brother. At his return, his elder brother refused to welcome him. These stories were therefore seen as realities that a fraternity like ours could undergo, where a brother could fight to be at the place of the other through fraud as in the case of Jacob, where out of hatred and jealousy, a brother could desire to eliminate the other as did the brothers of Joseph and even reject a brother as did the eldest son in the parable of the Lost Son. But in the case of Andrew and Simon, we see a brother who works for the other’s good. Andrew sees Jesus, then goes to bring his own brother to Jesus.

Brothers bringing each other to Jesus

As a result, the retreat director, Br. Author, therefore asked each friar to bring the other friar closer to Jesus, to have the good of each other at heart, avoiding all that destroys, harms or shatters fraternity. This would help us avoid the response given by Cain to God: “I do not know, Am I my brother’s guardian?” (Gn. 4:9)