I recently posted an article by Vincent Lombardo from
the QSA Members Forum for Masonic Research entitled, “What are the Duties of a
Mason to his Lodge?”. I went back and noted that their site allows copy for personal
use and study, but not for printed reproduction. I deleted my post, by you can
read the original work by Brother Lombardo here: http://www.freemasonryresearchforumqsa.com/duties-of-a-mason-to-his-lodge.php.
Regarding the subject of this post, “What are the
Duties of a Lodge to the Brethren?”, I believe it would take a library of
writings to fully expound on this subject, so I will cover a few things in this
post and possibly others in the future.
First, let us identify what we mean by “a Lodge.” The
Lodge is not the building; it is the Brethren. Freemasons meet as a Lodge not in a Lodge, although
Masonic premises may be called Lodges, in days gone by you will note that the
Minutes of most Lodges state that a Lodge of Master Masons met in the Masonic
Hall, not Lodge. So we are talking here about what the group of Brothers that
make up a Lodge owe to each other.
The first thing that we owe a Brother is to properly
investigate all applicants. This may sound odd, but we owe it to all of our Brothers
to know the quality of the men that want to join our Fraternity. Remember, when
he takes the threefold Obligations, we are obligating ourselves to him as much
as he is obligating himself to us and the Craft. We have a right and more
importantly, a duty to allow only good men into Freemasonry. We have a
tradition of being a society that meets and teaches virtuous standards and we
expect that to continue. We have the responsibility to investigate whether a
man’s past behavior violates the virtuous standards inculcated in our
traditions. We also have the responsibility to tell the petitioner that this
will be expected of him.
Secondly, we must educate not just the petitioner and
candidate, but all Brothers about the standards that are expected of a
Freemason. Freemasonry is a lifestyle and philosophy that is meant to help a
man subdue his passions and improve himself. He is to use the lessons of the
Craft to learn to make these improvements. The core of these lessons is virtue.
The Brother should receive encouragement to assess himself and his behavior and
lessons and examples to allow him to learn and grow. The Lodge exists to
support each Brother and hold him accountable to work towards this growth and
learning; to support him in his Journey.
Third, the Lodge is responsible to track the Brother’s
progress in his corporate and self-education in Masonic Principles and his
actions. If there are lapses, struggles or outright problems, the Lodge is
responsible to help, aid and assist the Brother in his growth. Sometimes this
can be uncomfortable, it can require a discreet whisper of counsel and comfort
in his ear. Sometimes the approaching danger can be due to his own actions. If
the Lodge is truly a Brotherhood; we must be there to support our Brother as he
struggles with the passions that infest the hearts of men. These struggles are
personal, but we can help the Brother through an attentive ear and, hopefully through
our example.
I know that none of us is perfect; sometimes the
Brother that needs these lessons is me. If we are to maintain the virtue of our
beloved Craft, we need to do this work in the quarries to try to perfect our
Ashlars and to teach others the lessons that will help them to do the same.
