Signs of Faith - Winter 2000 - Brother Visitor's Letter

Brother Visitor's Letter
By Brother David Brennan, FSC
Photography by Steve Taylor

"The beginnings of the Institute show us that it was by answering the needs of young people who were often 'abandoned', that the first Brothers heard God's call to consecrate themselves to Him."

The Preparatory Commission for the upcoming General Chapter in Rome recalls with these words the founding of the Institute. Through its central theme -- associated for the service of the poor through education as the Lasallian response to the challenges of the 21st century -- the Chapter urges us to "seek together what the Spirit of God is today asking of our Institute and all those who share in its mission."

Brother Stanislaus Campbell, Auxiliary Visitor, and Gery Short, Director of Lasallian School Programs, will join me in Rome this May to attend the 43rd General Chapter of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. Held every seven years, the Chapter addresses the life of the Institute, as well as the election of the Superior General. Twenty-three Partners, Gery among them, will join over 100 elected and appointed Brother capitulants and consultants during two of the Chapter's six weeks. On May 15, with Lasallians the world over, we will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the designation of Saint John Baptist de La Salle as Patron of Teachers of Youth, and on May 24, the centenary of his canonization.

In the District of San Francisco, we continue to put our energy and re sources into faith-filled discernment of God's call. We will not fail to respond whenever and wherever we are able.

In this issue of Signs of Faith,we witness personal and collective commitments to realizing the vision of De La Salle in our world:

As called for in our Action Plan, the District Vocation Program "engages intensively in awakening vocations to religious life, especially that of the Brothers."
Teachers at Saint Mary's High, De La Salle, and Sacred Heart Cathedral inspire students and colleagues with their dedication to Lasallian education.
Important new works are being created in response to the educational needs of communities in the Napa Valley, North Portland, Oregon, and the Tenderloin of San Francisco.

Our mission has its life in those places and persons to whom God, the Church, and the Institute call us. We will not fail to respond whenever and wherever we are able.

My visit to the District of the Philippines last December presented an opportunity for such a response. For 15 years, the University of St. La Salle in Bacolod City has conducted an outreach program for youth offenders imprisoned with adult criminals in the overcrowded city jail. The program offers catechism and values education, reading, math, peer counseling, and group tutoring, as well as social, sports, and cultural programs. Seeking more intensive intervention, the University -- in cooperation with government and social agencies -- is establishing the Center for Youth Rehabilitation on its campus. Expected to open July 5, 2001, the Center will provide residential and recreational facilities, basic education classes, spiritual formation, skills training, and a critical follow-up support program after release.

"A guard holding a gun came out to meet us at the Bacolod City Jail, where youth offenders are housed together with adult men and women. He tucked his pistol into his waistband and led us inside. The cells were small and crowded, and the heat, humidity, and smell were overwhelming. When we asked whether the boys received counseling, we were told yes. Later, we discovered that only the Brothers come every Sunday for an hour to talk with them. The new Center for Youth Rehabilitation will provide better housing, along with a program of skill building." -- Steve Taylor, Director of Finance, District of San Francisco

Our District has committed funds toward construction of the Center for Youth Rehabilitation and for three programs in direct service of Bacolod's poor -- the Business Resource Center for Poor Families, the La Salle Street Children Program, and the Fisherfolk Program -- educational programs sponsored by Balayan, the University's Community Development and Volunteer Formation Office. Balayan seeks to actively carry out the Lasallian mission through education, "helping people live a life of dignity to the fullest of their capabilities".

God has blessed the District of San Francisco with an abundance of both competent and dedicated personnel and financial resources. With them, we will not fail to respond whenever and wherever we are able.

During the past year, our District sponsored international workshops at Mont La Salle, conducted by Global Business Network (GBN) and attended by Brothers and Partners from the Pacific-Asia Region (PARC), the Latin American Lasallian Region (RELAL), and other districts and regions of the Institute. This past February, at the invitation of the PARC and RELAL Brothers, I participated in regional meetings in both provinces. In Medellín, Colombia, and in Johore Bahru, Malaysia, GBN and I presented the results of our workshops to Visitors, delegates, and consultants to the upcoming General Chapter from those regions. Our report, "Scenarios for the Future of the Lasallian Mission in a Changing World", focused on three questions addressed at the 1999 workshops:

What should the association of Brothers and colleagues be in order to advance the Lasallian mission?
Should we serve the rich as well as the poor in order to advance the Lasallian mission?
What kinds of guidance, governance, leadership, and organization will the Lasallian charism require in the developing cultures of Church and society?

The report emphasized the power of international collaboration. The desire for increasing partnerships to meet the challenges of the present and future of the Institute was very evident.

I also had the opportunity to share my optimism with these regions. The signs of the times and the calls of the Spirit tell us that the need for our Lasallian mission has never been more urgent. However, we must go far beyond the status quo, and the comfort and safety of our current institutional commitments and arrangements to meet the unmet educational needs of people who come to us for hope and salvation. There are over 600 million poor children in the world today, and one out of every six people living on the planet is trapped by ignorance and poverty and is generally excluded from mainstream society. When called to answer their needs, our District will not fail to respond whenever and wherever we are able.

In this spirit, and as part of our continuing collaboration with the District of North Mexico, particularly at Centro La Salle in Tijuana, six to eight Brothers from the District of North Mexico will spend six weeks at Mont La Salle this summer, studying English and working part-time with the local Hispanic community through our Instituto Latino de Adultos (Latino Adult Institute) apostolate in Napa.

As we commemorate the life and work of John Baptist de La Salle this year, remember that we are, indeed, in God's holy presence. In answer to our call to mission, cooperative efforts between Brothers, Brothers and Partners, districts and regions, will be fruitful only if they are grounded in our cooperation with the God who calls us. With faith and zeal, and with trust in God's guidance, we will not fail to respond whenever and wherever we are able.