SPANISH TEXT

Vocations:
Journeys of the Heart
Young men continue to live our founding story as De La Salle Christian Brothers
Photography by Jenny Thomas and Brother James Joost, FSC

What is a Christian Brother? "'Brother' is really a verb, not a noun. It's a way that you live your life. It's the way that you go about loving people. It means loving with equality," says Brother Robb Wallace, Principal of Saint Joseph School in Sunnyside, Washington. "I see myself not as somebody's father and not as somebody's boss, but as their Brother, and that really changes the way you love." And this Brotherly love is multi-faceted: A Brother is Brother to his students, Brother to his community, and Brother to the Partners with whom he works. There has been great emphasis lately on sharing the Lasallian mission with the Partners, and properly so. Yet one longtime Partner wrote recently, "The Brothers are providing many opportunities for us to make their work our own at all levels. They teach us how, and they support us in our efforts. But do we sufficiently express to them how much we really need them?"

Brothers are needed, indeed. And how are they to be found? The Rule of the Brothers declares: "The entire people of God has the responsibility for awakening, discerning, and developing vocations in the Church" (Article 83). The process of awakening vocations, says Brother Norman Cook, Associate Director of Vocations for the District of San Francisco, begins with awakening young people to themselves. "We give classroom presentations in the high schools each year, to freshmen and sophomores and juniors. We don't go in with a sales pitch for the Brothers, but with an invitation to both male and female students to get to know who they are and how God is speaking to them. God takes them seriously and they must take themselves seriously -- they must begin to write their own stories. And we sanctify the idea of vulnerability, which means being available, being of service. We acquaint them with role models such as Martin Luther King Jr., Corrie ten Boom*, and John Baptist de La Salle."

In each high school of the District, lay Partners and Brothers act as Vocation Coordinators, and plans are underway to include a more extensive and informative Lasallian vocation component in the religion curricula. Each campus has an annual workshop for juniors, with emphasis on service and relations to others, and a workshop for seniors, with emphasis on self-understanding and looking within. The Lasallian Youth program gives students opportunities to see and take part in the Brothers' works. And there is a Senior Vocation Retreat each November at Mont La Salle, at which young men who are already active in the Lasallian mission in their schools can spend a weekend prayerfully reflecting, meeting others at various stages of discernment, and gaining insight into the deliberate and unhurried character of the discernment process, with its stages of Contact, Aspirant, Postulant, Novice, and Temporary Professed.

As Brother James Joost, Director of Vocations, explains, "We rarely see a religious vocation that comes to a person as a bolt from the blue. That's especially true of the vocation to be a Christian Brother. Being a Brother is a relational thing, and the vocation discernment process focuses on relationship -- relationship with God, with the Brothers, and with others. Relationships take time to develop. That is why the vocation process is step-by-step."

The first two steps in discernment (Contact stage and Aspirancy) are non-residential, and the men do not reside in community with the Brothers.

Contact: Stage One

A Contact is a college freshman or older, someone who is "thinking about" the Brothers as an option, not someone who necessarily "wants to be" a Brother. He develops his prayer life, meets with other Contacts, may volunteer in some Lasallian ministry, and chooses annually whether to continue his involvement. James Coloma is a Contact in San Diego. He's a college student who shares a house with roommates and hits the books hard. But in the summer you might find him in Oakland, California, and in the winter you might catch him in Camden, New Jersey, tutoring kids and living for a while in community with the Christian Brothers. James is about to graduate from U.C. San Diego in Human Development. He has been a Contact since his freshman year in college. James says, "I've always felt I wanted to teach, to serve in a school, and the Brothers have helped me have experiences of that. I worked in the LEO (Lasallian Educational Opportunities) Center in Oakland and in a San Miguel school in Camden. The work in Camden was the high point. I got a real sense of those kids and of how much the Brothers help them. If I weren't a Contact, I wouldn't have experienced that."

Aspirant: Stage Two

The next stage is Aspirancy, which is also renewable annually. An Aspirant, who must be a college junior or older, develops his prayer life, meets regularly with the Vocations Director, and works in a Lasallian ministry. At the regional Aspirant Discernment Retreat, Aspirants from various Districts meet for a weekend. They pray, talk, reflect, interact with the Formation Community at Mont La Salle, and learn about the stages of decision-making. Aspirant Ignacio Gonzalez is 26. He has a degree in psychology, and has spent a couple of years in business and a couple of years teaching. He is applying to enter Postulancy for a second time. "I stepped away from the process for a time, to sort out some personal matters, but the connection was not lost," says Ignacio. "The deliberateness of the process, the pace of discernment, are good. And now I'm back, hoping eventually to be a Brother. Why? Because the presence of committed, vowed Brothers is unique and irreplaceable. The Brothers are available in ways that Partners just can't be." Ignacio, now teaching Spanish at Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory, is particularly interested in the project in Sunnyside, Washington, where Saint Joseph School serves mostly the children of Latino farmworkers. He says, "It's encouraging to see works like this that recreate the identity of the Brothers in line with the original charism of service to the poor. That's the movement I want to be a part of."

For both Contacts and Aspirants, there are Community Weekends, service opportunities during school breaks, a Lenten Retreat, and the Lasallian Educational Apprentice Program (LEAP) through which Contacts and Aspirants can experience living in community with the Brothers and sharing in an educational ministry.

The next two stages of discernment are the residential stages, Postulancy and Novitiate.

Postulant: Stage Three

A Postulant lives in community with the Brothers, develops an active personal and communal prayer life, studies Catholic faith, scripture, and the life and vision of John Baptist de La Salle, and works in Lasallian ministries. A Postulant may assist in a school, tutor at the LEO Center in Oakland, or serve lunch at the Salvation Army dining room in Napa. David Caretti is a Postulant. "I grew up in a faith-filled household, and in high school I thought about the priesthood. At Saint Mary's College, I worked in campus ministry with Brother Gary Hough. That's when I saw how the Brothers are really present to others, and that the Brothers' vocation is really to be who you are, not to put on a mask." In his senior year he became a Contact. "I started my postulancy in August 1999. My main task as a Postulant is to participate in community life and to focus on prayer. I have really learned more about myself in this year of Postulancy than ever before. We're constantly challenged to ask, 'When am I my best?' The idea is that you should only be here if this really completes you, makes you more of who you are. I work as a student-teacher at Justin-Siena High School in Napa, teaching Geometry and World Religions. I've always wanted to be a teacher and to do ministry, and with the Brothers I get both."

Novice: Stage Four

The Novitiate marks the time when a man first receives the religious habit and is addressed as 'Brother.' "The Novitiate," says Brother Richard Moratto, Director of Novices, "is a year away from the 'busyness' of life, including the ordinary work of the District. You might think of it as a year's retreat -- but it's a retreat of a very intense kind." A Novice is to deepen his personal relationships with the community and with Jesus Christ, while he studies psychology, spirituality, and scripture, particularly the New Testament, and learns thoroughly the history and purposes of the Institute. Brother Thomas Pham is a Novice who at age 28 is preparing to profess first annual vows in the summer of 2000. He is from Viet Nam, where he completed his college education and majored in accounting. A lifelong Catholic, he became a catechist in his new home of San Jose, California, and it was there that he got to know the Brothers, at La Salle Viet Nam House. "I saw them being with their students, and saw that they were happy. I love teaching and love being with kids. So I entered the vocation discernment program in 1996 and I hope to continue my journey with the Brothers. I've learned so much from them, especially from the older Brothers who live here in the Holy Family Community at Mont La Salle. They share their faith and their knowledge." Brother Thomas tutors at the LEO center in Oakland and at Hanna Boys Center in Sonoma.

Temporary Profession: Stage Five

With the completion of the Novitiate comes the profession of vows for a year. These can be renewed for approximately five years until one is eligible for the profession of perpetual vows. Brother Ted Kanelopoulos stands on that threshold. He began as a Contact at age 20 and worked as a Lasallian volunteer in college. By now, at age 30, he has experienced all dimensions of the Brothers' way of life. "I was attracted by the intensity of the community life. But the idea of classroom teaching scared me. I didn't feel at all sure that I could handle a classroom. But the Brothers have made sure I've gotten the experience of it, and experience alleviated my fears. I've really developed professionally." Brother Ted has a B.A. in philosophy and is completing a Master's degree in Religious Education. He teaches at Cathedral High in Los Angeles.

What does a Brother supply that a Partner cannot? Brother Ted says: "We are a special presence. Our ability to be vowed to the ministry communicates that we're here for our students 100 percent, 24 hours a day -- living on campus, and able to pick up and go when and where we're needed. It is that Lasallian spirituality and charism that still attracts me. I've been ten years in the discernment process, and for a while I stepped away. But the Brothers stayed connected, and here I am. Patience and time have been the keys."

Awakening. Discerning. Developing. These are delicate processes in which people need a lot of support, particularly from those they count on most, their parents, family and teachers. Teachers can support and nurture vocations by being actively engaged in their faith and attentive to the Spirit's presence, by being models of dedicated service, and by being present to students in community. Parents can make the home a place in which everyone can speak freely about the presence of God in the joys and sorrows of life. Speaking positively about religious, and inviting Brothers, Sisters, and priests into the home can encourage children to be open to the religious life. It is particularly important for parents to put their faith into action by taking part in church ministries and community service, and by encouraging and supporting their children in such activities.

For faith without action is faith unawakened. As Brother Robb Wallace says so well, "Brother is a verb." The vocation discernment program of the District of San Francisco offers young men experiences that enable them to know if the life of the Brother connects within them and is a life they should continue exploring. "Our approach," says Brother James Joost, "is not so much to say 'Join us' as to say 'Join us in what we do.' We invite young men to come and see what we do, to join us in doing it. Each stage of discernment then unfolds as a meaningful and challenging series of decisions based in practical experiences of educational ministry and community. The spirituality of the Christian Brothers is incarnational. God is not at a distance. We meet God in the lives of those with whom we live and serve."

Additional information about Vocations and Formation can be found on the District Web site at www.delasalle.org.