The journey may have been long but the progress has been steady.

As I re-read some of the posts, it occurred to me that I haven’t spent enough time highlighting the thread that has been woven through all of the sessions. That thread has been the steady progress toward the concepts of “Shared Mission” and “Association”. It began with the 39th General Chapter (all religious congregations of Pontifical Right are governed by a periodic “General Chapter” which is their chief legislative body – electing Superiors and Councilors - as well as passing “propositions” [legislation] that will be implemented over a certain period of time) in 1967 and has been expanded in each of the next five Chapters, including the most recent, the 44th in 2007. These Chapters have supported the Brothers’ emerging understanding of their role in an educational world which increasingly involves laypeople like me. Here’s a short summary of what has happened since 1967: 39th General Chapter issued the document: The Brother of the Christian Schools in the World Today: A Declaration calling for the involvement of lay people at all levels in the School. 40th General Chapter acknowledged the presence of laypeople around the Institute who have expressed a desire to become more formally involved with the Brothers. This coincided with the consecration of the first members of Signum Fidei. 41st General Chapter addressed itself to the Lasallian Family, thereby recognizing thousands of persons who were contributing to the Lasallian Mission. 42nd General Chapter treated the theme of Shared Mission and spoke of Partners. For the first time, Consultants (lay people) had the right to speak at a Chapter. 43rd General Chapter issued the following statement: The development of the Lasallian Mission requires the Institute to allow itself to be stimulated by the dynamism apparent among partners and associates, and to encourage and to support collaboration among themselves and with the Brothers 44th General Chapter – relying on the work of the first International Assembly two years earlier (composed of Brothers and lay people) issued the following statement:

We are moving at different speeds towards a new model of the Lasallian family at the local, regional and global levels. At these different levels, co-responsibility, collegiality and shared decision-making for the mission and the living out of our proper, interdependent identities are realities that are experienced with joy. We seek structures of animation and government where the mission is carried forth by all those associated for the mission, where the Lasallian spirituality is shared and enriched, and where the Brothers fulfill their proper role.

In short, for the last 40 years the Christian Brothers have been steadily working towards the full involvement (and responsibility) of lay people in delivering the Lasallian Mission in their schools. As I think about La Salle High School, Pasadena, I realize - now - how powerful (and unusual in the Catholic Church) this orientation is for me, for my colleagues, for the parents, and most especially, for the students entrusted to our care.

*Stained glass window depicting De La Salle and 12 Brothers professing perpetual vows in 1694 (this was just following the "Heroic Vow" in 1691). It is located in the northeast clerestory in the Main Chapel of the Motherhouse.