He's not heavy, he's my Brother!

The word “Brother” occupied center stage in today’s presentation by John Cantwell. By the end of the day, it became clear to everyone what his intent was: to show how De La Salle intended the word to mean as applied to members of the Institute and to promote a conversation between and among the 70 of us as to how we will understand the term going forward. The first session was devoted to an analysis of De La Salle’s use of scripture quotations from the Gospel of Matthew. While this may seem an odd place to start, it made enormous sense by the end of the session. John provided an analysis of Matthew’s Gospel, showing that he used the word “brother” more than any of the other three Evangelists. Then John showed that, in his writings, De La Salle quoted the Gospel of Matthew more than any of the other Evangelists…the point being (remember De La Salle had a doctorate in theology) the Founder wanted to root his understanding of the term “brother” in Matthew’s Gospel so that those who read his writings would clearly understand the importance he attached to the concept. John gave us a quote from Canon Blain, De La Salle’s first biographer, who made this point beautifully:

In this way, the name Brothers of the Christian Schools became henceforth the official name of the children of De La Salle…This name teaches them the excellence of the duty they have assumed, the dignity of their state, and the holiness proper to their profession. It tells them as Brothers they owe each other mutual proofs of tender but spiritual friendship and that considering themselves as the elder brothers of the children who came to be taught by them; they should exercise this ministry of charity with truly loving hearts.

What does this have to do with the half of us not called “Brother?” John posed two challenging questions for us in the afternoon session:

In light of current circumstances:

What is the role of the ones who are named “Brother?”

What are the complementary roles of their brothers and sisters (in the Gospel sense: all those who accompany them – in this case, lay partners)?

When placed on top of yesterday’s session in which we looked at the vow of Association, the focus, at least for me, is becoming clear: how do we - Brothers and lay colleagues - work together to ensure the vision and charism of Saint John Baptist de La Salle is carried forward into an uncertain future?

Someone had the brilliant idea to go out for Chinese food tonight (yes – there are Chinese restaurants in Rome!). There’s only so much pasta one can eat! Ten of us trooped off to one just around the corner from the Motherhouse. Fortunately, Brother Andrew from Malaysia provided all the expertise we needed for ordering – which was especially important since the name of the restaurant was, disconcertingly, Hung Hwa Chinese Pizzeria (I think they stuck that in there to snare the Italians).

* Brother Vincent (Vietnam) Brother Bernie (Australia), Bill Gault (New York), Brother Ed (Midwest), Tina Bonacci ’94 (Midwest), Brother Jean-Marie(Congo) in front of Saint Paul Outside the Walls