A bulletin from and for the Young Brothers of Charity

MESSAGE OF THE HOLY FATHER

to the Religious

(extracts)

1. It is with great joy that I address you as you reflect on the problems and hopes of consecrated life at the beginning of the third millennium so as to be able to continue to be, in total fidelity to your charisms, a sign of the love of Christ. You reflect on a theme that draws together admirably not only the rich diversity of your charisms in the Church but also the pluralism of the cultures that give meaning to your traditions. St Paul's desire, "the love of Christ overwhelms us" (2 Cor. 5,14) binds you together in one heart. In this world, lacerated by so many contradictions, you propose through your identity as men to be "a living presence of the tenderness and mercy of God". It is only in the strength of the love of Christ that religious communities can respond effectively to the challenge of the modem world and become a living proclamation of communion for a new humanity that will spring from the mercy and tenderness of God.

2. A characteristic of your consecrated life is communion with the God of Love to whom you wish to reserve the primacy in every choice. This God, to whom you are given in freedom and conscious gift, is the God of Jesus Christ, the God of Love of relationships, the Trinitarian God. He involves our littleness in the dynamic of his own love and unity But how can we belong to a God of communion if we do not share communion with those around us, expressing it concretely in our lives? In the post-synodal exhortation, Vita Consecrata, I wished to emphasise that the communion lived in community "before being an instrument for a determined mission is a theological space in which the mystical presence of the risen Lord can be experienced" (n. 41) and later in the apostolic letter Novo millennio inuente, I observed that "a spirituality of communion" means the "the heart's contemplation of the mystery of the Trinity dwelling in us and whose light we must be able to see shining on the face of the brothers and sisters around us" (n. 43). The same call that Jesus addressed to us and to which each one has responded with the gift of her own life, cannot be realised without entering into communion with the whole world through the love of God.

3. To know Christ and the church the world also needs your witness. Do not be discouraged, however, if you meet with difficulties. At times it might seem that love, justice, fidelity no longer exist in the world today. Do not be afraid, the Lord is with you; he goes before. you and follows you with his love. Witness by your life to what you believe.

There is need of the strong and free witness of your vow of poverty, lived with love and joy so that your sisters and brothers may understand that God with his salvific love, is the only "treasure". Poverty guards chastity and prevents you from becoming slaves of needs artificially created by the society of well-being. Free yourselves from all that is superfluous; give your poverty the evangelical face of the freedom and fidelity of one who is certain that God provides for his children. You are not asked to be powerful but to be holy.

There is need of your faithful and limpid chastity that "proclaims" the mercy and tenderness of the Father in the silence of its daily gift and cries out to the world that there is a "greater love" that fills the heart and life

because it makes a space for the other as the Apostle suggests: 'Bear one another's burdens (Gal. 6, 2). Do not be afraid of witnessing to this great gift of God. The youth are observing you; may they learn from you that there is a different love from that which the world proclaims, a faithful, total love capable of taking risks. Virginity, lived for love of Jesus, is prophetic today more than ever.

There is need of your responsible obedience, full of availability exercised through the persons that He puts in your way You are called to show, by your life, that true freedom lies in entering decisively into the clearly defined and blessed way of obedience, the way of death and resurrection that Jesus has shown us by his example. Have in mind his cry, both of solitude and abandonment to the Father: "Father, if it is possible, let this chalice pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will but as you will!" (Mt 26, 39) (cf. Novo millennio ineunte 26). Live obedience in communion. Do not allow individualism to enter your communities Whoever assumes the service of authority is always committed to ensuring that all the sisters witness to a deep communion with the Magisterium of the church, especially when a secularised and hedonistic mentality attempts to question fundamental truths and moral norms. May your obedience, like Christ's, be limitless abandonment to the designs of the Father.

4. The love of neighbour gets its strength from this abandonment to the love of God. "Now is the time for a new "creativity" in charity" (Novo millennio ineunte, 50) that is not displayed only in aid organisations, however necessary but "by getting close to those who suffer so that the hand that helps is seen not as a humiliating handout but as a sharing between brothers and sisters " (ibid) To find itself again, religious life has to re-discover contact with people so that they may know it for what it is, God's gift to humanity in the mystery of communion that gives life to the church. The more you place yourselves at the service of others. beginning with the poorest, the more deeply you will understand the vitality of the charism God has given to you through your Founders. Every charism is given for the life of the world. Contemplation as well as evangelisation, the service of the marginalized and the sick as well as teaching. are always a dialogue with humanity, that very humanity for whom God did not hesitate to send his Son so that he might give his life to redeem it.

How many times has it been said these days that there is a need not so much for teachers as for witnesses! Be, therefore, witnesses to the Gospel, faithful to God and faithful to humankind. Religious life, by the very power of faith in the presence of Christ in his church - "Behold I am with you even to the end of the world" (Mt 28, 20) - will then live with the whole ecclesial community "a renewed upsurge in religious life" (Novo millennio ineunte, 29), making the divine presence the inspiring force on its journey.

The certainty of God's presence in your life helps you to understand the relationship existing between consecrated life and the proclamation of the gospel. God willed that your personal and communitarian availability be needed by his Spirit so that humanity" might finally discover his mercy and tenderness for all creatures Sr. Paul affirms "When I am weak then I am strong" (2 Cor 12, 10). Why? Because God is not afraid of human weakness, provided that every person is open to his mercy.

Dear Religious, I am spiritually present among you and accompany you in prayer, thinking that every religious vocation in the church bears a message of hope that is always being renewed. The heart of man might be said to be created to bring to the world the message of the mercy and tenderness of God. Willingly, therefore, I entrust you to the Virgin Mary, the first consecrated woman who, in obedience, became the Mother of God. And I say to you again with confidence: "Let us go forward with hope!..."

From the Vatican, 3 May 2001

A bulletin from and for the Young Brothers of Charity

N.B. Several young brothers renewed their vows this year. Herewith find extracts of a text pronounced by one of them at this occasion. We dare to publish them even without express permission as they were made public during the ceremony

Dear friends. this is a day of grace for me. God has just one more time consecrated me as disciple of Father Triest, the Founder of the Congregation of Brothers of Charity. It is as if I have received a new call to follow Jesus, spreading the goodness of God through the service of the needy and of the most abandoned of his Children. What a joy when you serve your brothers and sisters! My 3-year religious experience shown me how purifying is the dedication to the people in need. This is why I can simply say with the Virgin Mary " My soul glorifies the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God, my saviour."

Being a Brother of Charity is not a joke. A brother of charity is an instrument of God. Thus we are made Brothers of Charity, by the grace of God. None makes him a Brother of charity by his own. If one wants to live as a real Brother of Charity, he has to stay in the presence of God, so that he may know his will to him. It would be regretful if one lives according his own will or understanding. This is why our life should always be inspired by God. God uses all his means to express his will to us. He can use our patients, our pupils, our superiors, our confreres, our collaborators, our families and our friends. We are thus invited to be attentive to all signs we receive from them.

I thank God for all of you who have helped me to be a brother of charity. As the way is long, I still need you, because alone I'm nothing. I feel one with you and this is the will of God that we always be united in his name, because we are His.

My testimony after almost 6 years close to the Congregation is that "religious life is a life with God, a life of brothers, a life for the poor". The energy to fulfil the religious vocation comes from the spirit of God, is supported by the love of our confreres and our friends and is galvanised by the well being of the people we serve. The people we serve are our masters. And the masters have to be served in a professional way so that they can reach the well-being they expect from us. Thanks to all of you. I wish You God's blessings.

Brother Norbert Niyonzima, Gent, Belgium.

At our place we celebrated this year 40 years of exitence of the Centre. This centre is a huge monument erected to the love of the neighbor. It was initiated by a priest sensitized to the fate of the poor physically handicapped children and rejected by their family. Father Fraipont welcomed these children thrown in the street because they represented a sign of malediction. The Congregation has just continued his work.

What we do is nothing that putting the Gospel in practice. Gatagara is a living gospel; so many poor are gathered there to find a new life, especially those impaired in their members or in their sight. All are children and we see in their little eyes Jesus quest for a bit of care, a sign of attention, a caress of compassion. These eyes have suffered more than any due to the terrible events of the genocide. The story they relate is often very moving and their wounds quite deep. There is no better healing than charity and fraternal support. Then come to my mind the words of the Leviticus 9,14 : « Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling-block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the Lord » . The eyes of these children convince me that charity is a fruit which need to be plucked in any season in the garden of fraternity.

I see many children arriving here without legs and after a while they begin playing foot with the others and the help of their sticks. The blind become able of communication by writing. This evokes in me the words of Ecclesiastes chapter 4. The Brothers of Charity makes the Lord present, He who identifies Himself to his children. Their work is the Good News of Life by itself. The Bishop giving the homely said: "When I am here in Gatagara, my homely is what is lived here".

I, Rodrigue, appreciate that the Lord chose me to continue his mission of salvation through the ideal of charity as Brother of Charity. I feel our mission is worthy of our total dedication. It demands patience as first pillar of the building of charity. When I affirm this I think of an incident happened in Zelzate where I received a solid blow from a mental patient I was serving during my stage.

Here in Gatagara and elsewhere we do our best to improve the conditions of life of the handicapped under the umbrella of our institution. There remains still children wandering by the street with sad eyes and we call them "mayi bobo" which means street children. Our mission is a huge enterprise never ended..

Frère Rodrigue Lali, Gatagara / Rwanda

God’s Will to his beloved ones is still unfathomable, until really it is revealed to each of us and again wholeheartedly received as not only a gift, but also a tremendous grace. That grace was given to me in these six days I have just spent on the wonderful and prayerful grounds of Medugorje (a place of pilgrimage) where 6 children became visionaries of the Holy Mother of God, since 1981.

So many messages were given to me but what captured me most was that I was told to

• Learn to discipline myself
• Pray
• Fall in love with God.

These challenging words have been whispering through my ears all the time I spent there as if I never heard them before. I looked at and in me, and comprehended that my life needs change once more. I was told that a gift of prayer would be given to me from the Holy Spirit, who lives in me. It is a grace not something I have to work for. From there I learnt that God wants me to make another new step in my life and bear lasting fruit.

Allow Mary come fully into my life. I am called to be more sincere and humble. I am called to listen to God’s will, obedient to it and place God in the centre of my life. And the only way to achieve this is in prayer. Let Jesus be alive and active again in me. I was told to become an apostle of the Rosary, pray the Sacred Heart of Jesus and be a friend of the Eucharist. They did not cease telling me to fast again and again, nourished by Bible reading. The last word I remember was this. ‘He who fasts and prays does not fear the devil’.

Becoming a believer and a religious Brother supposes that I should live on Christ’s message as my food and pray here and now. Be able to tell this message to those who need it because I am called to speak. It does not need pilgrimage to feel that God is within me and loves me more than anything. Nevertheless, I strongly believe that God himself offered me that chance to go and see, hear and learn the message on the mountain.. From there I felt he consecrated me again. Medjugorje, if I forget you, may my right hand wither.

BrotherVenant, Chorley, England, 15 June.

A bulletin from and for the Young Brothers of Charity

The Formation Plan 6.1 says that these brothers are at this stage more than ever responsible of their formation and it is in this perspective that I do my evaluation after 3 years of temporary vows.

I see human formation as fostering the opening to the environment and to others; the commitment towards others; the mastery and improvement of ways of collaboration and cooperation in a collective project; an accompaniment to integrate experience and knowledge in personal culture and a development of personal talents and creativity for a more fruitful service.

I see community formation as follows: the Community is defined by the formation plan as a place of discernment, initiatives in view of common good, respect of each other in their differences, overcoming boredom and solitude, support, orientation and evaluation of the work, exchange of values between generations, openness and interest into others, dialogue with love and mutual reverence.

Life revision, community meetings, sharing of experiences and common values which gather us are indispensable to religious life. The interdependence and coresponsibility must be lived in a common vision, a common project of life.

I believe that community is essential to consecrated life. It manifests transcendence of all difference; it incarnates a convergence of the values which gather us. It is very difficult for me to speak of a personal life apart which would not be part and parcel of a Community. A genuine community life is not an option; it is a necessity for the life of a religious.

From the point of view of ecclesial formation, my three years of formation allowed me to develop a wider sensitivity towards the marginalized and distant ones; to open my eyes to distresses of the world and to the call of the Church (Cf.C.22). I experimented in my flesh in some way the importance of the rights and fundamental liberty in concordance to the dignity of human person and of men as member of the people of God. I could integrate in this way the vision of men described in our Constitutions.

At the proper religious level I could better understand the prophetic dimension of our religious vocation, counter wise to the world, the widening of our vision to the frontier of eternity. I could realise how this operation of building the Kingdom in a long term operation which takes in account the international and complex intercultural setting in which the Church and the Congregation are inserted and involved. I realised this demands from myself a quality of Charity as pure, total and available as it can be.

As to the charism I could admire how our charism is fitting properly, due to its large encompassing mission, to bring solutions where they are less expected. I understood the meaning of poverty and of poverties and how through competence and efficacious witness the poor and suffering people are given a new possibility to hope and especially to enjoy the value of life thanks to us.

Finally I could better integrate the mission dimension of our vocation. I realise more and more the importance of my studies which I consider as a genuine apostolate, for my future apostolic service. I deepen especially the opportunities of opening to the world, of intercultural dialogue, collaboration and competence being conditions of granting a better quality of life and offering solutions to great problems of our time.

Bro. Martin Ndikubwimana, Rome, Italy.

Bro. Hiroshi, 17 August 2001

Bro. Edmond came to my room this afternoon and asked me to make a short speech during the adoration. The theme he assigned to me was "vocation". I guessed his idea vaguely; perhaps is he concerned with the coming oblation.

Though I accepted his request willingly, I noticed soon that I was not qualified for this task. I don’t have anything special to share about it, because I have never heard Jesus calling me: "Hiroshi, please follow me!" Because I have never renounced anything to follow Him! Because I have never made a sacrifice to be His disciple! Because I have never taken a firm resolution to enter religious life. Because I have never hesitated to choose this way. Indeed, for me, to become a brother of charity was the most natural thing to do.

When I look back on the past, I think as if the course of events in my young days had lead me to this congregation very naturally, though I took some detours.

In the meantime, the regional superior of Japan sent me to Belgium last year to prepare myself to the perpetual profession. I’ve been here for more than a year with this purpose though I cannot affirm I’ve grown in spiritual life. In any case, I’m making profession in coming October because it is necessary to do so before the Church in order to continue this way. But, it is not so important for me to do so because I already decided privately and inwardly to be a brother of charity till the end of my life when I was still postulant.

If I dare to put my vocation into words, it depends on the encounter with the Risen Lord. Through my experiences, especially bitter ones, I can say this much with trust: Jesus Christ is always with me. I would only like to bring my joy to people around me.

If I put this joy in other words, it is the joy of the Gospel of Jesus. Then, what is his Good News? It is the coming of the Kingdom of God. Then, what is His Kingdom? It means He will surely come to save us.

If I represent what Jesus showed us through his communion with the poor, sick and handicapped, his affirmation is like this: Our Father never leaves you alone; He looks at your pain, has compassion on you, comes to you and saves you.

All I can do is to convey this message to those who bear burdens and lose hope through my apostolic work and community life.

I know what I do in everyday life is very small. As a staff member of an institute for the intellectually disabled, I cannot organize any big project. As a teacher, I cannot improve their abilities very well. As a caregiver, I cannot even make them very happy. In fact, what I do is as small as a seed.

But, I know, as long as the seed is alive, it will become a big tree. Because Jesus grows it up in a secret way, giving water, manure and sunlight without being noticed. I have only to sprout up a little bit with my own strength so that He will surely grow it up to a big tree and then use it to build His Kingdom. I believe Jesus has risen up from the dead to give life to our nothingness, to give a meaning to our powerlessness.

That is why I do my best in a small, simple task. I brush a client’s teeth with all my heart, I dance with a student with all my mind.

Moreover, together with them, I can present a small thing to God. When we struggle with Bro. Ebergist’s method, for example, we can offer our small dedication to Him who will accept it even fro the salvation of the world. I believe Jesus offered himself on the cross to make our small effort effective for building up His Kingdom.

This evening, in front of Jesus, I promise Him and you to fulfill these small things with all my soul when I go back to Tottori. I would like you too, to do with all your sincerity and love, here in Sint Maria Aalter or in Moerzeke, those small things such as small homework from the novice master, cleaning of small toilet bowl or giving small help to your fellow brothers.

May our Lord Jesus consecrate our vocation and bring it to fulfilment. Amen.

Bro. Hiroshi Kawamura f.c.

A reaction from Kinshasa :

It was with a great joy that we welcomed the rich message of the Holy Father to the Religious in the no 1 of SCOL. This is a challenge for us when he says: "the Love of Christ urges you" to witness the presence of the tenderness and mercy of God. This challenge can only be faced is as much we live in close communion with God in contemplation, in the practice of the vows and the apostolic commitment relevant to the charism and the spirituality.

What strikes us in this message is the acknowledgment, the consciousness of our state of religious and the efforts to produce in order to confirm our identity in the daily life practice in the light of the Word of God. Did not Jesus affirm "these words I told you are but Spirit and Life".

Brothers Hubert Kadiaba and Paulin Kindambu.

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Individual accompaniment/animation in St Francis Xavier Region.

Bro. Célestin.

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Proficiat to all new professed brothers, to all who renewed or made final profession!

A bulletin from and for the Young Brothers of Charity

Africans use to say that the death of an elderly is comparable to the destruction of a whole library.

We believe that wisdom is proportional to the sum of lived experience, the number of year passed on earth allowing to see things with the depth of the eyes of the heart. In spite of his death we shall remember his maxims and wise words as an enrichment for the generations to come.

So was it about Triest and the legacy to his foundations. He is no more there but he legated us a richness, a library, a spirituality which we are called to keep and perpetuate such as a source where anybody can drawn when and according to his thirst.

For the time being I am discovering one of the great richness of our spirituality which is HOPE.

Triest was a man of Hope.

This aspect of his life comes forth right from the foundation of our Congregation. He hopes to render a better service to the deprived ones in an appropriate and competent manner. But we should admit that without his huge Hope, our Congregation would not survive. He needed such a hope to begin again and again through disappointment and failure. He had to hope during 4 years before receiving the first professions.

Another indication is the fact that rare are the founders daring to start a Congregation with an old man such as Simon de Noter, especially if we consider the normal span of life for people of his time compared to his 61 years old.

If we consult his writings what do we discover?

The allocution at the occasion of the presentation of the original rule (1809) says: "As to your interior dispositions, it is the Spirit of God who will make these known to you. The Spirit of Truth will teach you every truth, and remind you of all that our adorable Redeemer has taught in the Gospel about the duties of those who, in his infinite mercy, He has chosen to be his disciples".

The use of the future tense for these three verbs shows clearly that Father Triest believed in Hope.

What do we read in our Constitutions?

They end with these words: "Full of joy and hope in spite of crosses and afflictions, you walk together with God’s people towards the promised fulfilment. "God who calls you is faithful and He will accomplish it".

This joyful Hope let us accept crosses and difficulties of life. A Brother of Charity remains convinced that the pedagogy of Charity is the unique tool for building a better world. Our weapon is Charity and it urges us to exclude nobody from our cares. Even if we cannot carry their crosses at 100% we remain in solidarity with them as much as we can.

What do the Brothers say?

In the prayer to become Brother of Charity published in the review of Spirituality of the Brothers of Charity I found a paragraph describing the place of Hope in our life.

«I put my faith and my hope in God, I commit my love in all what He created and hope to render through the care for my neighbor, all the kindness he had for me".

In his homely at the opening of the community of Ronse, Brother René said: "While we shut other communities because the number of brothers declines, we open new ones because we are men of hope". This theologal virtue motive our commitment towards the disheartened of our society. We hope to tell them something of the kindness of the Father.

Full of hope, your brother, .

Alfred Kiza, Kigoma, Tanzania, May 2000.

After mass, the responsible of different institutes: theology, spirituality+religious formation, social ministry, social communications and education gave timetables, courses-forms to the students and guide them to their class-rooms.

Concerning the formation in Nairobi, I inform you that I am in the institute of theology (the cycle of 4years). Bro. Hyppolyte.

Bro Lalit is one of the first Indian Brothers who is now in the Philippines for studies in social field. He will partially tell us about the foundation of Param Mitra Sadan in India.

Q. When and how dit it start? In 1997 and the house was inaugurated on 28^th November by Brother Rene stockman. He and Bro. Max Kunnen, Godfried Bekaert and Mr. Philippe de Meyer guided the brothers in the implementation of this work. We started with five psychiatric patients. Bro. Georges Tirkey is still the Superior of the house.

Q. What are the problems in PMS? Mainly a lack of space (we plan to build rooms on the roof). medications, professional competence (nurses, therapists, psychologist, psychiatrist, finances…

Q. How many Indian Brothers are involved in PMS and what is the programmes for the patients? At this moment, five brothers are involved in PMS under the head nurse of Bro.Clement Kerketta. The programme for our best friends is the development of Activities for the Daily Life (ADL) Here the brothers focus on mental hygiene and cleanliness issues therefore improving their quality of life. Rehabilitation helps to readjust to society and undertake relationship with their families. We develop occupational therapies such as crafts works, cooking therapy, physical therapy, gardening, going for tour (to the market or for a picnic). Music, sports and educational therapy like song, quiz and game competitions. Religious activity strengthen their faith. During recreation we watch the news, movies or play indoor games.

Thank you bro. Lalit.

- A brother whose heart is clear with the transparency of pure conscience;

- A brother with lofty ideals who will always be moved to do what is good;

- A brother who does not hide when he needs to face the world:

one who knows how to say no to temptations,

one who understands his mood swings and sexuality;

- A brother who does not choose the easy and comfortable way, but rather takes the risk

to walk the roads of difficulties in our life of mission;

- A brother who knows how to feel compassion for those who have fallen;

- A brother who knows how to recognize You and who knows himself too with more

gospel-like values rather than strict theology;

- A brother who values time, looks toward the future without forgetting the past

• A brother who knows how to be poor,

- A brother who knows how to love and include everyone in that love;

• A brother who knows how to listen and be silent

• A brother who learns how to laugh and also knows how to cry

- A brother who is simple, wise, meek, strong, and zealous for real progress;

- A brother who is convinced that we are all bound for knowledge,

but that only in a close contact with You Jesus, will true growth happen;

- A loving brother much more than a perfect Brother for the others;

- A brother who has a special love for the Blessed Mother;

- A brother who knows how to celebrate the ordinary events in life

and make them extraordinary.

... if I am this kind of a brother Lord, then I can say, onward to my chosen vocation,

my religious life has not been lived in vain.

Help me to be this "BROTHER", with so much joy,... and if sometimes I fail and lag behind,

I know you are there to show me the way.

A bulletin from and for the Young Brothers of Charity

To be chaste is to share the life of Christ chaste. Living in communion with Christ we come to look at others with the same gaze than Jesus. The meaning of consecrated celibacy will develop positively only if we stress the force of life outpouring from this being-with-Christ, Master of Life. It would be a mistake to live continence for itself or for any other cultural reason.

Any human being needs chastity; the Christian does not take on a new rule but he lives his chastity in order to imitate Christ and his quality of love. The consecrated celibate wants, like Christ, make of his life a total gift to his brothers and love them with all the fibers of his heart. Love is at the centre of the Kingdom where Jesus reign. Consecrated chastity is more than imitation of Christ it consists in sharing his life.

Virgins have been held in high esteem since the beginning of the Church. It is important to show the young generations the beauty of Christian chastity as it reveals the beauty of the Church in this passing world and the radicality of the evangelical demands. What was the meaning of the virginity of Jesus? He told it himself: « I have come so they have life and life in abundance » (Jn.10, 10). We are called to this splendid vocation: living chaste in the middle of black Africa, in the world, so that women and men of our time have life in abundance. And that they carry on this value from generation to generation till the final celebration of the wedding of the Lamb.

The apostolical exhortation on the family by John Paul II says that human sexuality is a great gift of the creator but the fact to renounce to it for the Kingdom is meaningful.

By our vow of chastity we have answered Christ’s call to belong totally to him and his Kingdom. Through love for him we have accepted in the simplicity of our heart to become witness of the absolute love of God. The initiative of this commitment is not ours but God’s who loved us first. Consecrated chastity is a gift, a free gift to walk in the footsteps of Christ our model and our life. Living this gift is sharing the same chastity Christ lived and wants to continue to live through us and in us. To be with Christ is to know him present in way of absence. The apparitions of the Risen One taught the disciples that the Lord was always with them be it visible or invisible. It is the same reality we live in our life of chastity as Christ lives with us even if we do not feel his presence. Strengthen by his presence we can be with others faithful to our preferential love for the Lord at the same time present and absent. The Lord we love as celibate loved us first and gave us the gift of loving in chastity in the middle of this world for his greater glory in us. (to be continued)

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The idealist person watches over the future, he pursues an ideal. The ideal is an ensemble of high values related to well-being, goodness, righteousness, truth and religious. Idealists people, man a woman offer themselves passionately for a better world, a new society which is just, lovely, sensitized to brotherhood and transcendence. Happy are those whose great desire is to do what God requires, God will satisfy them fully (Mt 5, 6).

We can find true happiness when we develop more deeply the listening of the word of God, the understanding of the message given by Christ and the practice of this word in our concrete life.

As a Brother of Charity, my inner desire is to be close to God by following the path which he traces me so that I can be able to carry out his love. A Brother of Charity may read the above text of Matthiew in relation with no 11 of his Constitutions:

We can be idealists when we live thoroughly our consecration in bettering the situation in our broken world, then all people who are around us will be drawn up to follow the same direction: the ideal of putting into practice the word of God, which we have received in faith, sustained by hope in order to show a disinterested love to all people in the name of God. That's why I would like to emphasise Saint Paul’s message to the Corinthians 14, 13. It says: "Meanwhile these three remain: Faith, Hope, and Love; and the greatest of these is Love (I Cor 14,13)". Jesus Christ is an excellent shepherd who laid down his life in order to take it up again, so referring to his death and resurrection. It is the common destiny to all men. The world was renewed by his resurrection.

As religious, we desire to follow Christ more closely and become more intimate with Him. Our consecration takes place between God and ourselves through our commitment to follow Christ.

We honestly offer ourselves in order to implement the culture of charity in our darkened world where people are selfish, looking after their own life. We do it in order to warm up the relationships which are becoming more colder because of lowliness, injustices, where people are pinning down the others, where we face corruption in all matters and discrimination of the weakest, e.g. women, and segregation of race.

(to be continued with a comparison between Idealists and Realists)

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with you. Together, we pilgrim through the desert toward reality, mature morality and wholeness. "We build the wall of fraternal communion with stones of different shapes. Some are round like full moons. Others have sharp edges. A few appear to have been cut with a plumb line or to have perfect geometrical shapes. There are also shapeless ones.

Each stone has its story. The sound ones come from rivers in which they were worn smooth by many years of jostling about in the midst of boisterous currents. Others were boulders that bounded down mountain slopes. Some were intentionally quarried.

They are all as different in origin, history and form as are the members of a community, who come from various homes, latitudes and continents, each with an unprecedented history and unique personality.
With such particular personalities, all the stones have to adopt appropriate position to be fitted to the very different shapes of the other stones. A sustained effort of adaptation was made. Many received blows and lost angles in order the better to adjust themselves. All mutually support and sustain each other. The large ones bear a great portion of the weight of the wall. Each respects the shapes of the others. They have loved each other a great deal because they have given much to each other.

The task was not easy. A wall of lime and stone is more easily raised. Walls built with square stones or cement blocks also go up rapidly. But to build a solid wall with such disparate stones requires ardent patience and unshakeable hope. In spite of everything, if the Lord had not been with us, the efforts of the masons would have been useless. This is the story of fraternal communion and community life.

By Ignacio Larranaga in "Come with Me"

We are called neither  to enjoy nor to suffer but we are called to accept the law of life, to answer it and   to bear our crosses. We hope and we imitate Christ by trying to transform life events in joy.

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NDLR: Bro. Augusto Elopre or Bro. Dodoy is a responsible and dedicated Brother especially with his teaching job in the Hearing Impaired Department. Brother Dodoy’s musical composition won as semi-finalist from a hundred musical composition from all over the Philippines. His musical piece has been sung and interpreted in a nationwide television. He is still the leader of the band and choir that sings in the parish. At the moment he stops painting because the Region can no longer afford to buy expensive materials.

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 Composition/Melody & Lyrics by : Bro. Antonio Logronio Rodano,FC.
   Interpretation & Musical Arrangement by: Bro. Hieronimus Suliaji,FC

October 25, 2001 Moerzeke, Belgium

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N.B. If you know a young brother whose e-mail address is not on this message please inform.