Religious Brothers’ Day May 1, 2024
Religious Brother Day – May 1, 2024
Celebrate the life and vocation of religious brothers on May 1, the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker. Locally, religious communities and dioceses will mark the day with celebrations and events.
Get involved!
- For more resources visit religiousbrothers.org/events
- Follow us on Facebook (@religiousbrothersday)youtube
- Check out the videos from the “Ask a Brother” YouTube series
- Use the hashtags #WeAreBrothers and #ReligiousBrothersDay
- Learn more about brothers and ideas on celebrating Religious Brothers day at www.religiousbrothers.org
- A virtual celebration of Religious Brothers Day will take place on May 1, 2024 at 1 p.m. AND 7 p.m. Central Daylight Time, hosted by the Brothers Think Tank. All are welcome to both events. The Brothers Think Tank is composed of the NRVC, Religious Brothers Conference, Conference of Major Superiors of Men, and Religious Formation Conference. The Significance of Brothers | NRVC
Current CAVA members who are religious Brothers:
Br. John Eustice, CSV, Viatorian
Br. Jason Graves, OFM Cap, Capuchin Franciscans
Br. Steven Kropp, OFM Cap, Capuchin Franciscans
Br. Steve Kuehn, ofm, Orders of Friars Minor (Holy Name Province)
Br. Vito Martinez, OFM Cap, Capuchin Franciscans
Br. James McDonald CFC, Edmund Rice Christian Brothers
Br. Patrick Moffett CFC, Edmund Rice Christian Brothers
Br. Michael Segvich, CFC, Edmund Rice Christian Brothers
Br. Thom Smith, OFM, Franciscan Friars (OFM) Sacred Heart Province
Br. Gregory Timothy Smyth, CFC, Edmund Rice Christian Brothers
Br. Duylinh Tran, SVD, Divine Word Missionaries
Featured Stories
Radio Interview with a Religious Brother
Click below to listen to Sr. Lovina interview Br. Mike Segvich in “Dare to Love,” a radio show aired by the Offfice for radio and TV of the Archdiocese of Chicago.
Listen to the podcast recording of an interview with Brother John Eustice, CSV and Brother Peter Lamick, CSV: https://radiotv.archchicago.org/radio/dare-to-love
Video Interview
Featured on this video is Brother Br. Mike Segvich, CFC of the Edmund Rice Christian Brothers.
Featured on this video is Brother Jim McDonald, CFC of the Edmund Rice Christian Brothers.
For more information regarding religious brothers, visit: Today’s Brother Website
Brothers Today: An Introduction
This content is available at Today’s
Brother http://www.todaysbrother.com/?
Responding to the question “Who or what is a religious Brother?” is tricky.
For one thing there are many different kinds of Brothers. There are Brothers who are monks and Brothers who are teachers and Brothers who work in medicine and Brothers who paint, garden, or build houses for the poor. Sometimes seminarians call themselves “brothers” until they become ordained but this is not what we mean when we talk about religious Brothers. What we are talking about are what are technically referred to as “lay religious” men. In other words we are talking about men who take vows of poverty, celibate chastity, and obedience and who live in a community but who are neither ordained ministers nor those studying to be ordained ministers. Many people in the Catholic church aren’t aware that a man can be called to a vowed life of prayer, community, and ministry and not be a priest. Because of the hierarchical structure of the church and the highly visible role of sacramental ministry, all vocations for men tend to be thought of in comparison or relation to the priesthood. In fact, the vocation of the religious Brother is an ancient expression of vowed life that originated independently of the priesthood and as such is unrelated to ordained ministry.
The lack of understanding of the religious Brother’s vocation is complicated by the fact that Brothers have often remained a relatively invisible group within the Church and even in their own communities. The reasons for this hiddenness are many: social structures, theology, politics, and even economics have all played a part. Brothers who belong to apostolic communities have often been separated from the laity by the nature of their ministry or work. For example, Brothers who have been teachers, nurses, or missionaries have been involved in activities which are often separate from parish life. In so-called “mixed communities” which are comprised of religious priests, seminarians, and Brothers, it was once common for the Brothers to manage the domestic, agricultural, or technical affairs of the community. In this regard, Brothers had much less contact with the laity and their contributions to their communities and the Church often took place behind the scenes. But the most significant reason Brothers have been overlooked by the Church in general is because of their separateness from two of its most visible features: the hierarchical structure and sacramental ministry.
Because of this, awareness of the Brother vocation has almost been entirely eclipsed by the most well-known men in the Catholic Church, its ordained ministers. Another factor which may contribute to confusion about what it means to be a Brother is the tradition of diversity among Brothers themselves. Over the centuries, Brothers have continually adapted to the needs of the Church and the times in which they have lived. As a result Brothers have lived their vocation through a variety of routines and ministerial opportunities. Brothers live in different kinds of communities and engage in a wide range of services and ministries. Brothers have different prayer styles and charisms, varying degrees of social interaction, and possess a broad range of skills, education, and interests. Some Brothers wear habits and others dress casually or professionally. There are Brothers who work with their hands as craftsmen or tradesmen and others who work in spheres of art, medicine, social services, or academics. Many do both. Some Brothers belong to communities comprised of only Brothers; others share communities with religious priests and seminarians. All this diversity can be confusing because it makes it makes articulating a simple and universal definition of the Brother vocation difficult.
In comparison, priests and seminarians all have the benefit of a common function within the Catholic church: sacramental ministry. Whether they work in a parish or in the Vatican, whether they are a hospital chaplain or a canon lawyer, all priests spend at least part of their time celebrating the sacraments. Ordained priesthood is in fact, defined by the authority to participate in sacramental ministry. Because we tend to identify people by what they do rather than who they are, a priest is identified by the sacramental ministry that he performs. In other words, everyone knows what a priest does therefore everyone knows what a priest is. Brothers have no such unifying function. Brothers do many things, but we do not, because of our vows or canonical status as Brothers, automatically or universally share any particular lifestyle, ministry, or work. Therefore, people tend to be at a loss to describe us. Brothers cannot be easily defined by what we do; rather, we must be defined by who we are.
Our identity as Brothers emanates from 1. a vocation to consecrated life 2. Our public profession of the vows of poverty, celibate chastity, and obedience, and 3. Our call to community life that begins with our religious confreres but which ultimately includes the entirety of the human family. We hope the rest of this website will offer some insight into what it means to be a religious Brother in the Church today. God bless!
WASHINGTON STATEMENT ON A CALL TO BROTHERHOOD
This content is available at Today’s Brother at http://www.todaysbrother.com/?
This statement was written from sharing the lived experiences of 12 Brothers from 12 different religious communities:
it is their vision of how they see the American Brother in the Church.
Jesus walked this earth as brother. In doing so, He appropriated our humanness. In a world that is sinful and broken He
identified Himself with a people oppressed and suffering and He ministered to them. All Christians are called to share in this brotherhood of Jesus; in them Jesus continues to walk this earth.
In response to this mysterious call—of which we stand in awe—we have assumed the title “Brother.” We come together in community as brothers to live out this call. Although we each come with our particular history and community charism (which distinguish those who call themselves ‘Brother,’) nevertheless we hold much in common…
TO BROTHER is to participate deeply in the sacramental life of the Church. Such participation is a reminder to Brothers of
the basic mystery that we are the sacrament of Jesus the brother.
TO BROTHER is to minister. Rooted in the gospel, we perform a variety of ministries within the Church. As men in touch with our times, we possess the freedom to continue the saving works of Jesus. We brother
Jesus to the world.
TO BROTHER is to understand and appreciate the workings of the Spirit in the world and in the lives of women and men. We walk with them and together we effectively discern creative means of furthering God’s Kingdom. Such ministry demands preparation through prayer, study, and Christian living.
TO BROTHER is to encourage, enable, and support our brothers and sisters in offering—through commitment and action—their own particular gifts and charisms in ministry to others. All Christians have gifts which must be called forth for the Christian community. We associate ourselves with Jesus, the enabler, so that being a Brother is not a role we assume but
rather a posture we hold in all our activities with the friends of Jesus.
TO BROTHER is to minister to person to persons as one like them. We do not stand apart from our brothers and sisters: we stand
with them. We make this real when we resist the temptation to separate ourselves from God’s people. Instead we consciously associate ourselves—sociologically, psychologically, and religiously—with them.
TO BROTHER is to comfort with all people the pain and loneliness of existence. There is ultimately no division between the Brother in ministry and those who stand in need of ministry.
TO BROTHER is to embrace and empower the marginalized and the powerless and struggle with them in the achievement of
freedom.
TO BROTHER is to reconcile, unify, and heal every kind of discord. We are compassionately sensitive to the injustices that
fragment the human family and global environment. We call upon God, ourselves, and our sisters and brothers to heal divisions that impede God’s Kingdom on earth.
TO BROTHER is to bring to our ministries the catalyst of our relationships with Jesus, who entered our humanity as a brother,
who walked in the turmoil of His time, who struggled to understand His identity, and who shared His story in action and word.
TO BROTHER is passionately to proclaim, in word and deed, the prophetic utterance of a God who continuously calls us to hope.
Yet we know that our hearts will ever see more than our hands will ever make.
TO BROTHER is to be profoundly aware that structures—whether personal, ecclesiastical, or political—are created to sustain
and enable a particular vision and that those structures must be critiqued and challenged when maintenance of the structure eclipses the vision behind it.
TO BROTHER is to recognize our need for and reliance upon a community for support, sustenance, and love. We allow tenderness to be our strength and vulnerability to be our power so that our compassion may enkindle the full potential of all our brothers and sisters.
TO BROTHER is to choose to live with impermanence in our relationships, possessions, and power. In doing so we free ourselves to give our time and energy to one another and to our ministries.
TO BROTHER is to invest in integrity, intimacy, and friendship, to let go of one all-encompassing human relationship. We center
our lives on the belief in God’s love for us and, in turn, we share that love with others.
TO BROTHER is to let go of possessions, role expectations, and even reputation in our freedom to care for the earth and its
people. Our arms are not cluttered with goods and excesses. Our arms are not raised in a defensive posture or to build a shell around ourselves. Rather, our arms are free to embrace and make whole bodies that are broken and communities
that are fragmented. We freely give away what we have received as gifts.
TO BROTHER is to listen and respond. To listen to the Holy Spirit and follow where it calls us. To listen to the cry of the earth
and to make responsible and conscious decisions on its behalf. To listen to the women and men with whom we stand and to share in their suffering and their friendship.
FINALLY, in our being the sacrament of Jesus the brother, we deepen our involvement in prayer. Only through Christ in us and our brothers and sisters do we celebrate our freedom, joy, and friendship in sacrament and prayer. We are in a present in which we have the freedom to be still with the Lord who calls us by name and who is faithful to us. We are in a present in which we celebrate Christ’s presence among us and the opportunity to join with Him in proclaiming the Good News. We are in a present in which we offer our lives in some small way to renew the face of the earth.
We recognize that this articulation of what it means “to Brother” will have practical consequences. We also affirm that the
first half of the 21st century is fraught with realities that demand our attention and energy so that we may be credible and faithful signs of what it means to be a Brother. We call upon ourselves to
SPEAK OUT consistently against all injustice and oppression, especially
racism and sexism, wherever they are found.
COOPERATE in building a Church and society that are marked by equality
and respect for all women and men.
ESCHEW all privilege and elitism.
ADOPT personal and communal lifestyles that are simple and modest in an
effort to resist a culture of
consumerism
ENABLE all women and men to express their ministries in the fullest
possible way and to stand with our sisters in their struggle for full
participation in ministry.
Holy Trinity Mission Seminary
Washington, D.C.
December 6, 1979
