Vocation Matters

Right now I'm in a motel room in West Long Branch, New Jersey, getting ready to drive to the airport (LGA) for a flight to Seattle and thence a drive to Yakima, WA, and our school there. The group meeting here was the Regional Vocation, Formation, and Visioning Committee (RVFVC for short, but I keep thinking of Patti LaBelle's [?] song R-E-S-P-E-C-T whenever I say that acronym out loud). The group is made up of Vocation Directors from the Brothers' provinces in the United States, along with those who oversee the formation programs for the Brothers. We generally meet twice a year to collaborate, keep one another informed, and take on regional projects or needs.

The past two days of meetings have been productive, I would say. There were lots of reports, but there was also much good interaction. It's clear that each province has its own approach on how best to promote the vocation of the Brothers. And once there is someone who has expressed interest in the Brothers, each group has specific requirements, processes, and expectations for that person prior to having them go to the national Novitiate. These differences can all be justified, rationalized, and codified. But at some level it seems to me that having a unified approach is more effective than having a number of disparate ones - as good as each may be. Some of that will be addressed in meetings today (which I'm not part of) among three East coast provinces that will be merging into one come this summer. They will have to have a unified approach now. Perhaps this will eventually lead to similar unification with the approaches of other provinces. I've told them that if any one of the approaches to promoting vocations were proven to be effective, I'd be on board in a minute. But that has yet to happen.

We met with the leaders of the Lasallian Volunteers program, which was very productive. These folks have been successfully involved up to 50 volunteers from our colleges in Lasallian apostolates (with the poor) throughout the country. And their success is growing, alive, and vibrant. They know young people well. We found many things in common and were able to see new ways that we could further collaborate and support one another. It was all quite helpful and an excellent development for this group.

And we decided that RVFVC really doesn't do it for us anymore. We will now be known as the RVFB (Regional Vocation Formation Board), which saves a letter and banishes Patti LaBelle from my head.

We attended Palm Sunday Mass yesterday evening at a local parish. I was a bit chagrined when the ceremony started in the back of the church with the blessing of palms - without the invitation to turn around and so pretty much everyone remained facing the front while a disembodied voice read the prayers and readings. And then they all trouped to the front with the altar server carrying the palm branches, which were only distributed with the bulletin at the very end of Mass as we were leaving. I had thought that the palm leaves were a symbol that would be given to people at the beginning of Mass so that they could wave them as the procession went from somewhere outside of the church (and at the back of the church is you have to) and then into the church, since that was the whole point of the thing. But I guess that efficiency trumped symbolism once again and the Palm Sunday procession has in many cases become a walk down the aisle by the priest lead by an altar server carrying a basket of palm leaves.

This reminds me of an interesting phrase that I heard in a talk that Fr. Timothy Radcliffe, OP, gave at the LA Religious Education Congress. In reflecting, diplomatically, on the fact that the Catholic Church seems to be moving "back" a bit from some progressive elements, especially in the area of liturgy, he said: "There's nothing in the Bible that says that we have to believe in progress." In other words, sometimes the church goes two steps forward, one step back, three steps forward, two steps back, one step sideways, and so on. With the eyes of faith, we should see that as part of God's Providence, although like most cases of God's Providence, the wisdom of it all is most often not immediately evident.

Tomorrow is Vocation Day at La Salle High School in Yakima. That's why I'm going. There will be a number of presentations by different vocation representatives, including the Brothers. I'm sure that it will have its own providential angle. I'll let you know what that angle is after I've been there.

The road straightens out behind us.

LA Religious Education Congress

I just returned from the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress, held at the Anaheim Convention Center last weekend. On Thursday, they had 15,000 youth there for Youth Day. There were no exhibits open or available, and so I joined the 2 teachers and 5 students from Christian Brothers High School in Sacramento for most of the day. I had driven down to LA from Napa with a vanload of stuff for the booth, but I couldn't set it up until after Youth Day was done at 3:30 PM.

Once the exhibit hall became available, it took about an hour to set everything up. The pop-up booth worked very well, and the carpet, furniture, etc. that I had brought all fit rather nicely. The following day, Friday, is when the 25,000 educators would begin to show up and wander through the 225 booths gathered there in the hall, if they weren't attending one of the many workshops available.

At first, I put out the nifty 18-by-24 inch calendars out with a "Free Poster!" sign, and people did stop by and pick one up occasionally. (The poster had a photomosaic on the left side and a calendar until June 2009 on the right side.) But that all changed when Br. Roch Dufresne came from Cathedral High School to help me. He took a stack of posters, stood in the middle of the aisle, and asked people "Are you a teacher?" " Do you know who your patron saint is?" "Have a poster for you classroom!" and similar interactive phrases. It soon became apparent to me that you have to be active, and not pastive, when doing something like this. Pretty soon we were doing a land-office business and the posters started flying. People really liked the photomosaic and the good quality of the posters themselves.

Br. Roch looked to be a pro at all this. He inspired me to do the same and pretty soon I was wading into the crowd also, interacting and handing out the posters. The other "trick" was to also carry the brochures for the Brothers' vocation and to give a brochure with the poster to any young man who came by. It was a long day, starting at 8:00 AM and ending at 5:00 PM with really no break anywhere, but it was worth it.

Saturday was the same, and by the middle of the afternoon we were out of posters, having given out some 3200 of them. We could have used more, but I had no idea how many would be able to be given out and so I ordered an average number of them. After the posters were gone, there was less interest in the booth, of course, but people did stop by and look over the material or chat. During the two days, Br. William Carriere also came by to help. And a number of people from the area stopped to speak with him, since he was the Director of Education for the Diocese of Orange (the diocese within which the conference takes place) for many years. And Br. Phong, who was doing a couple of workshops in Vietnamese, and Bishop Garcia (former auxiliary bishop of Sacramento and now bishop of Monterrey) stopped by.

I explored the rest of the exhibit hall during the "off" times, when most people were in workshops. This way I came to see what the other religious orders had done for their vocation booths. It was clear that the booth needed to be something inviting and attractive. Based on their example, next year I will likely get a double-wide booth and include a kind of living room sitting area where people can come and relax. I also ran into several vocation directors for other religious communities who gave me an update on their efforts, sharing ideas and suggestions about conferences to attend and so on.

Sunday was similar, except that everything shut down at 3:00 PM and I packed everything up into the van and drove back to Napa, arriving around midnight.

Cardinal Newman and Touching Hearts

Last week I read in the Tablet (Jan 19 issue) an article on John Henry Newman and the fact that he was a pretty regular down-to-earth guy when you met him. Part of the article made me sit up because it quoted him on the topic of education, and his thoughts were well in line with everything I've read about Catholic and Lasallian education - eerily so.

The next paragraph is a quotation from the article by Roderick Strange:

He had no time for theories, however splendid, if they could make no impact. As he remarked later in his life: "I do not want to be converted by a smart syllogism; if I am asked to convert others by it, I say plainly I do not care to overcome their reason without touching their hearts." Touching hearts was one of his fundamental preoccupations. It inspired his commitment to education. There is an entry in his journal in January 1863 in which he described education as his "line." He wanted to touch hearts and win minds.

Newman would have been right at home with the writings of De La Salle. I still find it amazing that DLS never got into writing books, or articles, or letters that dealt with educational philosophy, something that many of the great writers of his age were busy doing. No, instead he wrote the practical books needed for everyday classroom use. All of his writing had a practical impact - in the lives of both students and Brothers and others. Like most things that have a solid impact on human society, his "educational philosophy" communicated itself through his meditations, through the Conduct of Schools, through the book on politeness, and through his example, each of which had a profound effect on others.

I'd like to think that De La Salle and Newman shared a passion for education that each lived out according to his own talents, circumstances, and personal integrity. Sounds like that daily dance with Providence to me.

Vocation Retreat at the Russian River - Female

This year, for the first time, the District is sponsoring a vocation discernment retreat for high school senior girls. As I type, I am at the Russian River lodge that the District uses for events such as this. The thirteen seniors and one junior who are here are currently on a break. In a couple of minutes we'll resume the discussion of how they see their futures, their balancing of faith, service, and community, and the kinds of vocations that are possible for them.

Later this evening, Br. James Joost and myself will speak about our vocation discernment experience, and the evening will close with a showing of the story of Dorothy Day -> Entertaining Angels. The point of the retreat is provide a context for their consideration of "vocation" in their lives, including possible religious vocations.

I've just arrived here at the RR because I was asked to give a short presentation this morning at De La Salle High School in Concord on the History / Mission / Spirituality of the Brothers. They gave me 15 minutes, which I lengthened to 20-25 minutes. This was a retreat day for the combined faculties of Carondelet High School and DLS. They had not done something like this before, and it seemed to move along very smoothly. There was a Sr. Joanne who spoke about the CSJ charism, and then I spoke briefly about our own, giving out several handouts with further information. While it was a challenge to condense everything down to just a few minutes, it was also a good thing... Public speaking trainers often ask their trainees to prepare a 10-minutes talk and then at the last minute tell them to reduce it to 30 seconds. It's a great way to be "on" and to think on your feet.

Lastly, tomorrow we will have the funeral of Br. Columban, the 93-year-old organist, former Director, former Principal, and very respected "institution" in the District. We're expecting two bishops and over 200 people for his funeral. It's a big thing. Columban was a terrific person in lots of ways. More later.

Okay - I'm finally back.

Br. Brendan Kneale, FSC, who is very active in his "retirement" here at Mont La Salle, reminded me that I haven't done any entries in quite a while. And so my new year's resolution (one of them, anyway) was to resume a disciplined approach to this method of ongoing communication. With sufficient effort, it should last longer than my resolutions to lose weight, but I'm willing to give it up in order to fulfill my resolution to pray more. I also told Br. Brendan that his name will be the first words of the renewal - as well it should be given his liberal outlook on life.

I think that my reluctance to take this back on stems from the amount of time that it takes to edit and upload the photographs that I like to include. However, there's now a solution to this obstacle. The blog page will include a "revolving window" that includes a bunch of photographs that I've uploaded at different times. I'll simply add to this mix as pictures are taken, and each time someone clicks into the blog, they will see a new picture (or an old one). This will allow for variety and will allow me to upload pictures as they become available, meaning that I'm much more comfortable adding blog entries at more regular intervals.

For this entry, I'd like to highlight and article in U.S. News & World Report called "A Return to Ritual." (Dec 24, 2007) The author, Jay Tolson, analyzes the current interest in traditional religious practices and includes interesting statements such as these:

"People of the postmodern mindset - particularly 20- and 30-somethings - question the hyperindividualism of modern culture. They search for new forms of community but tend to be wary of authority figures and particularly of leaders... The young neotraditionalists also have an almost intuitive attraction to liturgy, ritual, and symbol as forms of knowledge that complement the dominant rational, scientific one."

Quoting Avi Weiss, senior rabbi of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale in NYC: "I would argue that people are looking for a dialectic. People are looking for a commitment that is grounded but not one that is stagnant. The other part of the dialectic is an openness but not without limits."

Recently, another person explained that "millenials" are looking for some hold on the sacred, which the US News article calls a "retaining a hold on spiritual truths."

The article also quote Sr. Patrician Wittberg, a sociologist: "I think churches that can articulate what they do and what they stand for tend to grow better." She points to two kinds of conservatives. "One group would like to take things back to the Council of Trent, but I don't think the future's with them. I think the future is with a group that is interested in reviving the old stuff and traditions in a creative way. Sisters in traditional orders may wear habits, but they often live in coed communities."

This article struck me as hitting lots of points that seem correct according to my limited experience. The strong reactions provoked among "older" Catholics when they hear conservative-leaning comments, suggestions, or practices (these older Catholics say that they've been there and done that and didn't like it) are based on a recollection of all the "baggage" that went with those practices in times past. It's a fear of the return of that "baggage" that keeps them viscerally opposed to any new ventures into a rediscovery of the positive aspects of some of those traditional practices. Regular prayer, anyone?

Visits to the Schools

I've begun my visits to the majority of our educational works on the West Coast. The idea is to stay in the Brothers' communities for a few days and 1) Check in with the administration and others in the school regarding potential vocation promotion avenues or prospects, 2) Speak with the Brothers, as they wish and in the forum they wish, regarding vocation ministry, and 3) Visit surrounding college / university Campus Ministry or Newman centers in order to develop relationships, learn about vocation promotion opportunities, and distribute resources such as flyers, posters, and the like.

Last week I visited Saint Mary's College High School in Berkeley and this week I'm at Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory in San Francisco.

The visit to Berkeley included an evening meeting with the Brothers, a "Lunch with De La Salle" talk to about a dozen teachers who came over to the Brothers house during lunch for a talk about their "vocation" as teachers, and several visits to the UC Berkeley Newman Center where I met with "Fr. Charlie" - the young(er) Paulist priest who is in charge there.

Some of the items - suggestions, insights, strong opinions - picked up include the following:

• We should concentrate on those individuals who come from strong, Catholic backgrounds, since they are already disposed with religious sensibilities and believe in the idea of a vocation.
• Work more with, and for, Catholic families where potential vocations exist, since these would value both church and the idea of a vocation. Perhaps offer family retreats.
  
• If we want to participate in World Youth Day, get our schools to send some of their kids over there.
• Get those individuals (Brothers and others) who take groups of kids or young adults on trips to focus on the "vocation" aspect of their world, perhaps even making the challenge of a religious vocation part of the trip's focus.

At Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep, I had a number of very profitable meeting with the President, the Principal, the Development Director, the Communications Director, and a number of faculty members. The community also had a discussion about vocations on one of the evenings. And I visited the Newman club at San Francisco State University (Secular) and the "University Ministry" office at the University of San Francisco (Jesuit).

In my presentations to the communities - for those who wish to have them - I tell them about the various aspects of vocation ministry this year. These include contact / accompaniment of those who have expressed interest in the Brothers, visits to schools and colleges as described above, and the development of resources for vocation promotion. This last area is one that could be wide-reaching, but for now I'm concentrating on developing a consistent style in new brochures, information sheets, and a pop-up booth for conferences, college fairs, and so on. For that purpose, I'm working with a professional designer and several consultants from within the District (Brothers & Partners) in order to have something that will communicate well and yet be versatile enough to last a good while.

I realize that none of these efforts are sure-fire means for attracting vocations, but I have yet to see a group that has such a means. Even the US Army recruiters are having difficulties making their quotas - and they're promising lots of things to impressionable kids while downplaying the downside (compared to getting blown up or shot, poverty, chastity, and obedience are a minor concern).

Funeral of Br. John Johnston, FSC

Br. John Johnston, FSC, former Superior General of the Brothers, was buried this week in Memphis, TN. As one of the representatives from the District of San Francisco (along with Gery Short, Br. Dominic Berardelli, and Br. Ronald Gallagher) I traveled to Memphis for the services. Of course I took along my small but versatile camera so that I might take pictures to share with readers of the blog and others.

The Brothers of Memphis were excellent hosts for us. They found accommodations for all the Brothers who arrived from different parts of the country and the world for the services, either at one of the communities or at local hotels. And they made sure that transportation was provided whenever it was needed.

Most of the pictures on this page are of the Funeral Mass that was held on Thursday. Both services were well attended by Brothers, students, Lasallian Volunteers, lay Partners, affiliated members, faculty members and administrators from the Memphis region, and many others whose relationship to Br. John may be known only by him. Several drove for many hours from as far away as Minneapolis in order to attend the services and pay their respects. I'm not sure if Br. John would have been in favor of all of the efforts made on his behalf, but I'm sure that his family and the Brothers were all very appreciative of the outpouring of affection for him as he was laid to rest.
Arriving in Memphis in the mid-afternoon on Wednesday, I settled into the hotel and then at 5:30 PM joined two Brothers in a ride to the Cathedral, where about 60 Brothers and relatives had gathered already. After paying my respects at Br. John's coffin, there were many whom I greeted and spoke with, both Brothers and others from the Memphis area and beyond who knew Br. John. His three brothers, of course, were there with their families, as were Br. Alvaro, Br. Tom Johnson, Br. Robert Schieler, and a number of the Visitors from the Region. The atmosphere was respectful, but also relaxed and prayerful in a not-too-pious way. Gradually more and more people arrived. At one point, when the Christian Brothers High School band began to set up, the person with whom I was speaking remarked: "You know, if John were here, he'd notice right away that those kids were coming in and he'd be making a beeline for them to talk with them."

During the memorial service at 7:00 PM there were remembrances by a Lasallian Volunteer, a representative from the Lasallian family, a family member, and a Brother. Each had unique things to say, and all were very sincere and touching. I'm sure that their talks will be made available at some point. Some snippets: Br. John's brother, Joe, spoke about the memories he had from when they were children, when John (or "J.C." as he was known in the family for all of his life) systematically taught him how to be an altar boy, training him in how to say the Latin prayers and playing the "priest" in their practice Masses, with his other brother assisting... or how he would take him out to the field to practice catching ground-balls when Joe was trying out for the baseball team. Br. Bernard LoCoco spoke about the key image of "drinking of the cup" in Br. John's later years - how Br. John had collected all the references in Scripture related to that image and had them gathered in a ceramic chalice in his room, in order to remind him of his relationship with God's will.

The Christian Brothers High School band played various musical pieces at different times in the service. All of them were very appropriate, including a special musical reflection composed by the band's director just for this occasion in honor of Br. John. One of these pieces included a clarinet solo, which was the instrument that Br. John played when he was a member of that same band in high school. Afterwards, when I spoke with Andrew, the student who played the solo, he told me that he was both quite nervous but also found it a real honor to be able to be there and play it. The presence of those students gave the whole ceremony a wonderful quality that John would surely appreciate.

Although the memorial was probably longer than planned, one wouldn't know it from those who were there. All of the elements and talks were to the point, poignant, and appropriate. By the end of the service it was clear that the whole thing had been very well-planned and well-executed.

The Mass on the next day was equally well done and well appreciated by those who were there. The Brothers gathered outside of the cathedral for at least an hour before the 11 AM beginning. Br. Alvaro and others were there to greet and speak with the many people, lay and religious, who arrived to participate. Again, the mood was more celebratory than morose, with appreciation shown for John's life and his vocation as a Brother, friend, leader, and inspiration. Two bishops, including the bishop of Memphis, were there, and the Mass was concelebrated by about fifteen priests, with John's brother, Fr. Mike Johnston, as the principal celebrant.

The Mass begin with the CBHS band playing Aaron Copeland's "Fanfare for the Common Man." For those of you who know it, this was absolutely appropriate and an inspiring choice. I know that it moved me to hear that music coming from inside the church as the Brothers began to process in. All through the liturgy, the music and participation of the congregation was authentic and almost "natural" to the occasion. Br. Vincent Malham had received special permission from the bishop to give the homily, and he used Br. John's own words from his writings to weave a first-person narrative of who he was and what he stood for. Throughout the Mass, things just fit well, and everyone appeared "there" with the mood of the day - prayerful, appreciative, and glad/sad. At the end of the Mass, there was a reflection by another of Br. John's brothers, and Br. Alvaro had some very warm and sincere words about Br. John's character, spirituality, and influence.

Many of the talks expressed great appreciation to the Brothers in Memphis for being so supportive of Br. John during the last year. The nurse practitioner for the Brothers there, Patricia Bader, who grew particularly close to John and accompanied him on this last journey, was especially pointed out by several of the speakers.

After the funeral Mass, the bishop did the commendation service, also expressing the appreciation of the diocese for having had Br. John there - a real active presence among the religious communities in the diocese. The coffin was then brought outside of the church, with six students as the pall bearers, and was blessed with holy water by Fr. Michael Johnson, by the bishop, and by Br. Alvaro. Br. John's coffin was brought in a car procession to Calvary Cemetery where he was laid to rest, beside the other Brothers of his District.

Afterwards, everyone returned to Christian Brothers University for a fine luncheon in the Brothers house (Lambert Hall), where several tables were on display with photographs, mementoes, and personal items from Br. John's room in the community. I was particularly taken by one black-and-white photograph that showed him and his three brothers when they were quite young. John has a wonderful smile on his face as he is looking at the baby brother that he holds in his arms, while his two other brothers face the camera. The picture is below - it quietly captured something of the person that Br. John was to both of his families.

The other pictures that I took may all be seen at http://picasaweb.google.com/gvangrie/BrJohnJohnstonFuneral

Yikes! It's Late

A month of lots of activities did not include keeping up this blog. This is sort of funny, since normally I enjoy spending a little time ruminating on the keyboard, sipping tea and going through recently taken photographs. Don't know what could be the problem (well, perhaps I do, but I'm not going to write about it here).

Current points of interest in my life include the following:

1) Things are settling in quite well at Mont La Salle. I'm still working on getting my office and room up to snuff, but that's really a long-term project. I did finally get a good, comfortable chair to sit in and read. Actually it all looks quite cozy now with the heater with lights (electric fireplace), bookshelves, small carpet I researched and bought on Ebay, keyboard, and easy chair. The chair was found at Penney's in Concord, where I happened to stop on impulse and discovered a floor clearance sale, ending up with a well-built chair that cost 25% of it's initial price. And the office is small, but cozy, if I'm to believe the nearby secretaries. For me, it suffices.

2) Vocation ministry is up and running. I'm negotiating a contract with a graphic designed for producing a new brochure, a information template, and a design palate that can be used in various forms of communication. Soon I'll be on the road to visit our Brothers communities and contact local colleges, speak in classes, and do whatever else will help get the word out about the Brothers. And conversations with interested individuals continues with some success - but no guarantees.

3) Once again I'm teaching the novices about De La Salle, using a thick book by Alfred Calcutt which is the best thing available in English. It's a bit of chore to read, but eminently worthwhile. No one has put so much material together in an accessible format. Br. Richard Orona from the Holy Family Community is on sabbatical and doing an English translation of the definitive book in Spanish on the Founder, but until that one comes out, Calcutt's my main man. When I emailed the Brothers in England to send me copies of the book, and asked if there was a study guide, it happened that Br. Alfred was in the office, and he said jokingly: "A study guide? How can you improve on perfection?" Nice guy.

4) Just today a very providential thing happened vis-a-vis the movie about De La Salle, called "Who Are My Own", that Br. Leo Burkhart had placed in my trust about a year ago. While attending a local showing of "Bella" for the Catholic community, I met several people from Ignatius Press who live in the area. They directed me to someone in their organization who deals with videos, dvds, an the like. For some time, I'd been trying to figure out a way to turn the original 35mm reels of the movie into a good DVD for popular use. Having emailed the person in charge, and simply asking for some advice, I received an email saying that they might be interested in helping me transfer it to DVD and then distributing it as part of their catalogue. I hope that something can be worked out. The movie might be a bit sappy or cheesy according to some, but it's still the only thing out there on De La Salle when it comes to movies.

5) Tomorrow the RCCB begins to arrive at Mont La Salle for one of its yearly meetings. That means that all the Visitors (Provincials) of the US Region will be here, along with several Brothers from Rome. Unfortunately, it just started raining here today, so their experience will be wet. But from what I hear they've got so much material to cover that they may not even be able to go outside at all. It's like when Gery Short went to Rome for some meetings and people told him: "Oh, you're going to Rome? That's be great!" And he said: "I'm not going to Rome. I'm going to a building in Rome." This is indeed what happened - to the building in Rome and back to the airport. We'll try to see that the RCCB members have a chance to see a bit more of the area than simply a building in the Napa Valley.

Lots more I could write, but I won't do so now. Just wanted to let people know that I'm still here and kicking. Maybe with more thoughts pestering me in the next few days, I'll put in another entry sooner rather than later.

Catching Up - Again

Okay, so it's not every week. Amazing how time flies. Before you know it, two or three weeks are gone. How do those "blog" folks do it? They must have all kinds of time on their hands, or they stay up half the night staring at screens and munching candy. Perhaps I will try some regularity, such as posting something every Saturday morning.

Today is Wednesday, but pretend it's Saturday.

The major events of the last couple of weeks occurred last weekend. We had three of our Brothers make their Final Profession Vows at Saint Mary's College. And the following day we were at Mont La Salle in Napa to witness the "Habit Taking" of one of the three novices at our Novitiate there.

The Final Profession Mass was a big deal. One of the Brothers involved, Br. David Caretti, did a very thorough job in planning, preparing, overseeing, and participating in the ceremony. The music was well-chosen; the pacing was very smooth, and the whole thing really was a celebration.

The main celebrant was Fr. Kenan Osborne, OFM, who many of the Brothers already knew and appreciated. He's the former head of the Gradurate Theological Union in Berkeley, author of some 23 books (many on Christology), and has a gracious, engaging sense of presiding at Liturgy. His homily was the best I've heard yet at such an occasion. Kenan knew exactly what to say when and how to both grab his audience and hold onto them - leaving them with something to think about. It had to do with the fact that religious life is essentially a lay movement, starting in the 3rd and 4th century of the church, and it touched on many of the elements that make our religious charism unique in the church. At one point, I noticed how the whole church was absolutely quiet, paying careful attention to what he said, and moving right with him as he moved from point to point.

The "main event" of course was the vow ceremony itself. Each Brother approached the altar with his sponsor (chosen by him) and they knelt down in front of the altar. The sponsor went to light the vow candle, which the Brother then held as he pronounced the same vows (or 95% of the same vow formula) as those pronounced in the late 17th century. One Vietnamese Brother said them in Vietnamese.

Wisely, the "speeches" were made after Communion. They were short expressions of appreciation by each of the three Brothers making the vows. Then it was off to another location on campus for a reception and a luncheon. All in all, a very fine affair.

After that ceremony, for the first time in the history of the San Francisco District, we had no one who was in any of the stages of "initial formation" (novitiate, studies, temporary vows). The next day, however, that was remedied with the habit-taking of Chris Patino. He is the San Francisco District's participant in the regional novitiate at Mont La Salle. Two other novices from the Baltimore District were already robed, so we included them within the ceremony in another way. The habit-taking is the first time that a Brother received the Brother's robe and is able to be called "Brother."

The ceremony was simply, outside of the context of Mass, and included readings, chants, and the giving of a variety of Lasallian symbols associated with our life (e.g., Rule, New Testament, cross, rosary). There were a good number of Brothers in attendance. Afterwards, there was a reception and dinner in the Novitiate courtyard. Yet another enjoyable experience.

Those two events together made for a healthy "shot in the arm" for the Brothers of the District, since we hadn't had such events for some years. And, of course, the next time that we might even have another final vows is when Chris finishes his novitiate, goes out into community for at least five years, and decided to make final vows. So it was sort of like a rare grouping of planets in the sky. We're likely to not see it again for quite a while.

It also puts a little pressure on me, of course, to "bring in" more candidates for the Brothers, but that's another blog.

Catching Up

It's been almost 2.5 months since my last confession. And frankly I don't quite know how all of that time passed so quickly. When I got to the end of the Chapter I was happy to forego the nightly stint to feed the blog beast. However, since then not only have I kinda missed the regular ruminations of recent events, but - surprisingly to me, at least - a number of folks have asked me what happened and why I wasn't keeping it up.

So, okay, I'll move ahead with it and we'll see what happens. But it will likely be once or twice a week and not every day. Keeping a daily blog means that either you don't really have a life, or that you're so disassociated from real people that you need to "relate" to those accessible through a screen, or you're doing something so interesting that it's a way to share the experience and process it for yourself. Two of those are not too good. I'll try to maintain the third option, within reason.

The main job upon my return was to move myself from Sacrament to Napa. Instead of living at the high school, I'll be living at our Provincialate office in Napa (Mont La Salle). An idyllic painting of the place is shown here. I commissioned it about 10 years ago when I was living there, but it's not far off the mark. It certainly is a contrast from the busy, loud, economically challenged neighborhood that Christian Brothers High School is in. Here the loudest think you hear at night are some birds that haven't gone to sleep yet, or the occasional cow in the attached farm. I spent the first couple of nights at Mont La Salle listening for the comforting sounds of a fire engine or some distant gun shots - typical noises from the area around the school.

After eight years in one place, it's amazing how much "stuff" accumulates. I found a set of boxes that I hadn't opened in all that time. The Director convinced me to just leave them there, unopened (they were pretty much books) and he would go through them for me, giving away what he could and saving what he thought I might want. I took him up on it. God knows there was enough other junk to go through. It made me think that simplicity really is a virtue, and that the more things we have, the more those things potentially have us. God save us from stuff.

There were movers that came and packed the things I hadn't yet packed, took the several items of small furniture, etc. that I've dragged with me from place to place, and deposited it all in my new room in Napa. Subsequent days were spent going through the boxes, saying "Oh, yeah." and putting it in a new pile in the room. Now I'm about 75% settled in. I still need to go through everything in detail and really decide where it should live.

Of course my responsibilities continued - contacting folks interested in the Brothers, exploring new avenues for vocation promotion, attending lots of meetings, etc. In the middle of the summer I traveled to Philadelphia for a meeting of all the vocation directors in the U.S. for the purpose of developing collaborative strategies, etc. A worthwhile meeting, actually, with some good results. I took the opportunity to go on to Washington, D.C., to pursue some vocation contacts there (didn't really pan out) and took a day to do the sights, meeting up with Sam Stefanki - former student body president at CBHS and now legislative assistant to Congresswomen Doris Matsui - who showed me lots of wonderful places. This included the Library of Congress, where I found out that anyone over the age of 18 could be member. Next thing I knew, I was walking down underground tunnels in pursuit of a membership card, which I eventually received. I thought I'd try it out and went to the music library - a real rabbit-warren of libraries make up the Library of Congress - where I sat down with some nifty folios from Alexander Gretchaninov that I'd been interested in for years.

When it came time to leave Washington, I'd arranged to take the train to NYC and then on to Chicago and Sacramento - a little vacation of sorts. However, through my own stupidity (lingered at a museum longer than I should have), I missed the train out of Washington by all of 2 minutes, caught a subsequent train (which was delayed en route) and missed the NYC train also by just 3 minutes. No more room in subsequent trains for a couple of days. So I ended up sitting on the floor of Penn station, surrounded by the rushing crowds, trying to figure out how to get back to California. Thankfully, I had my laptop computer, got online, found a $238 flight the next day to SFO, booked it from the cold floor, and had an adventure trying to get out to the airport. Lesson learned was: don't assume that you can catch a train by showing up 5 minutes before it leaves. Get there 30 minutes ahead of time. (I know, common sense.)

Other noteworthy things that I'll write about if the occasion presents itself:

1) Attended a Tridentine Wedding Mass and Reception (non-Tridentine) at the Sacramento Cathedral for Abigail Hesser (and Jonathan Burke). Brought back a flood of Latin memories.

2) Had my over-50 "procedure" - enough said. Spent a whole day indoors watching all of the Lord of the Rings movies; the uncut versions.

3) Spent a couple of days at the family cabin in Jackson, fixing things, visiting around, enjoying the time with my relatives.

4) Took my niece and a friend of hers to see Joshua Bell play with the Russian National Symphony right here in Yountville. Decided that life was too short for bad tickets, and so we sat close enough to really appreciate the experience. Passionate stuff, the violin.

5) Joined the board at La Salle High School in Milwaukie, OR, for a day of "bonding" (my word) through playing golf in the morning (made a hole-in-one, much to my surprise), lunch, and an afternoon of work at Medical Teams International's warehouse, sorting medical supplies. It's surprising how much "business" can get done in a casual setting - what someone else has called "parking lot conversations."

6) Went to a pool party at my brother's place in Manteca. They have a great lap-pool next to the house: the only way to go. All the family was there, and then some. A great time for everyone.

7) Did a couple of presentations / discussions at Saint Mary's College, at the invitation of Dr. Carole Swain. Two with the Lasallian Scholars Practicum of the Buttimer Institute, and one with the MA program participants in Lasallian Studies.

8) Spent a couple of days at our camp at Lake Huntington, joining a group of Brothers there for a short vacation. It's a gorgeous area, where we've had a lodge and cabins since 1954. Mostly used by others, but they keep a couple of weeks open for just the Brothers.

9) Did a Day of Reflection for the faculty and staff at Christian Brothers High School, Sacramento. Lots of great friends and acquaintances, and a find morning of interaction.

10) Joined my new community of Brothers for a series of meetings during which we set goals, principles, etc. for the upcoming year. It was held at Sea Ranch - kind of remote, but beautiful, near the ocean, with an interesting little non-denominational chapel (see picture) that's along the side of the road.

So, you see, it's not as if I've not been doing anything during the past few months. Naturally, the things that stand out for me are the "fun" things. But rest assured that there was lots of other work in between.

Enough for now. More later. Life moves on and we'd better be paying attention.