|
Behold Your Mother Number 44: Fall 2009 | ||
Beginning the Journey
Kirk Vandeventer makes his promises as an Aspirant to the Brothers of the Beloved Disciple.
|
Small Taste of Life in the BBDs
On April 17 we had a Come and See Program. We showed a short film on the life of a priest and invited Marianist Brother Lester Kaehler (left in photo) to speak on the life of a brother.
| |
What is a Religious Brother? I was only eight years old when I first met the Marianists. We called them “Brothers of Mary” in those days. They brought a bus load of teen-age campers to the ranch for an outdoor overnight experience. These “big brothers” worked a kind of
magic on those boys that I found fascinating. At the age of eleven I entered the seventh grade at Central Catholic in San Antonio, the start of a five-year experience with “the brothers” as my teachers and mentors. By the end of my junior year I had decided to join this community of “brothers.” Yes, there were priests among them, but no one thought of a higher rank, for all were “brothers.” My call was from the Lord, but it came to me clothed in the brotherhood I saw, a brotherhood with which I had fallen in love. If you had asked me at the age of 16 if I wanted to be a priest, I would not have been able to answer. I just wanted to be one of “them.” I begin by sharing my story because, although the Lord led me into the priesthood in the Marianists, I have never lost my sense of being a “brother.” Many Catholics think of the religious brotherhood as a lesser vocation, and sometimes they ask a brother, “Did you ever think of going all the way and becoming a priest?” They don’t understand that the Brother has already gone all the way by dedicating himself to God by the vows of celibate chastity, poverty and obedience. It is a state of life. The priesthood is a ministry, a holy ministry to be sure. The Brothers also have their ministries—teaching, social work, retreat work, counseling, to name a few, and these too are ministries, not jobs. Like religious sisters, brothers witness first of all to the value of giving oneself totally to God in a permanent state of life, regardless of ministry. Living a common life they strive to capture the ideal set forth in the Acts of the Apostles, where the early Christians shared everything, a foretaste on earth of the kingdom that is to come. The beauty of the Marianist life is that brothers and priests live together and most often work together. It was Blessed Chaminade’s design that priests and brothers would give a common witness of unity to the world. Because the Brothers of the Beloved Disciple carry on the Marianist heritage, we are delighted that we have welcomed as an aspirant to the brotherhood Kirk Vandeventer (see photo elsewhere in this issue). Dan, our other aspirant, is still in the discernment process.
|
||
Annual Retreat at 2-Hearts Ranch
Sean Stilson, 3rd from left, a junior at St. Mary's University, joined us for our annual retreat at 2-Hearts Ranch in May. |
||
Fr. Bob Hogan in Demand as Speaker
Father Bob Hogan, associate director of the Catholic Center for Charismatic Renewal, has responded to numerous invitations to speak about the Holy Spirit. Besides offering a retreat in Victoria, TX and a Life in the Spirit Seminar in Austin, and numerous local workshops, he will speak at a Leaders’ Conference in Lafayette, LA, in September and at the National Leaders’ Conference in November.
|
Aspirant Dan Sealana Works Two Jobs
Dan Sealana spends his Aspirancy morning working at KJMA, San Antonio’s local affiliate with EWTN radio. You may hear him giving the news and weather periodically during the day. Then he goes to work at the Pilgrim Center of Hope. He and Kirk Vandeventer hope to begin their novitiate in January.
|
|
Creating an Evangelizing DVD to Promote Parish Ernesto Rivas and Alex Pacheco are preparing a DVD on the life of St. Mary Magdalen parish, to be distributed free to people in the confines of the parish as an invitation to find Christ by becoming a member of the parish family. Here Ernesto is interviewing Father George about the Brothers of the Beloved Disciple. |
||
Companions make Consecration
New Lay Associates made their consecration as Companions of the Beloved Disciple in June. Three cells (one Spanish, two English) meet monthly to share their efforts to grow in the System of Virtues proposed by Blessed William Joseph Chaminade. They follow Fr. George’s book, The Woman and the Way or the Spanish version, La Mujer y el Camino.
|
Fr. George Continues Speaking, Writing In addition to his duties as director of the Community and teaching part-time at St. Mary’s University, Fr. George recorded 12 talks on the Holy Spirit in Baltimore, MD, in June, presented a study on John 19:25-27 at the Catholic Biblical Association Meeting in Omaha in August, He also continues work on his next book, a commentary on Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. Parish Begins Charismatic Mass
With the permission of Archbishop Gomez, St. Mary Magdalen Parish began a monthly 12:30 Sunday charismatic Mass this summer, and response has been so positive, it will likely become the usual 12:30 Sunday Mass. A charismatic Mass is essentially no different than other Masses, except there is extended time for praise and for listening to the word of God, with options for healing prayer after the Mass.
|
|
René René in Free Concert
Renowned for his two Gold records (1 million sold each), René Ornelas (a.k.a. René René), a member of our prayer group, presented a free concert to honor St. Mary Magdalen on her feast day, June 22.
|
From Another Charismatic Community
Fr. Francis Donnelly of the Companions of the Cross, now stationed in Houston, visited us the weekend of August 7-9. the Companions of the cross are a charismatic community of priests founded by Fr. Bob Bedard in Ottawa. Fr. Bob made the Bible Institute in the 70's and Fr. Francis is a friend from Bishop Jacobs Dinner Guest Bishop Sam Jacobs of the diocese of Houma-Thibodeaux, LA, while participating in the Bishops’ semi-annual meeting in San Antonio in June, accepted our invitation to dinner on June 17. Bishop Jacobs, a long-time friend, is former chair of the National Service Committee of the charismatic renewal. A powerful preacher, he was preparing for a ten-day mission to China shortly after his visit with us.
|
|
Archdiocese of San Antonio, Texas 
