Discernment Retreat, Mont La Salle, Napa, CA

The District of San Francisco hosted a Discernment Retreat for men interested in gathering with others in retreat for the purpose of discerning their vocation and how the life of the Brothers may be a calling for them. The retreat took place at Mont La Salle in Napa, CA from Friday, May 30 - Sunday, June 1.

By Thursday evening most of the participants had settled in. The retreat officially began with mass on Friday morning. The participants joined the Provincialate and Novitiate Brothers' Communities (already living at Mont La Salle) at 7:15 AM for liturgy, followed by breakfast. Br. George then opened the retreat that morning. The retreat was well-balanced with prayer, personal time, group sharing, and one on one time with Br. George, Director of Vocation Ministry and Br. Richard Moratto, Director of Novices. Meals and fun were provided too!

At the end of the retreat, the men participating were asked to share what they were looking for as they discerned their vocation. The responses included:

• A way to bring others to God
• Strong prayer life
• Being present to students like the Brothers are
• Unity (community) in doing the ministry
• Devote one’s life to teaching
• Life in the classroom
• The support of a community with the same goal: service to the poor
• Continue the journey from God to God for myself and accompanying those we serve in their journey
• Ability to talk about God: young people need to be able to talk about God and shown God—the Brothers do this with young people
• The Brothers and their schools are based on something (mission)

Morep photos from the Retreat here: http://picasaweb.google.com/gvangrie/DiscernmentRetreat2008

Br. John Luczkowski, 27

My name is Br. John Luczkowski. I’m currently finishing the novitiate year for the Christian Brothers and will return to teaching this August at St. John’s College High School in the Nation’s capita. This year in the novitiate continues to provide me with opportunities to look back, take stock, and examine life as it happened to me and my responses to it, to really begin to understand my own personal journey. I joined the Brothers right after college so from a societal standpoint, it may seem that I “rushed into” this life, but it came to me. I’ve come to a deeper understanding of and appreciation for my life as a Brother. I pray that I may continually develop and share my life as a Brother well into the future.

Somewhere inside of me lies a deep faith, a faith that manifests itself in the ideologies I hold, the truths I speak, and the values I live by. I grew up in a pretty normal Catholic family and environment in Philadelphia. Just this past weekend the Brothers on the West Coast, where I’m currently living, invited a few men to a weekend of discernment concerning their own personal vocation. At one point, having been asked to share my story, I was struck with an inspiration. I absolutely love being a Brother and a teacher because both challenge me. The life of a Brother and the requirements of teaching use my best talents and confront my worst qualities. I couldn’t imagine my life now or my makeup as a teacher if I had not chosen nor stayed with the Brothers.
My parents lost their faith, at least externally, as I entered my teenage years. At a time in life when all people question the faith of their childhood, or should, I found little recourse in my family. My dad was a Navy guy, so naturally in high school I looked at the military, particularly the Marines. They were all talk concerning what I would get, how smart I was, etc. but then they got the physical exam back and saw that I failed the hearing test. Well, it was like night and day. All of sudden the language went from being “you’re so great” to “well, you’d have to get an act of Congress passed”. What!?! Did I miss something here? I had a similar experience with the group of priests that ran my high school alma mater. It wasn’t that their language changed. It was more like I was being ignored by the vocation director, who may have thought I was too immature, not serious enough, or not a good fit for the priesthood. Whatever the reasons, I’ll never know because after one face-to-face encounter, I never saw the guy again and only heard from him rarely.

Then along came the Brothers, who I first encountered in college. (GO LA SALLE!) The vocation director was always available, the Brothers I met at different communities in the area were interested in me, in my story, and for the most part, exuded a love for life, for their lifestyle, and for their work. I was immediately challenged and rewarded. The experience at the house of studies challenged me to live communally, to healthily set aside my own needs and wants from time to time, for the sake of the men I lived with. Without knowing it, I was still living like a teenager, with little sense of responsibility and no real experience of commitment. But the life also drew out my deep reserve of care and awareness for the needs of the community and the individuals I lived with. Then, I began teaching. What a disaster that was at first. I learned how emotional I was, how selfish I was, how undisciplined I was, how lazy I was. With time I became better, thanks in large part to the men I lived with at my second community, to the people I worked with and taught along side, and because I discovered that the demands of a teacher, at least today, call out my bottomless reserves of organization, structure, strength, energy, clarity, and love.

What I’ve discovered this year seems simple now. After several opportunities to work hard to achieve something I seemingly wanted, which I either didn’t do or truly desire, I’ve found a congregation of men, a ministry, and a lifestyle that keeps me honest, challenges and reforms my vices and failings, and calls out of me the best I can offer this world. In short, I found something worth fighting for, worth undergoing trial and error, worth basking in, a vocation that fits me as well as anything ever will. That’s it! I just got an insight. This year is like the gym for religious! Lose some weight in order that the life fits us better. Word.

Br. Mark Brown, 40

Brother Drummer

Its spring, which means it is time for the Spring Musical. This is my third year at St. John’s College High School in Washington DC and will be the third show I have played drums for. This year’s show is Pippin. I enjoy playing the shows, although it is a bit of a workout getting over being rusty. Playing drums again often makes me think of how I got to this place.

In grade school, at St. Matthew’s in Baltimore, I enjoyed when the Calvert Hall band would come to perform a concert. I decided that playing drums would be something exciting to do. So I joined the grade school band, and when I was in eighth grade it was an easy choice to attend Calvert Hall. There I was part of the marching band, concert band, and jazz band.

It was also at Calvert Hall that I met the Brothers. And while it was not something that at an earlier age I would have considered, the invitation of the Brothers to consider their vocation spoke to me. And to make a long story short, I kept in touch with the Brothers throughout college, and after graduating joined.

I must admit that the reaction of some of the Brothers to my playing the drums was met with a certain bit of puzzlement. I can only guess at what thoughts were passing through the director’s mind when I moved my drum kit into the scholastic. But through it all they were supportive, or at least tolerant, of my loud hobby.

But it has paid off. At my first full time assignment, Archbishop Carroll in Radnor, PA, I remember talking to the band director in August, asking if there was anything I could help out with. He asked what instrument I played, and when he heard my response was delighted. He had plans to form a pep band for the football season and had no student drummer. So for the first year I was playing for the pep band. At Central Catholic in Pittsburgh I continued to help with the music department. At West Catholic in Philadelphia I even had the opportunity to be the director of the Jazz Band, as well as to play in the pit for two of their musicals. And now at St. John’s I continue to help out with the music department, coach the drum line for the Regimental Band, and play for the musicals.

For those in need of a conclusion, here is a thought. I think the Lord blesses us in many ways with various talents. I have been blessed by my vocation in the Christian Brothers. I have been blessed again by the support and encouragement that the Brothers have shown me, in particularly with regards to my being a drummer.