Religious Priests and Religious Sisters are well known in the world. Religious Brothers, however, are a relatively invisible group even within the Church. The Brothers are technically referred to as “lay religious” men. They are “lay” in the sense that they are not ordained priests. However, as religious, as consecrated persons, they are equal to the religious priests and sisters. They all take the same vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience and live in community. It may surprise some to know that in early Christianity, the monks were mostly non-ordained Brothers. Even today, the vast majority of religious in the Church are non-ordained people – the Brothers and the Sisters.
Knowing well that the vocation of the Brother is “not always well understood and appreciated within the Church” (#1), the Vatican has recently brought out a document with the title, “Identity and Mission of the Religious Brother in the Church”. It is a document addressed not only to the Brothers, but to all religious, priests and lay faithful. The content of this document is good for all those who want to know about, appreciate and promote the vocation of the religious Brother in the Church (#2).
The document presents the identity of the Brother in the threefold perspective of mystery, communion, and mission. At the heart of the identity of the Religious Brother is “fraternity” or “brotherhood”, which is a gift that is received (mystery), a gift that is shared (communion) and a gift that is given away (mission).
MAKING “JESUS THE BROTHER” VISIBLE
“Brother” is the name traditionally given to the male non-ordained religious in the Church since the beginning of consecrated life. It is the title Jesus gives to his disciples after his resurrection (Jn 20:17). This title represents a significant way of being the prophetic memory of “Jesus the Brother”, who told his followers, “You are all Brothers” (Mt 23:8). The Brother reflects the face of “Christ the Brother”: simple, good, close to people, welcoming, generous, and serving.
These religious are called to be “brothers of Christ”, the firstborn among many brothers (Rm 8:29), brothers to one another in mutual love and working together, brothers to everyone in their witness to Christ’s love for all, especially the lowliest, the neediest, and brothers for a greater brotherhood in the Church (#11).
The first ministry that Brothers develop in the Church as religious is “to remind the people of the fundamental values of the Gospel” and to “respond with holiness of life to the love of God poured into their hearts (#7). In other words, they are called to be “signs”. They are also called to be a leaven in the dough, as expert guides in the spiritual life, fraternally accompanying other believers and helping them discover the riches of the Christian tradition or simply as Brothers who share their own experiences with other brothers for mutual benefit (#10).
The feature of the person of Christ that he specially underlines in his life is that of brotherhood or fraternity, a fraternity open to all, especially the least, the humble, the oppressed, the unloved — those who “are less likely to experience the good news of God’s love in their lives”.
BROTHERHOOD – THE GIFT WE RECEIVE
The Religious Brother, living his lay state through a special consecration, is witness to the value of the common priesthood received in Baptism and Confirmation. His religious consecration is in itself an exercise in the fullness of the priesthood of all the baptised (#16). “Brother” is the title Jesus gives his disciples after his resurrection (#17).
The Religious Brother lives chastity especially as an experience of the love of God by which he feels driven to a universal love and to become a promotor of communion through the testimony of his brotherhood. He lives poverty as one who has received freely, in the person of Jesus, the precious pearl of the Kingdom of God. Because of it he makes himself available to build brotherhood and serve all in charity, especially the poorest. He lives obedience specifically as a common search for the will of the Father, in brotherhood, with the commitment to walk together with one mind and heart and gladly accepting the human mediations indicated by the Rule of the institute. (#18)
The Brother develops his ability to read deeply the signs of the times, to understand in them God’s call to work according to His plan, to discover the presence of God in people, especially among the poor (#19).
BROTHERHOOD, THE GIFT WE SHARE
The mystery of communion of its very inner life becomes a gift shared by the Brothers in the community. The gift received and shared will also be given away in the mission. The foundation supporting the religious community is, above all, the gift of fraternity that it has received (#21).
It seems appropriate then to refer to these communities of Brothers as fraternities of service, in the sense that the ecclesial ministry assumed by the community of Brothers gives it its distinctive identity in the Church (#23). Common life, an essential characteristic of the religious life of Brothers, is intended to lead to brotherly communion… called to be experts in communion. Their brotherhood will create brotherhood (#24).
The prophetic experience of fraternity on the part of the Brothers is accompanied by a commitment to take on the lifestyle of Jesus. Consecrated celibacy allows them to be brothers to all, rather than living an exclusive love. Poverty, the choosing of a moderate and simple lifestyle, means sharing goods in order to experience fraternal communion with others. And obedience, by which all come together in the common project, in the same witness and the same mission, while respecting the diversity of gifts and individual personalities. This prophetic experience requires an initial break with the place of origin, with family, friends and other people, only to regain them later, being deeply part of a new family, in a new framework of universal brotherhood (#25). The community of Brothers lives its prophetic mission counter-culturally, because e its lifestyle is opposed to what the world promotes.
BROTHERHOOD, THE GIFT TO BE GIVEN AWAY
The mission entrusted to the disciples when being sent to evangelise, refers not only to proclaiming the spiritual message but also to liberation from what oppresses the people and their human development, because “between evangelisation and human advancement, there are in fact profound links (EN 31). The services provided by the Religious Brothers “are all a participation in Jesus Christ’s own ministry as the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep (#28).
The Church exists to evangelise. The same has to be said of consecrated life and specifically the Religious Brother: “The task of devoting themselves wholly to “mission” is therefore included in their call… Indeed more than in external works, the mission consists in making Christ present to the world through personal witness. This is the challenge, this is the primary task of the consecrated life (#28).
Brothers offer themselves s guides in the search for God, accompanying their contemporaries in their faith journey (#29). Consecrated persons are called to be coherent in their commitment to always live for the poor and to the extent that their charism demands, with the poor and like the poor (#30).
SEEKING GOD IN THE SECULAR REALITY
Many Religious Brothers carry out their mission exercising a secular profession, whether it is in the health service, education, assistance to immigrants, the accompaniment of the young at risk, etc. They thereby give witness that their commitment to the Kingdom also implies the effort to build, in the here and now, a more human and inhabitable world, and that the love of Christ is linked to love of humanity, especially the weakest and the neediest members. Today, more than ever, the world needs consecrated persons who form the heart of secular realities (#31). Many of these services represent true ministries. In this way, “the religious brother seeks and points to God in the secular realities of culture, science, human health, the workplace, and the care of the weak and disadvantaged.
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