BROTHERHOOD: A Ministry of Presence

By Brother G. Timothy Smyth, CFC

It is hard for me to believe that I will soon be celebrating 40 years in religious life. My life has been a whirlwind of activity with each year flying by faster than the one before. I certainly do not lack for something to do and I am always amazed by the young who say that they are bored for lack of some entertainment. Sometimes I wish I had the opportunity to be bored!

As a religious brother, I am a member of the Congregation of Christian Brothers founded in Ireland by Edmund Rice, a layman, 200 years ago. This reference point is important because writing about a brother is like writing about a doctor. We don’t all experience the same formation and we don’t all have the same specialty (ministry). Our congregation is classified as apostolic (as opposed to monastic or mendicant). As typical of an apostolic congregation, we exhibit a kind of fluidity. Individually and collectively, we are willing to move to wherever our congregational and individual gifts can help fill a need. Although we would not consider ourselves a missionary congregation, we presently have brothers in 26 different countries around the world.

My own life is an example of the fluidity I mentioned above. I recently realized that in my 40 years as a brother, I have lived in 13 different places. I taught science in four different high schools over 17 years, I was principal of a high school for four years, I lived and taught at an Indian mission in Arizona for three years, I was Province Vocation Director for six years and now I am in my sixth year of parish ministry. I have always expressed a willingness to relocate so that I could offer my gifts through one of the venues sponsored by my congregation.

I am only using myself and my congregation as an example of what brothers are in the Church, especially apostolic communities of brothers. Generally speaking, brothers are ministers, organized as religious communities with distinctive spiritualities, usually founded to minister in educational and medical fields, but always willing to extend ministerial borders in response to needs encountered, literally around the world. Describing the uniqueness of brothers only through the venues through which we minister, however, is limiting.

As I experience and reflect on my own life as a brother, I realize that we are unique more in how we minister than in where we minister. A personal example I can provide is a typical hospital visit. When I visit someone in the hospital, I come in, pull up a chair, and sit down. I have neither agenda nor routine. I may pray with the patient and family members, or I may not. I am there to “spend” my time with those present. When the pastor or Eucharistic minister visits, a definite ministry is performed. Prayers are offered, the Eucharist is provided, pleasantries are exchanged, and the minister moves on to another room. I come and sit. That is how I minister as brother, a ministry of presence. Personally this kind of experience has helped me describe how I minister as brother. I say it is a horizontal, relational way of ministering, rather than a hierarchical one. To be “Brother” rather than “Father” is a significant distinction.

A popular image of our Church, especially from pre-Vatican II days, is the pyramid. This image describes the structure and function of the Church. At the apex of the pyramid is the Pope. The layer just below is composed of cardinals; the next layer archbishops; then bishops; priests; sisters and brothers; and finally, comprising the large base, the laity. In some ways this image has become archaic, especially considering the growing number of the laity who have become responsible ministers in our Church. But in one way it expresses the reality that sisters and brothers provide an important link between the clergy and the laity. I do not intend to diminish the importance of religious sisters in this area, but I think the brothers’ position is unique. Since men have a choice of priesthood, for a man to choose to be a brother rather than a priest is to make a statement that he prefers to stand in that in-between position. Brothers choose to be links between clergy and laity.

Without claiming to be well-versed in psychology, my experience has helped me realize that, as a brother, I am threatening to neither clergy nor laity. In some ways it seems both can identify with me as a brother. Again, I don’t mean to downplay the role or position of sisters, but generally I do not think they experience the same ministerial relationship with the clergy as brothers do. This relationship enables brothers to raise issues and open doors in both directions, from clergy to laity, from laity to clergy. As the Vatican II relational image of the Church becomes more and more a reality, I feel that this unique position of brothers is becoming more and more significant. The development of the laity in our own country is certainly a growing need to which brothers may consider responding in ministry.

I also experienced this bridging experience as a teacher. I often felt that I helped provide a link between the high school student before me and the parents who visited my classroom a few times a year. That link was often academic, but the educational experience included so much more. The behavior of the first teen-ager in a family may raise some serious questions for parents. The teaching brother who has worked with teens for 20 years can probably provide some practical answers. As a brother I felt capable of relating with both student and parent in a unique way.

In describing the unique position of the brother in the Church I have tried to identify a few characteristics that I can identify from my own experience as brother. First, brothers, especially apostolic brothers, fluidly respond to needs in our Church. Second, our ministry style is to relate to those served horizontally, as brother. Third, our position in ministry is one of providing a link between groups of people in a knowledgeable, non-threatening way. Perhaps none of these characteristics is really unique to religious brothers, but I would like to venture to say that the combination might be.

Brother Smyth currently ministers in the Diocese of Owensboro, Ky. He is president of the Religious Brothers Conference.

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