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Read by Br. Paul Wessinger (1915 - 2009)

All praise and thanks be to the Father for the gift of the hope of glory.  Through this gift the Holy Spirit opens all that we are and all that we do to the promise of eternal fulfillment beyond death.

In our prayer, in which we look to the glory of the ascended Christ and realize our union with him, we see only as “in a mirror, dimly”; the Spirit fills us with the hope of seeing him as he is, face to face.  As we follow the way of conversion, and surrender to the grace which changes us from one degree of glory to another, our longing to be wholly transformed into his likeness deepens. Our own sufferings, and the pain we see in the world around us, sharpen our yearning for all creation “to be set free from its bondage to decay and . . . obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.”

In our daily worship, hope stirs our desire to adore God for all eternity in the host of heaven.  In the Eucharist we show forth Christ’s death until his coming again, and the gift we receive in Com­munion intensifies our expectation of that final coming.  Inwardly we pray, “Come, Lord Jesus,” looking forward to that day when he will gather us for the eternal banquet that will unite all God’s people in the joy of the Kingdom.

This gift of hope is woven into the texture of our daily life as a community.  Living, working and worshiping together as one body, calling nothing our own, we learn to anticipate the glory of the communion of saints, in which all joys are shared.  The gift of hope is present whenever we minister to one another and to those whom God gives us to serve.  Christ has promised that we shall bear fruit that lasts if we abide in him.  Hope assures us that every act of witness, prayer and service that draws others into the life of divine love builds up the eternal city of God.

In this hope we, the brothers of the Society of Saint John the Evangelist, offer our whole life to the glory of God the Holy Trinity, thankful for the mercy that has drawn us into the divine life.  Our hope lies not in what we have done for God, but in what God has done for us:  “Every action by which his strength has been developed in us has been a deifying action, gathering us up into the participation of the divine nature, which is the blessed purpose of his Incarnation, the fruit of his mediatorial love, the epiphany of his triumphant power.”

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

 

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Read by Br. Eldridge Pendleton

The gospel proclaims that Christ has transformed death by his cross and resurrection and that through our Baptism we have already passed through death with him and been incorporated into his risen body.  But we grasp this mystery only by faith, accepting the inner struggle between doubt and confidence in Christ’s promise of eternal life:  “Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life.” Day by day, as we feed on Christ in the Eucharist, our hope can be rekindled:  “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day.”

We are called to remember our mortality day by day with unflinching realism, shaking off the sleep of denial.  Paradoxically, only those who remember that they are but dust, and to dust they shall return, are capable of accepting the presence of eternal life in each passing moment and receiving ever fresh the good news of hope.  The anticipation of death is essential if we are to live each day to the full as a precious gift, and rise to the urgency of our vocation as stewards who will be called to give account at Christ’s coming.  Remembering that death can come to us at any time will spur us to be prepared, by continual renewal of our repentance and acceptance of the forgiveness of God, to meet Christ without warning.  We shall remember to express to one another those things that would make us ready to part without regrets, especially thankfulness and reconciliation.

Week by week we are to accept every experience that requires us to let go as an opportunity for Christ to bring us through death into life.  Hardships, renunciations, losses, bereavements, frustrations and risks are all ways in which death is at work in advance preparing us for the self-surrender of bodily death.  Through them we practice the final letting go of dying, so that it will be less strange and terrifying to us.

In the community we shall experience the event of death in many forms.  A brother’s death may be serene; other deaths will share in the agony of Gethsemane or the physical and spiritual pain that has tested many saints.  Some of us will die filled with the light of hope; others may enter the darkness of Jesus’ dereliction.  As brothers we will seek to uphold the one who is dying with compassion and love, supporting him with prayer and the sacramental grace that comes through Holy Communion and the Laying on of Hands and Anointing.

The death of a brother may give rise to many varied feelings among us which we can help one another to accept.  We will not be ashamed to grieve, as Christ grieved at the death of Lazarus, or to show ourselves to be shaken.  But Christ has prayed that those whom God has given him will be with him where he is and will see his glory.  In our mourning and celebration of the liturgy of burial we seek to show our trust that our brother is being brought into the glory of God’s presence.  In Christ we are still one with our departed brothers and we express this communion through regular prayer for them and by recalling their lives on the anniversaries of their deaths.  We believe that they pray for us and that we will be reunited when Christ gathers all creation to himself, so that God may be all in all.

 

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Read by Br. David Allen

Tradition records that the beloved disciple lived to a great age.  We who belong to a com­munity named after him are called to be appreciative of the gifts that come to maturity in old age, and also sensitive to the needs and struggles that accompany it.

We pray that seeds planted in many years of faithful life will bear fruit in old age.  Our older brothers will then be able to contribute their experience of what is essential in our life with God, a sense of perspective, wisdom, their appreciation for the community and joy in the younger members. The elders of the community are to be honored as the bearers of our corporate memory who link us with our past.  Some of us will even reach our prime in old age, discovering new gifts and continuing in active in ministry informed by long experience.

We grieve to see the old so commonly neglected and discounted in the world around us.  The way we honor and cherish one another in advancing years can be a powerful witness against this sinful failure.  Our valuing of elderly brothers becomes particularly important when the limitations of old age prevent them from participating very fully in our active ministries.  We need to ensure that the spirituality of the community, expressed in our teaching, conversation and actions, affirms the intrinsic worth of every member and emphasizes the contributions that the elders make through their prayer and perseverance.  Unless there is this climate of support, an older brother may give way to discouragement, or have difficulty in accepting a role in the community with fewer responsibilities and restricted opportunities.

Our closing years of earthly life may bring new challenges in the spiritual combat.  It is humbling to grow more dependent on the care of others.  It is hard to cooperate with the Spirit and overcome our natural tendency to deny our decreasing strength and the approach of death.  As we grow older we may become more vulnerable to attacks of despair in which our sense of the meaning and value of all that has gone before will seem to drain away.  The Holy Spirit may compel us to deal with issues, doubts and wounds that we avoided when we were more vigorous.  Those challenges will prepare us further for our final surrender into the arms of God through our death.  In all these struggles the grace of Christ will never fail us.

One of the hardest tests comes if the need for professional nursing means that a brother has to be cared for outside the community.  This separation will call on the deepest resources of accept­ance and trust in the brother who has to move away.  All of us must do everything in our power to sustain his sense of connectedness with the community.

 

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Read by Br. David Vryhof

We are co-creators with the Holy Spirit who enables us to consecrate every aspect of life as an offering to God’s glory.  Even sickness can be transfigured, and become the means by which we experience personally the reality of the Lord’s assurance, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  A brother’s illness affects the whole community and God will provide gifts of grace for us all.

The fragility of human life makes sickness inevitable.  When it befalls us we are to seek res­toration and play our full part in the process of healing.  This means radical dependence on Christ through our own prayer, the prayer of the community and our friends, and his ministry of healing mediated through the sacramental rite of Laying on of Hands and Anointing.  It involves our ready acceptance of medical means of healing.  The whole community joins the brother in his rejoicing when he is restored to health.

Sickness may compel us to be dependent on the care of others.  This may conflict with our pride and challenge our notion of self-sufficiency.  We are called to let go and accept the service of others gracefully.  It is an important expression of our vow of obedience to be open and cooperative with those who are looking after us in sickness.  Those who care for the sick should cherish this opportunity of service and realize that their caring may be the chief means by which the sufferer experiences the companionship and love of Christ.

Physical and mental illness may bring such suffering that our faith in God is put to the test. Our prayer for healing may not be answered in the way we desire.  We may have to come to terms with disability or incurable sickness.  Pain and fear may make us feel abandoned by God.  The springs of prayer may seem to dry up.  All of us should live day by day in growing dependence on Christ crucified so that we are prepared for such times of trial.  Our life is hidden with Christ in God.  God suffers with us.  In times of pain, when we are aware only of darkness, we will need sheer faith to assure us that we are still inseparably united to the God of love.

A brother may be so sick that he cannot play an active part in the liturgy and our ministries. But we should trust that the offering of sickness and weakness contributes powerfully to our total life in Christ.  Those who suffer are “completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.”  And those of us who have been strengthened by God in sickness are able to use their experience to “console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God.”

 

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Read by Br. James Koester

The hallowing of rest and the keeping of sabbath is an essential element in our covenant with God.  The one who can find no happiness except in ceaseless work is afraid to be still and know that the Lord alone is God.  If we find ourselves filling leisure time with tasks, we can be sure that we have begun to imagine that our worth consists in what we accomplish.  When we regularly cease from our labor and enjoy rest as a holy gift, we can grow in trust that our worth in God’s sight lies simply in our very being, clothed with Christ.

In the culture in which we live the pressures to be busy all the time are intense, and it is a true ascetic endeavor to resist them in obedience to God.  The Church itself is in constant danger of adapting to a culture of hyperactivity and stress.  We have a particular call to resist this conformity and to bear witness before the world to the graciousness and wisdom of the sabbath.  Our faithful­ness will show itself in our attention to the needs of the body and spirit for sleep and rest.  Our life is demanding and we must recognize how much power goes out of us in our ministry.  By taking rest we show that we accept our creaturely need for replenishment and restoration as Jesus did.

Our ministries of hospitality, preaching, liturgy and retreat direction mean that Sunday usually makes many demands on our energies.  Although the Lord’s day itself cannot be our actual day of rest, we should seek through our prayer on Sunday to lift up our hearts in the joy of the resur­rection.  Because our rest comes on another day of the week, it is all the more important to recall the sacredness of sabbath time.

The ways each of us will enjoy our sabbath day will be many and varied, but each of us will need to distinguish between leisure that is genuinely recreative and the drifting which comes from sloth.  Our day of rest gives us the opportunity to refresh and deepen our friendships.  It enables us to play and exercise and enjoy the use of our senses.  It opens a space for music, art, entertainment and particular pursuits and hobbies.  The fruits of our leisure time will prove whether we have hallowed or profaned our sabbath.  If we have kept it holy we will resume our daily life reinvigorated and restored to ourselves.  If we have wasted our leisure, we may find our day off leaving us with a sense of dullness and a residue of fatigue.  We can help one another use our leisure time well by taking care not to give one another needless tasks on our day of rest.

Holy rest has its place in the rhythm of each day as well as the week.  Those who reserve a time each day for some leisure that brings composure and refreshment set a good example for all the brothers to follow.  The sabbath commandment is also a guide for our well-being in the longer view.  We shall endeavor to provide opportunities for special times of renewal from time to time, especially when a brother has had some years of hard work in a particular ministry.

In each house of the Society the brothers shall gather regularly to enjoy conversation in a relaxed atmosphere.  All should participate so that the common life may be strengthened.

 

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Read by Br. Bruce neal

Jesus came as our healer that we “may have life, and have it abundantly.”  We show our lack of faith in him if we diminish that abundance through neglect, or the fear Jesus portrayed in the parable of the man who buried the talent his master had committed to him.

Health of mind, body and spirit is a priceless gift of the Creator which we are to cherish in wonder and thankfulness: “I will thank you because I am marvelously made; your works are wonder­ful and I know it well.” So that we can better glorify God in our bodies, each of us shall take respon­sibility for maintaining his health through regular exercise, hygiene and prompt recourse to medical attention as soon as he becomes aware of any significant symptom.  Hypochondria and obsessive self-concern, on the other hand, are distortions of this duty and it is our responsibility to call one another to maturity.

If a brother shows signs of disorder in his relation to food, alcohol or any other substance, this becomes the concern of the whole community.  The Superior has the responsibility of helping him to set his feet on the path of sobriety, moderation and health.  Likewise the compulsion to over­work and other forms of obsessive behavior are signs that freedom is lacking and healing needed.

Each of us has been given the divine spark of creativity and imagination, and as we grow in our conversion to Christ, so should our gratitude and reverence for these gifts.  Fear and inertia quench the spirit.  Faith in the Giver of all good gifts will lead us to use the opportunities our life provides for developing our creativity and using our imagination.  The community shall provide time and resources for hobbies and skillful pursuits so that every brother may find outlets for creativity beyond what his regular work offers.  We shall seek to maintain a climate where music and other arts are valued and where the beauty of creation is loved and enjoyed.  We shall endeavor to order our stewardship so that vacations can provide not only the opportunity of visiting our families and friends but also of exposure to the beauties of nature, the stimulus of other cultures and enrichment by the arts.  Our creativity will thrive on mutual encouragement.

If our endeavor to develop our creativity were in response to a secular ideal of self-realization it would come to nothing.  Our stretching toward fullness of life is an act of faith in Christ who is the living Word through whom all things have their being.  He is the true light shining through all creation.  It is not in religious activity and thought alone that we see his glory, but in all the world. We are called to realize his life-giving presence within our own selves and bodies and share in his ongoing creation.

 

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Read by Br. Kevin Hackett

Each day brings fresh opportunities to fulfill the commandment of Christ, “that you love one another as I have loved you.”  We need one another’s support at times of special stress, disappoint­ment and weakness, but we also need it as the daily bread of our life together.  Encouragement is ex­pressed not only through serious concern for one another but also through the free play of our God-given sense of humor.

Honest and direct communication help us strengthen one another.  We create the setting for mutual disclosure about how we are experiencing our life in regular meetings from which we ex­clude the discussion of business.  In these, and our other sessions for planning and discussion, we are called to engage one another openly.  A brother can frustrate that openness if he shuts himself off or does too much talking.  On the other hand, insensitivity in the gathering can inhibit a brother from sharing from the heart.  We shall need to invite the Spirit constantly to build up our trust and show us how to speak the truth in love.

We can lift one another up through celebration and the practice of courtesy.  We value the opportunities which birthdays and anniversaries present for celebrating a brother’s life.  And we seek to sustain a climate of courtesy in which each of us receives assurance day by day that he is appreciated.  We need to be generous in expressing delight in one another’s achievements.

We express our regard for one another not only in words, but in gestures that give our bodies a part to play in the interchange of affection, as is natural for men who believe whole-heartedly in the incarnation.  We are free to cheer one another with open arms of welcome and to show our care and sensitivity through touch.

Like Jesus, we will be especially attentive to those who could easily become isolated or overlooked.  Newcomers to our life, the older brothers, those who are in pain from illness, sorrow or spiritual trial, have particular claims on our hearts.  The Superior of the community bears burdens for us all that can become intolerable if brothers neglect to express their care for him regularly and explicitly, or fail to cherish him when he is under pressure.

Above all, we are to open our hearts to any brother with whom we are in conflict.  Breaches of trust, injuries, and even enmity are bound to happen, since communities of love are special targets of evil forces.  These forces will tempt us to defer reconciliation, or even to pretend that the fabric of our common life has not been torn.  But the Spirit of the crucified and risen Christ spurs us to seek out the one from whom we feel estranged in order to establish communion with him again through a mutual change of heart.

 

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Read by Br. Jonathan Maury

“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.  You are my friends if you do what I command you.  I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.”

For us no honor exists that could be greater than Jesus calling us his friends.  The more we enter into the fullness of our friendship with him, the more he will move us to be friends for one another, and to cherish friendship itself as a means of grace.  The forging of bonds between us that would make us ready to lay down our lives for one another is a powerful witness to the reality of our risen life in Christ.  In an alienating world, where so many are frustrated and wounded in their quest for intimacy, we can bear life-giving testimony to the graces of friendship as men who know by experience its demands, its limitations and its rewards.

Among ourselves we must devote time, energy and prayer to the fostering of friendship.  There are many different degrees of intensity in celibate friendship, and stages of growth.  Our common concerns are to lay aside perfectionism, to respect the variety of bonds we will establish between us, and to ensure that none is left friendless.  “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom”:  we shall seek to let go of possessiveness and extend this freedom to one another.  We want to have the freedom to continually release our brother for relationship with others, just as in those dances in which the movements constantly weave fresh links between the dancers.

We also have opportunities to make friends outside the community.  Friends of different ages, cultures and walks of life will enrich our humanity.  We value the gift of friendship with women, as Jesus did; without it we run the risk of spiritual and personal impoverishment.  But there are costly constraints to be accepted on both sides in the friendships between religious and others, and dis­cretion needs to be fostered with those outside.  In particular it is vital that we protect the confiden­tiality of one another’s personal lives and the privacy of the Society’s inner life.

The Spirit uses the demands of friendship to further our conversion; struggles are inevitable as well as rewards.  Our sexuality, our dread of rejection and disappointment, our need for forgive­ness and reconciliation, our difficulties in achieving emotional honesty, are all brought into play.  Fear can hold us back.  In these struggles we have the constant companionship of Christ to give us courage and joy.

 

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Read by Br. John Mathis

Our pursuit of knowledge is an expression of love for God’s world and the riches of revela­tion.  As we bring our gifts of imagination and intellect to maturity we are able to glorify God more and more.  Since our gifts and ministries vary, we need to encourage one another to value not only reading and study but many other ways of learning, every method that helps us become more responsive in heart and mind to the whole creation.  As our faith matures we come to recognize Christ’s hidden presence everywhere:  “All things have been created through him and for him.  He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

We cannot fulfill our mission without a lifelong engagement with the riches of Scripture and the Christian tradition.  We need therefore to encourage and train one another to explore this great tradition at first hand.  It is important to absorb classics of Christian spirituality and theology, and  valuable for each of us to develop a personal interest in certain schools, periods or figures to which we might be specially drawn.  We need knowledge of other faiths, and a sound grasp of religious history to which good biographies have given richness and color.

The Spirit calls us to be alert and open to our own time.  Some of us will be drawn to con­temporary explorations of theology and spirituality and engage in studies that throw light on the changes now taking place in the world.  Our aim is to maintain a lively, critical interest in the cultures in which we are situated, and seek to expand our perspectives globally so that we can empathize with other societies and religious traditions.

All our ministries, whether of preaching, teaching or personal encounter in the Spirit, call for a penetrating understanding of the mysteries of the heart and human relationships.  For this we need many resources.  Psychology and the human sciences are sources of insight, and some of us will find in literature, philosophy, drama, film, music, dance and the visual arts springs of vital truth if we approach them keenly in the Spirit.

We commit ourselves to maintaining ample libraries in each house as well as devoting funds for further education and the enrichment of the imagination.  The community is to hold regular events of corporate education so that our learning can be a shared experience.  Individual commit­ment to learning in a disciplined way is equally essential.  Study does not have the same attraction for all of us, and even those who enjoy it find that the pressure of other responsibilities distracts them.  Unless we grasp the truth that it is both a labor of love and a spiritual discipline, we are likely to neglect study.  We should therefore support one another in setting aside time regularly for reading, and encourage one another to take advantage of opportunities for training, enrichment and further education.  Our sense of common endeavor will be stimulated when we discuss with one another what we are learning and take a mutual interest in our discoveries.  Our goal is to arrive at the maturity that enables us to plan our study so that it can be focused, regular and supported.  We shall not always be able to reserve time for study every day, but each week should include it.

 

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Read by Br. Geoffrey Tristram

Our pilgrimage as religious will be marked by separations, when members leave the com­munity.  These partings on the way will test the quality of our brotherly love and our dependence on God alone.

Separations may give rise to many different responses.  When it has become clear that a novice or brother in initial vows does not have a vocation to our life we may feel gladness that he is ready to move on to explore God’s call to another way; even so, if we have grown to love one another, the separation will wound us. But when a brother leaves because he has ceased to rise up to the demands of God’s call, our grief will be more severe.  Only truth sets us free, and the Spirit of truth will help all of us to express and face the conflicting emotions we may feel.  While some brothers are experiencing anger and disappointment, others may be more conscious of relief.  There may be times when we recognize that the departure of a member clears away an obstacle to the onward movement of the community.  We can help one another accept the validity of our different feelings and support one another as we work through them.

The same Spirit who frees us through the truth is the Spirit of love, who will give us in due course the generosity to let our brother go with respect and hope, commending him to the love of God.  In the Spirit we will be able to trust that God had a holy purpose in calling him to be a member of our brotherhood for a time.  As part of our continuous self-examination as a community, we will go on to consider together what there may be for us to learn from his leaving.

It may happen that a brother in life vows comes to feel he is unable to persevere, and expresses a desire to leave the Society.  The gravity of this crisis means that the community and he must embark on a process of discernment of a year’s duration to discover whether his vocation is dead, or whether the breakdown can be healed.  Only after this may the Chapter release him from his membership of the Society.  His vows remain binding until he is dispensed from them by the Visitor.

Whenever a man leaves, there is an opportunity for us to recognize the mystery of our vocation and to reaffirm our total dependence on God for the grace of perseverance.  Jesus gave a special calling to the beloved disciple to remain until his coming.  We can be steadfast only if we grow in reliance day by day on the glory of Christ’s faithful abiding in us.

 

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Read by Br. David Vryhof

Jesus’ offering of his life on the cross was the supreme expression of his love for the Father, made in perfect freedom through the Spirit.  “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.”  This free self-offering is expressed anew in our lives when, abiding in Christ, we find in him the power to surrender ourselves entirely to God, by taking the vows of poverty, celibacy and obedience for life.  When a brother vows to abide in our community until death, the whole brother­hood rejoices in the gift of freedom that enables him to make this commitment after years of testing.

Father Benson has taught us that the call of God in the religious life is continuous, abiding and progressive.  Continuous, because in the communion we enjoy with God in prayer and worship day by day, the voice of the Spirit never ceases to call us into deeper union.  Abiding, because the wisdom of God, communicated to us in our prayer and life, is absorbed into our hearts never to perish.  Progressive, because God’s voice will come to us in the future ever new, calling us to fresh opportunities, and bringing gifts beyond what we know now.  As profession brings to an end the period of probation, so it inaugurates a lifetime of developing response.  As a community we are responsible for making sure that each brother has the encouragement to grow and change in response to the life-giving Spirit through whom we are born again.  Periodically the Superior will invite each brother in life vows to take part in a day of assessment with him.  This provides an opportunity for the brother to reflect deeply on the call of God and his response to it.  The Superior will invite one or two other brothers to take part in the discussions.

The life profession of a brother inspires us with awe as well as joy; we wonder at the risk of such an irrevocable choice.  For a time may come when his steadfastness could be tried to the limits of endurance.  Then he may long to take back his promise, and leave us.  Setbacks and disappoint­ments will shake his constancy.  He may be tempted to use changes that have taken place in the Society, in the Church, or in himself as pretexts for canceling his commitment.  Only by depending on God for the grace of perseverance, fixing ourselves by faith in God’s unwavering commitment to us, can we risk taking vows which bind us forever.  A life profession will be a special opportunity to renew our confidence that grace will not fail us.  “If what you have heard from the beginning abides in you, then you will abide in the Son and in the Father.”

The grace to surrender our lives to God through our vows has been given to us in Baptism whereby we die with Christ and are raised with him.  It is the same grace that gives strength to martyrs to submit gladly to death as witnesses of the resurrection.  From the beginning monks and nuns have been encouraged to understand their own commitment in the light of the freedom and trust that enables martyrs to give up their lives to the glory of God.  The witness of the martyrs should never be far from our minds as we go forward in the vowed life day by day.

 

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Read by Br. Tom Shaw

The whole community rejoices when a new brother is ready to make the vows of poverty, celibacy and obedience.  His aim should be towards life commitment, even though at first he is allowed to bind himself by the vows for a period of three years only.  This initial period gives time for the community and the brother to make certain that God is calling him to the life of our Society.

Through his discussions with the brother at the end of the period of commitment in initial vows, the Superior may conclude that it is wise to extend it for a further year.  Three such extensions are per­mitted.

The years of initial profession are dedicated to further formation in the religious life.  This is a time to begin discerning the gifts a brother may have for ministry, and providing opportunities for developing these gifts through training and practice.  His studies should not be directed to these ministries alone, but should aim at a further consolidation of his knowledge of scripture and the classics of Christian theology and wisdom.  During these years the brother develops a firmer grasp of his identity as a religious and seeks to intensify his self-offering to God in daily life and work.

The newly professed brother takes his place in Chapter and begins to take a full part in the community’s decision making.  He becomes eligible for new responsibilities and tasks.

An important goal of these initial years in vows is the development of personal responsibility for one’s own growth in the religious life and a strong sense of accountability.  To promote this de­velopment, each brother in initial vows will meet regularly to discuss his own progress with an experienced brother, or group of brothers, appointed by the Superior to provide him with support and advice.  In addition, every nine months or so, the Superior and one or two of these appointed brothers will gather for a day of assessment with the brother in initial vows.  In this assessment he  gives a full account of his experience of life under this Rule, discusses goals to aim for in the coming months, and receives counsel.

We pray that when the moment of decision comes, our brother will find that Christ has given him the freedom and courage to choose life-long commitment.  The foundation of this courage is a profound gratitude for salvation.  “How shall I repay the Lord for all the good things he has done for me?  I will lift up the cup of salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord.  I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.”  Before accepting his application to be admitted to life profession, the Superior must consult with each member of Chapter to gather evidence that we share the conviction that God is calling him.  The final decision rests with the Superior.  The brother prepares for life profession in a retreat of at least two weeks.

 

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Read by Br. Andrew Gary

The novitiate is a time of progressive initiation into the life of the community.  Novices are putting their vocation to the test of experience.  At first they participate in our active ministries only in limited ways, so that they can devote themselves with a single mind to conversion of life.  Their training is in the hands of the novice guardian; the Superior will help him and appoint at least two other experienced brothers to assist with the work of formation and discernment.

We are to help the novices to let go of their previous life and work, and to come to a changed understanding of their relationship with family and friends that makes room for their new and primary loyalty to the Society.  We expect them to grow into our full life of worship and prayer and offer them training in spiritual disciplines.  Recognizing that our novices will not have had equal exposure to the resources of Christian knowledge and wisdom, we will guide them in corporate and individual study that will help each brother explore the scriptures, Christian doctrine, history and spirituality.  We help them to grasp the meaning of this Rule and to explore our particular tradition and the teaching of our founders.  The novices begin to make the Gospel of John their own, and to understand the role of the monastic way in the life and mission of the Church, past and present.  We give our novices work in which they have opportunity to practice obedience and cooperation, learn humility, and discover within themselves a readiness to act with generosity.

Growing into our life under this Rule is not a matter of mere adaptation but of inner change and conversion of life.  We expect emotional and spiritual trials to be part of the experience of the novitiate; many stages of genuine transformation are marked by experiences of confusion and loss. The brothers who have a special responsibility for the work of formation help the novices to face these trials with courage and to gain insight into their meaning.

The other professed brothers participate in the formation of novices in many ways.  Novices learn the meaning of our vocation from our daily witness to the mercy of God and the graces of the vowed life.  Our encouragement enables them to endure the stresses of adjustment and change.  Their readiness for commitment is fostered by the faithfulness of our prayerful friendship.  And we con­tribute our insights into their development by means of the regular evaluation sessions.

Our hope is that the novitiate will lead to the discovery of an inner freedom to choose this life gladly, or to take up again the challenge of Christian life outside, if this seems God’s will.  The novitiate normally lasts two years.  Towards the end of the second year the Superior shall consult with those who train the novices, and decide whether to propose to the Chapter the election of the novice to profession in initial vows.  The novitiate may be extended, but not beyond a third year.  Every novice prepares for profession in a retreat of two weeks.

 

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Read by Br. Jacob Kidda

New members bring with them the promise of new life for our brotherhood.  They contribute new gifts for our common good and our mission, both personal talents and gifts of the Holy Spirit. This promise of newness of life and hope for the future should be a source of joy.  We shall often pray to the Father for the gift of new members, trusting that our prayer will be answered: “Very truly, I tell you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.”

It is an important responsibility for the novice guardian and Superior to lead the community in a collective process of discernment to discover whether an applicant is genuinely drawn to our way of life and has certain basic, necessary qualities.  Through observation, prayer and conversation we seek to find that the candidate has a love for the gospel, a desire for prayer, an attraction to ministry and signs of personal adaptability.  We also draw on the results of professional testing to provide evidence that his mental and physical health are adequate for the demands of our life.

Postulancy is a preliminary test of a man’s calling.  Normally it lasts for six months but the Superior may lengthen or shorten the time as he sees fit.  The postulant takes part in the life and duties of the novices so that we can discover whether he has the resilience and maturity to set out on the path of formation.  The postulancy culminates in a directed retreat.  If the postulant then shows a strong desire to go forward, the Superior will decide whether to admit him to the novitiate, first consulting the novice guardian.

Integration into a brotherhood like ours is a slow process.  Brothers are to be welcoming and supportive to those who are with us for a trial period.  At first the bonds we establish with new members will be light, allowing them to feel unconstrained in their freedom to leave.  Deeper mutual commitment comes later.  It is important that the professed brothers express their considered reac­tions to the new member’s early days of adjustment when they meet to conduct evaluations.

Our sober recognition that only a few of those who come to test their vocation will go for­ward to life profession ought not to discourage us as we initiate new men into our way of life.  We trust that God always uses a man’s time in our Society for good.  Every call is entirely in God’s hands.