A Band of Brothers

Bro. George and a student from a local school.

Read this wonderful reflection given by Bro. George Schmitz, CSC, a member of the Holy Cross community at King's College in Wilkes-Barre, PA.  Bro. George, Director of Afterschool Partnerships at the college, serves on the General Administration of the Congregation of Holy Cross.  His past ministries have included mission work in Chile, formation, teaching, and leadership.  Who has been "brother" to you in your life?

Remarks by Brother George C. Schmitz, CSC
Mass in Honor of the Canonization of Saint Andre Bessette, CSC
King’s College
Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Bishop Bambera, on behalf of the King’s College community, and especially on behalf of the Congregation of Holy Cross at King’s, I extend our heartfelt thanks and gratitude to you for being with us this afternoon to celebrate this Eucharistic Liturgy in honor of the canonization of the first member of our Congregation. Saint Andre had great devotion to and a deep spiritual relationship with your patron, Saint Joseph. In his ministry, Saint Andre always advised those who came seeking his help to “Go to Joseph.” I can imagine that in the past 5 months as you have begun your new ministry as our Bishop, you have sought the intercession of your patron any number of times. So, one of our gifts to you today is our brother, Saint Andre. May he be an advocate whom you might call on when St. Joseph doesn’t seem to be listening or is just taking too long to respond. Please know that as a backup you can now “Go to Andre.”

Today, King’s College joins with many Holy Cross-sponsored institutions throughout the world that have gathered with rejoicing and gratitude to celebrate the canonization of someone whom we have come to know as:

• The devoted and special friend of Saint Joseph

• The Healer

• The Miracle Worker of Montreal

• Saint Andre Bessette

For his part, Alfred Bessette sought none of these titles. But he did seek one title, that of Brother Andre, religious brother of the Congregation of Holy Cross. That was the title and the name given to Alfred Bessette when he entered the Congregation as a novice in 1870 at the age of 25. That was the title he bore though 66 years of active ministry of care and compassion, up to the day of his death on January 6, 1937 at the age of 91. “Brother” is the title that speaks to us of his relationships – first and foremost, his relationship with Jesus Christ; then his relationship with the men and women who sought his guidance; and especially his relationship with the poor and the suffering. He was truly their brother.

To better understand the vocation of a religious brother, and to appreciate a brother’s ministerial call to further the Kingdom of God here on earth, consider with me for a few moments how we use the term ‘brother’ to express our most urgent human needs and the deepest longings of our hearts.

Peruse an American History book, and, in the chapters about the Great Depression, you will surely find a photo or a drawing of a disheartened, disheveled man standing with an outstretched hand. Underneath the picture, there will be a classic caption that sums up the desperation of that era of our history, “Brother, can you spare a dime?”

Perhaps, like me, you recall receiving a fund-raising latter at your home around this time of year. It came from Father Flanigan’s Boys’ Town, and it contained a sheet of stamps – Christmas seals. Each stamp bore the iconic image of an adolescent boy wearing a cloth cap and carrying a younger sibling on his shoulder. The trade-mark motto of Boys’ Town filled the lower half of the stamp: “He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother.”

And, a recent comedic rendering of Homer’s Odessy starring George Clooney was aptly titled “Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou?” In the film, Clooney’s character leads a hapless and lost group of friends safely home, maneuvering them through a series of perils and threats.

And we can go on:

• HBO gave us a Band of Brothers, comrades vigilantly attending to one another’s safety as they fought for our freedom.

• The Brotherhood of the Knights of Columbus, founded by Father Michael McGivney in the late 19th century cared for the needs of widows and orphans.

• Young African-Americans greet one another as ‘brother’ in recognition of a bond of race and culture that was forged in the history of slavery and yet triumphed over hatred and prejudice.

Latino high school students with Bro. George

This one-word title, Brother, speaks to us eloquently of the life and of the ministry of Saint Andre Bessette. His was the hand reaching out compassionately to the disheartened; his was the shoulder willing to bear the burdens of the poor and especially of the suffering; his were the guiding words leading lost souls back home to God’s loving embrace, always through the intercession of St. Joseph.

In the Constitutions of the Congregation of Holy Cross, when we speak of our vocational call to religious life as a brother or as a priest we say this:

We asked how we might follow, and we found many footprints on the road. A great band of men had passed this way, men who had made and lived by their vows, men who had walked side by side in their following of the Lord. They beckoned us to fall in step with them.

Today we are proud and we rejoice because the most humble one of that great band has achieved the highest status.

I ask you to pray that God will call more young men to service in the church as religious brothers. To follow in the footsteps of Alfred Bessette, Saint Andre, is a challenging yet rewarding vocation for anyone who wishes to follow Jesus in building the Kingdom through compassionate service, prayer, and brotherly attention to all whom we meet. And for all of us, may the life of Saint Andre inspire us to imitate his heroic virtue especially when we encounter the disheartened, the suffering and the lost.

There are five of us here today who have followed the call to religious life in the Congregation of Holy Cross as religious brothers. I particularly want to recognize Brother Harold Rogan who has lived the life of a Holy Cross Brother for 67 years and whose name is on our Founder’s monument here at King’s for is contribution to the establishment of this college in 1947.

Today, rather than wearing our usual Cross and Anchor congregational symbol, we five brothers are wearing medals of Saint Joseph. Like Saint Andre and thousands of brothers who preceded us in the Congregation since 1837, we received these medals on the day of our perpetual profession as Holy Cross Brothers. They are part of our heritage left us by our founder, Blessed Basile Moreau. He envisioned Holy Cross as a family modeled after the Holy Family at Nazareth with priests, brothers and sisters working collaboratively under the patronage of the Sacred Heart, Saint Joseph and Mary.

Bishop Bambera, I said in my opening that Saint Andre is one of our gifts to you today, a special advocate through whom you can seek the intercession of Saint Joseph. We would also like you to have a Brother of Holy Cross Saint Joseph medal. The Congregation of Holy Cross has had the privilege of ministering in the Diocese of Scranton for 65 years in Catholic Education and in parochial ministry. Please know how grateful we are for that privilege, and how much we Holy Cross Brothers and Priests here at King’s appreciate your leadership and the pastoral care and concern you extend to us as our Bishop. Saint Andre was the doorkeeper, the porter, at College Notre Dame in Montreal for over 40 year. Be assured that he will be here with Saint Joseph to welcome you each time your visit King’s College.