The courage to call

 

 

 

As Justin tells it, "Br Tony stood in front of the school with a blank canvas, and he told the story of Marcellin and the early Brothers. As he told the story and mentioned the countries that they travelled to, he'd paint the outline of that country. As he kept talking, he kept painting more countries, more countries. He finished the story, turned the canvas upside down and revealed Marcellin's face. It was amazing!"

 

Reflecting on his experience at St Greg's, Justin, now 27, can isolate many such moments which revealed for him, figuratively if not literally, the face of Marcellin. Justin was professed as a Marist Brother in December 2006, committing himself to poverty, chastity and obedience for an initial period of one year. However, "In making my vows, the intention was, 'I'm making my vows for life'."

 

The path from keen Marist student to Marist Brother was neither clear nor particularly smooth.

 

On completing his HSC, Justin was sure that he wanted to teach, and he duly embarked on an Arts degree at the Australian Catholic University. However, cold feet ensued and he quickly withdrew, beginning work in sports retail where he stayed for two years. A chance visit to St Greg's where his younger brothers were heavily involved in sport led to an encounter with Br Darren Burge.

 

Justin's years at St Greg's had been happy and he had always appreciated the presence of the Brothers. Their simple habit of stopping to chat with him while he waited for his Dad to pick him up stayed with Justin, and even now he remembers that some of the Brothers would wear black, a la Marcellin, during Champagnat Week.

 

However, "Br Darren didn't greet me with the usual 'Hi, how are you?', but rather boldly said, 'I thought you would have joined the Marist Brothers by now'." Justin was shocked and at the same time intrigued that Darren seemed to know what had in fact, been a lingering preoccupation.

 

This chance encounter eventually led to Brother Darren offering Justin a position at St Greg's. The chance to begin a more independent life, to move away from retail which was less than satisfying in order to work closely with the Brothers was irresistible and so the next day - despite his parents' misgivings - Justin moved in as Year Eight dorm supervisor.  After a watershed year in that role, he enrolled at university, majoring in theology.

 

"Living at the college meant that there was greater contact with the Brothers. It brought me back to a regular experience of church and going to Mass, which I loved, and took my life in a whole other direction. I became convinced that I wanted to be a teacher."  He was happy to work towards becoming a teacher of religious studies, but needed another colour to his palette, so he studied art in addition to theology.

 

"During my time at St Greg's it became apparent that I wanted to be a Marist Brother, and I'd wondered about it for years, but I had this sense that I wasn't good enough for it. Slowly but surely I came to realise that it's a journey. It's not about getting everything worked out and then becoming a Brother.

 

"I remember sitting at my desk and thinking 'I've had enough of this wondering, I'm ringing the Vocations Director'. His number had been in my phone for two years, waiting until I had the courage to call. I phoned early in 2003 and became an aspirant almost immediately."

 

As soon as Justin mentioned to his mother that he had something to tell her, she said, "You're going to join the Brothers!" and cried tears of joy.

 

Justin has encountered plenty who are puzzled by his decision. His strategy has simply been to include friends and family in as many aspects of Marist life that he can, trusting that something of the charism that means so much to him will make an impression on them too.

 

He knows from conversations with friends that his choice has led others to wonder about the big issues. "I've been pummelled with questions from my brothers' friends. What a wonderful gift to be in this position, to be able to share my life and my experience of God and why I choose this life. That's what it's about."

 

On reflection, Justin recognises that it was the influence of the Brothers he knew well, and the desire to be a teacher, rather than St Marcellin, which led to his vocational decision. As a postulant he had the opportunity to visit Champagnat country in France, and a sense of the everyday experiences of the Founder remains with him, more so than the Life he has read.

 

St Marcellin had constant recourse to "Mary, our Good Mother" and so a Marian spirituality is central to the Marist way. An aspect of Mary's story that has been critical to Justin's too is the Annunciation's "Let it be with me according to your will".

 

His novitiate year at Mittagong was not an easy one. He had no peers, and his novice master Br Tony Shears had responsibilities that meant that he could not always be available in the traditional sense.

 

Part of being a novice is developing an understanding of the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Each of these is counter cultural, and yet Justin is aware that to many, the life of a Brother is comfortable and secure.

 

He sees taking vows as a commitment to a relationship with Jesus. "One thing that has become very clear through all these years of formation is that my life as a Brother is essentially all about Jesus. Without Jesus, poverty, chastity and obedience don't make sense. As a Marist brother, I follow Jesus in the way of Mary and Marcellin Champagnat."

 

A practical implication of accepting the vows that Justin recognises is the willingness to embrace the inevitable loneliness of religious life, and to be prepared to 'move on' and begin again, and again.

 

While the Brothers were founded to educate poor children, Justin recognises that in time, numbers will dictate that the school presence can no longer be taken for granted. However, he doesn't see this as cause for alarm. "I am a Marist Brother and one of the things I do is teach. There are all these other possibilities and that excites me."

 

He has a strong commitment to a Marist way that includes lay wisdom and experience, and a Marian institute has plenty of room for a feminine genius. "I'm all for lay people and continuing to encourage them to shape our future as Marists. We're all in this together. As (Superior General) Br Sean Sammon says, "The charism doesn't belong to the Brothers, it belongs to the church"."