DAY FOUR: HIGH QUALITY FORMATION

BROTHERS ACCOMPANIMENT OF THE NOVICE MASTER

EXPERIENCE SHARING – NOVICE DIRECTOR OF VIET NAM PROVINCE

Fr. Joseph Dung - August 24, 2006

1. From a question to an intuition about the role of Brothers in formation

In one of my first conferences in the first month of my responsibility as novice master, I talked to the novices some fundamental ideas about the secular – lay dimension of our Congregation, about the Salesian consecrated vocation, realized concretely in two dimensions: priestly and lay, all two are essential and complete to each other, and there’s equality among them based on the vocational dignity. I invited the novices to pray, to think and personally to verify themselves, of what kind of vocation God would invite them to live, what kind of service they would offer to the poor youth, adapted to their tendency and capacity, etc; and I asked them to let me know the result of their discernment on the feast of St. Don Bosco (ie, in the sixth month of the novitiate).

Among the questions which were presented by the novices, there were some interesting questions about the novice master: Is it possible for a brother to be a novice master? I answered them by quoting the Constitutions that say and determine only about the spiritual qualities of the novice master: aside from being perpetually professed there’s no other juridical element: “He must be a man of prudence with spiritual and Salesian experience and an up-to-date knowledge of practical psychology and youth problems.  He should be able to relate easily to others, to engage in dialogue, and to inspire confidence in the novices by his kindness. He must be perpetually professed and is appointed by the provincial with the consent of his council and the approval of the Rector Major.  He remains in office for three years and may be reappointed”.

So the Constitutions do not say that the novice master must be or better be a priest, I told them, I think it is possible. As my part, personally I don’t know if in the past there would have been brother who performed this responsibility, but as determined by the actual Constitutions, there’s also possibility to a brother to take charge of this responsibility. Hearing my answer they told me: if so, our brother (so and so)… can do well the duty of a novice master (they implied a brother in our community).

What interesting here is not who can take charge of the responsibility of novice master, priest or brother, the novices in fact were not interested in the role taken as official office, but the influence that the formators have on the formandi, that the salesian brother would have on the young in formation. I read in their question the sensibilities and the consciousness of the brother’s role in forming to a full and authentic salesian brother identity. That means for those who have tendency to choose the brotherhood, they desire to see, to receive the formation from the brother, and not enough to receive some ideas, some conferences and encouragements even necessary from the novice master only, (in reality they met some Salesian priests who discourage them in choosing brotherhood, especially when these Salesians see in the candidates some good qualities for priesthood, ex. intelligent,… and even there are certain brothers, confronted with cleric mentality, who discourage the young to become brother because the young would meet many difficulties in the future).

From that experience, with my personal talks and contacts, I came to the conviction that the best way for promotion to the brother vocation is the presence of the brothers, especially of the brothers who are in level to offer the teachings on the consecrated and the Salesian life and give spiritual direction. I looked for occasions to let all the novices to contact with the brothers not only in my community. And as a result, I saw them impressed and attracted by some figures. All these mean we need the brothers working in the houses of formation, not only in organizing but also formative role. Very often the brothers play a role as one who serves or helps the priests in manual works, or simply cares for meals and economic aspects, and the sensation is they can not work in a high education. So concretely, for us, province of Vietnam, we have plenty of brothers, I desire the role of the brothers be emphasized in the pre-novitiate and novitiate, where the future Salesians would get the primary ideas of probably choice of brotherhood.

From a fact:

This year, our province has received from God a precious gift of 6 brothers among 15 newly professed (and 2 who are in extension time). I deeply thank God for my first year of novice master responsibility, I received this gift. I feel consoled and I see in this the blessing from God. In the spring of 2005, when I was going to take charge of the duty as a novice master, I was so happy seeing among the novices of that year, there were 8 who expressed in public the intention to become Salesian brothers. Short time after, I heard that one of them decided to abandon this idea. I knew he loved this vocation very much, but under the pressure from the family, he gave it up. Months later when the novices presented the applications for the first profession, I was happy again because among the novices, there was another one with joy has chosen to join “the team of brothers”.

2. Personal experience of vocational accompaniment of Brothers

Seeing the hesitation of the novices in deciding and the vacillation they suffered after making decision, my mind couldn’t be at rest. I said to myself: “when my turn come, how I can, as novice master, make the novices convinced of their vocation and help the future novices overcome such obstacles. I have no experience to help them”. I love the brother vocation so much, but I wondered if the novitiate under my guidance there will be vocations to brotherhood? I’ll try my best, but I was doubtful of my capacity to do this.

Looking for a good way of vocational accompaniment - promotion:

Thanks be to God, since the early moments of my first year as novice master I recognized the positive signs in some novices for brotherhood. In the first weeks of the novitiate, they asked me if they could become Salesian brothers and if this vocation would be suitable to them. I told them: you should pray and you will know God’s call. Then I did pray to the Lord to guide me so I might be His effective instrument. I paid more attention to those who had tendency to this vocation. I looked for a way to foster these vocations. And here briefly is what was done.

1. At the end of the first month I gave a conference on the Salesian life with two dimensions, both are essential for the Salesian identity. I introduced to the novices the early times of our Congregation when the idea of the apostle for the young was predominant in Don Bosco’s mind and how God, through the intercession of the Blessed Mary, have indicated him to found the Congregation with the consecrated who could be priests, clerics and lays. I invited the novices to think, to pray and let me know their choice on the feast of Don Bosco.

2. In the third month I invited a priest, who in our province is called “salesian researcher”, studious on Salesian themes, to give a seminar on the theme: why, at present, our Congregation pay a special attention to the vocational promotion, in particular that of brother. The conference was concentrated on the salesian identity which is in certain sense, forgotten, or distorted with the number declination of salesian brothers, cause both priests and brothers are essential for our identity. This talk was a good occasion for all the novices to get a deeper comprehension about the salesian brother and to have conviction that the brothers are not in any sense less salesian than priests, and in choosing to be brother doesn’t mean because they can not become priests.

3. In preparation for the feast of our Blessed Artemide Zatti, I had them read the spiritual readings about the holy lives of the Salesian brothers, we celebrated the Mass in solemn manner and we organised a ‘Congressino’ on Artemide Zatti in which all the novices had to deepen together the Salesian brother identity.

4. During the year, I, from time to time, in my different conferences, treated on the essential complementation in the Salesian life between priests and brothers, in daily life and in the mission. As educators, the brothers are not inferior to the priests. As Salesian, living the proper charism in the Church, the future salesians have to free themselves from any clerical mentality in every forms that would still remain among the people, and perhaps even among the religious. Just as Don Bosco had said “there are some things priests and clerics can not do, brothers will do them”, according to me, there are many works which reserved to the brothers before, now priests can do; and all what the priests could do before, now the brothers can do, too, except the sacramental function. The accent must be on the lay aspect that they live in Salesian consecrated vocation. What priests can not do, I, sometimes, hinted that, brothers, ,compared to priests, have a facility to penetrate in youth realities and the young feel at ease to talk with a person who is a lay as they are.

Conclusion: Finally, I would like to say that, the year of novitiate just finished made me recognize that the vocations for brotherhood were quite clear to the novices when they begun the novitiate (except one who 2 months before presented the application, talked to me with happiness that he found out what Lord wants from him, i.e., to be a brother, a vocation that he had loved since being an aspirant, but for shame he hasn’t talked to anyone). I think my novices had a love and a certain conviction about their brother vocation thanks to a brother who had lived in the pre-novitiate for 2 years. At the moment I am doubtful a little for the number of future brothers in the novitiate. According to the newly professed, the presence of some brothers, especially that of brother Huy Jerome in the pre-novitiate had contributed an abundance of brother vocations. Brother Huy this year was transferred to the missionary zone. I don’t know if with this change, our province’s strategy on brother vocational promotion would have been something wrong!

3. The stories of the novices

Br. Bosco Hai (newly professed 2006)

In 2002, I began to frequent the Salesian community of Xuan Hiep where I was immediately impressed by the service of a Salesian brother called G.B. Trung. At that time, I didn’t know that in the Salesian Congregation there are two forms, two states of the same vocation. For that reason I did not know if he is a brother or a future priest. Later, I came to know that the two Salesians who were in charge of the aspirants were brothers: Brother Trung and brother Hung. I sensed in ambiguous way what a brother would be. When I was still at home, once I told my father that I was content finding out a Congregation in which there are two states of life and all the members are equal and they treat each other as brothers in the family. My father advised me to choose priestly life. My father had not ambition of having a son being a priest, but he was afraid I would not be happy in brother vocation, for the reason that the brother vocation might not uphold well all the aptitudes of a young. However my father never forced anyone in my family to follow a certain life. From that time my choice of brotherhood was formed. After two years of Aspirantate, I had six weeks experiment living in the community in preparing for the pre-novitiate. In these six weeks the familiar figure of brother Trung impressed on me, however, I have still not decided definitively.

During my prenovitiate, Father Rector talked quite frequently about the brothers: Hoan, Le Phuong. I knew more clearly about this vocation. The vocational discernment was stronger in me. Will I choose to be a brother? In reality, there is not a clear criteria for choosing. It seemed to me to choose priestly life that would be better. I was afraid of brother life because I don’t know music, sport, technology, and have no dynamic apostolic attraction.

In the novitiate, I understood more clearly about the brother identity. The advantage of the brother is to be close to the young, to have more time for them, and the characteristic of brother vocation does not depend firstly on the profession or on the capacity to do thing, though the abilities and the technical knowledge play an important place. The tendency on the choice to the brother life grew up in me and I decided to be a brother.

However, I still worried. Knowing that the core of the salesian brother life is not base on the professional or the capacities to do thing. But without knowing music, sport, technology, so what can I do for the young? (but I know that this new confrere is very intelligent, very keen in his way of thinking and have a very good memory, and especially is a very good Christian and an enthusiastic person).

My worry was disappeared when I read S. Therese the Child Jesus, who says: “in the heart of the Church I will be love”. I will be love in the heart of the Church, yes, this is my Salesian brother identity.

I know that choosing brother life would make my family not content. In my parish, religious means or identifies with priest, up to now, there is no any religious brother. All who knew my choice, were surprised, they wanted to know what would be the reason: what difficulties I would face when I decided to follow this life. They thought I would have not capacity to study, I have chosen it only because I could not become priest. I found this mentality even in the secular priests. A young priest in the parish knowing I have chosen brotherhood, advised me to rethink. Exchanging with him I saw he knew nothing about the brotherhood. Together with me, I recognized other fellow brothers who are perfect in treating and serving other novices and the young. They do good things so spontaneously that never think of doing that as duties, or better to say all good things became their duties. Sometimes, I feel sad for those who don’t agree and those who are not happy with my choice. But my good fellow novices encourage and make me sure in my vocation.

Br. John Baptist Tan (newly professed 2006)

My life was a struggle, struggle to earn my life, struggle to have a scholastic education and to have a meaningful life. I desired to live the religious life, but it seemed to me impossible, I had no chance. I felt happy knowing Don Bosco when one day I met a Salesian who recommended me to the Salesian Aspirantate of Ba Thon. Two years of Aspirantate the contacts with the Salesian were limited on Sundays, but I felt the Salesian spirit. I really experienced the family spirit. I was attracted by the Salesian identity with two particularities in one vocation, equal and complementary one another. I felt the Salesian brother identity was something familiar to me, already in me. Day after day, the idea of following this vocation grew up in me, I decided to learn deeper about this vocation. I prayed to the Lord for the grace of discernment. I often joked to my companions: If I could become a Salesian, I would choose the brother life. I want to follow the Lord as Don Bosco and provided that staying with Don Bosco, no matter what kind of work to do. And because of no one can live a general Salesian vocation, I chose the brother life, I am sure that this vocation is for me. I am convinced and happy with this choice. However, I know I will face challenges, difficulties, incomprehension: the social opinion, the clerical mentality existing in the Vietnamese Church and even in the Congregation, that generally consider a brother quasi a secondary citizen, something is not perfect in those who choose this vocation, and surely my family does not understand me. I must confess that, for those who choose to be brothers, they face the social pressures, therefore there is few who chooses it. I accept the consequences of this state of life implies. I am ready to receive what would happen as the cross that a lay consecrated person might carry, I believe because as St. Paul said, “my grace is enough for you”.

But my conviction now is the result of the vocational accompaniment. The vocational accompaniment helped me to discern clearer and made me sure of my choice. As to me, the novice master first should pay a special attention to foster this vocation, then should explain well about the particularity of this vocation. In the novitiate I was impressed with the conferences on the brother identity and its essential role in the life of our Congregation.
I chose this vocation not because of vocational brother promotion in the Congregation, but of my personal conviction. I love this vocation, I feel this vocation is for me.