Introducing Our New Novices

         “What drew you to the Brotherhood of Hope?” Recently we asked our new novices, Brs. Matthew Warnez and Brandt Haglund to reflect on the experiences that led them to embark upon this year of intensive religious formation. For Br. Matthew it was the fraternal life he witnessed living with the brothers during his years serving as a Mission Leader intern at the Catholic Center at Rutgers University. Seeing this brotherly love up close gave Warnez a deeply personal insight into the Father’s love that was, in his own words, “a transformative gift.” For Br. Brandt it was the call to live a life of service. “I just want to help people,” he explains, “and that’s what the brothers do.” After serving in campus evangelization for five years with St. Paul's Outreach, Br. Brandt is now discerning if God is calling him to serve similarly in the Brotherhood. Like Warnez, Br. Brandt notes the importance of community in this work. “You’re not a lone ranger, but you’ve got this fraternal family of men who are there for you.”
         One important moment in Br. Brandt’s discernment came after a trip to France where he visited the beaches of Normandy and saw firsthand the graves of those who died in the allied invasions that marked the turning point of World War II. On an eight day Ignatian discernment retreat following the trip, Br. Brandt realized, in his own words, “So many lives were saved in this tragic, historic war by ordinary men being willing to lay their lives on the line.” He continued, “I was convicted that the brothers are the foot soldiers to bring God’s love to places that other people don’t want to go and where God’s love is so needed.”
         Our newest brothers entered novitiate in a simple ceremony at the end of the Brotherhood summer retreat in Methuen, Massachusetts on Saturday, July 23rd. For Br. Matthew, one highpoint was receiving the novice habit. “What a gift that even what I wear for this next year can be a testament to Jesus himself.” For Br. Brandt, it was the antiphon at morning prayer: Create a clean heart in me, O God. “A sense I got was the Lord’s desire to do a spiritual surgery on my heart and actually create the heart of Jesus in me.”
         Please pray for our novices in the year ahead as they undergo training in the life of the Brotherhood. Specifically Br. Matthew asks for prayers that “God would reveal himself powerfully to me in prayer.” Br. Brandt hopes that he will “not hold back” but be generous with God in his life. As a native of Minnesota anticipating a year in Tallahassee, Florida he also laughingly asked for prayers, “that I’ll be able to survive the heat!”

Br. Brandt Haglund

Education: Degree in Political Science and Global Studies from University of Minnesota

Patron saint: St. Anthony of Padua

Br. Matthew Warnez

Education: Degree in Engineering Physics with a concentration in Mechanical Engineering from University of Michigan

Patron saint: St. George