“What’s the ‘Our Father’?” Working in campus ministry, I’m often asked questions that transport me back to my training during novitiate. The question from this student, for example, made me recall our novice director’s passion when he exhorted us regarding the Lord’s Prayer.
With the opportunity now before me, I couldn’t help but pass my director’s advice forward to the inquisitive student. “Don’t worry,” I assured him. “Eventually you’ll learn the words. But don’t envy those who have the prayer memorized. The goal is only to pray it like Jesus, zealously begging God, our loving Father, to accomplish His will on earth.”
I think students often wonder how we, as Brothers, learn to become campus missionaries. Or else they just imagine us being born as a Brother, emerging from the womb in an anchor-embroidered habit. As often as I might refer to it, the concept of “novitiate” remains hazy to most people. (See below for more about the life of a Brotherhood novice.)
Of course, our formal training to become campus missionaries does not end with novitiate. A recent highlight for me was our summer’s week-long conference on how to lead the Spiritual Exercises. Even before I wrote down my thoughts this morning, I was reminded during my spiritual reading of the importance to help students develop a deeper interior faith life, lest their conversion to Christ be only temporary.
Much of our campus ministry training occurs “off the script.” For example, when I first lived with the Brothers, I absorbed a wealth of ministry knowledge just by watching the Brothers serve others. One such instance occurred when Br. Joe took me out to breakfast, where he spent most of his time reaching out to our waiter, a Rutgers student. It was a wonderful first-hand experience for me on how the Brothers minister to students.
The fruits of this immersion continued during my novitiate year. As novices, we are purposefully based within an ordinary Brotherhood household, where we frequently witness the vicissitudes of campus ministry: the victories, disappointments and rewards of patient perseverance by the Brothers.
There’s one part of this “intangible” mission training that students themselves can see. It happens whenever Br. Ken and I, in the middle of a group of 20 students, are crawling around the floor frantically troubleshooting an incorrigible AV system.
We not only live together as Brothers, we are also Brothers serving Brothers. It’s such a blessing for younger Brothers like me to constantly receive personal, on-the-job training from our older Brothers. (Or the reverse, when it comes to technology!) Br. Ken makes it a point to give me regular encouragement and feedback, and we’re frequently putting our heads together.
Furthermore, this team spirit is part of what makes us effective on campus. Whenever students see us depending on each other, as Brothers, they see our witness to Christ’s All-Sufficiency.
Through the generosity of many, the Lord has blessed our brotherhood with tremendous training, both formal and informal. I’m thankful, however, not just for the training I’ve received, but also for the gospel spirit that has always accompanied it. By God’s grace, may we never forget the reason for our missionary formation: to help more men and women claim Jesus as Lord! Ministry training, however good, is for this world only; but Jesus reigns forever, with His Father, and ours.
A typical day in Novitiate
5:55 AM Rise & Morning Offering
6:15 AM Breakfast & Spiritual Reading
7:00 AM Communal Morning Prayer & Praise
7:45 AM Personal Prayer
8:45 AM Study
10:30 AM Class
12:15 PM Daytime Prayer
12:30 PM Lunch
1:30 PM House Service (chores, cooking, yard work)
3:30 PM Exercise
5:15 PM Mass at parish
6:00 PM Communal Evening Prayer
6:20 PM Household Dinner
7:30 PM Nightly Activities (study, share group, adoration)
10:00 PM Night Prayer
This article originally appeared in our Fall 2018 newsletter.