We do not often read Canon Blain for insight into the meaning and significance of our vocation. Nor do we normally read him for inspiration to live our consecration to God more wholeheartedly. Nevertheless, I think the passage we have just heard is remarkable. Canon Blain provides us with valuable information and expresses himself in language that is clear and, in my opinion, moving. Moreover, for us, capitulants and consultants, this passage is pertinent and challenging.

Some of the early disciples of John Baptist de La Salle discerned that God was calling them to live a new and still evolving form of consecration to God as educators of poor children. They stopped "vacillating" and said yes to the Lord. They adopted "uniformity of lifestyle and equality in all things" and "joined together to form a single body." They conducted schools not for financial gain but "gratuitously." They ran their schools in such a way "that Jesus Christ might reign in them."

To witness to their new understanding of themselves, they adopted a unique garb. This innovation, according to Blain, led to a change of name. They decided that "schoolmasters," usually applied "to those who practice this profession for gain," was no longer "fitting." They concluded that the name that fit them best and "belonged to them" was "Brothers." It was a name that "nature gives to children who share the same blood and the same father on earth, and which in religion describes those who have the same spirit and the same Father in heaven." Consequently, Blain says, they took the name "Brothers." They called their new society "Brothers of the Christian and Gratuitous Schools."

Blain gives us his personal judgment of the Brothers' choice. He writes that "this appellation is the correct one, because it encompasses the definition of their state and indicates the mission proper to their vocation." That is a sentence that warrants reflection. The very word "Brothers," he says, embodies the meaning of their vocation and mission. It teaches the Brothers the excellence and "dignity of their state, and the holiness proper to their profession." Furthermore, the name reminds them "that the charity which gave birth to their Institute must be its soul and life."

These words recall the title of the first of the Meditations for the Time of Retreat: "That God in his Providence has established the Christian Schools." God in his Providence, that is to say, in love and concern for children marginalized and even excluded by poverty, enlightened the hearts of certain persons, calling them to give a Christian education to poor children. Blain is correct, therefore, when he says that "charity gave birth" to the Institute and that "charity" must be its "soul and life."

In language that I find surprising, Blain writes that the title the Brothers adopted "tells" them that "they owe each other mutual proofs of tender but spiritual friendship." It also "says" to them "that considering themselves as the elder brothers of the children who come to be taught by them, they should exercise this ministry of charity with truly loving hearts." The first part of this quotation has encouraged not only the Brothers but all Lasallian teachers today to be older brothers and sisters to their youth. The second part of the quotation, however, deserves to be better known. Like De La Salle himself, Blain refers to the education of children as a "ministry," and more specifically, a "ministry of charity." It is a ministry, he writes, that the Brothers must exercise with "loving hearts."

Canon Blain's reflection on the effect that this charity should have on the life of the Brothers is extraordinarily timely and appropriate for us this morning: "Charity," he wrote, "should govern all their deliberations and animate all their projects; it should inspire all their decisions, rule all their undertakings, govern all their words and deeds."

The passage which is the object of our meditation this morning calls to mind our Rule, which describes the Brothers as men united in one spirit, brothers among themselves, brothers to the adults with whom they are in contact, older brothers to the young people confided to their care, brothers to all.

The passage reminds us also of John Paul II's strong affirmation of the vocation of the Brother. The term "brother," he says, "suggests a "rich spirituality": a spirituality of living as brothers of Jesus Christ, brothers of one another, brothers to everyone, "especially the lowliest, the neediest." It is a spirituality that invites us to dedicate ourselves to "greater brotherhood in the Church." Furthermore, he writes, "As they live their vocation, Brothers "proclaim to all the Lord's words: You are all brothers and sisters." (Mt. 23:8, Vita Consecrata, 60)

General Chapter capitulants and consultants, with John Baptist de La Salle and the early Brothers we share the "same blood," the "same spirit" and the "same Father in heaven." They decided that the name "Brothers was the one that fit them best." Throughout our history this name has served us well. It helped our predecessors and it has helped us appreciate the excellence, the dignity of our state, and the holiness proper to our profession.

We are proud to be Brothers. We thank God for choosing us. We accept with gratitude and humility the privilege and responsibility of being capitulants and consultants. We ask God to fill us with the charity that gave birth to our Institute, the charity that today must be its soul and life. We ask God for the enlightenment we need to make decisions that will help our Brothers, our partners, and our associates to live today our founding story. That, Brothers, is what this General Chapter is all about.

Amen.