Seeds of Hope: Eight Years as General Councilor By Brother Timothy Coldwell, FSC
Brother Timothy Coldwell, FSC, served as General Councilor for the Lasallian Region of North America (RELAN) from 2014-2022. During his final years as Councilor, he regularly shared artfully written reflections online covering a variety of topics, such as the legacy of Saint John Baptist de La Salle in today’s world, walking with young people, following God’s path, liturgical seasons, major Institute events, the COVID-19 pandemic and more. As Brother Tim transitioned to his new role as director of initial formation in the District of San Francisco New Orleans, we asked him to write one last reflection on his eight years as General Councilor.
n During our time in leadership, Brother Superior and the General Council met three times a year at the Generalate in Rome for an extended period to collaborate in our mission to “be messengers of hope, justice, faith and joy” (Circular 470). We always opened our time together by making a retreat, outside of Rome, where we rotated the animation and facilitation of the retreat. In our final retreat before the General Chapter, we gathered in Assisi. Our animator was Brother Pierre Ouattara, FSC, and our theme was “joy and hope.” In all of our retreats, we gathered daily in a circle and shared the movement of the Spirit in our life; in our final sharing of this final retreat, we shared “seeds of hope.” We offered these in deep gratitude for what has matured and blossomed during our eight years of service. It was a moving moment, especially in light of
our first meeting where we had the proverbial look of deer in the headlights. We captured that in the first prayer we composed, and which we recited through the years; it opens, “Lord, like our Founder, we were led to a path we did not choose and to a place we did not seek. Our deepest fear is that we are inadequate, yet with Your grace we are confident to follow Your call, and to embrace in faith the journey of the Lasallian Mission in today’s world.” In this reflection, I’d like to share with you some memories from this journey where I was privileged to see these seeds of hope grow and mature. So much about the life and service of a General Councilor was new to me—and radically different. I now had two homes, offices and sets of fraternal and collegial relationships: one in Washington, DC, the other in 26 | DE LA SALLE TODAY | AUTUMN 2022
Rome. It might seem that would mean “living out of a suitcase” but that wasn’t the case at all. Over time, I became comfortable with the bi-locality and could return to each and feel at home. That was due in large part to the Partners and Brothers in the Generalate and Christian Brothers Conference, who made our shared work an incomparable experience, one that brought me much energy, purpose and joy. For a card-carrying homebody like me, the ability to move more or less seamlessly between these two homes can only be traced to God’s grace. Another grace of serving as Councilor was visiting portions of the Institute and Lasallian network of educational communities. In an effort to strengthen the unifying bonds in our global family, each year for five years we entered into the everyday life of the people whose passion
