Message to all the schools of Holy Spirit Province

The year 2002 has been a significant one for the Congregation of Christian Brothers. Every six years the Christian Brothers enter into a cycle of deep reflection on the past, leading to planning the broad directions for the future. This is done at both an international or Congregation level and at a more local or Province level. This is what is called the Chapter Process, and the Congregation and Province Chapters took place earlier this year.

When the Congregation names future directions and priorities at a Chapter, the directions and priorities emerge from a particular experience and context.

During the Chapter we: • Told stories about what our lives have been like over the last six years – the successes, the failures, the happiness, the sadness and the learnings. • Examined the state of the Congregation, the Church, and the world – the cities and countries in which we live and work. Much of this came from the people with whom we work. • Prayerfully reflected on all of this with the story of Jesus (the Gospel) in one hand and the story of Edmund Rice (which is simply one way of living the Gospel) in the other. • Then we addressed the question, "what needs to be our directions and emphases in the next six years?"

In the Gospel of Luke (24:13 – 35) two of the followers of Jesus did much the same while walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus after Jesus was killed. They told the story of the hopes Jesus had given them, but then their disappointment and bewilderment after he died. Someone, a stranger, joined them and explained it all and then sat with them for a meal (the Breaking of the Bread, the Eucharist). They realise it is the risen Jesus, the Messiah. They then "get into action" and return to Jerusalem to "talk to the others". This story is called the Emmaus story or the Emmaus walk.

The Brothers from different countries all over the world have walked the Emmaus story and have emerged stronger and more committed. They have recognised that the “Gift of being Brother” is essentially about a quest for God through deeper relationships with all of creation, with all peoples, and with other Brothers in particular.

This is challenging us as Brothers to be more personally prayerful, to share our stories more deeply with each other, and with other people in a prayerful way, and to give greater

emphasis to healing or building relationships, especially with those who are the most marginalised or fragile in our society. This is the vision of both our community life and the work we do. You may in fact now be feeling quite comfortable as you read this, and perhaps even happy that the Brothers have grown in clarity and confidence about their identity and role. Some may even be happy that the Congregation Chapter re-emphasised the seeking of new Brothers, and new expressions of being Brother, even in the so called first world where we have been struggling with respect to gaining(Br) Kevin P. Ryan new Brothers. May I suggest you do not get too comfortable with this emphasis on Brothers. Let me open up to you some other implications of our Chapter. In a section of the Congregation Chapter Statement (2002) which is entitled "Educating the Minds and Hearts of the Young” there is a call to ensure that Christian Brother schools are communities of learning, and of faith and justice, where students, parents and staff are educated to a practical awareness of social inequity". In another section there is a challenge "to engage with the poor and marginalised at our doorsteps". It would seem that the phrase "to engage with" challenges all of us in Christian Brother schools to establish relationships with those who are marginalised in our schools and also in our local towns, cities and states … and not just "to do things for them". Our schools need to move from "charity" to "justice and relationship". One implication of what has been described above will be explored so that we can all see what might need to be confirmed and further developed, and what might need to change or be challenged in our schools. The enrolment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in our Province (SAand WA) schools has increased significantly over the last six years, but that increase has not been evenly distributed. While abundantly clear that there is much goodwill in this regard across the Province, there is much individual, group and institutional learning to be done both within our schools and in our Province administration in relation to both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and the employment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the work of the Province. As I write this article, there are to my knowledge, six Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people employed within