Remembering the past with gratitude

We treasure photos. A photo says a lot. Itcaptures the meaning of the moment. Athousand words inadequately describethe emotions that a single picture con-veys. A picture, like the one above, tells astory. We start this story with the lastchapter.

In early December 2014, graduatesfrom our former Escuela Normal inCarmen Pampa, Bolivia, travelled from

all over Bolivia to bid farewell (despedida)

to a man who had a significant impact ontheir lives. Bolivians love to celebrate.This despedida would be no exception—celebratory meals and sharing reminis-cences of Carmen Pampa and, mostimportantly, sharing fraternity that start-ed over forty years ago. All rememberedthe past with gratitude.

Let us step back in time to the firstchapters of this story. In the early days ofour mission to Bolivia, the primitive con-ditions of Carmen Pampa were challeng-ing. We remember with gratitude the gen-erosity and faith especially of BrothersJulian and Nilus, who established our mis-sion in Bolivia. In all, twenty-two

Xaverians responded to Pope JohnXXIII's original call and served as mission-aries in Bolivia. Gratefully we rememberthem.

1967 marked a new chapter inBrother Martin's life. God's call is indeed

Following the Xaverian Way

VOL. 16 NO. 2 | WINTER 2015

WWW.XAVERIANBROTHERS.ORG | FACEBOOK.COM/XAVERIANBROTHERS | TWITTER: @XAVERIANBROS

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In this issueIn this issue during this Year ofConsecrated Life, we highlightsome of the ways in which theXaverian Brothers and their collaborators and Associates continue the mission of theBrothers. Brother Edward Driscollwrites about long-time Bolivianmissionary Brother Martin Boone;Communication Director Chris Irrwrites about A Community in‘Retweet’ – how Xaverian schoolsand the Brothers use Twitter tounderscore our mission; we readabout the XBSS GovernanceForum held recently in Louisville.In “A Call Fulfilled” we sayfarewell to Brother John Olsen(Brother Thaddeus) who passedaway in October and read aboutthe ways he lived his vocation as a Xaverian Brother.

Bolivia: Despedida for Brother Martin Boone

by Brother Edward Driscoll, General Superior

Brother Martin Boone with some of his former students from Carmen Pampa Bolivia. Left to Right: EdgarBonilla, Nogardo Morales, Andrés Pardo, Hermano Martin, Gavino Lopez, Max Condo and Rene Plata.These men all went on to become teachers and continue the Xaverian tradition of education through theirwork of education on the secondary and university levels, as well as officials of the Ministry of Education.

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mysterious. The missionary Spirit stirredin Brother Martin. He would join the"band of brothers” who had already beensent as missionaries to Bolivia. For thenext ten years, Martin (then known asBrother Loyola), was in Carmen Pampa.Martin's education and training were inengineering, having received his under-graduate degree from the University ofLouisville's Speed School and his MS fromCatholic University. He would use thesegifts, too, in his ministry in Bolivia.

During my years as a missionary inBolivia, I heard from Brother Martin's for-mer students how they had learned howto think in Hermano Loyola's classes. Hetaught them well! They also acknowl-edged that Hermano was very strict, butalways fair. In their words, “the mostimportant lessons learned from him werethose of responsibility, discipline, andrespect for self and others.” They contin-ue to speak of Martin with great affection.Brother Martin, like many Brothers,served as a father figure for the studentswho, in nearly all cases, were many milesaway from home. Some were evenorphans.

When the political situation forcedReligious Orders to close their teachertraining schools, Brother Martin returnedto the USA. His missionary zeal, however,would again lead him to the margins ofsociety. He was Director of MigrantWorkers in North Carolina. He spent ayear on the Lakota reservation at SaintFrancis Mission, South Dakota, and anumber of years in Seattle, Washingtonworking in Hispanic ministries. But,Bolivia would call him once more.

The year 1991 began the final chapterof Martin's time in Bolivia – a chapter that

would last twenty-three years. He wasinvited by Bishop Rosat, OFM to assesswhat could be done educationally for theextremely poor campesino children in theprelacy of Aiquile. At that time, there wereno schools available in the remote moun-tain villages of Aiquile. Brother's engi-neering background was put to good usefor the benefit of these children. With thesupport of Bishop Rosat, Martin literallybuilt the dormitories, dining room, library,chapel and classroom buildings of NuestraSeñora del Rosario (Our Lady of the Rosary)in Chinguri. Martin would spend from1991 to 2014 in Chinguri.

Living the Present with Passion

Pope Francis' exhortation “live thepresent with passion,” truly charac-terizes Brother Martin's ministry. In

all he did, be it establishing alternativeeducation programs for adults, alterna-tive technical education, teacher forma-tion for the prelacy of Aiquile, or advocat-ing for equal opportunities and rights forcampesina women, Martin's zeal wasalways evident. Our Founder must havefrequently whispered his often citedwords into Martin's ears, "Nothing specialis achieved without much labor, effortand zeal." Brother Martin always showedgreat determination in advocating for

and defending the people he has beencalled to serve. He was not afraid to chal-lenge community leaders, even Bishops,if he felt they were not acting in the bestinterest of students.

I was privileged to benefit fromBrother Martin's experience and wisdomwhen I first went to Bolivia. His advice, aswell as his challenges, were always clearand to the point. His support, always fra-ternal. Brother Martin epitomizes a veryclear notion of what a missionary is sentto do. What I learned from him wasrepeated to me in a letter I received fromBishop Jorge Herbas expressing gratitudefor what Martin had done for the people

Some of Brother Martin’s former students traveled from Carmen Pampa and other places inBolivia to visit with him in at Chinguri in 2013.

The Year of Consecrated Life is upon us! Pope Francis, in anApostolic Letter addressed "to all consecrated people,"explained the year's focus:

In response to requests from many of you and from theCongregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and for Societiesof Apostolic Life, I decided to proclaim a Year of ConsecratedLife on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the DogmaticConstitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, which speaks of reli-gious in its sixth chapter, and of the Decree Perfectae Caritatison the renewal of religious life. The Year will begin on 30November 2014, the First Sunday of Advent, and conclude withthe Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple on 2February 2016.

After consultation with the Congregation for Institutes ofConsecrated Life and for Societies of Apostolic Life, I have cho-sen as the aims of this Year the same ones which Saint JohnPaul II proposed to the whole Church at the beginning of thethird millennium, reiterating, in a certain sense, what he hadearlier written in the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation VitaConsecrata: “You have not only a glorious history to rememberand to recount, but also a great history still to be accomplished!Look to the future, where the Spirit is sending you in order todo even greater things” (No. 110).

The letter continues and expands on the aims of the Year ofConsecrated Life: to look to the past with gratitude, to live the present with passion, and to embrace the future with hope. A copy of the Holy Father’s letter can be found on our website at xaverianbrothers.org/sites/default/files/APOSTOLIC LETTER.pdf

On our website, Living the Charism (livingthecharism.com) weare publishing a short reflection each week that encountersthese aims in three-week cycles. We'll first look gratefully at asignificant event in the Congregation's past. The following weekwe'll see how the memory of that historical event is helping uslive passionately in the present. And on the third week we'll askhow the event might shape our hopeful embraceof the future.

Please join in reading thesereflections online! And weinvite you to share withus along the way howwomen and menReligious, particular-ly XaverianBrothers, haveinfluenced your life.

Celebrating the Year of Consecrated Life

The “Camino de la Muerte” - the “road of death” considered to be the world’smost dangerous road leads over the Andes from La Paz to Coroico, Bolivia onthe way to Carmen Pampa. This photo was taken by the Brothers in 1966.Brother Martin would know the road well during his years in Bolivia.

Bishop Jorge Herbas, of the Prelacy of Aquile, with whom Brother Martincollaborated the past few years came to Chinguri to offer his thanks toBrother Martin for his years, of missionary service in Bolivia.

of Aiquile and echoes our Fundamental Principles:"Remember why you are a missionary, to devel-op the gifts of others - 'the poor, the weak, theoppressed of this world, they, too, are called toexperience, express and share the love of Godwith the world through their own giftedness."The attached pictures tells me this lesson hasbeen learned and givesall of us the inspiration,no matter our presentcircumstances, ...

to embrace thefuture with hope.

As Brother Martinjoins our community ofBrothers at RykenHouse in his nativeLouisville, Kentucky,we pray that he mayembrace the futurewith the same zeal andhope that his lifealways exemplifies.

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The Xaverian Brothers arejust one member of an activeand growing Xaverian com-munity on Twitter. Any social

network is only as strong as its members’ willingness to share,and so here we’ll highlight some of those folks whom we like toRetweet (RT) when they share their local goings-on.

(Dr. Ed Hardiman,Headmaster, St. John’s Prep, Danvers, MA)

We are always looking for different ways to share what is goingon at SJP. Twitter is growing in popularityamongst high school stu-dents and parents. It is agreat and concise way toshare information and pro-mote events. It is also a greatway to share faith. I like that itforces me to be concise andthat it can be accessed andsent from my phone on awhim!!

I tweet about different SJPevents, accomplishments. I alsoshare insights on Catholic spiritu-ality, various celebrations and thebenefits of all boys schools. Iretweet insights that I comeacross on faith, academics and character formation.

Recommends following: @JamesMartinSJ, @stjohnsprep,@thenestSJP

(Stephanie Lorenzo, ITFaculty Advisor atXaverian High School)

I find twitter to be an excellentexercise in the craft of writing. AsI tell my students - you only have140 characters, so you have tomake 'em count!

I focus my tweeting around themotto: "Make a statement, not asentence." I try to teach the kids tobe clever, thought-provoking, andeven witty about the things thatthey chose to write about.

Recommends following: @sjunkins

(Kevin McCormack, Principal of Xaverian HighSchool, Brooklyn, NY)

Twitter allows a pithy and unobtrusive way to offer per-spective and/or resources to

a large community. Andfrankly it is fun!

I basically tweet about 5things: 1) Xaverian HS, 2)educational issues (heavyemphasis on tech), 3) theChurch, 4) My radio show:"Religion on the Line," andevery so often 5) personalstuff (e.g., I posted a pic that Iwas at the football game withmy kids yesterday).

Recommends following:@edtech @historyinPics

(Operated by theSaint X CampusMinisters, St. XavierHS, Louisville, KY)

The account was created in August 2013, as a way to engage ourcurrent students. It was our hope that we would

be able to connect with our stu-dents and pro-mote not onlyCampus Ministryand St. X events,but also promotehappenings of the"Catholic" twitter-verse as well.

While students areour first audience, wealso receive favoritesand RTs from alumniand friends from the St.X community. Theresponse has been great;

while we only have 200 followers, we regularly receivefavorites and RTs from students--especially if there is a pic-ture of them attached to the tweet!

Recommends following: @JamesMartinSJ, @ArchbishopKurtz,@MillennialJourn

A Community in ‘Retweet’

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by Chris Irr, Director of Communications

(Thomas Doherty,Headmaster, MaldenCatholic High School,Malden, MA)

I’ve been a part of Twitter for a number of years, but when I start-ed at MC I created an account to make sure thatI could reach students, sharethe story of MCwith a differentaudience, andinteract with mem-bers of our commu-nity I might not nor-mally come in con-tact with in a givenday.

As a headmaster youspend a lot of timewith people who aren’tlikely to be on Twitter,so it is important thatyou share your messagewith the rest of the com-munity. Twitter is a good

way to do this. It takes much lesseffort and time than many other social media sites, which is goodfor me because I am very busy.

Recommends following: @Malden_Catholic, @MCathletics1,@LowellCatholic, @BostonCollege, @LHarveyCFX

(Vijay Dacosta, CampusMinister & Religious Studies Teacher at St. John’s Prep)

Strangely enough, I came up with my Twitter handle after hearingthe pronunciation of my last

name from variouspeople in the Bostonmetro-area. The Bostonaccent is pretty terrific!

I started my SJP Twitteraccount as a way ofengaging with studentsand the greater schoolcommunity in a new waythat would allow me tobring Campus Ministry toeveryone, no matterwhere they are. I've beenable to advertise aboutour liturgical, retreat, andservice programs, as well

share interesting articles and congratulate students on theiraccomplishments.

Recommends following: @ehardiman

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Board Members, Chief Administratorsand Xaverian Brothers gathered inLouisville, Kentucky in November

for the bi-annual XBSS GovernanceForum. Louisville was an appropriatevenue for this gathering, as it also gavethe participants the opportunity to jointhe members of the St. Xavier HighSchool Community at the inauguralGrisanti Lecture which was one of theevents held to celebrate the 150thanniversary of St. Xavier High School.

Director of Sponsorship Alice Hessionwelcomed the participants to this impor-tant event, noting that this is one way inwhich the Brothers and the SponsorshipOffice help board members to reflect onthe Brothers’ mission of education and tosee the ways in which the Xaverianschools can continue to be effective incontinuing the Congregation’s mission ofevangelization. Students from St. XavierHigh School planned and led the openingprayer for the gathering.

The keynote speaker on day one ofthe Forum was Dr. Hosffman Ospino, anAssistant Professor of Theology andReligious Education at Boston College'sSchool of Theology and Ministry. One ofDr. Ospino’s particular areas of research

and writing is the current situation ofCatholic Hispanic Ministry in the UnitedStates and proposing directions for theimmediate future. In his address, he pro-vided an historical analysis of the role ofCatholic education in educating immi-grants in the US Catholic experience andthe particular challenges Catholic schoolsface today in educating Hispanics.Following the presentation, a panel ofXaverian educators responded to hischallenge. The panel included GeneralSuperior Brother Edward Driscoll, Dr. PaulBarker, President of Our Lady of GoodCounsel HS, Mrs. Maryellen DeMarco,principal at Lowell Catholic High Schooland Mr. Richard Lechleiter, a board mem-ber at St. Xavier and the President of theCatholic Education Foundation for theArchdiocese of Louisville.

Another important facet of theGovernance Forum is a series of work-shops on topics of interest to board mem-bers. The topics covered at this year’sForum were: The Xaverian Heritage inLouisville, given by Brother Brian Davis,Headmaster at Xavier High School; ALook at Factors Shaping Catholic HighSchools Today by Dr. Brian Reynolds, theChancellor and Chief Administrative

Officer of the Archdiocese of Louisville;College Admissions Today: What Board

Members need to Know, led by SeanKaylor the Vice President for EnrollmentManagement at Marist College inPoughkeepsie, NY and a board memberat St. Bernard School in Uncasville, CT;and Leveraging Connectivity: The BestUses of Social Media for Schools given myDr. Jason McNeal of Gonser Gerber LLP,Advancement Consultants.

Participants at the Governance Forumalso had the opportunity to visit St. XavierHigh School and to be given a tour of theschool by St. X students. Following areception hosted by Dr. Perry Sangalli,President at St. X, and the Board ofDirectors at the school, the Forum partici-

pants joined the members ofthe St. Xavier community forthe inaugural lecture of theGrisanti Lecture Series deliveredby Fr. Clyde Crews, a priest ofthe Archdiocese of Louisivlleand Historian and ArchivalDirector at BellarmineUniversity, Louisville. Fr. Clyde’stopic for the evening was “TheImpact of St. Xavier’s 150 yearson the Local Community andChurch.” Fr. Clyde, himself analumnus of St. X, put the arrivalof the Xaverian Brothers toLouisivlle and the foundation ofSt. Xavier’s into some historicalcontext and then spoke aboutthe influence of the Brothers onCatholic education in Louisivlle

XBSS Governance Forum Continues theBrothers’ Ministry of Catholic Education

Richard Lechleiter and Brother Edward continuetheir discussion on the challenges Catholic schoolsface in educating under-served populations.

Jim Donovan, chair of the board of Malden Catholic,and Dr. Ospino from Boston College in a conversationafter the keynote address.

Brother Edward with Mr. Frank Demuynck, a member ofthe board of St. Francis Xavier Institute in Bruges,Belgium, who was able to travel to the US for the Forum.(photo courtesy of St. Xavier HS)

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A Call Fulfilled: Brother John Olsen, CFX (Brother Thaddeus)

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Brother John Olsen (Thaddeus) passed toeternal life on Wednesday, October 8th atNazareth Home, Louisville, KY. BrotherJohn lived a full life as a Xaverian Brother.He entered the Congregation fromResurrection Parish, Brooklyn NY in 1947.Earning his bachelor’s degree inChemistry from Catholic UniversityBrother Thaddeus, as he was knownthen, taught for six years at Saint John’sPrep in Danvers from 1952-1958. His tal-ent and love of Catholic education wererecognized early and he was madeAssistant Principal at Xaverian HighSchool in Brooklyn, where he served from1958- 1962. During this time he earnedhis MS in Education at Saint John’sUniversity, where he would also earn hisdoctorate in 1971. Brother John served asthe first Principal at Nazareth High School,also in Brooklyn, from 1962-1965.

Brother John was an innovator,instinctively interested in technology. Hehelped the grade schools in Brooklynintegrate the use of technology in theirinstruction. Brother John also served theCongregation in various leadership roles:superior and president of XaverianCollege, provincial counselor and Directorof Xaverian Brothers Sponsored Schools(XBSS). He also served as Executive

Director of NCEA for Secondary Schoolsfrom 1974-1980.

A number of lines from ourFundamental Principles are fitting toremember Brother John, but one in par-ticular, “Stand ready to answer God whenHe asks you if you are available for Him.”Brother John did exactly that. After a peri-od of personal renewal at Regis Collegein Toronto, Canada, he responded toGod’s call to the margins of society. Heserved as Director of Research for theSoutheast Ministry Resource Center inBirmingham, Alabama,where he helped Religiousmove into ministries servingthe poorest of the poor. Anumber of XaverianBrothers served for a time inEastern Kentucky as a resultof Brother John’s work.Giving of himself reflectedhis relationship with God. Heserved at Assisi BridgeHouse in Houma, Louisiana;he volunteered for Kenyawhere he spent ten years onthe Formation Team and was Director ofProjects at Saint Joseph the Worker Parishin Kangemi, Kenya.

The second half of the quote from the

Fundamental Principles reads, “…if youare available for Him to be more presentin your life and through you to the world.”Brother Edward Driscoll, General Superior,wrote in announcing Brother John’sdeath, “As a former student of John, I canattest that I met God in John’s quiet,accepting, caring and ever positive man-ner.” Let’s give thanks for a life well livedfor God and others. May Brother Johnenjoy eternal peace and life with the Godhe so loved.

as well as the influence of St. Xavier stu-dents on Louisvile and theCommonwealth of Kentucky. A mostinteresting follow-up to his lecture werequestions by a group of seniors from St. Xwhose thoughtful and insightful ques-tions invited Fr. Clyde to reflect on hisown vocation as a priest, his career as aprofessor at Bellarmine, and the chal-lenges and opportunities for students atSt. Xavier today.

The final day of the two-day Forumincluded an address by Brother EdwardDriscoll, on “Future Faithfulness to theXaverian Charism and the Mission of theChurch.” Using the Year of Consecrated

Life and the themes of grateful remem-brance for the past, hope for the futureand living the present with passion,Brother Edward reminded the BoardMembers and administrators of theirsacred task and challenged everyone toexamine how each school continues toadvance the Brothers apostolate ofCatholic education.

Before Alice Hession offered someconcluding remarks, Board Members hadthe opportunity to meet by the standingcommittees that make up their boards –audit/finance, educational programs,advancement, and facilities. The boardchairs who were also present had the

opportunity to meet with Brother Edwardand to talk about best practices and theirparticular role of leadership.

This bi-annual Governance Forum isan essential way that the Brothers andSponsorship Office form Board Membersfor their role of service. It is also an effec-tive way of networking among the vari-ous boards and of strengthening theXBSS network. This year, we were partic-ularly happy that Mr. Frank Demuynck, aboard member from St. Xavier Institute inBruges, Belgium was able to join us forthe Forum and then to visit St. Xavier,Mount St. Joseph and Our Lady of GoodCounsel high schools.

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Concordia Society

Each year, the cycle of high school reunions begins. Reunionplans are made months, even years in advance to makethese celebrations with classmates, teachers, and Xaverian

Brothers who taught, coached, or inspired you memorable.

Inevitably, questions arise such as “Whatever happened to…?”or “Do you think we can get so and so to our reunion?” At theXaverian Generalate requests are made asking about particu-

lar Brothers and their availability to attend a reunion. Brothersenjoy being remembered in this way. Oftentimes they have vividmemories of former students and even their families. When pos-sible, they do their best to attend reunions and enjoy seeing themen the boys have become – not to exclude those co-ed schoolsnow!

When reminiscing about those Brothers who were influ-ential in the person you have become, considerremembering them in your estate plans by joining the

Xaverian Brothers Concordia Society. The Society and its benefitsacknowledge those who have remembered the Brothers in theirestate plans.

Your generous bequest will help us defray some of these escalating costs:

• Care and support for our growing number of aged and infirm Brothers

• Our educational efforts through our Xaverian Brothers Sponsored School program

• Our missionary activities and the growth of the Congregation in some of the

• poorest areas of our world.

For a list of benefits and other information, contact Ray Alcaraz at the Xaverian BrothersDevelopment Office: ralcaraz@xaverianbrothers.org

The Xaverian Brothers