By Brother Matthew Chiantella, FSC
As we prepare for the upcoming Year of Lasallian Spirituality in 2025, Christian Brothers Conference will publish occasional reflections to provide spiritual inspiration and inspire continued dialogue around Lasallian spirituality.
When September rolls around, the start of the school year has been in high gear. For many educators in Lasallian schools it seems as though the task list gets longer the more we check things off. We live in a time of rugged individualism, where the common currency is constant work equals our worth and, especially as educators, we deem ourselves not good enough if we do not go above and beyond. We can be stuck in a rut of busyness and routine that we can fail to appreciate and marvel at the wonderful gift we have been given.
No wonder our profession is in crisis with “burnout” and teacher shortages. We forget sometimes that we should be routinely returning to the sources of our Lasallian spirituality that grounds us, inspires us and integrates our personal, faith and professional lives. When I stop and ponder the gift of teaching and being a Brother that I have received, it never ceases to amaze and inspire.
Saint John Baptist de La Salle wrote to the early Brothers Meditations for the Time of Retreat, first published in 1730. The Meditations were a masterful expression of how the Brothers should ground their teaching and religious lives. For De La Salle, teaching and religious life were not an either-or but a both-and situation as expressed in the early Rule: “Make no distinction between the duties of your profession and those that refer to your salvation and perfection. Be convinced that you will never achieve your salvation more surely nor acquire greater perfection that by fulfilling well the duties of your profession, provided you do so with the view of God’s will.”
De La Salle wanted his Brothers to be both men of deep faith and ardent zeal. He wanted his Brothers to reflect upon and marvel at the wonderful gift they had been given as consecrated men devoted to teaching. How did he inspire such faith and zeal?
Meditations for the Time of Retreat can serve both Brothers and Lasallian educators as a source of inspiration today. De La Salle used two images that can help us move beyond the workaholic heroic self to a more integrated self, capable of both deep interiority and deep zeal. He used direct language to shake us out of our complacent routines and make us aware of our fragile egos and strengthens us for the important work God has entrusted to us.
The first image is De La Salle’s use of the word disciple. The word disciple reminds us that we are the ones not in charge. We are disciples of Jesus, continual learners that while we may cognitively assent to being a learner, we as educators have a hard time processing and accepting as we are so used to being the “dispenser” of knowledge. Henri Nouwen once stated that “the mystery of ministry is that we have been chosen to make our own limited and conditional love the gateway for the unlimited and unconditional love of God.”
De La Salle touched upon that point when he said, “Thank God, who has the goodness to employ you to procure such an important advantage for children …to announce the Gospel free of charge.” He reminds us that we are disciples, learners chosen by God to bring the Gospel to our students. This is not “my work” but instead God’s work.
The second image is the use of the titles of ambassadors and ministers of Jesus, which continues the message of moving beyond ourselves and instead seeing ourselves as entrusted with an important role. An ambassador only carries the message, they do not create, yet they cooperate with the one sending. “I am the true vine and my father is the vine grower … remain in me as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me” (Jn 15:1-8). This passage is a reminder to continue to develop a sense of interiority and prayer, reflecting on the One who has given us the gift of our lives and our profession.
When we set aside time for prayer and contemplation, we remind ourselves that we are the branches connected to God, who alone gives us the strength and solace needed to be entrusted to this work of education. We find in this interiority our calling, our vocation, to teach minds and touch hearts, to endure the “terrible daily grind” like Saint Benilde, and to be educators of such joy and witness that we can’t help but be enthusiastic for what we do and who we authentically are. Centering ourselves in prayer helps cure us of the need to stay “relevant” in a constantly changing world and gives us the clarity to fully appreciate the beautiful gift we have been given.
Brother Matthew is director of student life and ministry at San Miguel High School, Tucson, Arizona.