Three Brothers from the Lasallian Region of North America (RELAN) professed their final vows in recent months. In the Midwest District, Brother Johnathon Emanuelson, FSC, professed final vows in a ceremony July 26 in Darien, Illinois, and Brother Mark Engelmeyer, FSC, professed final vows in Memphis, Tennessee, on August 13. District of Eastern North America (DENA) Brother Steven Barbaro, FSC, professed final vows September 16 in Narragansett, Rhode Island.
A graduate of Montini Catholic High School in Lombard, Illinois, Brother Johnathon entered the postulancy with the Brothers in 2012 and taught at Christian Brothers High School in Memphis and De La Salle Institute in Chicago, Illinois. He currently teaches at DeLaSalle High School in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Reflecting on this milestone in his vocational journey, Brother Johnathon noted that “to have made my final profession in the presence of so many distinguished Brothers and Lasallians, as well as my family, is the honor of a lifetime. It is both humbling and awe-inspiring in equal measure. I am most grateful to those who have placed their trust in me, and I commit myself to living these vows faithfully all the days of my life.”
Brother Mark, a graduate DeLaSalle High School in Minneapolis, has served in many Lasallian ministries, including La Salle Academy in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Christian Brothers High School in Memphis and Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota in Winona. Most recently, he joined Central Catholic High School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as a teacher, where he will continue to serve.
“To be surrounded by family, friends, Brothers and students, it was truly a foretaste of heaven,” shared Brother Mark. “My whole vocation is about helping others, especially my students, get to heaven, and having so many gathered together for my final vows during Mass, which is heaven on earth; it was a true foretaste of that heavenly reunion the Founder writes in his closing meditations for the time of retreat. My family was in total ‘wow’ over everything, and is that not how we will all be in heaven, completely amazed and ‘wowed’ by God?”
Brother Steven, a La Salle University alum, previously taught at Central Catholic High School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, upon professing his first vows. He was later assigned to La Salle Academy in Providence, Rhode Island, where he currently serves.
“I feel deeply grateful for the support and guidance through the years of my formation that I have received from the many Brothers who I had the pleasure of living in community with, the mentors that guided me and my family who supported me along my spiritual journey,” Brother Steven shared. “Final vows often represent a profound surrender of one’s desires and ambitions to a higher calling; however, while it is a ‘final’ vow, it also signifies a renewed commitment to live a joyous life of service, obedience, chastity and poverty according to our founder, Saint John Baptist de La Salle.”
Please pray for these Brothers as they continue their professed vocational journeys.
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