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Over the summer, young men who may want to find out if they have a vocation as a Christian Brother had an opportunity to live and work with them.
It’s possible through a program run by the Brothers of the Christian Schools called “Contacts,” which offers a way for the men to learn about religious life and more about themselves in the process.
Brother Ed Shields, F.S.C., is the director of Contacts and local vocations coordinator for the Eastern North America District of the Brothers of the Christian Schools.
“The Contacts program is for young men who have an interest in exploring the possibility of a vocation to the brothers,” said Brother Shields in a July 31 interview with CNY.
“They get a firsthand experience of the life of a brother in ministry, prayer and community.”
The need for all types of Church vocations is great, but it is especially so for religious brothers and sisters, Brother Shields said.
Four men involved with Contacts conducted summer school courses for incoming freshmen at La Salle Academy in lower Manhattan. As part of the program, they lived in community with the Christian Brothers who teach at the high school.
Two of the men are graduates of La Salle Academy. They are David Munoz, 18, and Stevens Guillaume, 19. The other two men teaching at La Salle are Francis Adu, 19, and Richard Esposito, 50.
“A lot of the men are graduates of our schools. They want to continue to keep in touch with our brothers,” Brother Shields explained.
David Munoz will be a freshman at La Salle University in Philadelphia this fall. He has been heavily involved in volunteer work in his community, including service after Hurricane Sandy. He said he was attracted to learn more when he “saw how much the Christian Brothers do, how they help the community and all those who are underprivileged.”
Munoz teaches incoming freshmen at La Salle Academy and hopes to become a teacher himself.
“The experience lets me get a better sense of what the brothers do and how they live,” he said, adding, “I would be open to religious life.”
A typical day for those in the Contacts program includes waking up at 6 a.m. and joining in morning prayer with the brothers about an hour later. The summer teaching schedule, which concluded last week, ran from 9 a.m. to noon.
Of the early-morning wake-up call, Munoz said with a laugh, “I’m not a morning person, but I like it!”
The young men eat lunch and dinner with the community and also take part in evening prayer and daily Mass. They have free time to themselves in the afternoon.
Stevens Guillaume, a student at the New York Institute of Technology, said he first became interested in the Contacts program when he saw how involved the brothers were at LaSalle and in his Catholic education.
“It’s been an interesting experience,” he said. “I’m happy I’ve done it.”
