A religious brother is a lay friar (in the sense of not being ordained) who commits himself to following Christ in the consecrated life of the Church. He publicly professes the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience. By practising the evangelical counsels, his life becomes dedicated to following Christ more closely under the action of the Holy Spirit, a life dedicated to the building up of the Church (the People of God) through perfect charity (love), while serving the Kingdom of God.
According to the canon law, Brothers are neither “lay nor clerical” but instead belong to the religious state of life. Brothers use their natural talents, abilities, and education to build up the Church and the Kingdom of God. Today you’ll find religious brothers serving as; social workers, nurses, artists, musicians, teachers, Administrators and technicians etc. They journey with the People of God as real brothers.
Saint Francis of Assisi was a Brother and he wanted all of his followers to be “friars-minors,” meaning lesser brothers. Because he is consecrated to God who is our Lord and Father of all and he in turn becomes a “brother” to all in the Body of Christ. The brother has as the focus of his lifestyle to live fraternal charity. Fraternal charity is, in essence, his vocation and this is the message his life preaches both silently, through countless acts of service, and verbally, as he encourages those around him to live a deeper love of God.
The life of the brother is often seen as earmarked with a deep contemplative prayer life as traditionally his life is a rhythm of work and prayer. From prayer he finds the strength, guidance and foundation for the apostolic life of fraternal service. Most often the brothers find and serve Jesus through the “sacrament of the moment” that is the ordinary events of daily life and the people who surround him. The radical observance of the Holy Gospel is the goal of every brother and it is this reason that drives him to bring the presence of God and the good news of Christ to every situation and to everyone he meets on the streets, in the alleys, in the school, on the bus, and everywhere else. Very often he becomes like leaven in the dough, making everything rise to life with the love of God. It is only by drinking the living water of God in contemplation that he is able to do this. “Whoever does the will of my Father is brother, sister and mother to me” (Mt 12:50).
“The world you are inheriting is a world which desperately needs a new sense of brotherhood and human solidarity. It is a world which needs to be touched and healed by the beauty and richness of God’s love. It needs witnesses to that love. It needs you to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world.” Brothers are embodiment of God’s love in action and we all are Brothers and Sisters to one another!
(Pope John Paul II at the Solemn Mass, World Youth Day, Toronto, July 28, 2002).