Tower Topics ~ Summer 2002

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Priest fraternity 'answers prayers'

Brother Charles               Rev. Greg Pawloski
de Froucauld                                                    

As Conception Seminary College alumnus Father Greg Pawloski tells it, in 1886 a 28-year-old playboy with ebbing faith in God walked into a Paris confessional and candidly told the priest, “I don’t know why I’m here.”

The priest’s response: “Kneel down and make your confession and you will believe.”

And that’s just what happened.

That young man, Charles de Foucauld, went on to become a Trappist monk for a time and eventually found himself living in the Sahara Desert with nomads until his death in 1916. He liked to call himself “the little brother of Christ,” and the sole motivation of his life was to live like Jesus of Nazareth. He was eventually ordained a priest and is the inspiration behind Jesus Caritas, an international fraternity of priests. Father Pawloski, pastor of St. Patrick parish in Imperial, Neb., is ending a three-year term as the organization’s “national responsible,” representative and coordinator of several hundred fraternities in the U.S. He insists the organization could be a boon to many priests, particularly in a time when the priesthood is under such intense public scrutiny.

Jesus Caritas consists of a worldwide network of small fraternities, each one consisting of five or six priests. Each fraternity usually meets once a month for a “Fraternity Day.” The meetings include a shared meal, Scripture reading, an hour of adoration before the Blessed Sacrament and a “Review of Life,” an opportunity to reflect on and discuss events in the priest’s lives. (The “Review” is the basis for regular meetings among seniors at Conception Seminary College.) But perhaps the most appealing element of the meetings is simply the chance to get away from the hectic pace of parish life and spend time with brother priests.

“We try to help one another,” Father Pawloski said. “It’s kind of like a support group, but it’s so much more. We challenge each other with the Gospel and the spirituality of the fraternity. Basically, we try to follow Jesus as Brother Charles did, or as he put it, ‘to cry out the Gospel with your life.’”

Beyond the monthly meetings, fraternity members are also encouraged to make a “Day in the Desert,” and a “Month of Nazareth,” times of solitude based on the spirituality of Brother Charles. Father Pawloski says society doesn’t often understand the desire to simply do nothing, to be quiet. But such times, he said, can be enriching spiritually. Quoting the organization’s literature, He calls it “wasting time” with the Lord.

Brother Charles always longed to found a religious order. He even wrote a rule, which it turns out was so strict that only he could follow it. But in the early 1930s, a priest in France was so impressed by Brother Charles’ writings he used them to found a religious order, the Little Brothers of Christ.

In 1951 six diocesan priests from France attended a retreat given by the prior general of the Little Brothers. They saw a value in Foucauld’s writings for diocesan priests and a year later founded three Jesus Caritas fraternities. The first U.S. fraternity was formed in 1960 in Brooklyn. Today, the group’s members number about 4,000 worldwide, with around 1,200 in the U.S. There are also lay fraternities and similar organizations for women religious.

Most members of Jesus Caritas in the U.S. don’t follow a strict rule. Father Pawloski says they take a “smorgasbord” approach and challenge members to “live in fraternity, observe the poverty of the Gospel, and be one with the poor.” He notes that it’s no coincidence that five of the six members of his local fraternity have done foreign mission work.

“Jesus Caritas is a vocation,” Father Pawloski says. “Priesthood can be lonely, especially if you’re out in the boondocks. We need to continually challenge each other and share with one another. Especially with what’s going on in the Church today, I really feel this is one of the answers to prayers.”

For more information on Jesus Caritas, or to find a fraternity in your area, contact Father Greg Pawloski at St. Patrick Church, (308) 882-4995 or e-mail: frgregp@chase3000.com. See the Jesus Caritas Web site at: www.rc.net/org/jesuscaritas

Prayer of Abandonment
Father,

I abandon myself into your hands
do with me what you will.
Whatever you may do I thank you;
I am ready for all, I accept all.

Let only your will be done in me,
and in all your creatures.
I wish no more than this, O Lord.

Into your hands I commend my soul;
I offer it to you
with all the love of my heart,
for I love you, Lord,
and so need to give myself,
to surrender myself into your hands,
without reserve,
and with boundless confidence,
for you are my Father.

          Brother Charles de Foucauld

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