It all began when Br. Vincent Cavanaugh, the vocation recruiter for the District, came into my junior home room class in La Salle Academy, Providence. Br. Vincent addressed the class and asked us what we thought we wanted to do when we finished school. I spontaneously wrote down “BROTHER.” The rest is history!
Before leaving La Salle, we were asked who we would want to be our sponsoring Brother when we receive the habit. I said I would like Br. Patrick Kelly. Br. Pat had a bit of a reputation as a “tough guy,” so the Director, Br. Vincent, suggested several other Brothers. I said, “I’d like Br. Patrick.” Br. Vincent asked, “Why?” I replied, “Because he was always with us outside of class time, especially after school when we were involved in activities and sports. This is what attracted me to the Brothers’ life.” Br. Vincent got it, so Br. Pat, the tough guy, became my sponsor.
During the novitiate year, the Visitor gave a talk to the novices about the Brothers just starting new missions in Kenya and Ethiopia. This got my attention and when I was in the scholasticate I volunteered for the missions. After professing perpetual vows in 1968, I was assigned to Ethiopia.
Among many things I was involved in, the one that interested me the most was the formation of young Ethiopians into the life of the Brothers. I saw this as the future of the Brothers. I left Ethiopia in 2007 after thirty-nine years, but have continued to go back to Ethiopia and Kenya for three to five months a year to continue to assist the Brothers in the formation of the young Brothers.
I have great hope for the future of the Brothers because, despite the fact that we are getting very few vocations to the Brothers in the United States, we are getting vocations in Africa and the work of the Brothers goes on where it is so needed.
