Br. Ángel Medina Bermudez and Br. Lindley Halago Sionosa

Brothers today is perceived as an organization enriched by the fact of finding in each of us brothers the ‘principal character’ in the today of the Marist life that we are called to push forward.

In saying « all », we would wish that each of us feels himself taking part, in the front ranks, in the construction of this new way of being brother.

The elderly brother, strong from his long journey and his experience of life ; the youth in formation and the young brother, with their creativity and their initiative ; the mature brother, strong in his leadership and commitment ; the lay Marists – men and women – with their closeness and their constant support. All are a reference point for promoting the initiatives previously cited.

The Secretariat of Brothers Today was established in 2009 as a response to the Call of the XXI General Chapter to “live a new consecrated life which promotes a new way of being brother.”

Marist Brothers: a new heart for a new world
21^st General Chapter (2009)

Principles

We long for a newness of heart and consecration that will open us to a new identity as Brothers:

1. A brother, who by consecration, belongs only to God and who from there sets out in haste for the new frontiers of poor children and young people;
2. A brother with a new heart who witnesses to conversion to Jesus Christ through a life of unconditional love and radical availability;
3. A brother who, guided by the Spirit, makes discernment a daily exercise in seeking the will of God in the world;
4. A brother with a missionary heart, journeying with Mary, witnessing to a faith which is down-to-earth and joyful, and which announces the arrival of a new world that began with Jesus.

The XXII General Chapter made a follow up of this call in saying:

Towards a new beginning …
22^nd General Chapter (2017)

In our vocation as brothers

For a new beginning as Little Brothers of Mary, as mystics and prophets of a new world, we believe that:

• we must deepen our experience of God who dwells within and in daily life, and so become God’s passionate witnesses by full and happy lives.
• we are being invited to make our communities real homes, characterised by genuine relationships that allow us to build bridges between ourselves and with the people we meet around us.
• we have to embrace a simple lifestyle and experience our vulnerability as a source of fruitfulness and freedom.
• our vocation implies an availability to go anywhere in our worldwide family, working alongside the poor, especially children and young people, to transform the world.
• being brothers is a call to be signs of humanity in all its fulness, which implies healing the wounds of our own lives, promoting the dignity of each person, and caring for our common home.

In the animation of the Institute, the Secretariat of Brothers Today belongs to the Marist Life Area along with the Secretariat of the Laity.

Our mission, whose core is to cultivate the spirituality of the heart, revolves around the three aspects of Marist life:

1- Formation

• We connect with and provide the institute with information about the different houses of formation, the formators and the formands, as well as the different centers of spirituality.
• We organize and coordinate programs of ongoing formation in Rome and in the regions.

2- Animation of Community Life

• We design programs to equip community leaders with the necessary tools to help them in their task of animating the life of the community.

3- Communion between Brothers and the Marist Lay

• We collaborate with the Secretariat of the Laity, the Collaboration for Mission International (CMI) office and the La Valla 200 Project, in the animation of Marist life, both of brothers and the Marist lay.

Meeting of the International Commission of Brothers Today in Manziana – July 2022

International commissions under the Secretariat of Brothers Today

There are three international commissions appointed by the General Council to work with the Secretariat of Brothers Today. These are the:

• International Commission of Brothers Today
• International Commission of the New Formation Guide
• International Commission of Marist Spirituality and Patrimony