Charism and Mission
Charism and Mission of Brother of The Holy Family
The Charism of the Congregation is a gift of the Holy Spirit given in origin to Brother Gabriel Taborin which is prolonged through time.
The Charism of the Congregation is a gift of the Holy Spirit given in origin to Brother Gabriel Taborin which is prolonged through time. It is expressed in four elements :
Identity
Its members are Religious who, responding to the Father’s call, and moved by the Holy Spirit, consecrate their lives to God in the Church according to the charism of the Institute. The members of the Institute are all Brothers and use this name. (C 2 y 4).
Spirituality
- The Holy Family gives its name to the Institute and inspires the spirituality of the Brothers.
- The life of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, forming a family, will always be their reference point.
- The Brothers learn to meditate and to live the Gospel in the light of the mystery of Nazareth; there, Jesus began to accomplish what he would preach later. This Nazarene spirituality will motivate their whole lives (C 5 – 8).
Spirit
- The Brothers contribute to carry out the plan of salvation through the characteristic spirit of the Institute, which is the family spirit. This spirit comes from the vital bonds that united the members of the Holy Family and whose source is the Holy Trinity.
- The family spirit, vital core of the spirituality of the Brothers, motivates the relationships among them… It marks their style of action, guides them in their mission among men, characterizes their educational work and strengthens the bonds of human solidarity wherever they are sent (C 11 y 14).
Mission
- The Institute of the Brothers of the Holy Family participates in the mission of the Church in order to build up the Kingdom of God in the world.
- They participate in its pastoral work mainly by means of Christian education, catechesis and liturgical animation. According to the Founder’s desire, the Institute remains available for the apostolic tasks that needs of the time and place could demand (C 15 y 16).
Dedicated to the evangelizing mission
Mission Education
“The Brothers devote themselves chiefly to Christian education… They direct the values of culture towards the announcement of Salvation, in order to help their students bring about in themselves a living unity between culture and faith.” (C 124)
“The Sa-Fa Family Centres are centres of the Catholic Church, committed to faith formation in dialogue with culture, with other religions and worldviews and in constant service to the Church and to all people, regardless of class, race, gender or religion.
The Institute of the Brothers of the Holy Family assumes, by virtue of the mission entrusted to it by the Church, the obligation to safeguard in the establishments of the Sa-Fa Family the Catholic identity in accordance with the Gospel, the teachings of the Church and the charism of Brother Gabriel Taborin as expressed in the Educational Project of the Institute and in the orientations of the Chapters. This responsibility is assumed in each country by the Provincial Council or by the Teams, Councils or persons to whom the Provincial Council delegates this responsibility. (Schools Sa-Fa or the World, 1)
The mission of Holy Family School is twofold :
As an educational centre it participates in human and social promotion.
Because of its Christian character, it is an area of dialogue between faith and culture.
Mission Catechesis
The beauty of announcing the Good News
Charism and Mission : Mission Catechesis
“Following the example of their Founder, the Brothers of the Holy Family give to catechesis the first place in their apostolic work. In the name of Christ, they proclaim the message of salvation and the call to conversion” (C 122).
Brother Gabriel had a great appreciation for the catechesis. He wrote: “There is no more beautiful, honourable and meritorious role than catechesis for the one who does it out with faith”. He wrote this certainty in his autobiography: “I gave myself over to this holy exercise with a kind of happiness”. He had such regard for this service of the Church that he asked for and obtained from Pope Gregory XVI the title of “Apostolic Catechist”.
From the time of the Founder, the Brothers carry out the mission of catechesis in two different ambiences: The catechesis in the schools and the catechesis in the parishes.
Our educational centres promote the creation of groups of initiation and deepening in faith. Each group follows an itinerary of formation adapted to the age and to the process of maturation of its members.
The goal of catechesis is to help the Word of God to be welcomed within the hearts of the people and to put the person in contact with Jesus Christ. This is a task that is long-life. For this, the formative itineraries are prolonged in the youth groups, youth communities and adult communities.
Many people live their faith nurtured from the spirituality of Nazareth.
Mission : Liturgical Animation
Heirs of the burning zeal of the Founder, the Brothers of the Holy Family devote themselves to promoting liturgical life of which they are active participants and animators” (C 123).
The entire life of Brother Gabriel is deeply marked by the experience of liturgy. He expressed it in “decorating the holy altars”, “assisting the priests in the religious ceremonies” and “developing the functions of cantor or sacristan”.
The Vatican Council II defined the role of the Liturgy in this beautiful sentence: “The Liturgy is the summit towards which the activity of the Church is directed; at the same time, it is the font from which all her power flows” (SC 10). How well Brother Gabriel understood this, when he closely united in his mission: school, temple and home! In other words: education, catechesis and liturgy.
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We try to motivate youth and adults of our educational works and parishes to participate of the life of faith of the local Church and to be an active part of her. We favour the participation of everybody, trying to adapt the expressions to the different ambiences and ages, within the respect to the spirit of the celebration and the rules of the Church.
The liturgical animation that we carry out consists in: Preparing the liturgy, decorating the church, making introductions and reading the readings, directing the songs, animating for the participation of everyone, explaining the Word of God.
