The Brothers of Mexico receive fitting recognition for their 100 years of service in Mexico: It was quite moving when the Government of Mexico presented to the Superior General, on behalf of the Brothers, an official document thanking them for their service to the people and country of Mexico. The document was signed by President Vicente Fox and was a long deserved statement of thanks after so many years of dedicated service.

On December 1, 1905, four French Brothers landed in Veracruz and joined Br. Pedro Celestino (a German Brother) who was waiting for them. They quickly went to the famous Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City to pay homage to her. They soon began their first school, La Concordia, in Puebla and quickly started another there called San Pedro and San Pablo.

I asked Br. Lorenzo Gonzales, who recently attended the centenary celebrations there, what he thought the greatest accomplishments of the Brothers had been in these 100 years. He said that for him there were a number of them that are imbedded in the history of the District.

The Brothers responded directly to the needs of the people of Mexico. They opened diverse schools; schools for the poor and schools for those who could pay tuition. From the beginning the Brothers looked to the local people for vocations because they wanted the local people to become part of the Brothers. By 1914 there were 188 Brothers. They worked in 13 schools that were tuition free serving 3,350 students and in 6 schools with 1,214 students who paid tuition.

But 1914 was a difficult year for the Brothers. In that year, the Brothers were expelled from Mexico and they fled to the United States and Cuba. Two years later, in 1916 some Brothers return to Mexico and start again. The years from 1926-29 of the religious persecution during the presidency of the General Calles were difficult. In 1930 the persecution under the socialist flag got worse. The Brothers maintained Catholic education, no longer in their school buildings (San Borja was confiscated), but in local houses (1935-37). In 1937 there were only 35 Brothers in Mexico (27 Mexican Brothers). But they trusted in God, the Lord of history, and they were able once again to give birth to their work conferring on it new force and impulse.

From the beginning, the Brothers had good relationships with lay teachers and others interested in education. The idea of Association in not a new one for the Brothers of Mexico. The lay people have been significant partners of the Brothers from the beginning. After so many struggles, revolutions and oppressions of the Church in Mexico, the Brothers have continued to be dedicated to the people and now serve in 69 Lasallian centers of learning including 15 universities. The Brothers now minister to more than 100,000 students in Mexico in the two Districts of the North and the South.

The major celebration of the centenary took place in Mexico City. I asked Br. Lorenzo what he thought was the most interesting part of the celebration. He said Mass in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe was very significant. After all, it was to this Basilica, 100 years ago, that the first Brothers came before opening their schools. There were about 5000 people who attended the Mass in the Basilica including the Superior General. Cardinal Norberto Rivera celebrated the Mass, his homily giving a fitting tribute to the Brothers and the struggles that they have undertaken for the poor.

Of course, the two festive meals for 800 people each were also a wonderful part of the celebration!

Congratulations to the Brothers of Mexico and their associates as they celebrate their 100 years of service.
^{(Br. Donald Johanson)}

Commitment Defined, Kuala Lumpur: In 1935, two young lads, one from Sarawak, Malaysia and the other from Canada separately took the vow of celibacy and poverty and dedicated their lives to educating the underprivileged youths. Today, 70 years later, they renewed their vows at a sunset mass held at the St. John’s Chapel, Kuala Lumpur before a congregation of friends, old pupils and associates. They are none others than the two most revered Brothers of the La Salle Order in Malaysia, Brother Lawrence Spitzig FSC and Brother Dr. Michael Jacques FSC. Both are well into their late eighties, retired but still actively pursuing their mission of touching young hearts.

Since retirement, Brother Dr. Michael Jacques has helped set up several Catholic educational organizations and the Malaysian Federation of Lasallian Associations; while Brother Lawrence actively pursues his current pet project of setting up a school to provide education to the children in the deep of the Sabah jungles.

By exemplary living, the two Brothers have defined the true meaning of “commitment” (to a cause) which is really life-long resoluteness that cannot be fulfilled by mere lip service, but only through sacrifices and untiring efforts to make good the cause one believes in.
^{(e-Lasallian Family Network)}

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