As collaborators, we freely respond to the call to minister in a Xaverian Brothers Sponsored School. We commit ourselves to ongoing personal and communal formation that fosters the orientation of ourselves and of our students toward God. We live that orientation without privilege or entitlement, seeking to find God and to be formed by the “common, ordinary, unspectacular flow of everyday life.” Motivated by the lofty purpose proposed for the Congregation by the Founder, we give witness to the values passed on to us from the Brothers and that currently animate our school communities: the values of humility, trust, compassion, simplicity and zeal.
In collaboration with the Founder’s vision, we endeavor to “mutually help, encourage, and edify one another, and to work together.” We seek to develop school communities in which we foster the belief and attitude that we “were created by the God of love, in God’s image and according to God’s likeness, to be a unique expression of God’s love.” We believe that the profession of teaching “has an extraordinary moral depth” and it is one of humanity’s “most excellent and creative activities.” We believe that in our ministry we are called to educate the whole person – spirit, mind and body. In building upon the legacy of the Xaverian Brothers, we believe that our ministry calls us to form enduring personal relationships within and among our community.
As teachers, staff, administrators and trustees our ministry is one of reflective practice, striving to emulate the lives of both Martha and Mary. Like Mary in the presence of Jesus, we choose the “better part” by turning toward and falling in love with God. Like Martha, we are transformed by God’s love and are impelled to place ourselves in humble service to Jesus, through our service to others. We seek to create school cultures that foster contemplation in the midst of action. As ministers of education we are called to turn towards God and place ourselves in the service of God. We integrate prayer and contemplation with ongoing professional formation as we seek to form communities of learning, faith and service.
As Xaverian educators, we seek to establish inclusive communities of faith in our schools and we embrace the challenges and opportunities of dialog between cultures. We are called to live the teachings of Jesus Christ in communion with the Roman Catholic Church and we recognize our place is in solidarity and availability among the people.
As ministers in Xaverian education, we are called to be participants and stewards in the building up the Kingdom of God. Like Theodore Ryken, we believe that the best way to bring out the giftedness in an individual is through education, but we realize that education takes many forms. We believe that it is through our life of Gospel witness lived in community and through our call to seek justice that we respond to the Spirit’s summons “to manifest God’s care and compassionate love to the people of the world in these times.”
As heirs to the legacy of Xaverian education, we are committed to the Brothers’ tradition of fostering excellence. As individuals and communities, we seek to empower students to achieve beyond their expectations and “give the gift they have received as gift” to a world in need.
With the Congregation of the Xaverian Brothers, we seek to continue to “enter into an ever deeper sharing of faith and prayer” as we search “the needs of the times and the desires of God in their regard.” We affirm our commitment to “prayerfully reflect on the past, assess the present, and ponder the future with one another” as we respond to our call to minister in a Xaverian Brothers Sponsored School.