Vocation of the Brother is not dead but times have changed

My friend, Bro. Joe Lockwood, has been sharing with me some concerns about the upcoming General Chapter of the Salesian Society (GC26), and pointed me in the direction of hte working documents for that chapter. He speaks of two articles that strock him particularly: §49 and §53.

The first passage says, among other things:

At the beginning and in the tradition of our charism it was Don Bosco's wish that the Congregation should be distinguished by the complimentary presence of consecrated Salesian priests and lay men. Therefore we are called to make visable through our life the primacy of God, demonstrating that Salesian communites are composed of consecrated persons, before priests and laymen.
[…]
Aware that the Congregation is putting its identity at risk if it loses its consecrated lay component, we are called to make the effort to re-discover the identity of the Salesian brother, to propose to young people his originality, to give him greater prominence and to provide him with a sound formation programme.

In the other paragraph, §53, there is the affirmation that young people are normally attracted to Salesian life rather than immediately to priesthood. Formation has a lot to do with their choice for one or other form of Salesian consecration.

Often young people want to become Salesians in order to follow Don Bosco, but they don't always ask themselves what sort of consecrated Salesian vocation they want to choose, that of the priest or that of the brother. In this a vital role is played by the way the Salesian brother is presented in the aspirantate, the prenovitiate and the novitiate.

A little lower in the same paragraph, there is this telling statement:

It is not always easy to present the Salesian brother in an effective manner; that makes it difficult for young people to identify with this vocation. The fundamental reason is the weakening of the identity and the visibility of consecrated life and a state of life, in our communities.

I've read attentively the two passages in questions, and really I do not see that there any question. Without the vocation of the "salesiano laico" (the brother), we cease to be the Salesian Society. The articles do not call into question either the vocation nor Don Bosco's will to offer such a role as vital to our life, consecration and mission. What is questioned is the limited vision of many provinces that have not understood and have not promoted the vocation.

Note also that it says that the majority of young people who join the Salesians do not have a strong feeling for priesthood or brotherhood. They simply want to become Salesians. Thus (the articles point out) it is vital to present this vocation to those in initial discernment.

In no place does the document suggest (much less conclude) that the brother's vocation is dead. The crisis arises in that few today understand the nature of consecrated life. They confuse priesthood with consecrated life… and priesthood is seen in terms of ministry and leadership, so assumed to be the summit of Christian life… notions that are very confused and mistaken, but indications of a cultural crisis as well as of a religious crisis.

We cannot take for granted, then, that young people will understand religious vocation. They may be opting for priesthood but not for religious life, even though they say they want to be Salesians. Much work must be done in the area of educating the Catholic community, young and old, as to the nature of baptismal consecration and personal calling. In doing this, we can once again bring the ideals of the Brother's vocation to light and encourage many more to follow Christ with Don Bosco in this way of life that leads to the love of God and the love of neighbor.

This is not dogma. Simply, my thoughts, on reading these articles