For Brotherhood of Hope brother calling is ‘greatest joy of my life’

Have you ever experienced a song so beautiful that you didn’t want it to end? Or a sunset that seemed to speak right to your heart, tapping into a deep longing that made you feel like it was made just for you? Words are incomplete but these are the closest images I can give for my encounter with Jesus. 

I was 14 years old, one of 3,000 high-schoolers at a Steubenville youth conference, but as the priest processed out with Jesus in the Eucharist, I felt as if I was the only one in that crowded stadium. I felt God stirring deep within my heart and it made me want to respond with my whole life. I didn’t know what it all meant but I became overjoyed at the thought that God had a plan for my life! 

I remember getting back home and having a conversation with my dad in the car: “Dad, I think God might be calling me to be a priest.” That's probably not the best way to 'break the ice' for a vocational conversation – and I think the skid marks on the road are still there to prove it! Thankfully, I have been blessed by a very encouraging family who have always supported me in God’s call for my life. This call to give my life to God would be tested and doubted during my years of high school, but it never went away.

As I attended college at Florida State (FSU), I became very involved in the campus ministry, my life of faith deepened, and I began to experience a desire for prayer and community life. I realized that God was calling me to leave behind a boring life of relying on myself and worrying about what my future would be. Instead, I experienced that the more I prayed, the less I worried and the more I felt joy in His plan for my life. 

He was teaching me that I could trust in Him! It seems so simple, but this humble life of prayer was really the thing that opened me up to say “yes!” to Him. From there it was simply taking the steps He showed me in His time and in His way. 

During my college years I got to know a solid community of Brothers who served the campus ministry at FSU: the Brotherhood of Hope. During the summer of my freshmen year, I lived with them along with a group of other college men. I can remember leaving their house after that summer and thinking, “There’s no way I could live this!” I was so struck by their authenticity and the way they lived their lives wholeheartedly, but I didn’t think I could do it. 

These, however, were my thoughts – and God’s plan for my life was bigger than any of my fears. The more time I spent with the Brothers and prayed with them, I began to experience something very deep in my heart. It was as if the same melody of the beautiful song I heard in my encounter with Jesus was being played again. 

I knew so deeply in my heart that this was the place He was calling me to. I began to see that Jesus had an invitation for me and that He wanted to satisfy the deepest needs of my heart. The questions and the fears that I had were steadily overcome by a much deeper knowledge of Jesus’ personal invitation and love for my life.

As a Brother in the Brotherhood of Hope I have been called to live a life fully given over to Jesus through vows of chastity, poverty and obedience. We Brothers live as men consecrated for prophetic union. This union is firstly with the Lord and is a prophetic sign to the whole world that Heaven is real and that Jesus has prepared a place in His Father’s house for you and I!

This union is also a prophetic sign to the world through the living out of relationships, our communal life and mission. The deep bonds of Brotherhood that we Brothers share in our communal life overflow into our mission to the spiritually poor, those who do not yet know the Lord. 

It is a great gift that God has called me to serve the students at Rutgers University as Director of the Catholic Center. I am so blessed that they have become such a part of my heart.

The life of a Brother is a great treasure, knowing that He has called me to be totally His. It’s a summons to hold nothing back from Him, and to give everything to the One who gave everything for me. I consider it the greatest joy of my life. 

Brother Parker Jordan serves as director of The Catholic Center at Rutgers University, New Brunswick.