Seventy years later, the two lifelong friends renewed their vocation vows first taken in 1953.
Left to right: Br. Robert “Bob” Schaefer, F.S.C., ’89; Br. Gerard “Gerry” Molyneaux, F.S.C., ’58, M.A. ’59, Ph.D.; Br. Joseph L. Scheiter, F.S.C., Ph.D.; and President Daniel J. Allen, Ph.D.
The Union Ballroom at La Salle University was filled with friends, family, alumni, current students, and Christian Brothers on Oct. 14 to celebrate the 70 years of commitment to their religious vocation for Brothers Joseph L. Scheiter, F.S.C., Ph.D., and Gerard “Gerry” Molyneaux, F.S.C., ’58, M.A. ’59, Ph.D.
“Back in 1953 neither of them could have imagined where God would lead them or the incredible changes they would encounter as they continued to respond to God’s call to the Christian Brothers,” Br. Robert “Bob” Schaefer, F.S.C., ’89, who currently serves as the Brother Visitor for The Brothers of the Christian Schools District of Eastern North America and on the La Salle board of trustees, recounted.
Br. Joe and Br. Gerry both found their calling in high school with the support of the Christian Brothers.
“When I was at La Salle College High School, a Brother came around to our religion class and talked about vocations,” Br. Joe recalled. “He asked what were our plans for the future? And then about a week later, Br. Francis McLean, F.S.C., who was the principal, talked to me about joining the Brothers.”
It peaked Br. Joe’s interest. After graduation, and once he received permission from his shocked parents thanks to a meeting with Br. Edwin Anselm, F.S.C., he went down to Maryland and the Ammendale Normal Institute to begin his journey.
Br. Joe, who in high school had an interest in being an electrical engineer, would spend his career crisscrossing the Pacific Ocean to teach science and computer courses in the Philippines and in the United States.
For Br. Gerry, his path began under the guidance of two Brothers at West Catholic High School who he admired for the way that they took him and his classmates seriously and treated them with respect.
“We were not brilliant students,” Br. Gerry said. “We arrived as messy teenagers, but they listened.”
It is with this foundation that Br. Gerry would find his way to the classroom at La Salle in 1973, where he has continued to teach and support his students for the more than 50 years and counting. Today, he serves as an internship coordinator within the communications department and moderates the Sigma Phi Lambda fraternity.
“The Priest (Fr. John T. Maher, CM, Congregation of the Mission of the Eastern Province) who gave the homily asked me ‘what keeps me coming back? What’s your thread?'” Br. Gerry said. “The thread is that every fall here come the students, and I feel a big surge of energy when they show up because they’re ready to learn, and I’m ready to teach and get to know them and respect them.”
After Br. Gerry and Br. Joe renewed their vows at Mass, the jubilee celebration was marked by music from a student jazz trio from La Salle College High School and with a spirited singing of “Honneur a Toi,” the hymn honoring St. John Baptist de La Salle.
“(Brs. Gerry and Joe) have navigated the waves of incredible change over the last 70 years but never lost sight of the core of their vocation–to accompany young people along their journey, to stretch their thinking and to point them in a direction that leads to a meaningful and fulfilled life, now and in eternity,” Br. Bob summarized.
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