Message from the Provincial My Dear Brothers, Friends, and family of Brother Walter, Greetings and blessings to all of you from Rome. My heart is heavy that I am not able to be with you to celebrate the life and the passing of our dear Brother Walt. I am in Rome at meetings of the Extended General Council and was unable to get a ticket to be home in time for the funeral there at St. Camillus. This former teacher of Spanish, I am sure, smiled that the Provincial heard his death notice read in Italian at our morning prayer here in Rome! I first met Walter when I was a senior in high school at St. James Catholic High School for Boys in Chester, PA. It was the Beach Boys—or should I say the absence of the Beach Boys—that brought Brother Walter to St. James in Chester. [Maybe that is a story that could be told by the older Brothers over lunch!] He was the Guidance Counselor for 1,950 boys at St. James. I remember my senior interview with him very distinctly. I had several scholarships to area schools. I said to him: “I think I want to be a Marianist Brother. I want to got to the novitiate when I graduate.” He said: “Good, that’s a real fine thing to do with your life.” That was the end of my guidance experience at St. James! Walter was a good man; deeply devoted to the development of the lay communities of our Marianist family. If you lived with him, you know that he had an opinion or two or three about everything that was going on. And when he was in charge of something, he got really nervous and a bit directive, shall we say. But he had a good and gentle heart. There was no guile about Walt; what you saw was what he was. He was deeply devoted to prayer and the spiritual life, but always had room in his day and his life for fun and play. I will miss terribly his warm smile. He was one of the few people in my life who always called me “Stevie.” He sometimes disagreed with my decisions, but always sent me these encouraging notes and e-mails. I knew in my heart that he was proud to be my brother; he was proud that the bulldogs of St. James had done me good, and that I had come to know and love the Society of Mary as he had. Thank you, Walter, on behalf of your Brothers, for your kindness and your simplicity and your care for us and for the lay communities. We will miss you. May God hold you in God,s embrace. Pray for us who remain behind! Thank you to all of you who gather today at St. Camillus to remember and honor this fine Marianist who was our friend and our brother. Stephen Glodek, SM |