I. Charism - La Salle.org

IV. DISCOVERING, LIVING, SHARING THE GIFT OF GOD 105
were persons who were seeking holiness, not by the practice of the
vows of religion turned in on themselves, but in an educational
service turned towards the society of their time. They were persons
who turned their profession of educator into a ministry, a place for
meeting God and finally a path towards sanctity, by procuring salvation
for children and young people.
Association was born in the community and starting out from the
experience of that community, but also in order to make the community
solid and strong, both internally and externally. It was born
to give root to the community and to direct its internal links in a
radical manner towards the mission. The gesture of consecration
shows that God is the foundation of the community and that the
work of education is the Work of God. It was born to make universal,
in space and time, this experience of a community for the
education of the poor. Association is the guarantee that the community
will continue beyond its concrete existence in a given place
and at a given moment.
The Community of the Christian Schools was formed above all,
not as a work team, but as a communion of persons who felt
themselves called by Jesus Christ and sent to represent Him.
Lasallian Association does not rely in the first place on efficient
organisation but rather on the interpersonal relations of those who
know themselves to be called, and who have been sent to carry out
the same mission, to carry out the work of God. Evangelical perfection
is to be sought in a community and with it. It is shared
between persons who have mutual confidence in each other, just as
they have confidence in God.
It is God who, through Jesus Christ, consecrates us for the Mission.
This is what is said by the formulae of vows quoted above. It is also
what the present-day formula of vows continues to say. John Baptist
de La Salle and the Brothers experienced the power of the