Brother Bernard

I was born and raised in Jakarta, Indonesia. I’m 24 and the younger of two brothers in my family. I came to the United States in 2000 to pursue my undergraduate and graduate studies in University at Buffalo, NY. My undergraduate major was in Business Administration and my Graduate major was in Geography. Although I was born a Catholic, I never thought about the Priesthood or Religious Life when I was growing up. That was until the last year of my graduate studies, where following a re-conversion moment I started to have a feeling for a vocation to the Priesthood and religious life. I did not know many priests that I could talk to back then, so I resorted to doing my own research and readings in my spare time. I would have to say that reading the lives of the Saints and other spiritual readings definitely inspired me to think more about the religious life. Daily Masses and Rosaries are also a central part of my discernment. During my endless readings of the Saints and their works I found St. Catherine of Siena. Her life and writings are very much startling, especially for someone who is new to the spiritual life like me. Seeing St. Catherine’s love for the Dominican friars is what first made me to take a look at the Order. My first exposure to the Dominicans was in the Monastery of Our Lady of the Rosary in Buffalo, NY. After speaking with the chaplain there and listening to the nuns pray Vespers, I was determined to look into the Dominican Order a bit more and I guess the rest is history. The “semi” monastic life, devotion to Our Lady, liturgy, prayer life, studies, and preaching are all intertwined in my attraction toward the Order; although I have to say that my devotions to the Blessed Mother and St. Catherine are the two major factors that got me here. During my discernment I thought about waiting for a couple of years while I gain working experience, but I decided that the wait is not worth the risk, thus I am entering straight from college. I do not have any preference on what kind of ministries that I will be doing. I stopped planning for my future about year ago when I realized that God always had different plans for me. As I start my vocation as a religious, personal holiness and openness to His will are the two things that I will focus my effort on. Although on the side, I very much like to do outdoor sports (hiking, canoeing, fishing, etc) and play soccer (or football as the rest of the world calls it).

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