The following story first appeared in the Autumn 1999 issue of Glenmary Challenge.  
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Brother Joe Steen
A Glenmary Vocation Story
By Karen Hurley

Brother Joe Steen tutors a child in rural Mississippi.

What prompted Joe Steen, a 23-year-old carpenter, to choose the Glenmary brotherhood in 1968? “The simple answer,” he says, “is God!”

Growing up in Chicago, Joe remembers wanting to be a carpenter from the time he was five. And in high school, he saved money for a saw rather than for a car. “I still have that $350 saw,” he adds. After high school he served a four-year apprenticeship in the carpenters’ union.

“I picked up from my family and community that faith is important,” he says. The idealism of the 1960s reinforced his own attraction to service as the goal of his life.

“I didn’t have any great desire to make money or be a success,” he recalls. “I just wanted to put the two together—carpentry and service.”

His first thought was to join the Peace Corps, but he flunked the physical! And since the same physical was used by the Army, he was also ineligible for military service in Vietnam.

After Joe’s local parish priest told him about Glenmary, he went on a week-long mission trip in 1968 with Brother Bob Hoffman, also a carpenter. He entered Glenmary a short time later at age 23.

“I never even looked into another community,” he admits. “I just had a deep sense in my heart that God wanted me to be a Glenmary Brother.” And this conviction has never left him in the 31 years since.

The year Joe Steen entered Glenmary was a time of great upheaval. The Church was struggling to adjust to the  changes of Vatican II and American society was tearing itself apart over U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia. But Joe doesn’t remember being troubled by the turmoils of that time—or by the fact that many people were leaving religious life just as he was joining. He only remembers his entry into Glenmary as “a blessing.”

By the time Joe Steen entered Glenmary, the General Chapter of 1965 had forever changed the role of Brothers from that of second-class citizens whose main role was to help the priests to that of first-class missionaries charged with developing their own style of ministry. Along with this came a new emphasis on Brothers completing college—which he did in 1981. He received a bachelor’s in American studies from St. Louis University.

Over the years Brother Joe has put his love for carpentry to the service of others in many ways. On a Brother’s Building Crew (1975-80), he constructed churches, rectories and parish halls throughout Glenmary mission areas. While involved with vocation and formation work (1980-90), he spent many summers and Christmases at the Glenmary Farm in Vanceburg, Kentucky, working with volunteers to repair and build houses for low-income families. And from 1990 to 1996, he was assigned to Vanceburg where he worked with People’s Self-Help Housing—a not-for-profit development corporation started by Glenmary to make affordable housing available in one of Kentucky’s poorest counties.

Brother Joe moved to Mississippi in 1996 where he now serves as Parish Brother at both St. Francis and St. Christopher. Besides his work with the evangelization committee, teaching in RCIA and sacramental preparation, tutoring kids and leading a scout troop, he spends a lion’s share of his time working with Habitat for Humanity. He is helping two Habitat organizations grow strong while he also helps with the actual building of new homes.

Over the years Brother Joe’s unique style of being missionary rests on this basic insight: Catholicism is about serving both body and soul. He describes his current work with Habitat as a form of evangelization—”a way to gently bring Catholic teaching to the people of these counties….This is a way to show that our faith is service-oriented and we care about all the people of the county.”

What has kept Joe Steen in Glenmary over the years?

“Where else would I go?” he laughs. “This is where I am happy.”

“It’s good work,” he continues. “I meet interesting people, have great friends. Of course there are difficult times,” he adds, “but no more difficult than any place else.”

He admits to being perplexed why more people don’t join Glenmary. “It’s such a good life,” he says. “So hopeful, so enjoyable.”

He doesn’t understand the fear and reluctance that keeps many from giving religious life a try. “You meet so many good people,” he says.

What does he think might be the hardest “sell” about Glenmary in particular and religious life in general?

“Celibacy and community,” he quickly answers. “Celibacy is just a discipline (a “rule”) for the priesthood,” he says. “It could be changed. But it is essential to the life of a Brother. A married Brother, like a married Sister, is a contradiction in terms. Celibacy is part of the very lifestyle we lead.”

Celibacy is so contrary to our culture, he says, “It’s hard for people to see it as positive and growthful.” But, he emphasizes, “I know celibacy has been positive for me.”

So has the experience of community. But Joe is quick to point out that “real community challenges you. It is not a substitute for security.”

And it, like celibacy, also goes against the grain of our culture and its emphasis on individualism. “But you really become more of who you are by being in community,” he insists. “Community is about relationship, about continuing to open yourself to God and to others.”

Does he have any answers  to the vocation crisis? “We need to show people more happy religious.” Joe Steen is a good place to start looking.

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