As a Holy Cross Brother for more than 50 years, Romard Barthel has served in many capacities, but in every undertaking he has listened deeply. That quiet attentiveness began in high school, when he listened to his heart and decided to become a Brother. It was not a snap decision.

“As I was firming up my intention to become a Brother in my senior year,” he recalls, “I was one of the first winners of the Science Talent Search. There were quite a few scholarship opportunities, and if I became a Brother I would have to turn them down. That weighed in the balance [of my decision] a bit.

“Another consideration was that I graduated from high school the year the United States got into World War II. My question—‘Should I join the military or become a Brother?’—was very agonizing. It was now or never, because if I didn’t become a Brother I would have had to go immediately to the military. My classmates never held that against me, though. They felt I chose the better way to serve the world.”

His decision made, Brother Romard made rapid progress as a Brother. He left Evansville, Indiana for the candidate program in Watertown, Wisconsin in September 1942, made his novitiate the following January, and took his first vows in February 1944. In spring 1947, when he graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a degree in physics and mathematics, he made his final vows as a Brother.

“Teaching was something I always wanted to do,” he says. “Saint Edward’s University wanted a physics teacher, so the Congregation sent me to the University of Texas at Austin to do graduate work in physics. I also taught one class at the university, which kept me sane while I studied for my doctorate!”
In 1951 Brother Romard received a Ph.D. in physics with a minor in mathematics and went to work at Saint Edward's. Today he teaches two sections of introductory physics.

“I’m particularly interested in the philosophy of science,” he says. “My main point, which I make in the intro course, is that science deals with models. People think we’re talking about the real thing—electrons are little hard balls, that kind of thing—and they get disturbed when the model changes, but that’s the nature of science. It’s a creative work, and you’re perfectly free, like any artist, to change your creative works if you can get a better fit. Science could not have a final knowledge of reality, and it’s very important for young scientists to understand that.”

He has been teaching “lots of successful students” for over 50 years, except for two other ministries: as Provincial of the South-West from 1968 to 1979, and as First Assistant General of the Congregation’s General Council in Rome from 1980 to 1986.

At the Council, he reminisces, “We planned for the future of the Congregation and how we should respond to various situations. As one of four assistants, I traveled all over the world to Holy Cross houses: Brazil, Chile, Peru, Panama, Bangladesh, Uganda, Liberia, and Ghana. That experience educated me about the work of Holy Cross around the world. I talked to every religious that was there and did a lot of listening. If they had problems, I’d make recommendations about how they might do better, or I’d carry the message back to the Superior General and take it up with the Council.”

“When I got back from Rome,” Brother Romard says, “I served for five to six years as the first director of our program for college students interested in living, praying, and working together as Holy Cross candidates. From the beginning of my being at Saint Edward’s, I’ve been involved with the formation of the young Brothers.”

“There are a few main decisions candidates need to make,” says Brother Romard. “First, they must choose to be a Brother or a priest. They need to decide whether they can take and like the community life, and the regular pattern of prayer it involves. They must prepare for their ministerial work. And finally, they must determine if they are generous in helping others and in sacrificing themselves for welfare of others.”

Formation prepares candidates spiritually for the religious life and academically for their ministerial work. After they become adjusted to living in community, the men spend their novitiate in prayer and learning what their vows mean. In the post-novitiate house, the focus is on professional ministerial preparation and the daily integration of the different aspects of religious life.

What would he tell young men who felt drawn to all of these experiences?

“I have enjoyed religious life so much,” he replies, “and I can’t imagine a more fulfilling lifestyle than the Brothers’. Reflect on what you want out of life and what you think God would like for you to do with your life—serving God and neighbor—and pray about it. Consider these various lifestyles you might choose, look around, visit houses, talk with people you respect.

“Then,” he says with a smile, “try to put it all together.”