"He Must Increase, I Must Decrease"

In today's Gospel, St. John the Baptist presents one of the basic principles of the spiritual life:  "He (Jesus) must increase, I must decrease." (Jn 3:30). The life of the recently Br. Francis Regis Nubeck demonstrated that this ideal can be achieved.  Always a humble, self-effacing man, his quiet life was a powerful model for all who seek to walk in the footsteps of Jesus and especially for Marists.  Br. Dan O'Riordan beautifully captured the spirit of Br. Francis Regis in his eulogy, which is quoted in part below.  In reading it, may we be motivated to do likewise.
Bro. Rene
E. Witcraft, once said “One hundred years from now, it won't matter what car I drove, what kind of house I lived in, how much I had in my bank account, nor what my clothes looked like, but the world may be a little better because I was important in the life of a child.” I think it is fair to say that it would be impossible to count the number of lives Brother Regis has been important to and has impacted, but I know that all of us who were lucky enough to have known him can certainly say that our worlds were more than a little better because of him.

The Marist Brothers’ constitutions identify three Marist virtues that should be the goal of every Marist Brother. They are simplicity, modesty and humility. Brother Regis lived each of these characteristics maybe as well as any Marist Brother ever has lived them. Another characteristic of being Marist is to “do good quietly.” For more than 46 years at Molloy, Regis did amazing things with great love for anyone that ever needed his help and he was most happy if no one ever knew about it. Many will remember him for his outstanding works as a Freshman Guidance councilor, or for his love and dedication to Peer Group, or his influence in helping to create the Smile Program and all he did to support it for so many years. For probably the first 30 of his years at Molloy, he was the one and only Freshman Councilor. That meant that he was responsible for seeing every single freshman that walked through the doors of Molloy. He didn’t take this job lightly and no one was ever over looked.
St. Marcellin Champagnat in regards to teaching young people once said to his early brothers “Remember that their lives will always be an echo of everything you’ve taught them.” The echo of Regis’ life is an incredible symphony. So how did he accomplish it and do it so well? I’d like to suggest 2 thoughts and one challenge. First, it was his love for people. Regis loved his family deeply and always stayed very connected to them even after he became a brother. He faithfully would visit his parents when they were alive and in later years his sister and nephew weekly without fail. He looked forward to being with them on al occasions bust especially on holidays and vacations. Regis loved his fellow Brothers and was incredibly proud and committed to living and building community among them, whether it was at prayer, meals, having a drink at 5:00pm, staying up all night to care for a sick Brother. He loved to celebrate special occasions. For many years, he helped always ensure parties at Bellport, especially the July 26th celebration would be not only enjoyed and remembered, but often the highlight of those summers.
Second, I believe he accomplished all he did because of his dedication to prayer and his faith and total trust in Jesus and our Good Mother who never failed him. Of all the things I could say about Regis, the fact that he was one of the most prayerful people I’ve ever witnessed is I believe the true secret to most of his success. He prayed constantly for so many of us and trusted our Good mother to give us the graces we needed in our lives. I have no doubt he will continue to do so for us
– Bro. Daniel O’Riordan, F.M.S.