Apostles to Youth

This morning major distraction set in; I accomplished a lot, but FORGOT about a slice of Daily Bread, usually my top priority. I'm trying now, but think this might appear tomorrow, not today; hence two slices on the last day of January. We'll see.
One of our most practical Marist Publications is entitled, In the Footsteps of Marcellin Champagnat; it was the result of the pooling of educational and Marist experise and was copyrighted in 1998. It is still extremely relevant today and serves as a basis for reflections during Catholic Schools Week.
"Following Marcellin Champagnat we seek to be apostles to youth, evanglizing through our life and our presence among them as well as through our teaching: neither simply catechists, nor just teachers of secular subjects." Marcellin is quoted in the LIFE stating our mission very clearly: "If it were only a question of teaching the children secular subjects, the Brothes would not be necessary, because secular masters could do that; if our only aim were to give religious instruction,we could confine ourselves to being simply catechists, bringing children together for an hour each day and getting them to recite their Christian doctrine. But, we aim at something better; we want to educate the children, that is to instruct them in their duty, to teach them to practice it, to give them a Christian spirit and attidudes and to form them to religious habits and the virtues possessed by a good Christian and a good citizen." Thus, it is the aim of our Marist Education to educate "the whole person". Due to the diminishing number of brothers in our schools, it becomes imperative that our lay faculty imbibe this same mission and spirit in order to maintain the Marist Identity of our schools. We all need to work together, parents, alumni, and faculty to understand and accept this mission. All can help with their prayers.
Bro. Rene