Going My Way

The title of Bing Crosby's famous movie, Going My Way, comes to mind as I prepare to leave for five weeks in Burundi and Rwanda, the next chapter in an adventure that began in late September 1995.  Little did I know when boarded that plane for the "unknown" what blessings would come my way.  Now I will have a chance to see and taste the fruits of my love and labor since that YES of 17 years ago.  I had had no intention of responding to the then Provincial Bro. Benito's request for volunteers to help the brothers in Rwanda after the Genocide.  But God had in mind a plan that took me out of "my way" into HIS way.  And I've been counting the immeasurable blessings since.
The invitation, the question, "Will you be going my way today, or yours?" is asked of all of us as we begin each day. May we respond with the same trust and generosity that Mary had and find treasures untold.  If I can offer any advice, based on my experience, it is this:  God's way leads to a new experience of him in people, places and opportunities we could never imagine or dream up ourselves.  We learn more about him, others and ourselves as well.  We think we're giving up something (our way), but we gain much, much more, by going His way. So, the advice is:  Choose God's way!
Bro. Rene
For sure there will be no slice of bread for the next few days...the trip takes till the 28th, and I'm not sure for the next five weeks whether or not  I'll have access to a computer.  But I will be filling up the loaves with new experiences to share when I return on July 24th.

The Church Needs Us

Our three-day Chapter ended on a high note yesterday with the installation of Br. Ben Consigli and his new council which now includes two new members, Br. Dan O'Riordan and Br. Al Rivera along with the five who served under Br. Ben's first term.  But on an even higher note, Fr. Michael Crosby, OFM,Cap., who served as facilitator and led some stirring discussions on our brotherhood, left us with a huge challenge to help a Church, which is suffering on several levels.  He quoted Blessed Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, who have both said that the Church will be healed and get back on track only when it returns its focus on making Jesus known and loved.  He looked at us and said, "Isn't this an obvious cue for a congregation whose very mission is "to make Jesus known and loved"?    What an instrument we can be in helping the Church get "back on track" if we pump up our efforts to put our mission at the forefront of all we do, in our schools, in our daily contacts with others.  And this is not just for the Marists in vows, but for all Marists...for all who partake of this daily slice of bread.  Yes, indeed, the Church needs, us, as it did when Fr. Champagnat first used this mission to counteract the French Revolution.  We are in a similar period in history.  Our mission is effective and necessary.  Let us go at it with confidence and with a vengeance!
Bro. Rene

Poverty and Purity of Heart

We remember St. Aloysius Gonzaga today, a young man noted for his simplicity and purity of heart.  His love of God was so great that it totally absorbed his focus and energy, so it was not surprising that he entered the Society of Jesus as a young man, and died at the age of 24 while ministering to those stricken by the Plague.  Nothing could blur his vision of Christ in others so he was able to put personal needs and desires behind him in order to serve those in need.  This purity of heart is akin to "poverty of spirit" which Jesus encourages us to embrace:  "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God." (Mt 5: 3 )
Our Marist Constitutions urge all of us to see the value in such poverty:  "As we follow this road to poverty, wwe find ourselves becoming more and more caring about others, more and more open to God's wonders.  Our simple lifestyle, our constant self-giving, reveal he face of a poor and servant Church, and make us witnesses to the joy which has been promised to the poor in Spirit." (Constitutions, Article 35). In these days when the Church is under such criticism for its failures, if we take up the notion of "a poor and servant Church" and live it in our daily lives, we will help the entire Church rediscover its identity and mission."
Bro. Rene
I will be attending the provincial chapter in Morristown, NJ till Sunday evening, so I will not have access to a computer, I don't think, and thus will not be able to provide a daily slice of bread till Monday.  Please pray for Bro. Ben Consigli and the new provincial council which will be elected and installed at this chapter.  Thank you.

For Greater Glory

A magnificent film, For Greater Glory, though being vastly ignored in the Northeast, appeared in theaters just a few weeks ago, but might not be available much longer.  It is unfortunate that this never before told story of a "religious war" in Mexico from 1924-1929 is being missed.  The courage and valor of people who were willing to die for their faith, not unlike the martyrs of the Roman Empire, is not only moving, but also inspiring.  No expense was spared in the production of the film, from a star-studded case, to James Horner's uplifting score, the accurate costuming and set design, an exceptional cinamtography.  With this formula, it should be a blockbuster, and perhaps it is in the Latino communities of the Southwest and California, but it seems that millions of dollars will be lost, and so will the opportunity for a good dose of what it takes to live the Christian Life not only when secular society undermines it, but a government forbids and persecutes it.  90,000 people died in this little-known war, and it did succeed in restoring at least tolerance to the practice of the Catholic faith.  Several of the main players have been beatified and canonized for giving their lives for Cristo Rey. The screenplay deals frankly with questions such as "What kind of God can let this happen?"  "Does God really care?" "How does one come to believe?"  If you can't find the movie in time to see it, you will find a taste of it at http://www.forgreaterglory.com/ .  I saw the film yesterday, am GLAD I did (can't stop thinking about it) and shout from this electronic treetop:  GO SEE IT!
Bro. Rene

Patiently Moving Ahead

It is encouraging to note that the Marist Brothers have been working in Cuba since 2001 about 40 years after having been invited to leave the country by Fidel Castro. May of us recall welcoming the younger brothers to Marist College where they studied English and did their best to continue their education.  Although the brothers do not operate schools, they have managed to continue the mission of making Jesus known and loved on a more informal basis, but working with youth groups and by simply being a "presence."  There are actually two communities totalling about 20 with a mixture of ages ranging from the 30's to the 60's.  With Raoul Castro's less hostile attitude toward the Catholic Church, progress is being made, albeit slowly.
The brothers in Australia have given a name to their new province, The Province of Australia, which replaces the provinces of Sidney, Melbourne.  New Zealand and the islands of Fiji and Papua New Guinea are districts of this province, which covers a huge geographic area.  Again, patient progress is taking place.
So, it is not only in our own personal lives that progress inches along, but also in the bigger picture.  A lesson in the necessity of patience and trust:  as slow as things move, they are moving!
Bro. Rene

A Simple Answer

As we continue to honor our Jubilarians, a story which homilist, Br. Bill O'Donnell told, might provide a simple answer for us as well.  We all listened in amazement to the years, places, and good works that testified to the fidelity of these honored brothers, but this question was in the minds of many, "How did (do) you do it?"  A similar question was asked at a function Fr. O'Donnell once attended of a woman who had held the same job for 45 years. He told us that her answer was, after a little hesitation,"  Well, I just get out of bed every morning."  Yes, one day at a time, up and at it.  These "mornings" add up and before we know it, we have 25, 45, 50, 60 years under our belts.  Nothing spectacular, just day to day attention to our life's work, our life's calling.  As we begin this day, may we approach it as a gift, a first, and possibly a last.
Bro. Rene

Planting Seeds

The tiny mustard seed grows into a large bush in which the birds can find a home. Over the weekend at "Camp Champagnat", seeds of Marist Leadership were planted in the hearts of 57 Central Catholic students who were guided in this process by 17 other students who had devised a clever way of embedding the Marist benchmark qualities of determination, teamwork, courage, inspiration and servant leadership into the hearts of these eager campers.  This was done while the Church celebrated the Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus on Friday, and the Immaculate Heart of Mary on Saturday, reminding us that their LOVE is what waters and nourishes these seeds.
Today, we honor fathers on Fathers' Day, acknowledging the powerful role of guardians, protectors, providers, and with their spouses, the sowers of the seeds of love and the qualities of leadership mentioned above.  A time is set aside to show gratitude and to give them encouragement as the task of cultivating these seeds grows more and more difficult in today's world.
Finally, the Marist Province of the United States of America celebrates the anniversaries of three diamond, nine golden and three silver jubilarians for a total of 680 years of living out the seed of their vocations by planting the love and knowledge of Jesus into the hearts of their students and all with whom they have come into contact over those years.
All of us at Baptism received the seed of faith and the grace needed to water and nourish it until it bears fruit and grows to the point where it can give shelter and even a home to others. May we take the time to water it, till and weed around it until it reaches the stature and bears the fruit God intended.
Bro. Rene

A Symbol of Ourselves

People in general, but especially Catholics, love symbols.  We wear medals, our churches are replete with statues, our homes and classrooms display crucifixes, we attach religious symbols, such as the fish (Ichthus) to our cars, our liturgies thrive on symbols.  Not to be outdone, our nation proudly displays and honors our most popular symbol, our flag.  June 14th, since 1949, has been our National Flag Day. A long history, beginning with a teacher in Wisconsin in the 1880's, went before this proclamation by President Harry Truman. Part of that history includes this poetic description by Franklin K. Lane, Secretary of the Interior, given in a speech in 1914: "I am what you make me; nothing more. I swing before your eyes as a bright gleam of color, a symbol of yourself."  We most often think of the Flag as the symbol of our country, but Mr. Lane reminds us that our country is US!   We are encouraged to be comfortable with ourselves, to love ourselves, if we are going to be effective with others, if we are going to love them.  Loving ourselves means loving our flag, loving our country. We love our medals, our signs of the cross, our statues, for they are symbols of the saints, Jesus, our models in faith.  May we grow in our  love for our flag, ourselves, one another, our country.
Bro. Rene
I will be attending Camp Champagnat on Lake Ossipee for the next two days, so there will be no slice of Daily Bread until Sunday.

Soaking In Like The Rain

We read this prayer in Deuternonmy, so appropriate for this rainy morning:  "May my instruction soak in like the rain,/ and my discourse permeate like the dew,/ like a downpour upon the grass,/ like a shower upon the crops." Deut 32: 2)  If you have been working in the garden these past few days, you've noticed how dry the soil is.  This rain is much needed.  If soil can dry out so quickly, how about our souls?  The need for daily "watering" via prayer, reflection on the Word of God, Mass, service to others  is apparent, especially if we find ourselves lacking that "zip" in what we do, looking or feeling tired and disinterested, simply moving by rote. 
We remember St. Anthony of Padua today, so popular among American Italians, and all who have lost something.  Yet it took a lot of soaking for him to realize his true place in this world, once a monk, then a Franciscan Friar, a would-be preacher to the Saracens and seeker of a martyr's crown.  No, he ended up a teacher and preacher, and a good one at that.  The secret is to allow what we are doing, hearing, etc. to penetrate like the soaking rain.
Bro. Rene
This might not be published on Wednesday...a phone call and visitor interrupted my attempt to complete this before nine am.  Whatever...

A Continent of Contrasts

Africa has for generations posed as an engima to the Western World.  Its 56 countries are lumped together as in "How are things in Africa?", a question I am often asked, since I lived for four years in Rwanda, ONE of those 56 countries.  I answer by telling people I can only speak for Rwanda, and that my knowledge needs updating, since my last trip there was five years ago, and I can't really believe what I read in the press.  I have to see it myself, which I will be doing in a few weeks..
However, one of my friends sent me two contrasting articles which might give some insight into "how things are in Africa."  One article tells of an orphanage called Agahozo Shalom (tears are dried with peace) about 30 miles from Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, where 500 orphans live in "families" of 16 with house parents and a "big brother" and "big sister"....very important in Rwanda culture.  Already "graduates" from this orphanage, having completed their secondary education, are pursuing further studies with high ambitions to become doctors or engineers.  This little story is a testimony to the generosity of people around the world who have stepped up to help Rwanda's rebirth and to the resliency of the people, who did not let the mega-tragedy of the Genocide break their spirit.
The other story, on the contrary, is about starvation in Senegal.  Yes, climate can be blamed,  but warnings and alarms about this disaster have not been heeded, and 20,000 children are in danger of dying of starvation. 
So that is a glimpse of "Africa"...one country's success story undercut by tragedy in another.  Our Lady of Africa, bless your people.  Amen.
Bro. Rene

Living the "In-Between"

No doubt all of us experience almost never being able to finish a job we set out to do: a lawn to cut, a garden to plant of weed, a table to clean off,  an article to read, a letter to write.  Something always comes in between, interrupts us and prolongs what should not have been a long job. .  We say "I'll finish that later, but "later" takes weeks to arrive, if ever.  Then we look at ourselves, so "in-between"are we!  "For I do not do the good I want, but d the evil I do not want." (Rom 7: 19).  The law of "in-between" finds us always straining to finish the task of doing the good, but slipping into the bad, over and over again. It can be discouraging unless we remember that God is more than patient with us.  His compassion sends the sun to shine on us day after day despite our inability to "stick to our program."  How often do we keep coming back to children with compassion as they try to walk, hit a ball,  learn to dribble and shoot, or make bad choices along the way? We realize that they are just growing and learning, and that it takes TIME to master even the obvious.  So too with us...God, as the adage goes, "is not finished with us."  He's at ease with the "in-between" and that should bring us the peace that will enable us to finish the job in HIS good time.
Bro. Rene

Corpus Christi

Corpus Christi is much more than the name of a large city in Texas, it is the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ which is celebrated around the world with varying degrees of reverent and loving expression. A feast dating from the 1200's, it is an opportunity to adore Christ present under the appearance of bread and wine, and to celebrate this priceless, ineffable gift which continues the presence of Christ in such a tangible way. We receive him into our own bodies and his body mingles with ours as we become one with his.  In the liturgy of the Holy Eucharist, we have access to the meal which Jesus shared with the Twelve and which he commanded them to repeat in memory of him, and to the sacrifice of his body on Calvary for the atonement of our sins.  Our busy lives detract from our full appreciation of this gift as we through rote sit, stand, barely listen and run through our list of things to do and places to go after the Mass.  But today we pause to make a special effort to recall what a treasure we have and to show our joy and appreciation for it.  In Rwanda the drums start reverberating through the forest at 5 am, calling people to worship and continue madly outside the church during the consecration.  A procession along a path decorated with sand and grass drawings of Eucharistic symbols such as the chalice, host, lamb, etc. with hymns being sung and younger children climbing trees to witness everything concludes with Benediction.  Festivity and exuberance make the celebration memorable and endkindle faith. We cannot be in Rwanda today, but in our hearts we might express our own appreciation for the Eucharist and talk about it with our families and friends.  It might help to put the Celtics' loss in perspective!
Bro. Rene

Leader and Goal

Living a sincere and vibrant spiritual life is like running the high hurdles.  We strain every spiritual muscle to mount the hurdles which are essential to the course.  If we trip, lose our balance, or even fall, we don't just lay on the track, but get up and keep running till we cross the finish line. What might seem impossible is possible because our Leader and our Goal is right beside us, urging us on, inspiring us, and even sharing his strength with us.  Without him we just might give up and succumb to the challenges the hurdles pose.  Knowing that we are running the race with him and that he is the prize at the end, nothing can stop us.  A beautfiul day awaits us, let us run the race with all our heart, strength and soul, and with our Leader and Goal.
Bro. Rene

Remaining Faithful

The Academic Year at Central Catholic comes to an end today and we send our students off to a summer of growth, work, rest, relaxation and preparation for the next  scholastic year.  Graduates of 2008, who have recently completed their college degrees have been stopping by, all of us incredulous that they are now moving ahead into the work force or to higher education.  We step back and ponder the goodness we see blooming in these young people...how they remain faithful to what they are learning or have learned here, how they have remained faithful to who they are, and how they are bringing their gifts to others.  There is no better means of encouragment for us to remain faithful to our mission than to see the fruits of our labors.  What a happy way to end the year and to use the next few months to rest as well as gear up for another go at our mission.  We are grateful for the opportunity to be the instruments in making Jesus known and loved by our students, and especially those most neglected.  We are grateful especially to all who are making it possible to reach out to this segment of our population and give them the same opportunities that others can afford.  We are grateful to those whose prayers and support stand beside us. It is humbling to realize that we are all remaining faithful to the vision of St. Marcellin. May God bless us, everyone!
Bro. Rene

The Word of God Unchained

With chains and shackles on his legs, St. Paul wrote to Timothy to keep spreading the Word, which cannot be chained.  So, through the centuries, the "unchained Word" has been spoke from generation to generation, sometimes with great efficacy and success, and at others, apparently ineffectively and unsuccessfully.  St. Marcellin took up the challenge to rectify the effects of the French Revolution and to bring the Word to a generation of unchurched and sorely uneducated youth and today's Marists keep chipping away at the effects materialism, indifference, and weak leadership have had on today's Catholics.
It's a slow, undramatic process; no bulldozers, just hand chisles, yet progress is being made.
Last night at St. Matthew's in Windham, NH, Bishop Peter A. Libasci of Manchester, confirmed 49 teenagers who received the sacrament with reverence and understanding of their commitment.  Confirmations abound in parishes around the country, a sign of hope for the future.  We prayed that these newly confirmed would use the gifts the Holy Spirit brings to them to make a better world.  Let us also pray that the fire enkindled in their hearts might grow in intensity and enable them to grow in their faith and  to bring others to a deeper appreciation of and more faithful practice of their faith.
Bro. Rene

Standing in for Champagnat

On this anniversary of the Death of St. Marcellin Champagnat in 1840, these thoughts from a circular letter written by Br. Charles Howard in 1989 still provide food for reflection.  Interestingly enough on this date in 1948, four brothers, Joe Teston, Peter Leonard, Herbert Daniel and Maurice James, arrived in the Phillipines to begin our mission there and carry out what we find below.

“I AM A CHAMPAGNAT”. This may sound cute...but for us Marists, it touches a profound truth. Each of us is a Champagnat, and we endeavor to bring to young people what Champagnat did: respect, encouragement, love, Christian truth, education in all its forms, and a concern about all facets of their lives In other words, we try to be BROTHERS for them.


--We are Champagnats for our own Brothers, with our concern, our encouragement, our support, our prayers, our love.

--We are Champagnats for a Church which is struggling to serve humankind. We follow Champagnat with his great love of the Church: the pilgrim people, the body of Christ.

--We are Champagnats for young people in need, for those in search of values, for those in search of credible witnesses to Christianity.

--We are Champagnats for young people in need of brothers, someone to listen to them, to encourage them, to love them.

--We are Champagnats for the poor, the dispossessed, the marginalized: we are Brothers for those most in need.

--We are Champagnats for those who do not know Mary, who do not understand her love for them, her presence to them."
Bro. Rene

Fulfilling Our Ministry

St. Paul wisely counseled his young protege bishop, Timothy, with advice that has served bishops, teachers, and anyone seriously committed to follow Jesus:  "I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingly power:  proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient of inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching.  Be self-possessed in all circumstances; put up with hardships; perform the work of an evangelist; fulfill your ministry." (2 Tim 4: 1-2,5).  How aptly this describes not only our mission, but the actual circumstnaces in which we often find ourselves.  When things are not going our way, when our words seem to fall on deaf ears, when our energy is low through fatigue or discouragement, when we'd rather just succumb to our feelings and try to escape our mission, BAM, St. Paul's words hit home.  He lived this advice and evidently so did Timothy, and millions of others, sung and unsung.  May we resolve to join them, knowing that God will give us strength for every step of the way.
Bro. Rene

The Holy Eucharist

On this day in 1840, Father Champagnat received the Holy Eucharist for the last time, as his illness progressed.  In two days he would be dead.  He loved the Eucharist and even when so ill, received it as often as he could.  With the Solmenity of the Body and Blood of Jesus coming up next Sunday, this might be a good week to reflect on what the Eucharist means to us.  Is it the highlight of our Sunday, or of our day?
How well do we prepare for it?  how do we express our gratitude for it?  How do we live it in being "bread for one another"?  CCHS students love to sing the communion hymn written by Dana for the Denver World Youth Day in  1993:  We are one Body, which reminds us not only of a chance for intimate union with Jesus, but with the entire Body of Christ around the world.  "We do not stand alone."  And so the victims of the plane crash in Lagos, or the deaths of the Brunswick High School seniors killed in a car crash just north of Cincinnati just before their graduation, are our loss as well.  The pain and joy that is part of the human family come together in the Eucharist, in the Body of Christ given for many.  May we come to a deeper appreciation of what it means to partake of the most excellent gift.
Bro. Rene

The Holy Trinity

Trinity Sunday.  The word, Trinity, sometimes can be foreboding and complicated, but it simply is a shorter word for Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  We use that combination each time we make the sign of the cross or pray the "Glory Be"; it is part of the baptismal formula and the subject of many of our favorite hymns.  The complication comes in tying to explain how three distinct persons can be ONE God.  It's beyond our human comprehension, but what we can try to do is to understand how God the Father is part of our lives, keeping us in his thoughts and thus keeping us alive.  If we slipped out of his mind for even a second, we'd be annihilated.  Jesus, Son of the Father, our Savior and our brother through baptism when we are made sons of God, lives in us and makes us holy through the Holy Spirit, his Spirit whose presence also came us in baptism.  Thus, our lives are totally immersed in the Holy Trinity despite the little attention we pay to the Three in One.  In contemplating, simply sitting in the Presence of the Holy Trinity, and in our acts of patience, gentleness, charity, joy and peace we can make God more present to ourselves and to others. That's what the Sabbath is for.  We can see God and ourselves in a new light, and sing with Louis Armstrong, "What a Wonderful World" with new meaning.
Bro. Rene

The Month of the Sacred Heart

At the half-way mark of the year (already!!!) June is fittingly dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  We have just completed the Easter Season and now during Ordinary Time, we travel with Jesus during his public life, listen to his teachings, and take time just to BE with him.  The image of the Sacred Heart underscores the great love Jesus has for each of us and tries to share with us.  The flame eminating from his exposed heart is as direct as one can get in trying to express a deep love.  Surrounding the heart is a crown of thorns reminding us of how Jesus' love endured excruciating pain to fully express itself and bring about our salvation through his death and resurrection.  A noted speaker, Fr. Martin Lucia, also notes that it is a sign of the pain that Jesus continues to endure as a result of our indifference to his proffers of love:  his presence in the Eucharist at Mass and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.  We are always too busy to spend some time with this Friend, this Friend of Friends...yet he continues to long and thirst for a few moments of our attention.  Most likely we cannot be popping into a Blessed Sacrament Chapel or even a church (almost always locked), but we can "adore" by recalling his love, offering ours, and just by saying a thank you frequently during the day.  His love knows no bounds, but it is ours that needs to expand.  The exuberance of popular Rogers and Hammerstein song, "June Is Bustin' Out All Over" might lead us to a slight modification:  "Love Is Bustin" Out All Over"...Jesus love for us and ours for him.
Bro. Rene
I will be on a mini-retreat with some faculty members tonight and tomorrow and will not be able to provide a slice of bread until Sunday.