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
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment