Go In Haste

The Second General Chapter of 1852 convened on this day, 160 years ago, and gave us a Constitution and  Common Rules which set the tone for the Marist Brothers of the Schools for almost 100 years.  The 21st General Chapter of 2009 was of a much more pastoral nature, it's theme being "New Hearts for a New World.  So much has changed over these past 160 years, that a new approach was deemed necessary.  The model and motto eminating from the Chapter and encased in its final document was the phrase:  "Go in haste to a new land."  It springs from the description of Mary's hasty journey to be with her cousin Elizabeth, whom the angel Gabriel had announced was in her six month, "for nothing is impossible with God." (Lk 1: 37)  Mary went to BE with Elizabeth and to bring the child within her, the Messiah, to her.  She came to bring her joy to her and to share in Elizabeth's joy whose stigma of being barren had been lifted.  She also came to be of whatever help she could be.  The power of her presence, coming from the child within her and service to those in need stand out as templates for Marist presence and mission:  It again comes down to bringing Jesus to others and the joy that entails, and of assisting those most in need, the most neglected, or "the least favored" in humble, joyful service.  Applying this model in our concrete work and interaction remains the goal and purpose of each Marist day.  May we follow Mary and find joy in God our Savior, and follow the cues in her Magnificat:  mercy to those who fear him, strength in his arm, a place with the lifted lowly, satisfaction to the hungry, not only with food, but with spiritual nourishment.  Thus will all generations call us blessed as well.  (cf Lk 1 46-55).
Bro. Rene

St. Joan of Arc: Inspiration for Youth

Still reflecting on our Marist Youth Gathering, I thought of how a seventeen year old teenager, Joan of Arc, followed a bold and daring path outlined for her during her prayer. The "voices" she had been hearing for several years advising her about her personal life, now urged her to step up and help the Dauphin, Charles, to be crowned king of France despite the opposition of the English and the Duke of Burgundy. What faith trust, and pure gumption did it take for a young woman to propose leading an army against these foes? Yet she did it, defeated the English at Orleans and witnessed the coronation of Charles.  Trapped by deceit after this victory she was convicted of heresy and adultery and was burned at the stake at age 19. All this before she was 20.  Later, she was exonorated and declared a saint in 1920.
Our teens face foes and challenges similar to those faced by Joan, in facing the attitudes of beligerence toward religion and morals, and the values of a society that is based on "ME".  The story of St. Joan needs to be presented as encouragement that impossible foes can be dispersed.  St. Joan, pray for all of us, especially our youth.
Bro. Rene

Take It Forward

At the conclusion of the Marist Youth Gathering, whose theme was "The Power of Presence", Br. Patrick McNamara, President of Marist High School, Chicago, IL, challeneged the 200 student participants and close to 100 adult leaders, to capsule the energy generated at Marist College over the weekend and infuse the local schools from which the students came, with this same energy and purpose by living out the following points:
1) Representing Mary's love for the people of God, we, like her, must be willing to go "with haste to a land we do not know", that is to break out into new territories within ourselves and in our families, schools and beyond.  Already some of the young women who were participants are planning to go as volunteers with the Marist Missionary Sisters to lands they do not know...perhaps even becoming Sisters as their jouney continues.
2) We are to serve others without personal benefit to ourselves, not looking for
prestige
control or power
personal gain.
3) We are go FIND the needy in OUR world and let our hearts by broken by the poor.
4)  Like Mary, we are to create and nourish family spirit by treating others with dignity, respect, acceptance.
5) We are to be Jesus for others by living in the Holy Spirit.
These challenges stand not only for our Marist Youth, but for all who subscribe to our Marist Spirituality.
Bro. Rene

The Vigil Of Pentecost

The Easter Season comes to an end tomorrow with the celebration of Pentecost:  Red, signifiying the tongues of fire which descened upon the gathered Apostles and Mary, adorns the sanctuary, from the vestements to pendants and banners, reminding us that it is with FIRE that we must live and proclaim the Good News, as did Peter and the others once this great POWER had been given.  Friday evening, some of that fire was evident at Central Catholic's 74th graduation, as joy, a sense of accomplishment, gratitude, and a desire to share all that has been learned with others tore through the gym like a hurricane.  This weekend, hundreds of Marist Youth have gathered at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY to "get fired up" (filled with the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of  St. Marcellin) to take up the challenge to "renew the face of the earth."  In the seventh century before Christ, Isaiah wrote:  "When the Spirit from on high is poured out on us,/ Then will the desert become an orchard/ and the orchard be regarded as a forest.
"Right will dwell in the desert/ and justice abide in the orchard./ Justice will bring about peace;/ right will produce calm and security./ My people will live in peaceful country,/ in secure dwellings and quiet resting places," ((Is 32: 15-18).  We need to believe that this prophecy will be fulfilled.  We need to WORK to make it happen.  Send forth our Spirit, O Lord!
Bro. Rene
I will be attending the Marist Youth Conference, so I will not be able to send any slices of daily bread until Tuesday. I will be praying that the Spirit find a welcome place in your hearts to help you enkindle the fire of his love everywher you go.

Hildebrand

When the Benedictine monk, Hildebrand, was elected Pope in 1073 by popular acclamation, "Let Hildebrand be Pope!" while "the funeral baked meats" for the deceased Pope Alexander II were still warm, the Church was at one of its lowest points or corruption and digression from the commission of Jesus to the Apostles to "go baptize and preaches the gospel to all nations."  (Mt 28: 19).  Bishops were appointed by nobles, and sought not the spiritual welfare of their flocks, but personal gain; priests were uneducated and easily distracted from their roles as pastors, and ignorance among the faithful was rampant.  Hildebrand cringed at the call of the clergy and people for his leadership, but willingly accepted the challenge.  He fought fearlessly for reform and even had the obstinate Emperor, Henry IV, kneel and beg for absolution and reinstatement from his excommunication.  Despite this temporary victory, as it turned out, Henry eventually had Hildebrand exiled, where illness took its toll.  He is quoted as saying, "I have loved justice and hated iniquity, therefore I die in exile."
As graduates walk away with their diplomas and enter a world not unlike that of Hildebrand, may we encourage and support them to love and work for justice and all the other gospel values that single us out as followers of Jesus.  We need not see them end their days in exile, for so many want to make a difference in this world, one that will set it back on track.
Bro. Rene

St. Florentius/World Day of Prayer for China

Marist Brothers of the Province of the United States of America hail Brother Marie Florentius, founder of Mt. St. Michael Academy and Central Catholic High School, as one of the province heroes, or saints, but little is known of his namesake, St. Florentius.  Evidently he was a very holy man, left as a hermit when his fellow monk, St. Eutychius, left their small monastery in Norcia, Italy. Florentius asked God to send him something to console him and a BEAR appeared at his doorway indicating that he was ready to serve him.  Florentius put him in charge of the sheep, and the bear dutifully shepherded them  in the fields during the day and brought them home at night.  Other monks, envious of the bear, killed him.  St. Florentius, in an a-typical outburst of grief, loudly expressed his hope that God would punish the evildoers.  Soon thereafter, the monks involved and died of leprosy.  Florentius repented his prayer for the rest of his life and died peacfully in the year 547.
Brother Florentius might not have been familiar with this story of the power of prayer, but certainly relied on it in his founding of two of our major schools, and it is a reminder to us that God does hear our prayers and acts on them.
And so it is that Pope Benedict XVI in 2008 established a World Day of Prayer for the Church in China, which has struggled against unfriendly governmental regulation since 1949.  Let us join with the rest of the Church to pray that the "Bear" of a government relent its hostility and become neutral, if not supportive of the Church by praying to the patroness of China, Our Lady of Sheshan:
Our Lady of Sheshan,, sustain all those in China, who, amid their daily trials, continue to believe, to hope, to love.
May they never be afraid to speak of Jesus to the world and of the world to Jesus.
In the statue overlooking the Shrine you lift your Son on high, offerirng him to the world with open arms in a gesture of love.  Help Catholics always be be credible witnesses to this love, ever clinging to the rock of Peter on which the church is built.  Mother of China and all Asia, pray for us, now and for ever and ever. Amen.
Bro.; Rene

Consecrate Them in Truth

Jesus prayed for his disciples at the Last Supper as he prepared to send them into the world as he himself had been sent by his Father. "I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth." (Jn 17: 19).  As schools graduate their students over these next weeks, how appropriate a prayer this is for them: to renew our decication to them and to set them off on the path of truth, that they may remain faithful to it and make it the pursuit of their lives.  "What is truth?" asked Pilate. (Jn 18:38).  There is so much murkiness and deception accepted as "truth" today, that the young, even the old can be led astray.  Happily, the young are searching for the real Truth, recognizing that all that they have been taught through the media and the entertainment world has not been truth.  Ultimately, through experience, study, reflection and the example of the guardians of truth, they will come to a deeper knowledge of it and discover that the Truth that makes them free (Jn 8: 32) is God himself.  May we all be earnest seekers of the Truth and conscecrate our lives to Truth.
Bro. Rene