This past Monday, the Secretariat for the General Administration sent out a document in preparation for the Patronal Feast of the Marianist Family, March 25, the Feast of the Annunciation of the Lord. Click here for the document.

The email was sent to each Brother directly. Directors are asked to provide a copy to Brothers that do not use email. If you do use email and did not receive the email, please check your spam filter, and if it is not there, please email Ms. Pat Stephens at the Provincial Office. Pat will check your email address with the Generalate.

We have all come through a year like no other in living memory. We have now arrived in a new season in our liturgical year, carrying all the hopes and dreams of a new beginning, but also the many fears and troubles of the past year. The season of Lent is here with many resources. I invite you to plug into this Lenten retreat, Pray as You Go. You will go through seven sessions in collaboration with Sacred Space, written by Margaret Silf.

The National Catholic Men's Conference is a gathering of men across the U.S. who are striving to live out their Catholic faith. This year the conference is virtual with many good speakers (including Matt Fradd, Fr. Larry Richards, Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers and MLB star Mark Teixeira) The conference is from February 19-21 and is free. Please register here.

International Days. February 20 is World Day of Social Justice, which supports efforts of the international community in poverty eradication, the promotion of full employment and decent work, gender equity and access to social well-being and justice. The 2021 theme is A Call for Social Justice in the Digital Economy.

The summary below is submitted by Dr. Savio Franco, director of Leadership Development, Research and Partnerships. My sincere gratitude to Savio for his creative adaptations that have allowed Mary’s Lead to move forward.

The Mary’s Lead leadership formation program has progressed and thrived during the pandemic year. It was divine providence that we had our opening in-person leadership retreat just days before the pandemic became apparent. It was divine providence that the Mary’s Lead ecosystem was designed to be participant-driven and adaptable (including technology-enabled). The commitment that the 12 members of Cohort 1 have shown – six presidents and six principals of Marianist-sponsored schools – is an inspiring example to future cohorts. If this cohort could persevere in Marianist formation during such an unpredictable year, indeed, future cohorts can too. We already have 16 confirmed participants eager to begin Cohort 2. We are grateful to all who have accompanied Cohort 1, including 21 guest experts (Marianist sisters, brothers, and laypersons) who visited us during the leadership retreats and online practitioner dialogues, and 13 mentors who were patiently available to cohort members as they led their school communities through an unprecedented set of challenges.

We are pleased to inform you that Cohort 1 will have its closing leadership retreat on April 19-21, 2021, led by Bros. Steve Glodek and Jack Ventura, on the theme of “Building Marianist Culture as School Leaders.” Cohort 1 members are presently working in project teams to create materials that will be of practical value to fellow/future school leaders. For example, the principals are writing case studies about how the Marianist tradition helped their school community adapt to online education and other transitions necessitated in the 2020-21 school year. Two teams of presidents are working on creating (i) a set of suitable onboarding materials for future incoming presidents and (ii) a set of reflections on the role of creativity in the role of the president of a Marianist school.

For a list of those involved in Cohort 1 (participants, guest experts, mentors) and all confirmed for Cohort 2, please click here.

February 20: James Heft, Kevin Whelan

February 21: Fred Halwe, Geunwoo John Shim [(KO) novice], Irwin Wachtel

February 25-26: Provincial Council Meetings