It is with great joy that the Provincial Council announces that Bro. Justin Quiroz has been approved for the profession of perpetual vows in the Society of Mary. After considering the Province-wide consultation, the Provincial Council accepted Justin’s request.

We have received the ratification by our Superior General, Fr. André-Joseph Fétis and his Council. Details for the celebration of the Mass of Perpetual Profession will be announced shortly.

Unless otherwise indicated, personnel assignments begin with the new personnel year, August 15.

Thank you to Bro. Bob Juenemann for his work in raising funds for the upgrade of the garden at the Marianist Community in Cupertino. Bro. Jack Somerville has been a consultant for the project. Please click here to see pictures. The upgrade will also allow the garden to be more ecologically in tune. Once complete, the project will include drip irrigation which is eligible for a rebate from Santa Clara County Valley Water.

Following is a helpful resource on surviving in this time of COVID.

Transformative Grief. Emily Cash, Psy.D. at St. Luke’s Institue is offering a free webinar entitled “Transformative Grief.” In the video description, she reminds us that grief impacts us all at different times and in unexpected ways. In this unusual time of collective and individual grief in our society, the only choice we have, as we experience grief, is how we respond to it. The video is free. Click here to view.

The afternoon of Friday, March 5, the Provincial Chapter for 2021 held its first meeting in a virtual format. As required by our Rule of Life, two important matters relating to Temporalities were considered and acted upon: the amount of support per person that will be allotted to communities by area was adopted, and the proposed Province budget for FY 2021-22 was reviewed and endorsed. Other topics reported on included a summary of the “virtual visitations” of the Province communities by Fr. Oscar Vasquez and me and a progress report on the implementation of the Province Directional Statements. Shortly, the Minutes of this meeting and the documents the Chapter members received will be available on the Province portal.

Please recall that there will be a second meeting of the Chapter for 2021 in St. Louis on August 26-30. This will be the traditional meeting of the Chapter. Reports of the Provincial Offices and any propositions received will be made available in early April for discussion by the communities/areas so that the minutes of these gatherings may be forwarded to the Chapter delegates for their consideration.

As a reminder, please note that for a proposition to be considered in August it must be submitted to my office by Friday, March 26.

I invite you to keep our Formation Weekend in prayer this weekend. Contacts, aspirants/pre-novices, Novices, and temporary professed from three provinces (our Province, Province of Meribah and the US Marianist Sisters) will be together to reflect on our Vow of Obedience and to have time for prayer, sharing and socialization. I am thankful to Frs. Jim Fitz and Quentin Hakenewerth for preparing presentations that will spark much conversation.

I invite you to participate in the National Religious Brothers Day Online Gathering 2021 on Saturday, May 1, 1:30-2:30 p.m. (ET), which will include prayer, reflections by younger brothers and small group conversation. I encourage you to use social media (#WeAreBrothers) and other resources to celebrate our vocation. 

The summary below is submitted by Deacon Pat Wheadon from the Office of Sponsorship and Erica Duarte, National Coordinator for LIFE. My deepest gratitude to both of them for their careful discernment on a path forward for the LIFE Summer Program 2021. 

After collaborating with school leaders and moderators, and considering planning, travel and current virus restrictions still in place, and the uncertainty about when vaccinations will happen, especially in younger people, we have made the decision to offer an interactive, virtual LIFE program for summer 2021.

We will offer three live programs led by regional Coordinating Teams with the help of moderators at each of our Marianist schools. We will also be adding an intentional vocations component led by Bro. Mark Motz and Sr. Nicole Trahan.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support as we work to adapt the meaningful content of LIFE to an online format. Below are the adjusted dates for our summer 2021 programs.

Moderators: June 17 and June 21-24, 2021

Students: June 21-24, 2021

Moderators: July 12-16, 2021

Students: July 13-16, 2021

Moderators: July 19-23, 2021

Students: July 20-23, 2021

Please pray for the students, teachers, and formators who continue to adapt, change and do great work in the midst of this pandemic.

We had the most correct responses to our question two weeks ago.

Congratulations to our first three correct responders Fr. James Heft, Bro. Timothy Phillips and Fr. James Fitz. Our three bishops were Raymond Roussin (Canada), Oscar Alzamora (Peru) and Paul Vollmar (Switzerland).

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This week’s question is submitted by Mary Kenney. Two weeks ago, Bro. Ed Brink ruined her attempt to stump everyone. Will she succeed this week?

The first three brothers to respond to me with the correct responses win a prize.

March 14: Raymond Gohring, John Laudenbach

March 16: Robert Juenemann

March 17: Happy St. Patrick's Day