Dear Brothers,

Easter Joy!

We received Easter greetings from the Marianist International Seminary in Rome! Click here to view.

This is an awesome reminder that we are an international group and it is wonderful to witness such joy in these voices. Please don’t forget to remember our Brothers in the missions, seminary and especially in our care centers! Drop an email, letter or phone call to say hello!

Provincial Offices

A reminder that the offices on West Pine are open. Because of the stay-at-home orders, the lay staff is working from home. The Brothers are in and out of the office, keeping the Missouri rules for shelter-in-place and trying to maintain essential services for our employees, ministries and the Brothers. Know of our prayers for you. Please keep us in your prayers.

Personnel

Assignments are effective with the publishing of the new personnel book.

Surviving in the COVID-19 Era

Please click here for helpful resources during this time of sheltering-in-place.

This Coming Week

Dear Brothers,

ORL Calendar Adjustments

Many adjustments have been made to Province programs and events with Office of Religious Life. Some have been postponed; some canceled; some are still on hold. We will wait for further guidelines from the government and CDC after May 1 before making further decisions.

COVID-19 Resources

I came across two interesting resources for your review

Second Sunday of Easter: Celebrating God's Merciful Love

In the Jubilee Year 2000, Pope John Paul II proclaimed that from that year forward the Second Sunday of Easter would be celebrated as Divine Mercy Sunday. This was proclaimed at the Canonization Mass of St. Faustina Kowalska, who worked throughout her life to make all aware of the merciful love of God.

St. Faustina (1905–1938) was born and raised in Poland. Following a vocation to religious life, she was accepted by the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy. As a member of the Congregation, she worked as a cook, gardener and porter. In her spiritual life, her contemplation on the Mercy of God led her to develop a childlike trust in God and deep love for her neighbor. We pray for God’s mercy and love for our Province communities and ministries this Sunday.

Dear Brothers,

Easter Hope and Joy

We continue to live in unprecedented circumstances during this pandemic. Recently, Saint Louis School in Honolulu celebrated a school Mass with Fr. Oscar Vasquez just before the pandemic outbreak.

During the Mass, everyone was asked to create a “Lei of Aloha” or “Circle of Love” within the area that is fondly call “The Oval,” that guests pass by when entering Kalaepōhaku. At the top of The Oval is a tall and beautiful statue of Blessed Chaminade. While standing in a circle alongside Fr. Oscar and the Marianists Fathers, Brothers, lay community members and our Saint Louis School administrators, faculty, staff, and students, two native Hawaiian white doves began to circle the lei that was created and the students began to express wonder as they continued to circle the entire oval area until the ceremony was over. The Hawaiian people expressed the fact that those doves being there was a wonderful sign that the Marianist mission is vibrant and alive.

We pray for the day when we will once again be able to gather, as depicted in the pictures below. During this sheltered time, may we pray for patience and may we live in the Easter hope that we will once again come together.

Saint Louis School gathers for Mass

Dear Brothers,

Earth Day 50 & Laudato Si 5

As we celebrate the 50th Anniversary of International Earth Day on April 22, as well as the 5th Anniversary of Pope Francis' encyclical, Laudato Si, our Province stands in solidarity with creation and continues to promote the care of our common home. We invite and encourage all communities to join in prayer and action for the dignity of all life and our work for environmental justice.

O Creator,

Our world is large, and yet your Creation is so fragile.

We glimpse the needs of our common home,

of our sisters and brothers, and those needs are great.

We want to turn away, but you call us back.

We want simple solutions,

but you want us to help solve the complex problems.

Through your Church, you call us to listen, to learn, to reflect and to act.

Give us a deep sense of our place in this web of Creation.

Give us the wisdom of mind and generosity of heart to seek your will

in the world today.

Inspire us to respond to the call to live in solidarity

with all of your Creation, so that the Earth,

and all children of God might live in dignity and peace.

Amen.

(Written by Education for Justice; reprinted with permission from Catholic Climate Covenant's 2020 Program Guide)

We also encourage you to access the Catholic Climate Covenant's 2020 Program Guide for Earth Day 50 and Laudato Si 5. It includes a variety of prayers, readings, videos, discussion and reflection questions, actions, resources and more.

Dear Brothers,

I am sorry; I neglected to mention the prayer services for vocations that the Sienna Woods Community has been doing before quarantine. Please view a sample of their prayer services here.

If your community has a weekly prayer for vocations please email me so I can share this with the Province.

Please pray for our Brothers who are celebrating their birthdays

April 16: Sylverius Kerketta

April 17: Thierry Kadja (TO)

April 19: Donald Neff

April 21: Lawrence Corbin

April 22: Sean Downing

This publication is for members of the Society of Mary. Please do not forward it. Also, please provide a printed copy for brothers who do not use email.

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