We all know that our country (world) in the last several years has become more polarized. As one of the political scientists (Bro. Charles Johnson) in our Province has said often, “We’ve lost the statespersons in our country.”

As the Gospel calls us to be men of peace and reconciliation and, as in our Province Directional Statements, we want to foster the Marian face of our Church. We are called to respond to and address this situation.

At our recent directors’ meeting, Bro. Steve O’Neil reminded us that the U.S. Catholic Bishops are sponsoring the program “Civilize it, A Better Kind of Politics.” To read, A Better Kind of Politics | Civilize It | USCCB in English, click here. To read in Spanish, click here.

Pope Francis challenges us to live the example of the Good Samaritan. Bro. Steve and Fr. Tim Kenney will be developing a set of questions to assist communities in implementing the challenges of this important document.

Click on the links below to download the following resources.

These are only a few of the resources that are available on the USCCB website.

I encourage individuals to sign the pledge sponsored by the USCCB. Click here if you’d like to read and sign the pledge in English or Spanish. On our social media pages, we will be implementing a strong push to call others to implement the challenges of A Better Kind of Politics | Civilize It. Please feel free to reach out to Bro. Steve O’Neil if you’d like additional information.

This past weekend we joined with the Marianist Family in prayer across the United States and around the world. Please send me pictures of your gatherings so that we can publish them in next week's Notes.

Last weekend, Pope Francis called on lawmakers worldwide to overcome “the narrow confines” of partisan politics to quickly reach a consensus on fighting climate change. We will be hearing more on this as the U.N. annual climate conference begins on Oct. 31 in Glasgow, Scotland. We are in a critical time to try and tackle, as a world community, the threat of global warming. Let’s continue to keep this intention in prayer.

I will be leading the Marianist Mission Pilgrimage to Greece starting on Oct. 19 and concluding on October 29. I will meet the 20 pilgrims in New York. They are coming from California, Hawaii, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina and Texas. It will be an exciting trip as we reflect daily on the life of St. Paul and celebrate the Eucharist in some awesome places. We will be praying daily for the province, and I invite you to pray for us.

While I am away, I will be checking into the office, off and on, in the evenings. I will be in communication with Terry Eversole, administrative assistant for the Office of Religious Life.

Just a reminder that if your community would like to order the Advent Prayer books the form is due by October 15. Click here.

You might enjoy praying this prayer: Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor. Please click here.

Teaching as Ministry (TAM) was held at the Marianist Retreat & Conference Center in Eureka October 5-7. It was a great experience with over 25 participants from Marianist schools across the country.

TAM is designed to help Marianist educators understand Marianist education as a ministry. After the past 18 months of Covid, it was especially well-received by our teachers, administrators and staff who worked tirelessly to adapt to the needs of the time and to the ever-changing challenges of providing quality, integral education. It was a blessing for them and for the facilitators. Pictured below are participants at one of our liturgies.

Recently, Fr. Joe Kozar shared with me a summary of a discussion with the Alumni Hall community on Fr. Andre-Joseph Fetis’ circular on the Visitation and the Magnificat. Thank you to the entire Alumni Hall community for lifting up the powerful call of our Superior General in responding, like Mary, to the needs of the world. As we continue to discern a path forward in responding to Pope Francis’ call for a Global Compact on Education, let us all live like Mary; to get up and go in responding to the signs of our times. Please click here to read their reflections.

“Vocation ministry must, in the first place, present the variety of vocations, clear up any misunderstandings about them and stress their complementarity in the Church. Variety does not cause confusion but, on the contrary, stresses what is special to each one of them.” Fostering New Vocations, page 21

A question for reflection:

Two recent graduates of USC, Matthew Macedo and Liam Costa, biology and social work majors respectively, asked if they could live with us for a week. The community welcomed them on a Sunday afternoon, and they departed Friday night. Matthew currently works in a research lab in USC's Keck Hospital, and Liam is enrolled in USC's graduate Social Work program and works with homeless people. During the week, there were several discussions about issues they found interesting. They cooked a delicious meal for the community on Friday evening. It was a very good week!

October 14: Charles Gausling

October 15: Magdaleno Ceballos, Timothy Dwyer

October 17: Steven Grazulis

October 18: Gerard Mc Auley

October 19: Jerome Bommer, John Thompson, James Tobin

October 20: Patrick McDaid