News for members of the Marianist Province of the United States
Feb. 22, 2018
From the Provincial-elect, Fr. Oscar Vasquez 



Dear Brothers,

Working toward a seamless transition

Bro. Bernie Ploeger and I offer you our prayers and blessings as we begin this holy season of Lent.
 
The newly designated Provincial Council members will meet early on March 1 as the Provincial Chapter begins. This meeting will help us prepare for the official start of our service on Aug. 1.
 
New council members will continue in their current ministries while meeting with their counterparts as each prepares for the transition.
 
I have been working with Bernie to help ensure a seamless transition, and we are thankful to Fr. Marty Solma and current council members for their assistance.
 
In the coming weeks and months, I'll keep you informed of plans and assignments. Here are a couple of personnel updates:
 
Bro. Tom Giardino will continue in the Office of Education as a part-time "assistant for special projects" until Jan. 1, 2019.  
 
There are several projects underway in the Office of Education for which we want to assure continuity and completion. I'm thankful to Tom and Bro. Jesse O'Neill, who have created this arrangement to advance this important work. Tom will move to Dayton in August as he prepares for full-time ministry. We will announce the details of his ministry once they have been finalized.
 
Fr. John Thompson will continue as a liaison to Mexico for the immediate future. I'm thankful to John for his generosity in continuing this service in addition to his full-time role as pastor at Holy Rosary. 

We'll continue to work with the brothers in Mexico to clarify their mission and ministry. I'm grateful to John as he helps me get to know the Mexican Marianists and the issues and possibilities before them.

Please keep Bernie and me in your prayers.



Dear Brothers,

Blessed are the Peacemakers 

It is hard to know what to say after what we have experienced this past week with the high school shooting in Parkland, Florida. We are religious and we are educators, so these events have to touch us deeply. If your reaction was anything like mine, I felt depressed, angry and helpless. Yet again, a school was targeted, innocent students were killed, and the nation was traumatized.

Yes, we offer our prayers for the victims and the survivors. But, as Pope Francis said recently: "Pray, then do something. That's the way prayer works."

The poor soul who perpetrated this was, himself, on the receiving end of trauma. Now, after ruining so many lives, he is in a plea bargain to save his own life. But, broken as he is, he also had access to the means of wreaking havoc in the lives of so many people. Seventeen are dead, and thousands more have to live with this experience forever. It was good that the students knew what to do and had practiced both fire and "Code Red" drills. But, so sad that our schools, even elementary schools, have to arm themselves against this sort of violence! That, in itself, is formative for our next generation.

Yes, we need more attention to issues of mental health and, yes, there need to be laws enacted to keep mentally and emotionally disturbed individuals from gaining access to such weapons. But, we also need reasonable and responsible laws that govern the type, purchase and use of guns in our country. Some have said that nothing will change, and we will simply wait for the next terrible school shooting...with another round of prayers and condolences. And, at the risk of offending some Brothers in the province, our national agenda is being shaped not by reasonable political voices, concerned parents, high school students or our religious leaders. It's being shaped and determined by a lobby that has a lot of money and a huge amount of influence.

So, we pray. But prayer works, as the Pope said, by our doing something. That's what I'm asking you to do. Maybe it will be different this time.  
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