(Beginning with the August 2022 Personnel) Fr. Al McMenamy is assigned to the Marianist Residence with continued ministry to the affiliates as well as clerical assistance to the residence community and Marianist ministries in the San Antonio area. 

Please join me in thanking our General Council for rescheduling its visit to our Province. The dates are now set for January 29 to March 25, 2023. We will begin working on the details for the visit with Bro. Michael McAward acting as the liaison. The time allotted is a bit shorter, so the General Council provided suggestions on setting up the visit. I will provide more details as they are available.  

Marianist educators are great teachers, excellent role models and examples for our students. Recently, I received notice that Bro. Justin Quiroz (teacher at Our Lady of the Rosary and Chaminade Julienne, Dayton) was featured in the "Staff Member Spotlight." One of his students stated, "He is an amazing teacher who has such a passion for his job that it inspires his students to do good as well." Congratulations Justin!

Please click here for helpful information on wellness stories/links.  

This Coming Week

I have been on the road a lot in the last six weeks visiting various communities in the Province along with a visit to two of our parishes and our novitiate community. I feel so very honored to witness so much good happening.

Lent is just around the corner. There are many resources online, and I encourage you to download them. If you want me to send you recommendations, please do not hesitate to let me or Terry Eversole know.

For many years the Marists and the Marianists have collaborated on a sabbatical program offered in English, usually in the fall. Many of our men have participated, and the evaluations have been very positive around a strong formation content – prayerful and celebratory. Due to the pandemic, the program has been canceled for the last two years. They are now resuming with the info/dates below. If you are interested in participating, I ask that you contact me by March 15 so that we can respond to the number of spaces to hold.

I am on visitation right now at the Hale Malia Community: interviewing each brother, assisting with the sacramental ministry and enjoying the “winter” away. As Marianists, we are so privileged to serve so many on this campus in our two schools and two Masses on Sunday at Mystical Rose Oratory. In addition, I was able to meet with one of the Marianist Lay Communities here and enjoy their conversation on prayer in the Marianist tradition. 

A special communication went out earlier this week announcing our retreats for the summer of 2022. I encourage everyone in the Province to register for one of the organized retreats or a private retreat. We would really like to hear from everyone about your intentions as we respond to our call to be faithful to our spiritual life.

Please register for your Province retreat by April 1, 2022. 

Dear Brothers,

The Marianist Family Council of North America has endorsed the formation of the Marianist Family Encounter Project (MFEP) to facilitate a multi-year journey of responding to Pope Francis’ calls to action in his encyclicals, Fratelli Tutti (2020) and Laudato Si’ (2015).

The Marianist Family will respond to Pope Francis’ proposals in the Global Compact on Education by embracing the goals of the Laudato Si’ Action Platform. This focus will invite us, personally and in our communities and ministries, to bring about meaningful and life-giving encounters at the intersection of the cry of the poor, the cry of the earth, and the gift of our Marianist Charism.

“This opportunity emerged from a synergy of initiatives that really reflect the approach and prophetic vision of our Marianist Founders two hundred years ago. The Encounter Project urges us from our communal strengths to forge prayerful solutions to emergent concerns in service of our church and our world,” said Sr. Leanne Jablonski, FMI, MFEP coordinating team co-chair.

In essence, we are being invited to go above and beyond what we already do — to respond creatively and collaboratively to the many interrelated challenges of our times — by living and promoting an integral ecology while keeping the human person, and especially the most vulnerable, at the center of all we do as Marianists.

The Marianist Family Encounter Project will engage existing networks within the Marianist Family and envision new pathways to nurture a common platform for ongoing collaboration around Pope Francis’ invitations among all branches, ministries, communities, and persons in the Marianist Family of North America.

The coordinating team consists of:

Our deepest gratitude to the Marianist Social Justice Collaborative, the General Administrations of the Society of Mary (Marianist Brothers), Daughters of Mary Immaculate (Marianist Sisters), and the Marianist Lay Community of North America for their visionary work in laying the foundation of this joint endeavor.

All members and communities, across the interconnected and inter-reliant branches and ministries of the Marianist Family in the United States are called upon to pray for and engage with the Marianist Family Encounter Project, thus making it a tangible manifestation of our Marianist Charism, Spirituality and Mission lived in and through community – a spectacle of saints envisioned by our Marianist Founders. Trusting in the active guidance of the Spirit, we say as one Marianist Family – none of us has to do everything; however, all of us have to do something.

More details on how you can engage are forthcoming. For more information, contact co-chairs: Sr. Leanne at [email protected] or Bro. Jesse at [email protected].

Have you received robocalls, text messages or emails offering COVID-19 tests in exchange for your Medicare number? Be careful! Scammers are selling fake and unauthorized at-home COVID-19 test kits in exchange for your personal or medical information. Do not give out your Medicare number for COVID-19 test kits! Be sure to purchase FDA-approved COVID-19 test kits from a legitimate provider.

Please send your medical bills to us to be paid from the provincial office. Many times providers send statements or invoices before the claim has been completed. If you pay the invoice, then oftentimes it results in a double payment making it difficult to hunt down a reimbursement. We will check the claim status before paying any medical bills. This will ensure that the provider files the claim properly and that we do not pay bills that Christian Brothers and Medicare should be covering. Rarely should you be required to pay a provider on the spot or upfront. As long as you provide your medical insurance cards, then the provider most often will file the claim then bill you later. 

You can either email the bills to Gina Marty at [email protected] or mail them to her attention at the province offices. Please send the bills promptly when you receive them so we can process them in a timely manner. Please call our office if you have any questions. 

Take time this week to think about how we can actively engage students in new and inventive ways to discern their vocation.

February 25: Edward Violett

February 26: John Collins, Thomas Jalbert

February 27: Vincent Wayer