Dear Brothers,
Community responses
As we all know, the response of our Church to the issues of abuse has been in the news. Two weeks ago, I called the province to prayer and acts of penance as our response to the current situation.
As I stated last week, I’m providing a listing of the replies that I received from communities and individuals regarding their plans for devoting part of their daily time to prayer and penance. I have been humbled and challenged by your thoughtful responses. Here is the
most recent list
of prayer and penance practices submitted. I will publish this list one more time. If you would like to add your offering of prayer and penance, please send to me.
Our common mission
As you may remember, one of the blessings of being the Provincial is that I am a member of all three boards of our Marianist Universities. As of today, I have attended either an executive committee or a board meeting of each of these fine institutions. One of the things that has truly impressed me is that each of these universities is committed and deliberate in carrying out our Marianist Mission. It is almost equally impressive that each university synergistically carries on its own unique mission. I’m so thankful to our brothers in the university ministry across the province.
The Marian Library
During my recent training session for the Board of the University of Dayton, I asked to receive a tour of the Marian Library. I have to be honest with you, it had been years since I visited the library. The next time you are on campus, I encourage you to drop by. It is amazing. Please remember that, this year, it celebrates 75 years. Many of the exhibits can be found online,
please take a look
.
World Day of Marianist Prayer
This morning, I received the information for the Marianist World Day of Prayer on October 14. Please
read the information
provided by the World Council of the Marianist Family. I encourage communities and ministries to celebrate this as is appropriate for your community/ministry.
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Dear Brothers,
Venerable Marie-Thérèse de Lamourous
Marie Thérèse died September 14, 1836 at the age of 81. She died in her room at the Miséricorde surrounded by her beloved daughters. Her legacy lives on in the works of the Sisters of Marie-Josephe and of the Miséricorde, and in the thousands of Lay Marianists all over the world.
Her cause for canonization was opened in 1911 and on December 21, 1989, the Sacred Congregation for the Causes of Saints decreed that she had practiced heroic virtue during her lifetime, thus, she was given the title “Venerable.”
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Her feast day is September 14. Marie Thérèse Charlotte de Lamourous was born at Barsac, Gironde on November 1, 1754. She was the first of 11 children born to Louis Marc Antoine de Lamourous du Mayne and Elisabeth de Vincens de Lamourous du Mayne.
On this special day, let us ask God through Marie Therese to open our eyes to new ways in which we can foster collaboration in all branches of the Marianist Family in our Province.
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Dear Brothers,
What’s happening
Thank you to all the brothers who have extended their prayers of support as I travel around the province. I am in Ireland as you read this. We are so blessed as a province for the many members of the Marianist Family who make our work possible. Sunday, I travel to Hawaii where I serve on the boards of both Chaminade University of Honolulu and Saint Louis School. I anticipate a warm reception and a Marianist experience of hope and joy.
A message of hope and joy
(submitted by
Mr. Anthony Fucci
– director of the Marianist Family Retreat Center in Cape May Point, New Jersey)
When I thought about a story of hope and joy,
Johanna Benthal
immediately came to mind. Jo, as she likes to be called, and her family have been coming here on retreat since she was a little girl (she is now 20). Jo was born with an extremely rare brain disease that causes non-cancerous tumors to grow. If left unremoved, these tumors would be fatal. As a result, Jo has undergone over 100 brain surgeries. The result of these surgeries has left her with limited mobility, sight and balance. Through it all, Jo has been a source of hope and joy for us at the center and to everyone she meets. She is a joyful person who always smiles, loves to sing and dance (when she is able) and tells very funny jokes. Since her health continues to steadily decline over time (there is no cure), she is now dependent on Rae (her service dog). To see Jo and Rae together is true joy – a sick young girl and her faithful companion.
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From the Office of JPIC - Brian Reavey
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Dear Brothers,
Catholic Nonviolence Initiative
As the International Day of Peace quickly approaches (September 21), now seems like an ideal time to remind you that our province is an official supporter of the
C
atholic Nonviolence Initiative
. On or around September 21, we invite you, your communities and/or institutions to celebrate the International Day of Peace with the following
resource
and
prayer servic
e
.
Please also consider reading about and supporting the Global Fragility and Violence Reduction Act. CMSM and coalition partners successfully introduced this bi-partisan act in both the Senate and House. See more details on the act
here
, and
contact Congress
to support this breakthrough act.
Advocacy opportunity: vote in local elections
Our keynote speaker at the Changemakers conference in Dayton,
Paul Loeb
, reached out with updates to the Campus Election Engagement Project. CEEP is a national nonpartisan project that helps administrators, faculty, staff and student leaders at America’s colleges and universities engage students in federal, state and local elections.
Learn more
.
Watch this 90 second
video
that reminds citizens why every vote matters.
Read this
helpful article
by
Rev. Fred Kammer, SJ
that lays out key teachings on voting and political engagement. Reflection questions, faith in action suggestions and a prayer are also included.
To utilize this and thousands of other
Education for Justice
resources, use our organizational membership at no additional cost to you (username: jvogt and password: justice).
Linking Justice and Peace in the Lectionary
Below you will find homily resources from CMSM members and other people of wisdom in our community for your reflection. If you are not preparing homilies, please consider sharing with your local priest.
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Please pray for our brothers who are celebrating their birthdays
September 16:
William Farrell
September 17:
James Eppy, Joseph Kozar, James Russell
September 18:
Thomas Thompson, Alex Tuss
September 19:
Hugh Charlson, Larry Doersching, Donald Wallace
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On the Calendar
September 14:
Venerable Marie Thérèse Charlotte de Lamourous
September 18:
Blesseds Carlos Eraña, Fidel Fuidio and Jesús Hita
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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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