|
Quicklinks
E-News (this document) and Saying Yes Archive
|
PLEASE PRAY FOR:
The Society of Mary as they continue to vision, reflect and develop their strategic plan for the future.
|
Start Your Day with a Daily Gospel Meditation from Father Bert Buby SM
Link to the blog for his Scripture Reflections.
http://scripmed.blogspot.com
|
Environmental Tips
Marianist Environmental Education Center
MAINTAIN YOUR VEHICLE
Not only are you extending the life of your vehicle, but you are creating less pollution and saving gas. A properly maintained vehicle, clean air filters, and inflated tires can greatly improve your vehicle's performance. And it might not hurt to clean out the trunk-all that extra weight could be costing you at the pump.
|
THANK-YOU to January and February MLNNA Contributors
In these times of economic uncertainty, it is a great encouragement that you see and support our mission to bring Christ to the world.
Those who generously contributed in January or February - THANK YOU:
Pueblo Marianist Affiliates
Shekan Community
Marianist Sisters
Magnificate Group
Fr. Ted Cassidy, SM
Nancy Davies
Alex & Deb Durand
John Eise
Michael Gillespie
Winnie & Jerry Hopfengardner
Pat & Dan Huser
Earl & Llewellyn Kalal
Isabella Moyer
Carolyn Perez
Bob & Mary Ann Valentine
3 Anonymous
|
You can help MLNNA generate $$ everytime you search the web. Click the link. Set Marianist Lay Network of North America as your charity. And everytime you search (powered by Yahoo - competitor for Google) our organization will receive 1 cent.
GoodShop which provides our MLNNA organization a portion of the sale price if you enter a store's website (such as Amazon, EBAY, Staples, Old Navy, Target, WalMart, the Gap and others) through the GoodShop portal. If you make airline reservations through Expedia these also qualify.
Spread the word about GoodSearch, it doesn't cost you anymore to help us earn a little money. GoodShop.com
|
JOYFUL NEWS
Do you want to share a big event in your life? New job, new baby, or recovery from an illness. You can submit any information for the E-news Click here
PRAYER REQUEST
Submit a request for community prayers to the E-news here.
|
FUN WASTE OF TIME :> click here
|
|
BUILDING CHURCH IN AN OLD NEW WAY
"We live out our faith in communities, following the example of the early church."
This is a statement from The Identity of Marianist Lay Communities adopted at the International Convocation of Marianist lay Communities in Santiago, Chile in 1993.
(You can read the whole document here.) In 2009 this statement and this document are still relevant and alive.
Last weekend, two new communities in formation met for retreat at Cricket Holler Boy Scout Camp near Dayton, Ohio.
The formation groups walk back from evening mass
As the twenty aspiring Lay Marianists gathered at the chapel for a mass said by Father Norbert Burns and joined by several other members of the Marianist Family one could not help but look over them and realize this is just like the community at Corinth or any of the other areas where our church began. This is where the new church, the church of the twenty-first century starts.
These young men and women are committing themselves to the Mission the apostles adopted in the upper room. They are imbued with the Spirit and ready to go forward to their own Antioch, Corinth and Rome. Like us, they are committed to building church in an old new way.
peace and love,
aj
|
Lenten Evening Prayer
Members of Marianist Family are invited to a Lenten Evening Prayer which will be lead by Marianists Brothers, Sisters and Lay Members.
March 18, 25, and April 1
7:00 pm
2025 Woodman Drive
Kettering, OH 45420
For more information contact
Brother Michael O'Grady SM
937-426-5721
|
LONG ISLAND FAMILY EXPERIENCE
By Wally Rodier, Levittown, NY
"In 1987 Jane and I
and our young children - Tim (10). John Paul (8) and Danielle (3) -
experienced our first Summer Family Week at the Marianist Family
Retreat Center in Cape May Point, NJ. It was a marvelous, eye-opening,
family-nurturing moment that began our twenty-two year association with
the Marianists.
Left to right: LeeAnn Mucci,Bill Peo, Sue Peo, Jen Lyon, Jane Rodier, Brendan Peo, Wally Rodier, 'Billy Bob', Kay O'Brien, Harry O'Brien
Even so, had you told me during those early years that today Jane and I would be helping to conduct similar (albeit abbreviated!) family retreat experiences in parishes across Long Island, I would have seriously doubted your skills of prophecy. Yet, that is exactly what has come to pass. I chalk it up to the mystery that life's journey is.
Why do we do it? I'm guessing it is the thrill of seeing young families respond with joy and gratitude to those recurring retreat themes of Welcoming, Affirmation, Communication, Reconciliation and Commitment. Often at the conclusion of these parish family retreat days (sometimes half days!) parents often appear uplifted and hopeful, while children display a warm sense of belonging in their family relationships. Whether our fun theme for the day is "Extreme Home Makeover - Family Edition!" or "How Does Your Family Garden Grow?" our goal is to share the gifts of renewing family relationships with these young families. Like we did when our family was young, they too are seeking to invigorate their family relationships with an enriching spirituality. We are grateful for the opportunity to work with a wonderful team of Lay Marianists - Pati Krasensky, Jen Lyons, Sue and Bill Peo, Carol Weiss, John and Mary Linge, Steve and Kathy Scarallo - to name a few. Through their enthusiasm and dedication, we have come to appreciate the gifts that each of us brings to this wonderfully rewarding ministry."
=============================================
The Marianist Center in Philadelphia, PA has been providing training, support and leadership for family ministry teams in New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Pennsylvania for over 10 years. These teams provide a Marianist family retreat experience to parishes across the region. We are very interested in spreading this ministry and offering the experience of family parish retreats to our wider Marianist Family - nationwide! If you are interested in having a retreat at your parish, for your family or your community, or beginning a ministry team in your area - call us!
Resources, retreat teams and support are available through The Marianist Center. For more information visit www.nacms.org and click on programs tab or call 215-634-4116.
|
The Marianist Volunteer Program Announces:
Spring Brings New Things!
MVP Assistant Coordinator Ruth Pera and her husband, Michael, welcome their new (and first) baby! Abigail Maria Pera was born on February 18 in St. Louis. She was 20 inches long and weighed 7 pounds 3 ounces. Welcome to this new member of the Marianist Family!
Also - we are now accepting applications for new domestic volunteers! If you would like to be a part of the Marianist Volunteer Program for the 2009-2010 volunteer year, submit your application by April 1! You can download the application from our website at www.marianist.com/mvp. MVP would love to have you - apply today!
|
 SO RITE
By Greg Calhoun
Thanks to God and to Old St. Patrick's parish for the grace I serendipitously found at the 11:15 a.m. mass this past Sunday. I was in Chicago for the weekend to visit my girlfriend. We only made it to Old St. Pat's by the great fortune of a recommendation by Dr. James Burke of Lewis University, a long-time Chicagoan who seemed to have his finger on the spiritual pulse of the city.
So we went, and we found ourselves in the midst of the Rite of Election ritual in which candidates - those who have previously been baptized in a Protestant faith - and catechumens - potential Catholics who are not baptized - are accepted into the Elect of the Church by the bishop. 49 people took to the altar to continue their journey into the faith.
By the coming of March, we enter into the end - often slow here in the Midwest - of winter and the beginning of Lent. It is a time of physical discomfort and intentional self-reflection to prepare for the renewal of our baptismal covenant in the glory of Easter. We must, then, cautiously look ahead to the promise of new growth, new life.
That is what this wonderful group represented to me: the reward of living as we are called. As Father Tom Hurley pointed out in his homily, most converts are brought into the Church by the influence of a caring Catholic, often one who has evangelized through deed rather than word, drawing others to the source of their loving spirit. The nearly fifty candidates and catechumens reminded me of the impact we have on one another. By tending to the garden that is my spirituality and my relationship with God, I can bear fruit in others through the working of the Holy Spirit. And what better time to actively trim away distractions than Lent, so that I may follow Christ more nearly and allow the Spirit to work in all the people who experience the garden of my faith.
Ken, my co-worker, would call these nearly fifty souls 'new soldiers' in the battle for the Kingdom, a war he knows all-too-well from living a homeless nightmare for nearly three decades. While I might use a different term like missionary, I agree with him on the importance of the revitalization of the Church. New life is new hope. So thanks again to God and Old St. Pat's for the reminder of why we do Lent. It is worth all our efforts that others may see the promise of Eden and work for it.
Link to the post.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
For Lent: 40 Days with the Last 40 
These are 40 reflections for each of the 40 days of Lent that focus on the world's 40 poorest countries. The resource is provided by the Marianist Family in Spain - in English! Each day includes background about the country, a letter from a resident of the country, a scriptural reading, and a chance for us to respond.
Society of Mary Provinces of Madrid and Zaragoza have celebrated, since 2005, the Lenten campaign: Forty Days with the Last Forty. This campaign, initiated and coordinated by Jos� Eizaguirre, SM, Assistant for Temporalities in the Province of Madrid, seeks to dedicate each day of Lent to one of the forty least developed countries of the world, according to the Index of Human Development (IHD) published annually by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
All of the materials can be accessed and printed from the web page of the Marianist Family of Spain (www.last40.marianistas.org)
|
How Do Marianists Do Social Justice?
Community Resources
The 5 page article, "How Do Marianists Do Social Justice?" is a particularly helpful resource for Marianist Lay Communities that want to probe more deeply into the implications of social justice for their community life. To order copies, click here.
To download a copy of the resource for community discussion/reflection on the article, click here If your community is interested in a retreat day using this article, contact:
Jim Vogt, jimvogt2@yahoo.com. 859-291-6197 www.msjc.net
|
Support MLNNA
 We are working with Network for Good to collect financial contributions electronically.
Please remember that your contributions support this MLNNA E-news, the Saying Yes reflection, the Magnificat and Gifts and Tasks.
Your contribution also supports the Marianist Social Justice
Collaborative, the International Organization of Marianist Lay
Comunities and the Marianist Lay Formation Initiative.
We want
to do more for you and for our mission to others, but our budget is
very limited. Our only source of contributions is our members, so any
gift is greatly appreciated. If you have any questions or comments
about our fundraising or our spending or if you have any suggestions,
please let me know at aj@marianistfamily.org.
|
COMMUNITY RETREAT EXPERIENCE
The Anawim Community (Cincinnati) chose a different kind of annual retreat this year. We journeyed to the Trappist Abbey of Gethsemane near Bardstown KY for a silent weekend retreat. Ten members were able to attend. It was a great experience.
Left to Right: Ken Palisin, Glenn Miller, Debbie Young, Lita Sharone, Jim Young, Gail Miller, Susan Vogt, Judy Gerwe, Jim Vogt, Mark Schmeider
|
Mary: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
Our vowed brothers and sisters conduct retreats every Summer to experience the love of God through the "flow of grace." This year they have generously offered to include interested Lay Marianists. The retreat theme is "Mary: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow." 
It will be offered at 5 different locations on five different weeks with different presenters at each location. It will be geared to the vowed members of our Family and will cost $500. Each retreat will begin Sunday evening and conclude the following Saturday at noon.
If you are interested contact Donna Tucker at dtucker@sm-usa.org or 314.533.1207.
Here is the schedule with locations:
* Tecaboca at Ingram, Texas May 31 to June 6.
* Bergamo Center at Dayton, Ohio June 21 to June 27.
* Saint Anthony retreat Center at Honolulu, Hawaii July 12 to July 18.
* Marianist Retreat Center at Eureka, Missouri July 19 to July 25.
* Oblate Renewal Center at San Antonio, Texas July 26 to August 1.
|
Spiritual Direction
Spiritual direction encourages you to explore a closer relationship with God. In the midst of a busy life, many people find it difficult to notice God's action in their daily affairs. Yet, at the deepest level, all of us long for a more conscious experience of God's presence and love.
In spiritual direction, you reflect deeply on the experiences of your daily life. Gradually, as you contemplate, you may begin to recognize God's Presence and grace in your life. You may come to realize how God's spirit is truly with you every day and every where.
Spiritual direction is really not about being "directed".
Rather, it is very much about being encouraged to draw closer to God.
Discover how God has been waiting for you to seek this closer relationship,
Contact: Ray McCracken or Pati Krasensky
The Marianist Center
Penn Treaty Building # 406
1341 N. Delaware Ave.
Philadelphia, PA 19125
215.634.4116
|
Editor's Note
Submit an article for the next newsletter by April 5.
Share your community or personnal experiences with your fellow Lay Marianists.
Send article and pictures to Jacqui Griswold, MLNNA editor
Keep copy short and describe who, what, why, when and how
If possible, select 1 or 2 of digital images in JPEG format (100 - 900K) and attach to the e-mail
Thanks for reading to the end.
|
A goal is a dream with a deadline.
|
|
