Notes from the Provincial Council

April 14, 2016

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Provincial Council
April 14-16

From Fr. Marty Solma

Dear Brothers:

District of India

Bro. Dennis Schmitz and I have been meeting with the District Council of India every month via the internet. It's tricky to manage the time difference, but the engagement has been very good.

Dennis and I will travel to India at the end of May to meet with the Indian strategic planning committee to propose a plan for Marianist life and ministry for the next three to five years.

After individuals, communities, the Indian Chapter and the Indian Council have a chance to reflect and offer recommendations, we will return at the end of December for a final meeting with the committee. Bro. Bernie Ploeger will moderate that meeting.

This process, similar to our own Vision 2020 effort, will set the direction for the immediate and medium-term future. Please keep all of these efforts in your prayers. The Indian Council liaison is Fr. Sudhir Kujur.

The Provincial Council meets in St. Louis today through Saturday. Significant agenda items include the follow-up from the Provincial Chapter, finalizing a date for the 2018 Province Assembly, a conference call with the directors of Province programs and offices, and several corporation meetings with educational ministries. As always, we greatly appreciate your prayers.

Prayers, please

There are a number of Province members who are very ill. Please pray, especially, for Fr. Bob Backherms who is in hospice care, Fr. Joe Tedesco who has had complications after surgery, Fr. Dave Paul who is in an assisted living facility in St. Louis, and Fr. Dan Triulzi who continues to have serious medical issues.

I pray that this Easter season is filled with the peace and joy of the Risen Lord for all Province members and all those who are dear to us.

Fraternally,

From Fr. Bill Meyer

My Dear Brothers:

Marianist Studies course at IMRI

Fr. Dave Fleming will be offering a one-week course on Marianist Studies July 11-15 at the International Marian Research Institute at the University of Dayton.

This year he plans to take his recent book, A New Fulcrum as the basic text and consider key chapters about the Marianist charism.

Fr. Dave welcomes members of the SM and FMI as auditors or for credit. The course will meet for two hours each day.

For more information, contact Michael Duricy at IMRI. The course is MRI 653.

The Joy of Love (Amoris Laetitia)

Pope Francis's much-anticipated Apostolic Exhortation on the Family brings together the results of the two synods on the family in 2014 and 2015.

The Joy of Love is truly remarkable for its practical and concrete suggestions. It also challenges us to be understanding in the face of complex and painful situations.

Here are two short video overviews that are worth watching:

From Franciscan Dan Horan
From America magazine

You may read and download the complete document from the Vatican website; be aware it is 264 pages long.

An option is to order it from the USCCB.

And finally ...

Peter was distressed that Jesus had said to him a third time, "Do you love me?" and said to Jesus, "Lord you know everything; you know that I love you." (John 21: 1-19)

The Risen Jesus makes his presence known to Peter and his fishing companions by calling them to cast their nets off the "right" side of the boat. Despite their doubts and frustrations, they do as Jesus instructs and end up with an incredible catch.

In the midst of our own disappointments and failures, our fears and doubts, the Risen Jesus challenges us to venture out from the tombs we dig for ourselves and "go fishing." We need to fish on the "right side" of the boat where gratitude and humility will secure a surprising catch.

When we act out of love, when we put aside our own fears and expectations for the sake of others, when we seek to imitate the selfless compassion of the Risen One, we will discover how strong and indestructible our own "nets" are. We will realize a "catch" of good things despite the hopelessness of the night, the fear of the unknown deep, the weight of the catch we struggle to haul to shore.

Brothers, the Easter Christ calls Peter and the apostles and now all of us to take on his work of reconciliation: to possess -- despite our weakness -- the heart of the Risen Jesus to forgive and seek forgiveness, to be the means of enabling God's mercy to be realized in our communities, our ministries, and the world.

With fraternal affection,

From Bro. Ron Overman

Dear Brothers:

From the Office of JPIC

"Cherish All of Creation"

Last August, with overwhelming support from you, the Province endorsed the Conference of Major Superiors of Men (CMSM) Resolution, "Cherish All of Creation."

One commitment from the resolution reads: "We resolve significantly to change our lifestyle, including our consumption habits, from ways that perpetuate climate change and towards the 'sound virtues' of an 'ecological citizenship' for a significantly lighter footprint."

In addition, the Marianist General Office of Temporalities has proposed the issue of sustainable and responsible use of water as its focus for the next several months. (See p. 3 of the current issue of Via Latina.)

In keeping with these directives, the Province JPIC Advisory Committee invites you to decrease or stop using bottled water.

What takes a few minutes to drink can end up as waste for a thousand years. Not buying bottled water saves money and avoids a negative impact on the environment.

Did you know:

Bottled water costs up to 10,000 times more than tap water.
Many bottled waters contain toxins.

It takes a quarter-liter of oil and three liters of water to deliver one liter of bottled water.

Around 90 percent of bottled water costs are from bottling, packaging, shipping and marketing -- not the water itself.

Fraternally,

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