Month: January 2021

Today our country commemorates the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. His impact on civil rights in our country and his call for a nonviolent approach to achieve that dream have propelled him to be among our nation’s greatest treasures and one of the most impactful people ever known to the human race. 

While today is a great National Holiday that encourages us to celebrate his life and his powerful and everlasting impact on our country’s history, it is also an annual reminder of just how far we still must journey as a country to truly fulfil his dream and legacy. Sadly, this past year has been one of the worst in our history in-regards-to civil unrest, race tensions and bitter divisions among so many of our fellow Brothers and Sisters. 

As we begin this New Year, I pray that we might embrace Hope, Love and our own renewed commitment to helping allow our country to continue to become that bright beacon of hope and light for an often-dark world. May we too “have a dream” and not be afraid to tirelessly work to allow that “dream” to become a reality. 

On this day in 1817, St. Marcellin Champagnat, a young French priest, who had recently been assigned to the rural parish of LaValla in France, founded our congregation of the Marist Brothers.  In the short four months that he first lived in this tiny hamlet, he came to see a great need for education for the young people of his area who had almost no instruction in the faith and even less hope of a real future. With two young recruits, no money and a dream of impacting the lives of many young people, Marcellin began our order of teaching Brothers on January 2, 1817. His dream continues to live today in 82 countries around our world and is carried forth by not only the approximately 3,000 Marist Brothers worldwide, but also the more than 75,000 Lay Marists, who share in making our charism a reality in the lives of almost 1 Million students each year.

As today’s Marists of Champagnat, may we be as daring as Marcellin in having the confidence to place our hopes and needs into the heart of Mary, our Good Mother. Let us trust that she will continue to inspire and guide us in making her Son known and loved in the hearts of all the young people who continue to be entrusted to our care. 

When Marcellin began this dream, he and those early young Brothers had no resources except for great faith, a deep family spirit and the willingness to work hard to make their dream a reality. As we embrace and carry forth that dream and that same Marist family spirit today, may we be as confident that our hard work will continue to impact countless lives in the years ahead.

New Year blessings and best wishes to you all as we happily celebrate the ending of 2020 which was a most difficult year for all in our world. We have much to be hopeful for in the months ahead as vaccines begin to be made available and a return to normality seems possible by late spring or early summer. As the liturgical season of Christmas continues for another week, may we continue to live in hope and joy that Christ has been reborn again this year in our lives. May we have the grace to keep alive the rich lesson that Dickens gave us many years ago when he wrote, “I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.” 

Today is also the Catholic Feast day of the Solemnity of Mary, which celebrates Mary being the Mother of our Lord. As we begin this New Year, may we entrust the many needs of our suffering world to the heart of Mary.

I often reflect on the story of Jean Valjean from the inspiring musical, Les Misérables. He endured many challenges on his life’s journey and at the end of the story passes on to his adopted Cosette the wisdom that “to love another person is to see the face of God”. May 2021 be a year in which we each come to truly see the face of God by loving all those that will grace our lives this coming year.