Today's Marists V.5 Issue 3 SPRING 2020

Today’s 

Spring 2020 

Volume 5 | Issue 3 

Marists 

Society of Mary in the U.S.

Today’s 


Spring 2020 | Volume 5 | Issue 3 

Publisher 

Editor 

Editorial Assistants 

Archivist 

Editorial Board 

Paul Frechette, SM, Provincial 

Ted Keating, SM 

Elizabeth Ann Flens Avila 

Communications Coordinator 

Philip Gage, SM 

Randy Hoover, SM 

Susan Plews, SSND 

Susan Illis 

Ted Keating, SM, Editor 

Thomas Ellerman, SM 

Joseph Hindelang, SM 

Randy Hoover, SM 

Bishop Joel Konzen, SM 

Jack Ridout 

Bill Rowland, SM 

Today’s Marists is published three times a year by The Marist 

Fathers and Brothers of the United States Province. The contents 

of this magazine consist of copyrightable material and cannot 

be reproduced without the expressed written permission of 

the authors and publisher. We wish to provide a public forum 

for ideas and opinion. Letters may be sent to: 

todaysmarists@maristsociety.org 

Editorial Office 

Editor: 202-529-2821 

Today’s Marists Magazine 

Society of Mary in the U.S. (The Marists) 

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Washington, DC 20017 

tel. 202-529-2821 

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Marist Provincial House 

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Marist Center 

4408 8th Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20017-2298 

In this issue... 

3 from the Provincial 

by Paul Frechette, SM 

4 A Primer for Marist Contemplation and 

Discernment? 

by Ted Keating, SM 

6 Discernment in Family Life 

by Elizabeth Piper 

7 Making that Decision! 

by Jack Ridout 

Society of Mary of the USA 

8 In the Spirit of Mary - Building Up the Local 

Church in Bahia, Brazil 

by Patrick Francis O’Neil, SM 

10 A Parish’s Response to Laudato Si’ 

by Mark Dannenfelser, et al. 

12 Notre Dame de France 

by Hubert Bonnet-Eymard, SM and Kevin Duffy, SM 

15 The Alumni Program at Marist School in 

Atlanta, Georgia 

by Mark Kenney, SM 

16 Movie Review: Jojo Rabbit 

by Brian Cummings, SM 

18 Compassion for the Forgotten Behind Bars 

by Lauro Arcede, SM 

19 Marist Lives: Fr. Stan Hosie, SM 


20 Marist Life: Balancing Spirit, Soul, Mind 

and Body 

by Tom Ellerman, SM 

21 A Star is Born! 

by Leon Olszamowski, SM 

22 News Brief 

22 Obituary 

23 Donor Thoughts: Why I Support the Marists 

by Jack and Lynn Cogan 

Marist Center of the West 

625 Pine Street, San Francisco, CA 94108-3210 

Cover Explanation 

Distributed freely by request to churches, schools and other 

organizations. Home delivery is available by free subscription. 

Contact our Editorial Office. Our website offers additional 

“Descent of the Holy Spirit” by Jason Jenicke, www.jasonjenicke.com 

information of interest to friends of the Marists. It is refreshed 

The cover image is a painting by Jason Jenicke, a young Catholic American artist, who 

regularly. 

is a painter of New Testament scenes with a special interest in the human figure in 

the moment of participation in the scene. We imagine this painting portraying group 

discernment as the Holy Spirit descends upon Mary and the Apostles as the birth of 

© 2019 by Society of Mary in the U.S. All rights reserved. 

the Church. The image presents their response with such embodied vigor and power 

that we seem to be invited into the room. From this moment they are driven out to 

Printed on partially-recycled stock with a vegetable-based ink mixture. 

proclaim the Word to the crowds hearing them “each in his own language.” 

Design: 2 Beth Ponticello | CEDC | www.cedc.org 

Today’s Marists Magazine

from the Provincial 

Fr. Paul Frechette, SM 

Reflections on a Challenging 

Ministerial Discernment Process 

In the Spring 2019 issue (Volume 5, Issue 1) of Today’s Marists 

we focused on the theme of discernment. Thomas Green, 

SJ, in his classic on the topic, Weeds Among the Wheat (Ave 

Maria Press, 1984) defines discernment as “the meeting point 

of prayer and action.” The title of Green’s book comes from 

the Gospel parable, as you will no doubt recognize, of the 

farmhand who asks the farmer what to do when he discovers 

that someone has sown destructive weeds abundantly in the 

field of good wheat. (Matthew 13:24) 

The title of Green’s classic on discernment shows how 

challenging the work of sifting the “wheat and weeds” of inner 

experience can be, because false and destructive desires are 

often mixed together with our greatest hopes for purity. This 

sifting can only be done effectively when others are ready to 

help “keep us clear.” It involves a boundless humility in our 

path to God of which Ignatius himself spoke so frequently. 

The Marists have recently entered into this challenging 

discernment process with the prayerful decision to return Holy 

Rosary Parish in Buckhannon, West Virginia to the Diocese of 

Wheeling-Charleston in June 2020. This decision did not come 

easily to us because of our rich missionary history serving the 

Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston for the past 118 years, and our 

love for the people of Holy Rosary Parish. We have reflected 

on the situation at Holy Rosary for the past five years. It was 

heart breaking for us Marists to make this decision since we 

have spent some years now threading the eye of the needle and 

staying on just as long as we were able, even making sacrifices 

elsewhere. 

An element considered in this discernment process included 

our awareness of the call of Vatican II. Vatican II called for 

opening the Church to the longings and call of the baptized to 

the Center of the Church and its ministries, even though that 

has led to a diminishment in the numbers of vocations to the 

religious life. The baptized do not have to become religious to 

exercise that role now. So, it is with gratitude to the Spirit for 

our long history of ministry and leadership in West Virginia 

and our own role in empowering the laity in our ministries 

there that we say farewell. We are happy to leave in our wake 

there a Vatican II Church with a laity ready and willing to 

take up their own challenge from Vatican II. In a sense, “as we 

diminish, they increase.” We are confident that the priestly 

diocesan leadership in Buckhannon will continue that path. 

I met with Bishop Mark Brennan and we discussed the reasons 

why the Marists needed to return Holy Rosary to the Diocese. 

Bishop Brennan expressed deep appreciation for the many 

years that the Marists have been in the Diocese and valued 

how instrumental we had been in the early establishment 

of the Diocese. He assured us that a diocesan pastor would 

be assigned to Holy Rosary to continue the ministries of the 

parish. We are confident that the parishioners will continue 

the Marist spirit of thinking, judging, feeling and acting as Mary 

in all things. 

So, in departing, we dedicate the future here in Buckhannon to 

the gracious Providence of God. The parishioners will always 

be in our hearts and our love of and closeness to the people will 

never end. Through our discernment process in making this 

decision, it is our prayer that the Marist Statement of Identity 

has become and continues to be a guiding influence for the 

parishioners of Holy Rosary. 

Spring 2020 3

A Primer for Marist Contemplation 

and Discernment? 

Editorial Team 

You can say many things about our editorial choices in Today’s 

Marists but consistency to the point of persistency could be 

one of them. This current issue completes two volumes, six 

issues in all, unfolding one major theme that emerged from 

the September 2017 General Chapter (a world meeting of the 

Marists in Rome): 

“Contemplation as the energy source, the mystical heart 

of Marist mission, is intimately linked with our identity 

as Marist religious. To form a communion for mission, 

we need to deepen the contemplative dimension of 

our lives. With Jesus at the center we can, like Mary, be 

missionaries of hope.” (2017 General Chapter, 30) 

This was a significant moment at the General Chapter as we 

looked at the state of the Society of Mary in its Provinces and 

Districts throughout the world. The first Today’s Marists issue 

in Volume 4 (Spring 2018), published after the Chapter, 

began with a reflection on the topic of contemplation by 

John Larsen, SM, the Superior General. This was followed 

by an article by the 2017 Province Retreat Director, Michael 

Whelan, SM, of Australia. In his article, “The Marist Way, a 

Contemplative Way”, he developed the theme of contemplation 

from the writings of our Founder, Jean-Claude Colin. Another 

article in this issue, “Mary, Model of Contemplation in 

Action” by Ted Keating, SM made use of Fr. Colin’s view of 

the contemplative life of Mary as a model for mission and 

ministry. Marist Postulant Nik Rodewald, while preparing 

for the Novitiate was interviewed by the vocation director, 

Jack Ridout. He presented a fresh view of Marist spirituality 

that drew him to the Marists which was rooted in “breathing 

her spirt” – interpreted as what leads Marists to living her 

life, a contemplative life. Brian Cummings, SM, who treats 

us in each issue to a reflection on a current film for spiritual 

insight, saw Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri as 

a way of capturing Colin’s pastoral insight - that we are not 

called to “solve people’s problems” but to “relate to them at 

the level of the heart to enter into the mystery of their lives” – a 

contemplative path. 

The Fall 2018 issue (Volume 4, Issue 2) opened with 

“Marists and the Mysticism of Action” by Ted Keating, SM, 

a phrase (borrowed from Jesuit Studies and a favorite of 

Fr. Peter Hans Kolvenbach, SM, the Superior General of the 

Jesuits) reflecting the great work the Jesuits have done in 

renewing St. Ignatius’s original contemplative emphasis. It 

also captures Colin’s personal mysticism evident in his life now 

shared with us in the new biography of Colin by Justin Taylor, 

SM. The Centerspread article in this issue focused on three 

Marists working in prison ministry in the United States. The 

three Marists chose unusual ways of naming their ministry 

which conveyed a profound insight into what they were 

encountering in these locked cells secured by armed guards. 

Tony O’Connor, SM, working with imprisoned migrants and 

refugees at the United States border titled his ministry, “In My 

Prison There are No Criminals.” John Bolduc, SM described the 

Suffolk County House of Corrections in Boston, Massachusetts 

as “A Temple Where I Feel the Presence of Christ.” Réne Iturbe, 

SM, viewed his Marist ministry at numerous California prisons 

as being, “An Instrument of Mercy” with convicted inmates 

and immigrants, both of whom he befriended and with whom 

he formed healing relationships of mercy. Irony, upon irony, 

upon irony that reflects a mystical sense of life for these three 

men. They see what is there while at the same time see through 

what is there. Brian Cummings, SM, writing about the eerie 

film Loving Vincent, reflected on Colin’s sense of bringing 

about a “new Church” in our chaotic world – “Not as we know 

it” – moving beyond our “comfort zone” and drawn by the 

freshness of the Spirit into a new reality of a new creation. 

The third and final issue of Volume 4 (Winter 2019) took 

us into the “explosive power of surprising Hope and 

creativity” that a contemplative life brings to our sense 

of Mission. A reflection by Ted Keating, SM, “Of Refugees, 

Pilgrims, and Caravans” – each of these being journeys rooted 

in hope and only made possible by that hope as a discerned 

choice over despair and depression in the face of challenges 

– presented a keen insight into a central aspect of the identity 

of the United States as a nation of immigrants. Gerard Hall, 

SM, an Australian Marist theologian, explored the heart of the 

integration of contemplation and discernment in ministry 

and mission in his article, “Mysticism at the Heart of Marist 

Mission.” The dimension of pilgrimage was also demonstrated 

in the Centerspread article about the new ministry of the 

European Province on the Camino de Santiago, one of the most 

ancient and famous pilgrimage routes through France and 

Spain. The ministry there is one of hospitality, counsel, a coffee 

4 Today’s Marists Magazine

or a meal and accompaniment in prayer with “seekers on the 

road”. Brian Cummings’s movie reflection was on First Man, 

a movie about Neil Armstrong, one of the most famous and 

remarkable journeyers to set foot on the moon. Yet for all that, 

both Armstrong and his wife, Janet, come across as examples 

of people so close to the very heights of human destiny yet who 

end up deeply human and almost unaware of this “great step” 

for all humankind. 

In Volume 5 we took that natural step from contemplation/ 

mysticism into discernment. If a life of contemplation 

in Christ gradually fills our hearts, our minds and our 

imaginations with the Presence of God, that presence 

drives us to it into the world of suffering humanity. “It is 

no longer I who live but Christ Who lives in me.” In the first 

issue of Volume 5 (Spring 2019) Ted Keating, SM wrote 

the theme article “Contemplation Meeting Action in 

Discernment.” He stated, “The world of mystery, prayer, and 

faith has to hit the ground in action.” Faithfulness to the God 

of our heart is the very meaning of discernment, of where 

the will of God leads us in the world. Mary Ghisolfo, former 

president of Marist Laity and former principal of École Notre 

Dame des Victoires, a school rooted in Marist values, wrote 

“Servant Leadership and Marist Values.” Her article showed the 

faithful move from prayer and contemplation to service. The 

Centerspread focused on the formation of our young Marists 

at the Scholasticate in Rome, Italy, as they are prepared for 

Marist life and ministry. Brian Cumming’s reflection on the 

film Of Gods and Men described a whole movie of embodied 

discernment in the ordinariness of daily life - the true story 

of a Trappist monastery in Tiburtine, Algeria. Their life of 

contemplation, communal prayer, dialogue and service to the 

local Muslim community all factored into the very difficult 

group decision to remain in the monastery during the Algerian 

Civil War - arriving at the discerned truth that abandoning 

their surrounding Muslim community could not possibly 

be the right path. They knew they would likely be murdered 

by the military and they were. It was one long painful story 

of the heart of discernment. The seven Trappist monks were 

beatified in 2018. Finally, in this issue, Jack Ridout, the vocation 

director, shared the experience of helping many young men 

through their process of discernment in “Marist Vocational 

Discernment in Today’s World.” 

The Fall 2019 issue (Volume 5, Issue 2), in a striking 

article by Brendan Murphy, a Social Studies teacher at 

Marist School in Atlanta, Georgia, shared the critical 

role of experience in forming the soul for discernment 

in an article based on his Bearing Witness program at 

Marist School. He opened with a quote from Murray Linn, a 

holocaust survivor, that came from a letter Linn had written 

to the students of the program: “It is said that the greatest 

journey starts at the heart. In the years to come you will have 

a chance to clear the mirage clouding the views, lift the veil 

of misconception and serve as a beacon of enlightenment to 

humankind. You are a gift of history to our legacy.” Bearing 

Witness is a profound program that teaches the students 

about the Jewish Holocaust in Germany. Brian Cummings 

reflected upon the movie, The Children Act, an adaptation of 

an Ian McEwan novel. The movie presented a scandal of good 

intentions with painful results - attempting to let the oftenpainful 

role of logic and law, which tries to legislate the “good” 

for children, - come to be seen as an evil twin of discernment. 

Nik Rodewald, while in the Marist novitiate, shared aspects of 

his discernment about his decision to take vows as a Marist. He 

reflected upon the “power of narratives” - building a vision out 

of the stories of which our lives are made, and now looking for 

God’s ever-present voice for this next step in that story. Kevin 

Duggan, SM, a Campus Minister at Marist College in New York, 

reflected on his efforts to help college students make use of 

their faith for the important life decisions they face at their age 

combined with a culture that can only distort and confuse a 

faithful remembrance of what God calls them to in a particular 

“vocation.” Ted Keating, SM, in his article, tried to unravel the 

misuse of the word “method” when used with discernment. 

Discernment is not a method but the surprising finding of a gift 

of grace from God - unearned but discovered as a gift waiting 

for us in our lives and histories. “I once was blind but now I 

see.” 

In this issue of Volume 5, we conclude this collaborative effort 

of communal discernment to explore, develop and deeply 

reflect on one of the key emphases of the Marist General 

Chapter. You will find a piece by Elizabeth Piper, a member of 

Marist Laity, on the ordinariness of day by day discernment 

in families. The Centerspread looks at what discernment 

over the course of many years has creatively brought to the 

life in Leicester Square in London at Notre Dame de France, 

the French Church of London. Here numerous volunteers, 

especially many Marist Laity, serve refugees, the homeless, 

the hungry, and work with large numbers of youth. This was 

a carefully discerned ministerial effort making good use of 

one of our earliest parishes. Mark Dannenfelser, the adult 

education director for Our Lady of the Assumption parish in 

Atlanta, Georgia describes his work in helping adult Catholics 

better discern what it means to live in a world more and 

more in peril as Pope Francis reminds us in Laudato Sí. Brian 

Cummings, SM, brings his skills for faith reflection to the 

sometimes-controversial movie Jojo Rabbit, watching specific 

acts of love transform the lives of three people under the Nazi 

oppression. Can humor in the midst of tragedy be an element 

of discernment? 

As John Larsen, SM, said early in this collaborative effort: “One 

of the most remarkable (and perhaps unexpected) challenges 

that arose from our recent General Chapter (2017) was the 

clarion call for all Marists to live a life of contemplation.” We 

hope we can say that Today’s Marists in its own small way heard 

that the clarion call. 


Discernment in 

Family Life 

by Elizabeth Piper, World Lay Marist Co-Leader 

When I think about 

discernment, what 

comes to mind is 

the talks that we 

have with children 

about considering 

religious life. Such 

talks are usually 

directed to people 

who may be called to 

be a priest, brother 

or sister, but those of 

us that discern that 

we are not called to 

consecrated religious 

life are also called 

by God. God calls all 

of us. Our job is to 

discern God’s unique 

invitation to each one of us and how we are to answer this call. 

In my life, the form of religious life that I have discerned is one 

of laity in the family as a wife and mom. In family life we are 

able to pass on our faith to our children by being examples 

for them so that our children are able to discern their call. We 

continue to discern as lifelong learners in our faith growing 

and developing our spirituality. 

The first thing my birth mother asked me when we spoke for 

the first time in 56 years was “Are you Catholic?” I thought 

this was an interesting question since I was not raised in the 

Catholic church. My conversion to Catholicism came about 

when I started dating my husband, Steve, who regularly 

went to church before we went out on Saturday nights. As 

our relationship developed, I asked if I could go with him to 

church. While at church I would see people leaving for the 

RCIA class. RCIA became the way that God connected me to 

the church and to my husband. Through this discernment 

process of RCIA God called me to be a part of his church and to 

live as a married woman with Steve. Though my birth mother 

was not Catholic she wanted me to have a life centered in God 

and surrounded by community which is what she saw in the 

Catholic church. This is also what Steve and I wanted for our 

family. 

The process of discernment continued in our married life. Are 

we called to be parents? How does our work play a role in our 

family and faith life? When will we know the best time for our 

family to grow? We laid these questions in God’s hands. My 

work in a retail clothing store was very unrewarding and I felt 

that a change was needed. I tried working in the wholesale 

industry and then in childcare. Together Steve and I prayed for 

Top Left: Brian Piper’s Confirmation with Jeremy Carson as sponsor and Bishop Joel 

Konzen, SM 

Top Right: World Marist Laity group 

Bottom: Baptism of Miles Carson with his parents Jeremy and Mary Ann Carson and 

grandparents Elizabeth and Steve Piper with Rhonda and Dennis Carson 

guidance in searching for a vocation. I felt that I was called to 

be a teacher, but in college I was told that I could not pursue 

this career because I was dyslexic. Working in childcare 

allowed me to work with children in a way that gave me an 

opportunity to nurture and shape children. God gave me this 

gift which I was able to develop through a different path. 

Children soon came in God’s time, not our time. We were 

blessed with two girls three years apart then five years later 

we had two boys, also three years apart. In our growing family 

Steve and I chose to make sure that developing our faith was 

where we wanted to put our time and energy. Our children all 

received the gift of baptism almost as soon as they were born. 


Deciding to raise our children in the 

Catholic church has been a huge part of 

our lives. In order to provide a faith base 

for our children it was important for us 

to develop our own faith and to make 

sacrifices to make sure that our family 

attended Mass each Sunday. This meant 

that when we traveled to swim meets 

with our son we found a local church to 

attend Mass. 

Steve and I also became catechists 

using the program Catechesis of the 

Good Shepherd (CGS), a Montessori 

based program centered around the 

child building his/her own personal 

relationship with God. Each of the three 

levels of CGS required a minimum of 90 

hours of formation to be a catechist. This 

formation for me started off as a way that 

I as a parent could bring the faith to my 

child though what I discovered was how I 

learned from the children. The scriptural 

based program allowed the children to 

dive deeper into their faith focused on 

scripture and sacraments. It also allowed 

Steve and I to become lifelong learners of 

our faith. 

Now that all of our children have become 

master catechists and received the 

gift of Confirmation, Steve and I are 

continuing the development of our faith 

through retreats, studies and service. 

The Society of Mary (Marists) has played 

a significant role in our lives. Steve is 

an alum of Marist School in Atlanta, 

Georgia. When we were dating, we 

met other alumni friends at football 

games. When we decided to marry it 

was officiated by a Marist priest. Three 

of our four children also graduated 

from Marist School. When my daughter, 

Mary Ann, became a lay Marianist, I 

was drawn to lay orders. Because of 

our connection to the Marists, my first 

question was, “Could you tell me about 

the Lay branch of the Marists?” As my 

spirituality grew, I needed “more.” There 

were others that were also looking and 

we connected through Marist Way 

activities. This resulted in the growth of 

a new community of people with shared 

interests based on living the Marist Way. 

The thread of Marist values has been 

sewn through our family’s life. We as a 

Marist family live our faith and pass it on 

to our children so that we can all grow to 

be lifelong learners by thinking as Mary, 

judging as Mary, feeling and acting as 

Mary in all things. 

Making that 

Decision! 

by Jack Ridout 

When someone is trying to figure out what to do with their life, guidelines can 

be helpful. 

One possible method of finding one’s way in life can be found in the lyrics 

from a song sung by Mother Superior in the Sound of Music, “Climb every 

mountain, ford every stream, follow every rainbow, till you find your dream.” 

It might have worked for Maria, but not realistically for everyone. 

Making a lifelong decision demands work, and the word lifelong does not 

resonate with everyone in today’s world. A job that is lifelong sounds scary 

when “choice” is today’s buzz word, and making a choice requires work, 

and it can take some time. One needs to put every effort into making this 

decision. It’s called discernment, and it can take upwards of a year. 

One easy way to get started is called journaling. Whether you are considering 

a religious vocation or a secular path, keeping a journal can help in 

understanding what makes you think a certain way and can help you see 

what a possible path is all about. In a journal, you write down your thoughts 

about what you like and dislike and about what brings joy to your life. 

Each response will clarify your doubts about your future. Before you can 

say YES, you will end up by saying NO a thousand times to either yourself, 

others, or things around you in your life. Uncovering your likes and dislikes 

makes the final decision a bit easier as you are getting to know yourself and 

understanding what makes you tick. 

A next step in your discernment would be to talk with someone you trust 

about your thoughts. For example, a mentor or teacher can guide you, but 

it should be someone who knows you well enough to steer you in the right 

direction or answer your questions without being judgmental. 

These suggestions will hopefully bring you to better understand your path for 

the future. When doubts disappear, clarity can prevail. It will take work - but 

it will be worth it. Remember it’s your life. Live it well! 


IN THE SPIRIT OF MARY 

Building Up the Local 

Church in Bahia, Brazil 

by Patrick Francis O’Neil, SM, Member of Marist Mission Community in the District of Brazil 

The Mission of the Marist Fathers and 

Brothers in Bahia, Brazil began in 1987. 

The establishment of this mission came 

after time had been spent looking for a 

Diocese located in a poor area of Brazil 

where the Marists could offer support 

not only in parish ministry but also to 

the Diocese as a whole. The idea was to 

re-model our Marist origins in the Bugey 

region of southeastern France among the 

rural poor during the great absence of 

priests from 1825 to 1829. Eventually the 

Diocese of Caetité in the southwestern 

area of the state of Bahia was chosen. 

At the time, the Diocese, which is about 

the same size as Holland (about twice 

the size of the state of New Jersey), had 

35 parishes but only twelve priests. 

Today the Diocese has 38 parishes and 

40 priests, which includes the Marist 

community of four members. 

In the beginning of the mission, the 

Marists worked in the towns of Urandi, 

Pindaí, and Sebastião Laranjeiras. 

Over time these areas became more 

developed. The towns were able to 

support a local Brazilian diocesan priest 

and were equipped with the necessary 

parish infrastructure. 

So in 2000 the Marists decided to move 

120km (74.5 miles) farther west in 

the diocese to parishes in the towns 

of Palmas de Monte Alto, Iuiú, and 

Malhada, located on the banks of the 

São Francisco River. These parishes 

are among the poorest in the diocese. 

Together the three parishes cover an area 

of 6,000 square kilometers (2,316 miles) 

and have a population of 50,000 people, 

of whom 80% are Catholic. In addition to 

serving these three towns in the Sertão 

of Bahia, the Marists also attend to 80 

rural communities accessible only by 

dirt roads. 

The rural populations either have 

their own small farms, or they work as 

“vaqueiros” (similar to “cowboys”) on 

large cattle ranches owned by others. 

Many also pick cotton on these large 

farms. The agriculture activities center 

on yearly subsistence crops of beans, 

corn, or cotton. There is also milk 

production on some farms, and cattle 

raising on the big ranches. In the Sertão 

region the per capita income is around 

$150.00 (US) a month for those lucky 

enough to find work. 

Every year, the Sertão area, a semidesert 

region, experiences an 8-9 month 

period without rain. To help address this 

problem, one of the projects the Marists 

began, together with other Catholic 

Top: Patrick O’Neil, SM leading Palm Sunday procession 

in Fundão, a community of the Iuiu Parish 

Bottom: Interior of the Church of Nossa Senhora, Mãe de 

Deus e dos Homens 


groups, was the construction of 16,000 

liter (4,220 gallon) water tanks to capture 

rainwater. One water tank was enough 

to provide a family of six with pure 

water for drinking and cooking for nine 

months. The local Secretary of Health 

informed the Marists that these water 

tanks made a huge difference improving 

infant mortality rates, since before this 

project families in the region had been 

sharing muddy and contaminated water 

with farm animals. The project was so 

successful that it was adopted by the 

Federal Government with the slogan: 

“One million water tanks for the people 

of the Northeast!” 

In addition to serving these three poor 

rural parishes, the Marists teach a 

theology course for laity in Caetité. The 

new Bishop, Dom José Roberto Silva 

Carvalho, has also entrusted the Marists 

with coordinating Youth Ministry 

programs for the whole diocese, and 

Marists work with other religious and 

diocesan clergy to promote vocations. 

Over the years, the promotion of 

vocations has resulted in four of today’s 

eight Brazilian Marist priests coming 

from the Sertão region. There are 

currently five more young people from 

the area at our Marist Seminary in Belo 

Horizonte. 

Currently the Parish of Nossa Senhora 

Mãe de Deus e dos Homens (Our Lady, 

Mother of God and Men) in Palmas de 

Monte Alto is in the process of becoming 

a diocesan Shrine. The church was built 

in 1742, and a beautiful statue of Our 

Lady came from Portugal that same year, 

demonstrating that Marian devotion is 

very strong in the region. 

The story behind the church is 

interesting. The area surrounding 

Palmas de Monte Alto was a huge 

cattle farm covered in thorny caatinga 

vegetation. When it came time for the 

annual cattle round-up, the owner, 

Francisco Pereira de Barros, realized 

that a substantial portion of his herd 

was missing. As one strongly devoted 

to Our Lady, he made a promise that if 

he recovered his cattle, he would build 

a church in her honor. And that is what 

happened. 

In his Last Will and Testament, he 

donated his farm to Our Lady for her to 

watch over in perpetuity. Although his 

wishes were not respected and others 

acquired the property over the years, 

Mary continues to watch over the region, 

and it is fitting that the people here are 

now served by the Marists. 

In the same parish there is a strong 

Marist Laity group, and together with the 

Marist priests they have begun to form a 

support group for families dealing with 

the scourge of alcoholism. Due to the 

extreme poverty and the depression and 

despair that accompany it, alcoholism 

is a serious problem in the whole region. 

The Marists also work with local area 

schools in Drug and Alcohol Prevention 

programs. 

While there is still much to be done in 

order to serve the suffering poor of the 

Sertão, today’s Marists, in the spirit of 

Mary and the early pioneers in the Bugey 

region, continue working to build up the 

local Church and the Kingdom of God. 

Top: Church of Nossa Senhora, Mãe de Deus e dos 

Homens at a distance 

Middle: “Vaqueiros” (cowboys) of the region wearing 

typical leather clothing to protect them from the thorns 

of the Caatinga, a type of desert vegetation 

Bottom: A typical means of transportation in the region 


A Parish’s Response 

to Laudato Si’ 

by Mark Dannenfelser, Jim Duffy, SM, Maria Massey, Suzanne Degnats, Suzanne Ernst, Chris Thompson, 

Cindy Thompson, Janis Niesse, and Lisa Cordell 

A Beginning 

In the Fall of 2012, fifteen parishioners 

from Our Lady of the Assumption Church 

(OLA) in Atlanta, Georgia gathered in the 

parish library to begin a comprehensive 

study and prayerful discussion of the 

Church’s rich body of teachings on 

social justice. The group used materials 

designed by JustFaith Ministries, an 

organization that provides resources to 

help people respond to the Gospel’s call 

to love, peace and justice for all. Over the 

course of 30 weeks the group read several 

books on Church teaching, engaged in 

lively discussion, and prayed together. 

As the weeks progressed discussions 

focused on social action and the question 

emerged: “What is mine to do?” 

Through prayerful and informed 

discernment, members moved into 

action. Some started teaching in 

the Dreamers Program, a ministry 

held nearby at Marist School, where 

immigrants take classes leading to GEDs 

and college credits. Others became 

involved in prison ministry. Eventually 

with the support of the pastor, Fr. 

Jim Duffy, SM, the Justice and Peace 

Ministry (JPM) was established at OLA. 

The ministry’s mission is to educate, 

advocate and live the seven principles 

of Catholic Social Teaching (Life and 

Dignity of the Human Person; Call to 

Family, Community, and Participation; 

Rights and Responsibilities; Option for the 

Poor and Vulnerable; Dignity of Work and 

Rights of Workers; Solidarity; Care for God’s 

Creation). The newly formed ministry 

team sponsored a weekend on capital 

punishment, which included showing a 

video presentation by Archbishop Wilton 

Gregory (former Archbishop of Atlanta) 

discussing capital punishment at all 

Sunday Masses. The deacons preached on 

it while the team shared literature after 

Mass clarifying the Church’s position. 

In 2014, the JPM began holding monthly 

Fair Trade sales, selling Catholic Relief 

Services (CRS) certified coffee, tea and 

chocolate. With the help of the JPM, the 

parish also supported small cooperatives, 

ensuring that farmers earned a fair wage. 

Using the profits from the Fair Trade sales, 

the JPM commissioned Food for the Poor 

to build 4 new homes in Central America. 

This program continues today with more 

homes scheduled to be built in the future. 

Additionally, the ministry holds an 

annual drive to support Stand Up for Kids, 

an organization that helps homeless and 

street kids in cities across America. 

Laudato Si’ 

In June of 2015 Pope Francis released 

his environmental encyclical, Laudato 

Si’, or “Praised Be.” This important 

document inspired the OLA JPM ministry 

to increase and expand its effort to bring 

love, peace and justice for all; all people, 

all creatures and all of creation. As the 

ministry focused its vision around caring 

for our common home, it also deepened 

its reflection on what it means to love, and 

how this spiritual practice of caring for 

one another and caring for all of creation 

leads us to a deeper relationship with the 

One who is Creator of all. 

During this time Archbishop Gregory 

responded to Laudato Si’ with a letter 

to parishes in the Atlanta Archdiocese 

in which he wrote “There are no easy 

or facile solutions to the challenges we 

face to protect and preserve resources 

that belong to all of humanity.” The 

Archbishop asked that all of us “carefully 

review what Pope Francis said in the 

encyclical and more importantly to 

consider what each of us might do to 

respond to this concern which touches 

us all.” The Archbishop then engaged the 

University of Georgia in Athens (UGA) to 

help devise an action plan for Georgia. 

Top: JPM and the Creation Care Ministry members 

during contemplative Centering Prayer 

Bottom: OLA Just Faith garden 

The “Laudato Si’ Action Plan,” authored 

by UGA professors and staff, contains 

a variety of options for parishes to help 

reverse the threat of global climate 

change and environmental degradation, 

and to create a more sustainable world in 

harmony with God. 

This development inspired OLA’s JPM 

to conduct a class on Laudato Si’ for all 

parishioners. As a direct result of the 

course, OLA formed a Care for Creation 

team to implement the Archdiocesan 

action plan locally. As a first step the 

team is hoping to participate in an 

archdiocesan-sponsored energy, water, 

and waste audit conducted by Georgia 


Interfaith Power and Light (GIPL). 

Looking for ways to make the parish 

more environmentally friendly is already 

happening. Additionally, the Creation 

Care team intends to participate in 

a local annual effort to clean up the 

Chattahoochee River. During Lent the 

team organized a parish-wide prayer 

service, conducting the Stations of the 

Cross service in Light of Laudato Si’. The 

service invited participants to reflect on 

both the passion and the suffering of the 

entirety of creation. Increasing education 

is an important concern for the team. The 

Creation Care team members provide 

information on the implementation of 

Laudato Si’ and inform parishioners about 

opportunities for service at OLA and other 

environmental service organizations. 

Some of the members attended the Green 

Summit given by GIPL for interfaith 

inspiration and information. 

The OLA parish school has also made 

tremendous strides enacting the Laudato 

Si’ Action Plan. It began to incorporate 

the main themes of Laudato Si’ within the 

curriculum in April 2017 and held an inservice 

course for the teachers and staff. 

The school is engaging these themes in 

many ways throughout the curriculum. 

Students in science class work to calculate 

their carbon footprint. They then 

determine and promote ways to reduce it. 

Literature teachers have added the book 

“A Long Walk to Water” to the required 

summer reading list, exposing students 

to global environmental issues. The 

school recycles aluminum, plastic, and 

paper with the help of a student Recycling 

Club. Older students travel off-site to 

work in community gardens and prepare 

meal kits for clinics. Several students 

visit terminal cancer patients at nursing 

homes, while others visit and play with 

children with special needs. 

In 2018, OLA Catholic School built an 

addition, which includes a new cafeteria 

and kitchen. The cafeteria serves lunches 

on permanent plates and flatware, 

which are cleaned with a water-saving 

automatic dishwasher. The students 

planted a garden on school grounds, and 

the cafeteria incorporates the harvest 

in meal preparation. When designing a 

new addition, the school opted to install 

a variable refrigerant flow (VRF) heating 

and cooling system, which is expected to 

lower energy costs by fifty percent. 

Going Forth 

Alongside all of this important action and 

behavior change, there has also been an 

effort to learn and reflect; to change our 

hearts. Many members of the JPM and 

the Creation Care Ministry have been 

deepening their prayer lives, especially 

in the tradition of contemplative prayer. 

Community members are seeing the 

link between contemplation and action, 

experiencing the transformation that 

takes place while praying the prayer of the 

heart, and seeing more deeply our interrelatedness 

to the entirety of creation. 

During contemplative practices such 

as Centering Prayer, Adoration, Lectio 

Divina, we put on the mind of Christ and 

begin to experience our relationship with 

God and our concerns for equality, justice 

and the non-discrimination of people and 

the planet as intimately related. 

Increasing education and action 

regarding care for creation has been 

both inspiring and challenging. In a 

recent homily by Jim Duffy, SM, we were 

reminded about our core beliefs and the 

challenges associated with following 

them. Fr. Jim preached on the text, 

Matthew 5: 38-48, and said, “I believe 

this passage is one of the cornerstones of 

Christianity and it is difficult to live out, 

but that is precisely what we are to do. We 

are called to non-violence by word and 

deed. We are called to care for each other 

and for God’s creation. To work for justice 

and equality for all. This is difficult to do, 

but it marks us as Christians.” 


NOTRE DAME DE FRANCE 

A Marist Parish Committed to 

Evangelizing Through Word & Action 

by Hubert Bonnet-Eymard, SM and Kevin Duffy, SM 

Notre Dame de France (NDF) is a parish 

in Soho, London (Leicester Square) that 

will celebrate its 155th anniversary in 

2020. Known as the French Catholic 

Church in London, NDF began in 1865 

after Cardinal Nicholas Wiseman, the 

first Archbishop of Westminster, asked 

the Society of Mary (Marists) to create a 

mission parish for the French community 

in London. By 1868, the church mission 

focused on meeting the needs of poor 

French inhabitants of Leicester Square 

and grew to include a hospital, an 

orphanage, and two schools that were 

run by the Sisters of Saint Vincent de Paul 

(Daughters of Charity). 

It has not been an easy road for the parish 

ever since its beginnings. The church 

was destroyed by two bombs during 

the Battle of Britain (the German Blitz) 

in 1940. After the war the church was 

rebuilt and decorated to be a showcase 

of contemporary French art. The fresco 

in the church, by French muralist Jean 

Cocteau, attracts many visitors each 

year. This fresco is mentioned in Dan 

Brown’s The Da Vinci Code. In addition to 

the art, the Cavaillé Coll organ, built by 

August Gern, attracts numerous tourists 

and music lovers to the church. NDF 

parish prospered in the years following 

its rebuilding as additional programs 

were created to meet the growing 

demands of parishioners. Over time the 

specifically French parish of NDF became 

predominantly a parish for French 

speakers, especially immigrants from 

Mauritius. 

Despite the growth of the parish, the 

Marists had to withdraw from NDF in 

1987 due to a shortage of personnel in the 

Society of Mary. Five years later, however, 

the Marists returned after the general 

administration of the Society of Mary 

established an international community 

for serving NDF. This community of 

Marists was composed then of Clive Birch 

(England), Walter Gaudreau (United 

States), and Paul Walsh (Ireland). 

Today NDF, under the authority of the 

Marist Province of Europe, is one of 

the primary projects of the province. 

The Marist community of the parish 

continues to be international, and is 

currently comprised of Pascal Boidin 

(France), Hubert Bonnet-Eymard 

(France), Damien Diouf (Senegal), Kevin 

Duffy (England), and Ivan Vodopivec 

(England). Moreover, since 2012 the 

Missionary Sisters of the Society of 

Mary (SMSM) have shared in the parish 

mission and currently supply two 

sisters, Emmanuelle Fuchs (France) and 

Anne Suman Lata (Fiji), to work in the 

ministries there. 

Over the years, the considerable growth of 

French-speaking immigrants in London 

has called for increased pastoral services 

at Notre Dame de France. This has led to 

the creation of new ministerial groups 

and programs in the parish. NDF is a 


unique parish in that the parishioners 

do not share a residential area where 

they live but a language. Together with 

various laypeople, the NDF community 

shares a mission that is complex, diverse, 

and in constant evolution as we attend 

to the various needs of the people, with 

a particular focus on the poor and the 

young. 

Notre Dame Refugee Centre 

The Notre Dame Refugee Centre (NDRC) 

(www.notredamerc.org.uk) has been 

working with refugees and asylum 

seekers for more than 20 years, thanks to 

the generosity of Londoners who share 

our goals and beliefs. 

The Refugee Centre was originally 

established by NDF in 1996 in response to 

changes in asylum and immigration law. 

In 2007 Notre Dame Refugee Centre was 

registered as an independent charity. 

While many visitors are French speaking, 

we have welcomed people from 98 

different countries over the five past 

years. The Centre is run by five parttime 

staff members and a team of 40 

volunteers. Four of our consultants are 

currently accredited by the Office of 

the Immigration Services Commission 

(OISC). 

One of our visitors who was aided by the 

services at NDRC previously spent years 

sleeping on London buses. Today he has 

shelter and works at the refugee Centre. 

He was recently featured in a BBC article 

that had over three million hits on one 

day. You can read the full article at: 

www.bbc.co.uk/news/stories-50459821. 

It is because of the commitment of the 

staff, volunteers and donors, that we are 

able to offer emotional and practical 

support to people who often find the 

doors closed to them elsewhere. 

Sandwich Service 

The Sandwich service is open every 

Saturday from 12:30pm to 2:30pm. 

Volunteers arrive at 10:30am to set up 

tables and chairs and prepare sandwiches 

that will later be served with pizza, 

soup, tea, coffee, cakes and fruit. The 

volunteers work to make the area a 

welcoming place. Each Saturday we 

welcome between 100 to 140 guests from 

all different backgrounds - anyone with 

broken relationships and those who find 

life difficult. 

Cosme, one of the volunteers at the 

Sandwich service wrote: “The Sandwich 

service at Notre Dame de France is a 

special place. My friend Laure told me a 

continues on page 14 

Top p.12: Celebration of Mass at Notre Dame de France 

Top Left: Notre Dame de France Refugee Centre volunteers 

Top Right: Notre Dame de France parish 

Middle Left: Marist community at NDF: (Left to right) Kevin Duffy, 

SM, Pascal Boidin, SM, Damien Diouf, SM, Hubert Bonnet-Eymard, 

SM, Ivan Vodopivec, SM 

Middle Right: Spirit in the City attendees 

Bottom: Notre Dame de France volunteers 


Notre Dame de France, continued from page 13 

few years ago at a time when I was looking 

to give some of my time to help others. 

I had been somewhat reluctant to go as 

it meant waking up earlier than usual 

on a Saturday morning to go and meet 

homeless people. I feared it might make 

me feel uncomfortable: What would I say 

to them? How should I speak? How could 

I really help? One day I simply decided 

to go, and since then I have always 

wondered why I hadn’t joined the service 

earlier. This has been a blessing for me 

in so many ways. I soon realized that the 

sandwich service is not so much about 

the food. It is more about encounter. It is a 

means to renew relationships and create a 

nest, a familiar place for those who don’t 

have one. And, for all of us, this is a place 

to encounter the living God. When I tried 

to explain the needs of our guests to my 

eight-year-old niece, she summarized it 

beautifully: “in fact, they just need love.” 

When the Marist community organized 

a day of training for volunteers, I was 

struck by this sentence: “This is not a 

place to solve their problem; this is a 

place that creates the conditions for their 

problems to be solved.” Like a harbor for 

a distressed ship, this is a place where 

one finds the support, energy and light 

to go forward. This service, ostensibly for 

the purpose of distributing sandwiches, 

allows us to create a link, a connection, 

to reach out to the vulnerable. And, by 

so doing, it makes the ordinary become 

extraordinary. It just happens that one 

does not notice it immediately.” (Read 

more at: https://bit.ly/2xrGQgS) 

Youth Programs 

The Youth Chaplaincy is for students at 

the two French high schools in the city 

(Charles de Gaulle and Winston Churchill), 

as well as eight other schools in London 

for French speakers. A large team made 

up of parents, Marist religious and 

laypeople work with these young people. 

Catechesis and sacramental preparation 

are offered for the younger students. 

The older students can attend group 

discussions and participate in trips to 

the ecumenical monastery of Taizé, to 

Jambville (a youth center in a great forest 

near Paris with a focus on Scouting), 

to the shrine of Lourdes, and to youth 

gatherings run by the Parisian dioceses. 

Scout Groups 

Thanks to the work of numerous parents, 

there are flourishing scout groups 

with about 300 boys and girls involved. 

Although the two groups are distinct, 

they work well together. 

Young Adult Programs 

There is a significant number of young 

adults who attend NDF. The Gaudete 

group brings together students and young 

professionals who want to live, share 

and grow in their faith. The group meets 

twice a month and focuses on a particular 

theme for the year. This year the group is 

using Pope Francis’ document, Christus 

Vivit, published after the Synod on Young 

People, as they pursue their theme on 

prayer and friendship. 

Marriage Preparation 

Each year more than a hundred couples, 

where at least one of the partners 

is French-speaking, complete their 

preparation for marriage at NDF. While 

the wedding usually takes place in their 

countries of origin, the NDF team of 

laypeople and Marist priests accompany 

the couples in their preparation. 

West End Mission 

NDF is a city center mission. The West 

End Mission is made up of two programs, 

Spirit in the City and Night Church, and 

is part of NDF’s evangelizing ministries. 

The purpose of the Mission is to give 

witness to Christ and to the Gospel based 

on the belief that “only the Lord answers 

the deepest yearnings of the human 

heart.” 

Spirit in the City is the best-known 

initiative of the West End Mission. This 

is an annual summer festival of Catholic 

evangelization that takes place in 

Leicester Square, the heart of London’s 

entertainment district. The goal of the 

celebration is to share the Good News 

of God’s love with everyone. Different 

Catholic parishes and other Christian 

groups come together to evangelize in 

various ways. The festival, which will 

take place on June 6th this year, includes 

live music, workshops, adoration of the 

Blessed Sacrament, street evangelization, 

and opportunities for prayer. Visit 

www.spiritinthecity.org to learn more 

about the festival. 

Night Church is a simple form of 

evangelization following models from 

Lutheran churches in Copenhagen, 

Denmark. People from any religion, or 

no religion, are invited to light a candle 

in a church where there is live music and 

where the Blessed Sacrament is exposed. 

For many, it is a moving and unexpected 

experience and offers an opportunity for 

people to encounter God in a different 

way. 

To read more about the various ministries 

at Notre Dame de France, visit our website 

at: www.ndfchurch.org/en. 

We Appreciate Your Donation! 

We ask for your prayers for this ministry. If you are able to help 

financially, please use the envelope in this magazine to send your 

gift. Please write “Notre Dame de France” on the inner flap of the 

envelope. Thank you for your generosity! 

NDF volunteers making connections with those in need 


The Alumni Program 

at Marist School in Atlanta, Georgia 

by Mark Kenney, SM, Alumni Chaplain, Marist School 

My first assignment at Marist School took 

place while I was a seminarian. During my 

apostolic years, 1973-1975, I taught science 

to students in eighth and tenth grades. 

At that time the student body numbered 

around 800 students with a faculty/staff 

of about seventy, and there was no alumni 

program in existence. Today, forty-five 

years later, the student body numbers 

1100 with a faculty/staff around two 

hundred along with an alumni program 

that thrives. I currently have the enriching 

experience of serving as chaplain to the 

Marist School alumni community. 

In order to understand how this alumni 

ministry functions, it is necessary to 

understand the structure of the alumni 

program at Marist School. It is truly 

collaborative effort involving laity, 

clergy, and alumni members. The yearly 

alumni program is given shape in two 

ways: activities planned by the Alumni 

Board and a prearranged set of social 

activities that occur each year. The Board 

consists of fifty-seven members and 

nine emeritus members. The Board is 

governed by an Executive Committee 

composed of the President, four directors, 

and five Vice-Presidents that chair the 

five standing committees of the Alumni 

Board. These five committees are: 

Annual Fund, Membership, Leadership 

Development, Service and Spirituality, 

and Special Events. These committees 

represent those aspects that are deemed 

most important as on-going concerns of 

the Alumni Board. Each member of the 

Board is assigned to one of the standing 

committees. Membership on the Board is 

generally on a volunteer basis. This year 

so many alumni volunteered that those 

who were not appointed to the Board were 

named associate members. 

As mentioned above, the Alumni Office 

sponsors several social and spiritual 

events every year in order to provide 

opportunities for alumni to gather. The 

first event takes place in September, 

during one of the first home football 

games of the year, with a social involving 

the families of the alumni. Homecoming, 

an event that occurs in October, begins 

with the Half Century Club reception. 

This gathering includes all alumni who 

graduated from Marist School fifty or 

more years ago. The reception is followed 

by dinner and the homecoming football 

game. In December there is a luncheon 

for the newest alumni, those who 

graduated from Marist School within the 

last two or three years. Towards the end 

of January, the Service and Spirituality 

committee set aside time for some type 

of retreat experience, ranging from a day 

of reflection to an overnight experience 

at a local retreat house. This committee 

also plans a service project in which 

alumni can participate. A major alumni 

event in February is the annual Mass of 

Remembrance commemorating all the 

alumni who have died in the past year. 

During the month of April, the Alumni 

Awards Luncheon is held during which 

three awards are given to alumni. These 

awards include: The Distinguished 

Alumni Award, the Outstanding Young 

Alumni Award, and the Rev. James L. 

Hartnett, SM Service Award. All these 

awards are given to alumni who are 

recognized for their service to the local 

community and the Marist School 

community. The last weekend in April, 

Reunion Weekend, marks the highpoint of 

the year in terms of alumni activities, with 

certain class years designated to celebrate 

reunions. The weekend festivities 

span five days and include a barbeque, 

individual receptions for reunion classes, 

a golf tournament, and a Mass for the 

entire Marist School community. 

The final alumni event of the year occurs 

in June with a reunion of all the alumni 

who attended the Ivy Street campus 

of Marist School before it moved to its 

present location on Ashford Dunwoody 

Road in 1963. In addition to these major 

annual events, there are a variety of 

smaller prayer and discussion groups that 

meet on a monthly basis. 

Mass of Remembrance celebrated by Mark Kenney, SM 

I have found this alumni program to 

present one of the finest examples of 

collaborative ministry in the spirit of the 

Second Vatican Council. Clergy and laity 

work together on several levels. As the 

alumni chaplain I work with the two lay 

members of the alumni office. At weekly 

team meetings, we share what we have 

done during the week and present various 

ways we can help each other to be more 

effective in our common ministry to the 

alumni. I also work with the laity, the 

alumni, by developing and executing 

programs for them and pastorally through 

visiting sick alumni, offering support at 

the time of death of relatives and fellow 

alumni, and helping them grow in their 

individual spiritual lives. After teaching 

Scripture for the last thirteen years, being 

alumni chaplain at Marist School has 

helped me to develop and enrich another 

aspect of my ministry as a Marist priest. 

The alumni program at Marist School is 

well established and quite extensive. At 

present, there are about 10,000 Marist 

School alumni throughout the world with 

about 6,000 in Atlanta. A school that has 

been in existence for 118 years has a lot of 

alumni and Marist School takes good care 

of them. 


MOVIE REVIEW 

Have a Great Knowledge of the 

Human Heart 

Prayerful Reflection with the Movie Jojo Rabbit 

by Brian Cummings, SM, Director, Pā Maria Marist Spirituality Centre, Wellington, New Zealand 

Jojo Rabbit, directed 

by Taika Waititi, is a 

challenging film on 

many levels. 

Winner of the 

Academy Award this 

year for Best Adapted 

Screenplay (and 

nominated in five 

other categories), and 

winner of the People’s 

Choice Award at 

the 2019 Toronto 

International Film 

Festival, Jojo Rabbit has also been called 

“bland and misjudged” (Peter Bradshaw, 

The Guardian) – and that would be one 

of the milder criticisms. It is very much a 

movie that has divided critics around the 

world. 

Part of the challenge lies in the film’s 

subject matter – Hitler and the Nazis – 

and part of the challenge lies in the fact 

that it is a satire. Humor, in whatever 

format, is always divisive because 

appreciation of it lies in what the viewer 

considers to be funny (in this case, 

satirical) rather than objectively in the 

subject matter or the way it is treated. 

A significant challenge of the movie 

is that it doesn’t allow its audience to 

remain unengaged but rather demands 

responses on several levels including the 

intellectual and the emotional. 

Based loosely (and tonally very 

differently) on Christine Leunens’ 2008 

novel ‘Caging Skies’, Jojo Rabbit is set in 

the closing stages of World War II. 

It centers around a 10-year-old boy, 

Johannes (Jojo) Betzler, who struggles 

to participate enthusiastically in all 

aspects of “entertainment” at a Hitler 

Youth’s Special Training Weekend. The 

command that finally breaks Jojo’s 

resolve is to kill a rabbit – something he 

is unable to do - and so he is mockingly 

given the name Jojo Rabbit. 

He finds comfort in talking to his 

imaginary best friend, Adolf Hitler 

(played by Waititi). Strengthened in his 

desire to serve the Führer, he returns to 

the group and seizes a grenade – but the 

only damage done is to himself when it 

explodes. 

Effectively thrown out of the Camp, Jojo 

– at his mother’s (Scarlett Johansson) 

insistence - finds himself working for the 

Camp coordinator, Captain Klenzendorf 

(Sam Rockwell), doing such things as 

distributing propaganda pamphlets. 

Since he cannot join the others who 

are participating in the Hitler Youth 

in training, Jojo finds himself home 

alone more in his spare time. It is while 

at home one day that he discovers his 

mother’s secret – she is hiding a Jewish 

girl, Elsa, (Thomasin McKenzie) in a 

secret place in the house. 

His mother retains her faith in the 

essential goodness of her son – despite 

his apparent enthusiasms for fascist 

beliefs – and tells him “Love is the 

strongest thing in the world.” 

And so begins Jojo’s real growth. 

While this is the subject matter of the 

film – it is how Waititi deals with it that 

particularly presents challenges. 

Those familiar with his work (Thor: 

Ragnarok, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, 

Boy, What We Do in the Shadows) will 

be aware that his is a very personalized 

view of the world. They will also know 

that humor is his preferred form of 

expression. 

Possibly New Zealanders find Waititi’s 

sense of humor easier to relate to – but 

his artistic expression is much more 

than localized to the South Pacific. As 

well as being of Maori origin (indigenous 

Polynesian people of New Zealand), 

Waititi is also of Jewish descent - 

and that combination allows him a 

particularly unique approach to what 

is inevitably highly sensitive subject 

matter. 

Is it permissible – or acceptable – to treat 

Hitler as a complete idiot not to be taken 

seriously and to immediately ridicule the 

Nazis by beginning with the sounds of 

the Beatles singing a German cover of “I 

Wanna Hold Your Hand” as a backdrop 

to thousands of Nazis saluting the 

Führer? 

Waititi, of course, is not the first director 

to adopt a “different” approach to 

the horrors of Nazism. Mel Brooks 

(The Producers), Quentin Tarantino 

(Inglourious Basterds), Roberto Benigni 

(Life is Beautiful), to name a few, have 

all tried “alternative” portrayals with 

varying reactions amongst audiences 

and critics. 

We know of Hitler’s evil and that of the 

Nazis – but can we view them in any way 

other than with horror and revulsion? 

Waititi would suggest that not only can 

we, but we must: “We have to find new 

and inventive ways to tell the story and 

to move forward with love.” (cf. Stuff, 16 

September 2019) 

That is the core challenge put to the 

audience when viewing and reflecting 

on Jojo Rabbit and it is a challenge that 

we can approach in a particularly Marist 

way. 


A key concept for our Founder Jean- 

Claude Colin in forming his Marists was: 

“Have a great knowledge of the human 

heart and find the key to the human 

heart. You must win people’s esteem, and 

their heart, in order to win them over.” 

We are all aware of the truth of that 

admonition – we’ve seen it over the years 

in our ministries and in our experiences. 

In one way or another if we live long 

enough, we come to see the truth that 

more people are won over by love and 

understanding than they are by rational 

arguments alone. 

But there is a deeper truth behind what 

the Founder is saying than only what 

we have witnessed or experienced in 

our dealings with others. The first – and 

essential – heart that we must have a 

great knowledge of is our own. 

How open is our own heart to the “new?” 

How much are we willing to risk in order 

to move forward with love? How much 

have we closed off in our heart because 

of past hurts and losses? How defensive 

have we become in order to protect our 

heart from further pain or from our 

fears? How much do we live only out of 

our intellect rather than also out of our 

heart? 

In terms of the movie, this is where Jojo 

is taken as he interacts with his mother, 

his friend Yorki (Archie Yates), Elsa, 

Captain Klenzendorf, his “formator” in 

the Nazi youth camp and with Hitler, his 

imaginary friend. 

Over the course of movie, Jojo changes 

and grows in how he views his world and 

the people who inhabit it – “The parallel 

between the imaginary friend who is 

actually a monster and the girl he’s been 

told is a monster but is actually a friend 

….” (Brian Tallerico, Roger Ebert, 18 

October 2019) 

And so, amidst all the questions posed in 

Jojo Rabbit, a key question for Marists is: 

How willing are we to explore our own 

heart and to have a great knowledge of 

it? Like viewing and reflecting on Jojo 

Rabbit, it is challenging – perhaps even 

frightening – territory to venture into. 

However, it will also allow us to find new 

ways of telling the story of our life and to 

move forward in love. 


Compassion for the 

Forgotten Behind Bars 

by Lauro Arcede, SM, Advisor to Marist Laity Prison Volunteers 

The prison ministry in Davao City, 

Philippines had a long history before the 

Marists got involved. The Society of Jesus 

(Jesuits) first ministered in the Davao City 

jail as far back as 1975, visiting prisoners 

and celebrating Sunday Mass. The prison 

ministry, however, was suspended in 

1995 after a terrible incident involving the 

stabbing of a Jesuit priest. 

In September 1999, Fr. John Larsen, SM, 

began visiting the inmates at the Davao 

City jail and celebrating Sunday Mass 

as he customarily did at other detention 

centers in the city. At that time, 60 out of 

900 inmates were allowed to attend the 

Mass. Over time it became a monthly 

commitment of the Marists to celebrate 

the Eucharist at the Davao City jail. 

In November 2002 Christopher Thadeos 

Ganzon, SM was ordained a priest and 

soon after was appointed to develop 

the prison ministry in Davao. He was 

assisted by Denis Mabayao, a member of 

a Catholic charismatic community, and 

Sr. Analulu, SM. This team developed the 

prison ministry by creating structures 

that facilitated collaboration with jail 

personnel, inmates and other service 

providers. The Davao City jail was 

designed to hold 600 PDLs (Person 

Deprived of Liberty), but the actual 

prison population was around 1,700. The 

overcrowded conditions were harsh, and 

inmates had to take turns for the sleeping 

quarters and for using the bathrooms. The 

large number of PDLs, combined with the 

lack of bathroom facilities, led to severe 

health problems. 

Over time, to help address these 

conditions, the Marist Prison Ministry 

created health and dental care programs. 

Moreover, the prison ministry team 

developed other programs which 

offered paralegal support, educational 

opportunities (vocational and technical 

courses), livelihood, spiritual formation 

and sports. Additional services that have 

been established by the Marist Prison 

Ministry program include: orientation 

for newly admitted inmates, a computer 

literacy program, an alternative learning 

program, skills training, sanitation, 

alternative medicine orientation, prayer 

meetings, catechesis and Bible study. 

The large number of unheard court 

cases delays the release of some PDLs. 

The paralegal services offered through 

the Marist Prison Ministry facilitates the 

examination of documents and provides 

assistance to those PDLs whose families 

are not able to process their cases and 

papers in the courts. 

Some PDLs are young men who should 

be earning a university degree, but their 

circumstances prevent them from doing 

so. The alternative learning education 

program, called “the university behind 

bars,” fosters the education of those PDLs 

who want to pursue their schooling as they 

wait for their case to be heard in court or 

for the day of their release from jail. 

Some of the PDLs earn a little money 

through the Marist Prison Ministry 

livelihood and skills training program. 

In this program inmates make wood 

and bead crafts, do sculpting and make 

handbags. The small income they make 

doing this work enables them to support 

their basic needs (soap, toothpaste, 

detergent, etc.) while imprisoned. It also 

helps to lessen any financial burden they 

represent to their families. 

The Marists’ consistent presence in the 

Davao City jail has led to the inclusion of 

regularly scheduled liturgical services 

and Lenten retreats. The Marists have also 

assisted in the organization of National 

Correctional Consciousness Week, Jail 

Foundation Day festivities, Misa de Gallo 

(Christmas Midnight Mass) and Christmas 

gift-giving celebrations. 

The positive effects of the Marist presence 

in the jails has resulted in the expansion 

of the Marist Prison Ministry program 

in the Philippines. When Fr. Ganzon was 

transferred from Davao to Digos in 2005 

he began visiting the jail in Digos as well 

as the Bureau of Jail Management and 

Penology (BJMP) detention centers. With 

permission from the bishop, he started 

celebrating Mass with inmates at the 

BJMP centers. The Marist Laity in Digos 

became involved in Fr. Ganzon’s work 

and supported the ministry by running 


ible study sessions on Saturdays and 

organizing the music for the Sunday 

liturgies. 

Today the Marist Prison Ministry work 

continues to grow in Davao and Digos. 

The bishop of Digos appointed Patrick 

Muckian, SM as the priest in charge of the 

diocesan prison apostolate. In Davao the 

prison ministry program has expanded, 

and the team invites different volunteer 

lay groups and individuals to participate in 

their activities. 

Several Marists have contributed to the 

growth of the prison ministry program 

over the years, especially in Davao where 

the ministry began. These include: Aliki 

Langi, SM who established the Partners 

in Marist Mission program within the 

prison ministry; Hermes Sabud, SM 

who formalized the ministry when the 

Archdiocesan Commission on Prison 

Welfare (ACPW) was established by 

the archbishop of Davao; and Lionel 

Mechavez, SM and Sr. Sheila Manalo, SM 

who created the medical-dental program 

in the jail. 

When the ACPW was established, and 

as the involvement of the laity in prison 

ministry grew, the Marists began to step 

back to allow a change in leadership of 

the Davao City prison ministry in favor 

of laypeople. Currently, Marist Fathers 

and Marist Sisters continue to serve the 

Davao city jail in a more hidden capacity 

by being the support for the Marist Laity 

ministering in the jail. The MLPV (Marist 

Lay Prison Volunteers), which is led by 

four individuals, organizes, plans, and 

leads the Marist Prison Ministry program 

in the city jail. In Digos City, members of 

the Marist Laity lead the Marist Prison 

Ministry program along with Patrick 

Muckian, SM. 

Through the Marist Prison Ministry 

program, the Marists and Marist Laity 

try to embody how to be present in the 

Church just as Mary was present among 

the apostles. The Sunday liturgies, 

the celebrations of the Sacrament of 

Reconciliation, the simple conversations 

and regular visits keep the inmates 

in touch with religious and spiritual 

reality which the prison reality slowly 

extinguishes. Happily, one constant 

comment from former PDLs about the 

prison ministry is that “the Marists 

constantly connect them to their genuine 

freedom.” 

Fr. Stan Hosie, SM – Marist Priest 

and an International Humanitarian 


Fr. Stan Hosie, SM, was born in Lismore, New South Wales, 

Australia on April 28, 1922, the date that later became the Feast 

of St. Peter Chanel, SM, the first Martyr of the Western Pacific 

(Oceania). He completed secondary school at St. John’s College 

in Woodlawn, New South Wales, Australia, and then entered 

the formation program for the Society of Mary. He professed 

on February 22, 1940 and after completing his studies at Marist 

College in Washington, DC he was ordained to the priesthood. He 

demonstrated great gifts early on in his Marist life. He wrote the 

first biography of the Founder, Father Jean-Claude Colin, entitled, 

Anonymous Apostle. The book was published in 1967 and 

included an introduction by his friend, the well-known novelist, 

Morris L. West. 

In the early 1960’s the Second Vatican Council was opening the Church’s mission to a stronger 

sense of involvement in the social issues of the contemporary world as John XXIII’s groundbreaking 

Encyclical (Pacem in Terris) had done. During this time the Marists were beginning to 

look at the socio-economic issues of the missions in Oceania. World War II had a devastating 

impact throughout the mission territories and there were still areas of the Western Pacific that 

needed re-building. In addition, the age of “development” had hit the Western World with large 

international organizations, including the United Nations, that were working with the wealth of 

the more developed nations to aid development in the poorer nations. The US Marshall Plan had 

helped rebuild Europe from the effects of World War II. 

The Superior General at that time, Joseph Buckley, SM, and others began looking at the large 

swath of mission territories where Marists had labored for more than 125 years and thought the 

time had come to do an analysis of their needs from this development viewpoint. Hosie and 

Gerald Arbuckle, SM (a Marist anthropologist with a degree in applied anthropology) were put 

to the task. They traveled throughout the South Pacific and issued a first major document on 

the development needs of the territories. Their work was also aided by excellent theological 

documents that had recently come out of the Second Vatican Council. 

Their document was brought before international Marist leadership and it was decided that 

taking this on as a Society would not be possible. Fr. Buckley commissioned Hosie to take the 

work of the study and form an international aid organization later called The Foundation for the 

Peoples of the South Pacific (FSP), which for the first time would bring the world of development 

to these territories. Hosie befriended some wealthy donors including the president of MGM, 

Maurice Silverstein, and his well-known wife, an Australian actress, Betty Silverstein, beginning a 

remarkable epoch for Oceania in 1965. The rest is history, as they say. The FSP, still in operation, 

is infused with Marist values of building development from below to help its clients become the 

agents of their own development. While a unique philosophy then, it is one that Hosie insisted be 

the Marist contribution to the development world - a sense of humility and partnership. Another 

successful development organization was spawned from FSP, the Counterpart International, with 

a similar philosophy but which brought the values of FSP across the face world. 

Hosie retired as executive director of Counterpart International in 2002 after a lifetime in 

international development work. He passed away at the age of 91 on June 24, 2013. He was buried 

in the Marist cemetery plots in San Francisco, California after a Mass of Resurrection at Notre 

Dame de Victoires, the Marist Church in San Francisco. Prior to his burial an inter-religious service 

was held for the many people in the development world who knew and had great respect for 

Stan. You can read more about the Foundation for the Peoples of the Pacific at http://fspi.org.fj/, 

and the Counterpart International at www.counterpart.org to view the legacy of this great Marist. 


MARIST LIFE: 

Balancing Spirit, Soul, Mind and Body 

by Tom Ellerman, SM 

The 1992 edition of Jean-Claude Colin’s 

1872 Constitutions of the Society of Mary 

contains three quasi-independent 

documents. 

A. Numbers 1 through 50 give the general 

principles of Marist life 

B. Numbers 51 through 450 give the 

concrete details of how these principles 

are put into practice in the daily life of 

the Marist Fathers and Brothers 

C. Numbers 451 through 465 give 

directions about Marist secondary 

schools 

From among the many things that Father 

Founder tells us, perhaps numbers 33 to 

36 and numbers 190 and 192 might seem 

the most bizarre to a contemporary reader. 

These numbers concern “Mortification 

and Penances.” But before we snicker 

and cast his thoughts aside as no longer 

applicable to us more enlightened 

Christians, let’s dust them off and see if 

they have anything of value to tell us. 

Father Colin bases his suggestions on two 

principles. 

1. “Internal and external mortifications 

naturally go with the interior and 

religious life and incline one to bodily 

penances: this twofold mortification is 

strongly recommended to all.” (#33) 

2. “Bodily mortification is important to 

achieving perfection and uprooting 

vices.” (#190) 

The first thing that we notice about these 

two principles is how incarnational they 

are in their approach to growth in holiness 

and the living of Marist life. Holiness and 

religious life are not simply about interior 

thoughts, feelings, motives, intentions, etc. 

Marist life is about ourselves. It is as much 

about how we deal with our bodies, live in 

our bodies, and how they react by trying 

to rule over us, just as it also involves the 

tyranny of our minds, wills, emotions, 

etc. How can order and peace reign in that 

rebellious kingdom we call “ourselves”? 

We can note two contradictory features of 

contemporary society. The first is the effort 

we all make to avoid, preventor numb 

every kind of pain of body and/or spirit. 

The number-one rule in our world is that 

everyone must be comfortable at all times. 

The second feature touches on the effort 

to endure, even to cause ourselves pain, 

in pursuit of our worldly goals. How many 

of us are willing to endure lack of sleep, 

poor nutrition and boring work to advance 

our careers? Think of all those who cause 

themselves physical pain to slim their 

bodies, build their muscles, or achieve 

some other athletic goal. When it comes to 

religious goals, however, we easily consider 

physical mortification and penance as a 

kind of obsession. 

Marist life is centered on Jesus Christ, and 

all our efforts, whether interior or corporal, 

aim at eliminating any obstacles to our 

union with Jesus Christ and to intensifying 

our identification with him. Father Colin 

knows that the pursuit of the spiritual 

life could easily become an ego trip. “Lest 

mortification become immoderate or 

imprudent, let it be tempered according 

to right reason, following the wise counsel 

of the superior or confessor.” (#190) No 

matter what they do or neglect to do, 

Marists are warned not “to injure their 

health or impede attainment of the 

greater good which, in view of the ends 

of the Institute, should be their primary 

concern.” (#190) 

Perhaps a greater problem for us today is to 

become too self-indulgent. “Should anyone 

be too self-indulgent, let the superior 

Cause for Canonization of Venerable 

Fr. Jean-Claude Colin, SM 

not be afraid to impose appropriate 

penances for his greater perfection. For 

the rest, let them take care to follow the 

accepted practices of the Society and avoid 

singularity.” (#191) 

From this cursory explanation of Father 

Colin’s thoughts on bodily mortification, 

we can see that Marist life is about both 

body and spirit, and it is Christ-centered 

and mission-oriented. Perhaps in our 

age of extremes and contradictions the 

greatest penance and discipline is to 

live a life that is balanced and healthy, 

spiritually, bodily, intellectually, 

psychologically and socially in order 

to strengthen the Body of Christ, the 

Church and to hasten the coming of God’s 

Kingdom. 

Please pray for the canonization of Venerable Jean-Claude Colin, Founder of the 

Marist Fathers and Brothers. 

Father Colin was friends with and admired by four canonized saints: St. Peter 

Chanel, St. Marcellin Champagnat, St. Peter-Julien Eymard, and St. John-Mary 

Vianney. If you can judge someone by the company they keep, Father Colin gets 

high marks. Please pray to these saints for the canonization of Father Colin. Pray 

to Venerable Jean-Claude Colin for your intentions and report any favors gained 

through his intercession to: 

The Marist Provincial House 

815 Varnum Street, N.E. | Washington, DC 20017 | USA 


A Star is Born! 

by Leon Olszamowski, SM, NDPMA Corporate President and Founding Principal 

Under the mantle of Mary, a child was 

born on July 1, 1994. We called it Notre 

Dame Preparatory School and Marist 

Academy. 

Schools are like people who grow and 

develop a sense of identity over time and, 

ultimately, stand on their own two feet. 

Our Notre Dame was nurtured, valued 

and loved along the way by Mary, the 

Mother of God’s “gracious choice” as 

mediated through the Marist Fathers 

and Brothers, Cardinal Adam Maida, the 

Pontiac Area Vicariate pastors, our Board 

of Trustees, generous parents, and caring 

staff members. 

Our journey of 25 years has turned a 

swaddling infant into a prosperous 

young adult. Along the way, our 

community has garnered a solid 

reputation as it has “worked with God to 

form Christian people, upright citizens 

and academic scholars.” Congratulations 

to our current student body and our 

alumni for making the Notre Dame 

schools what they are today. 

We are what we are today because we 

espouse valid educational assumptions 

that have bred powerful interior values 

and virtuous approaches to learning, 

living and doing. This “miracle school,” 

as Cardinal Adam Maida often calls it, 

has been recognized as the top Catholic 

school in the state of Michigan (Niche. 

com) four out of the last five years and 

the 57th best of nearly 1,200 Catholic 

high schools in the United States. It is a 

school that is internationally, nationally 

and locally recognized as a high 

performer in academics, the arts and 

athletics — an awesome track record for 

a relatively young school celebrating its 

silver anniversary this year. We firmly 

believe we will be even better when we 

celebrate our golden anniversary. 

Visitors to our Pontiac campus have 

often told us that they sense a palpable 

solidness and peace, and there is a 

powerful reason for that. From the 

beginning of this newest U.S. Marist 

school, the Venerable John-Claude 

Colin’s assumptions are interiorly 

espoused and externally lived out by our 

Notre Dame community. 

We Marist fathers and brothers believe 

and teach that God is a lover who desires 

a relationship with his creation of which 

we humans beings are stewards; that 

Jesus Christ suffered and died for our 

sins, modeling for us the perfect life of 

grace; and that Mary (Notre Dame), the 

icon of the Holy Spirit, by her “yes” to the 

angel Gabriel, is the Mother of God and 

Mother of the Church. 

Mary is the perfect disciple of Christ, and 

Notre Dame families are called to think, 

judge, act and feel as Mary, i.e., we are 

to nurture a healthy relationship with 

God, do the work of Mary by showing an 

ardent love of neighbor, and live a life 

that is simple and humble. Above all, 

we are to show merciful love to others 

as God has shown merciful love to us. 

The above values are, in a nutshell, why 

this school is so successful. We have a 

great Marist tradition: we use our limited 

resources wisely, and we have inspired 

students and staff. 

Often, parents and students come to our 

school for the academics, but soon they 

find out there is much more to be had 

here on Giddings Road. They discover 

that we are also working with God to 

create clean-living, Christ-like people 

and productive citizens. 

The philosopher Heraclitus said that 

“the only constant is change,” and we, 

as a school community, are embracing a 

rapidly changing world. Now, beginning 

our 26th year as a robust young adult 

community at Notre Dame, we have 

arrived at the point of our life to plan 

and build what I like to call “Notre 

Dame 2.0.” We began about 15 years ago 

when we embraced the International 

Baccalaureate (IB) programs to practice 

“best-in-class” student pedagogy. 

The IB and its “Approaches to Teaching 

and Learning” root our curriculae from 

Pre-K through 12th grade. More recently, 

we have made significant changes to 

our campus and our academic offerings. 

This year we even adopted a new rotating 

schedule. The new Easterwood Wing also 

perfectly models our embrace of change 

as we teach more strategic thinking 

and problem-solving in disciplines like 

robotics, computer science and food 

production. 

As an older generation of teachers 

and administrators moves toward 

retirement, they continue to serve as 

fine mentors to those who will perfect 

Notre Dame 2.0. And the future lies 

in the hands of younger, more vibrant 

administrators and staff members who 

must, as a matter of course, set out as 

good stewards “bringing out from the 

storehouse the best of the old and the 

new.” 

This new generation of Notre Dame 

leaders are slowly pouring old wine 

into new wineskins as they catch up 

to and reach out to a world of many 

new generational characteristics 

and personal needs. Those new 

characteristics and needs must first be 

learned and then applied to enhance our 

classroom teaching, athletics and arts. 

The look and feel of Notre Dame better 

matches Gen Z’s needs and we work hard 

to anticipate future student needs. 

As one of the original founders, I am 

proud to say that we’re hardly skipping 

a beat in the process of change and that 

our school is moving along “just fine” as 

we develop new tools to think through 

and answer tomorrow’s questions. I 

am happy to say that as I move into 

retirement over the next few years, I have 

left our school in very good hands! 


News Brief 

In these rapidly changing times that increase our anxiety, social distancing, and 

quarantine, the Marists invite you to reflect on the following poem to deepen our 

mystical vision of hope in these challenging times of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Lockdown 

by Fr Richard Hendrick, OFM Cap – Ireland (March 13, 2020) 

Yes there is fear. 

Yes there is isolation. 

Yes there is panic buying. 

Yes there is sickness. 

Yes there is even death. 

But 

They say that in Wuhan after so many 

years of noise 

you can hear the birds sing again. 

They say that after just a few weeks of 

quiet 

the sky is no longer thick with fumes 

but blue and grey and clear. 

They say that in the streets of Assisi 

People are singing to each other across 

empty squares, 

keeping their windows open 

so that those who are alone may hear the 

sounds of family around them. 

They say that a hotel in the West of Ireland 

is offering free meals on delivery to the 

housebound. 

Today a young woman I know is busy 

spreading fliers 

with her number through the 

neighbourhood 

so that the elders may have someone to 

call on. 

Today churches, synagogues, mosques 

and temples 

are preparing to welcome and shelter the 

homeless, 

the sick, the weary. 

All over the world people are slowing 

down and reflecting. 

All over the world people are looking at 

their neighbours in a new way. 

All over the world people are waking up to 

a new reality 

To how big we really are, 

To how little control we really have, 

To what really matters, 

To Love. 

So we pray and remember that 

Yes, there is fear 

but there does not have to be hate. 

Yes, there is isolation 

But there does not have to be loneliness. 

Yes, there is even death, 

but there can always be a rebirth of love. 

Wake to the choices you make as to how 

we live now. 

Today, breathe. 

Listen, behind the noises of your panic the 

birds are singing again. 

The sky is clearing, Spring is coming, 

and we are always encompassed by Love. 

Open the windows of your soul 

and though you may not be able to touch 

across the empty square, 

Sing. 

OBITUARY 

Father Normand J. Martin, SM 

1931-2019 

Father Normand 

J. Martin, SM 

entered eternal life 

on December 24, 

2019. He was born 

on September 22, 

1931 to Paul E. and 

Roseanna (Hevey) 

Martin in Haverhill, 

Massachusetts. He 

attended St. Joseph Elementary School 

in Haverhill and Marist Preparatory High 

School Seminary in Bedford, Massachusetts. 

After high school Fr. Martin entered Marist 

College and Seminary in Framingham, 

Massachusetts. He made his profession 

in the Society of Mary on September 8, 

1952 at the novitiate on Staten Island, New 

York and then attended Marist Seminary 

in Washington, D.C. On February 7, 1959 

Fr. Martin was ordained a Marist priest 

at the National Shrine of the Immaculate 

Conception in Washington, DC. 

Fr. Martin’s first assignment was as an 

educator at Notre Dame High School in 

Harper Woods. Here he taught Mathematics 

and Physical Education and coached 

basketball and baseball for 21 years. Beloved 

by faculty, students and parents, Father 

Martin became affectionately known as 

“Hap” due to his upbeat and positive 

outlook. For the next 25 years he served in 

parish ministry. Fr. Martin served as pastor of 

St. Anthony Parish in White River Junction, 

Vermont; Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish 

in Methuen, Massachusetts; St. Bruno 

Parish-St. Remi in Van Buren, Maine; and 

Sacred Heart Parish in South Lawrence, 

Massachusetts. He also served as a chaplain 

at Bon Secours Hospital in Methuen, 

Massachusetts. Fr. Martin’s final assignment 

was as assistant and then director of the 

Lourdes Center in Boston, Massachusetts. In 

2016 Fr. Martin retired to Mary Immaculate 

Nursing/Restorative Center in Lawrence, 

Massachusetts. 

Fr. Martin is survived by his sister-in-law, 

Marie Jeanne (Duchemin) Martin, and 

numerous nieces and nephews and their 

families. Memorial donations may be made 

to the Society of Mary (Marists). 


DONOR THOUGHTS 

Why I Support the Marists 

by Jack and Lynn Cogan 

In high school I always found math to be my 

easiest subject and foreign language to be 

the hardest; English landed somewhere in the 

middle. So, on the first day of classes in my 

senior year I was not concerned that my class 

schedule had the name of an English teacher 

that I did not recognize. My English teacher was 

new to the school. The fact that he was a priest 

was not a big deal. I had had several priests and 

nuns as teachers at my Catholic high school. 

What was different about this teacher was 

the “SM” after his name. I did not know what 

that meant. The teacher introduced himself as 

Father Gene Harasyn. He told us that the SM 

meant that he was a religious (not diocesan) 

priest in the Society of Mary (Marists). That first 

day of English class so many years ago was the 

start of my affiliation with the Marists. On that 

day I had no idea what a profound effect that 

man and many more Marist priests would have 

on the rest of my life. 

Senior English went pretty much as you would expect for a subject that was for me 

“somewhere in the middle.” I didn’t suddenly become a great English student, but I really 

liked this teacher. As the year progressed, Fr. Harasyn took me under his wing. We talked a lot 

about what college I might attend and what I wanted to do with my life. To make a long story 

a bit shorter, I attended Catholic University as a Marist seminarian. For the next seven years I 

lived, studied, and prayed with these men who were Marists. And while I finally realized that 

the priesthood was not to be my vocation, their influence on me continues to this day. 

After my wife Lynn and I were married by Father Bill Seli, SM, the first thing we did was buy a 

house near Our Lady of the Assumption (OLA) parish in Atlanta, Georgia, a parish run by the 

Marist Fathers and Brothers. We started and raised our family in this parish. Our six children 

were all baptized by Marist priests: Fathers George Wallace, Mark Kenney, Ed Murray, Joe 

Caffrey, and John Ulrich. Our children attended OLA school, and we celebrated Mass every 

Sunday with Marist priests. Our grandchildren have attended OLA school. Marists have always 

been part of our family’s life. After teaching (math, of course) at an Atlanta private high 

school for a little over 25 years, Lynn and I decided it was time for a change. I didn’t want to 

stop teaching, but I needed a different school. There wasn’t really any decision as to where I 

wanted to go – it was Marist School. The Marists welcomed me back like I was the long-lost 

prodigal son. I felt as if I were back home. Indeed, I was back home! In addition to my teaching 

at Marist School, our children are also alumni of the school. 

Since retiring a few years ago from Marist School, Lynn and I have continued to be part of 

the Marist family. We attend the school’s family Masses each year. I often make it to the 

Friday morning community Masses where I continue praying with these wonderful men who 

mean so much to me. The whole family looks forward to celebrating Mass on Christmas eve 

with Fr. Ralph Olek, SM. He has officiated at our children’s weddings and has baptized our 

grandchildren. Father Ralph is our friend and a definite part of our family. 

With everything that the Marists have given me for the last fifty plus years and everything 

they have meant to Lynn and to all of our children and grandchildren, we are grateful to be 

able to support the mission of the Society of Mary. Lynn and I are honored to have these fine 

men in our lives and in the lives of our family. 

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The University of Dayton’s Marian Library hosts a website called “All 

About Mary”. The website puts centuries of information about the 

world’s most famous mother at anyone’s fingertips. Checkout the 

website (https://udayton.edu/imri/mary) for: 

Biblical references to Mary 

• Devotions, meditations, and liturgical celebrations 

• Miracles and apparitions 

• Artistic portrayals of Mary 

• Mary in film –from “Lord of the Rings” to “Pinocchio” 

• Shrines and Churches associated with Mary in the USA and 

worldwide 

• Information on Mary in popular culture, including Marian 

symbols in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” 

• Why a parrot is sometimes depicted in artistic works of Mary 

Spirituality of the Society of Mary: 

Contemplatives in Action 

While the Church has always emphasized Marian devotion, “We 

(Marists) are called to something much deeper … we are called to 

become Mary’s devotion in the midst of the Church.” 

– Fr. Ed Keel, SM 

Checkout the website maristspirituality.org for featured 

articles and talks. 

Are you or 

someone you 

know interested 

in discerning a call 

to priesthood or 

brotherhood? 

See contact information below. 

No commitment necessary. 

Are you a Marist? 

”In all things let us look to 

Mary, let us imitate her life 

at Nazareth ... Let us unite 

silence and prayer with 

action. The Society of Mary 

desires that we, her 

children, should be 

missionaries of action and 

missionaries of prayer.” 

Fr. Jean Claude Colin, SM, 

Founder 

Are you 

called to 

live the 

Gospel as 

Mary did? 

,t1Y or A .1 

0 "Vf 

V"jo 

 

-1 

'?" 

 

.L. 

IS IN ·\\",

Today's Marists V.5 Issue 3 SPRING 2020

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