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By Priscilla Greear
Staff Writer
ATLANTA-It was both a Society of Mary family reunion and a time for Marists
to receive divine supplies and instructions for their ongoing missionary
project of building God's kingdom in Mary's name.
On Feb. 2, the feast of the Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple honoring
Religious life, Marist laity and Religious young and old gathered at Marist
School Chapel to celebrate the joining of the San Francisco and Washington,
D.C., provinces of priests and brothers.
The San Francisco-Washington province was formed on Jan. 1 and includes 15
states where 111 Marists serve in parishes, teach in high schools and colleges,
work in prison ministry and undertake foreign missions. Its creation is a
response to the needs of the church at a critical time when fewer young people
are entering into ministry or Religious life. Father Joaquín
Fernández, SM, superior general, made the official announcement from the
order's house in Rome, Italy.
Archbishop John F. Donoghue presided at the Mass and the celebrant was
Father William Rowland, SM, provincial of the new province based at Marist
School. Father Dennis Steik, SM, vicar provincial of the former San Francisco
province and of the new one, gave the homily. Chief concelebrant was Father
John McGregor, SM, former provincial of the San Francisco province, while over
25 concelebrants included Father Kenneth Thibodeau, SM, provincial of the
Boston province. Representing the larger Marist family, Brother Patrick
McNamara, FMS, provincial of the Poughkeepsie province of the Marist Brothers
of the Schools, Sister Georgeanne Donovan, SMSM, assistant provincial of the
Missionary Sisters of the Society of Mary, and Marist Laity Council
representative Ann Brown also attended.
The congregants, carrying flickering candles, processed into the dimly lit
chapel to open the evening service.
Father Steik declared in his homily, "With the creation of this new
province, we enter into a time of refoundation focused on mission. This is not
a time for restoring the past but of refounding the Marists for the present and
the future-a time of identifying the needs of today's peoples, the needs of the
planet, a time to hear the cries of the oppressed and a time to act corporately
to make a difference," he said. "Getting everyone on board is not the
task of elected leaders but it is the task of each and every individual Marist
to enter into personal and corporate renewal that we might become the critical
mass necessary for change."
Father Steik said the new province is a new chapter written by God in
Marist's history book and that Marists are now called to give their lives to
God for sustenance, strength and growth.
"Together we have formed a new province, given birth to some new life
that can transform old structures and bring us together in fresh ways to form a
communion for mission. It is like taking vows for the first time."
He shared his own Marist journey to serve the poor. "Yes, I am scared.
No, I won't do it alone. Yes, I am willing to try my best with some others
willing to try. And certainly, I am learning more about what it means to love
with a chaste and pure love. I have such a long way yet to grow in obedience,
poverty and chastity. It is this journey that I offer to God today."
He said it was a time for priests who are changed men to renew their vows.
"It is that difference, the level of conversion, the intensity of the gift
of ourselves that makes our Marist future possible and the life of our new
province exciting and challenging."
Father Steik said Marists are deeply committed to Christ and to building
God's Kingdom and shouldn't fear a lack of vocations as they share their gifts
with others.
"... We reconfigure ourselves in the United States with the hope of
discovering again the missionary and prophetic dimensions of our calling ...
The focus of our mission as missionaries is to help establish the church where
it does not yet exist, or where it is weak and struggling."
The society dates back to the early 1800s when a group of seminarians and
priests established the congregation dedicated to Mary to proclaim the Catholic
faith to the most neglected and the most in need. They arrived in the United
States in 1861 and in Georgia in 1897.
The Pledge of Fourvière of 1816 and the Pledge of Phoenix of July
1999 were both read, framed copies of which were displayed by the altar. To
prepare for the creation of the new province, members of the two former
provinces had met in Phoenix where they shared their common hopes and dreams
for the new province and signed the pledge to do God's work together in Mary's
name.
Religious and lay Marists, then holding their lighted candles, renewed their
commitment to the Society of Mary after which the congregation sang
"Anthem to Mary."
Faced with an aging membership and declining vocations, Father Rowland spoke
of how the order has been forced to give up various ministries causing a loss
of identity, security, prosperity and hope that has required pruning of its
mission.
"The coming together of the former San Francisco and Washington
provinces represents one of the results of that pruning process. The
memberships of both provinces has chosen to be pruned of their former
identities so that a new one may be born," he said. "At this
particular stage we feel a bit uncertain as to how new life will emerge from
this pruning process (and) how all this fits into God's plan."
He spoke of how God has often used the very young or aged, uncertain of
their divine calling, to do great works. "We choose life. At times, we may
feel ourselves to be small and insignificant, like a mustard seed, or even
vulnerable and dependent, like the infant Jesus. Yet, we remain undeterred. We
draw inspiration from St. Paul who reminds us that it is when we are weak that
we are really strong ... for we are then forced to trust in the Lord."
He said Christ is born again in the new province. "May we come to
recognize Christ's coming to birth in this newly created province and in ways
that will dispel the notion that our best days lay behind us or that our great
leaders can be found only in the pages of our history," he concluded.
Archbishop Donoghue thanked the Marists for their work running 99-year-old
Marist School, which, he said, has a great reputation, and the many
archdiocesan parishes they've staffed through the years.
He asked the Lord to bless the new province. "The Lord allows this kind
of thing to happen as a kind of rite of purification to cleanse us and help us
grow and become stronger and I feel very confident that's what will happen
now-that you will grow and your vocations will increase in the church of
Atlanta. My prayer is that the Lord will continue to bless each and every one
of you and that you will continue to grow in service for many, many years in
the Archdiocese of Atlanta."
At a reception following Mass, Father Rowland said the joining is like a
family reunion, as the two provinces once before had been united.
"There has been very little sadness on our hearts. It's really looking
forward with great joy and enthusiasm. It's kind of like two families coming
back together after we've been away from each other for a while."
He added that in the new province, Religious and laity would explore ways to
further collaborate and serve.
"That is something that is important to us and (we feel) that we would
like to see more collaborative efforts. We have to work out the mechanisms to
do that."
Brown, a campus minister in the Diocese of Monterey, Calif., who planned the
ceremony, is one laity member happy about the restructuring.
"It's good for the laity because it gives us a unity with people all
over (the country) to come together. We have, in New Orleans, a center
dedicated to the Marist Laity and we have two priests that have been assigned
... to work with the laity and that's a very positive step," she said. The
laity will be developing new programs this year.
She said that partnership is particularly important to make up for the lack
of Religious vocations. To Brown, the Marist laity encourages people to live
the more Christian life daily as they contemplate Mary's example.
Father Thibodeau joined the celebration to show the Boston province's
support. "We're here to support and to cooperate in whatever way we can in
this new venture," he said.
He said that his province would also have to eventually reexamine how to
best carry out its mission, having had to give up some ministries because of
declining numbers. "We're going to start having to look at our numbers,
our makeup and our age and see which direction we're going to take ... It's
like a newborn baby here and we want to see how it grows."
He also spoke of his firm commitment to his Marist vows. "I like the
spirit that Mary had in the church -- the sense of being there in the beginning
of the church at Pentecost, not always in the front but in the background, like
a good mother. We're in a sense in that same spirit."
Marist High School Principal Father Joel Konzen, SM, also expressed
optimism. "Many of the things our founder wanted to do still need to be
done," he said. "The question is how, as a common pool, how can we
respond to that. Can we be different? Can we be better in what we do? I think
we'll do more and be happier serving in what we do because we've got more
support and more ideas coming from the larger number of men."
In the months ahead province members will come together to plan how their
gifts and talents can further serve the church.
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