FEATURES OF LAY MARIST LIFE

Features of lay Marist life
The essential remains invisible to the eyes of
flesh, because we see well only with the eyes
of the heart (The Little Prince). We all know that
the essential has no age, no time, no style. It is
like “truth” which is always round. To express
the essential we don’t need slate, or crayons,
or chalk, or copybooks, or even computers. “TO
LOVE… to love” is the goal, the means and the
tools of education. How those words of Champagnat
continue to drive and greatly attract me:
“To educate you must love!” (Spain)
What attracted me to the Marists is the similarity
and closeness to the more needy, to
all that needs change, a new vision, with all that
needs Life. (Paraguay)
see the great challenges that we still have as
I educators when we let slip valuable opportunities
of bringing our adolescents to the love of
God and of their neighbour, because we speak
instead of listening; we order instead of motivating;
we prohibit when we should convince. We
have the opportunity to be an example, not of
virtues or debatable qualities, but of being men
and women who live our Christianity with the certainty
that by loving our neighbour, our students
and colleagues, we build the Kingdom of God and
that to do it in a school atmosphere encourages
us and motivates us. (Mexico)
want to announce you, Lord, by my way of living.
I This is a phrase from a Marist song, which
speaks of the vocation of the brothers, but also
expresses my vocation as a lay Marist, being at
the service of children and young people, leading
them to God, making them feel that God
loves them, that they are his preferred ones.
(Venezuela)
With the Passion of Marcellin:
The Mission of the Lay Marist
Throughout my teaching career the children
have always been my focus and I’ve never
lost sight of Marcellin’s utterance that in order
to teach you must first love a child. When the
going has been rough, when faced with a dilemma
or a difficult decision in terms of dealing
with a child, I close my eyes and picture Marcel-
1
Extended Bureau of the Laity
lin – those words come back to me and it has
always made a difference. (Australia)
Saddened that all new teachers are not exposed
to the Marist ethos, I was determined
to ensure that all teachers at my College had a
good understanding of the mission which they
had undertaken to continue, as it is surely the
biggest gift a child can be given to be educated
in a system where “In order to teach children,
you must first love them and love them all equally”.
Marcellin asked that we “have a particular
care for those least favoured by life”. He was
willing to walk for miles in terrible conditions in
order to visit the sick or to help those in need.
(South Africa)
am Marist because I live out my teaching re-
I sponsibilities as a vocation, not merely as a
work. Even more: I live out my responsibilities as
a religious mission rather than as a career. As a
result, I have had the experience common to all
vocations. That is, my vocation has been put to
the test; and, although I have had the chance to
make other life-choices, I have chosen to follow
the path of being a Marist educator. In fact, I
am very pleased to have lived through the moments
when I was confronted with choices. In
and through such experiences I have found a reaffirmation,
a new strength to continue upon my
chosen path. (Spain)