FEATURES OF LAY MARIST LIFE

Features of lay Marist life
worthy of approaching him through the simplicity
of the birth of Jesus, who brought us hope, and
who inspires me to be reborn each day in order
to find once more in the children and young
people with whom I live this Jesus who is in the
heart of each one of them.
The cross which is not the end, but the sign of
love and of devotion, which motivates me and
troubles me in this sense that I can contribute
a lot more with what I am and with what I have,
because all is thanks to God and I feel that I must
put it at the service of my brothers and sisters.
By the Eucharist I strengthen myself; it is there
where I am in Jesus and He is in me. It is there
where my heart is appeased and I consider the
world with eyes of hope, and I remember the
table of La Valla where Champagnat ate with his
young brothers. Sitting together at table is the
celebration of life and of participation. (Brazil)
Like Mary
With the passing of time I also discovered a
different form of relating with Mary. It was
no longer a matter of reciting a lot of rosaries but
of contemplating and imitating Mary’s attitudes,
Extended Bureau of the Laity
saying as she did “yes” to the will of God, to working
each day, to fraternal service, to welcoming
and helping people with whom we find ourselves
each day, by making people happy by doing little
things for them, of being attentive to the needs
of others, discovering something of God in daily
life and assuming with faith that which touches
our life. (El Salvador)
Mary thus became a part of the “luggage” of
my life’s journey, and she has never failed to
be present. (France)
The result of this feminine and maternal, educative
and friendly presence is the development
of charming personalities whom I have had
the joy of meeting: men of strength and tenderness.
It does not matter if they are not all or
the majority. That encourages me each time to
welcome Our Lady as the guide of my journey to
Christ. (Brazil)
must say that in my 36 years of life the loving
I presence of Mary has always accompanied me
in my journey and like Brother Francois, from my
childhood years onwards I have had the good
fortune to breathe, live and feel the love of the
Marist Spirit inside and outside the schools and
communities. (Mexico)
In following the example of Mary at Cana, I try
to be a discreet but attentive presence: listening
to without judging their anguish and conflicts
in their family, those around them and in their
friendships, in the seeking of a job and in their
difficulties in their existence. I try to find solutions
with them, by ensuring that they are the
principal actors in the search. (Brazil)
was thus aged fifteen or sixteen years and study-
I ing in the fourth year of secondary school when
the Marist Brothers suggested that I discover a
new Mary. It was then that things took a Marial
sense for me calmly, not quickly. My faith in Mary
was rooted profoundly and solidly in my life. The
place that she occupied in my life became omnipresent
quietly and smoothly. I started to entrust
to Mary my hopes, my fears and my dreams, without
experiencing the least doubt that she would
guide me in my vocation. (Canada)
What has always fascinated me is the welcome,
the presence and this attitude of ser-