FEATURES OF LAY MARIST LIFE

Features of lay Marist life
others more pleasant has become my daily Sacrament.
To reach this state cost me sweat and
tears, many sacrifices... I had to decide to be like
Jesus and it hurts but it makes me grow and grow
ever more in freedom. (Paraguay)
was one of those neglected ones when the
I touch of Champagnat reached out to me.
Now, I spend my days reaching out to others,
following in the footsteps of Marcellin Champagnat,
and I can’t imagine my life lived any other
way. (Unnited States)
It all started on a special date, May 20, during
a Champagnat celebration organized by the
school for the young people from the Remar
Movement. Thus, without being a student at the
school, or having brothers studying there, thanks
to those who invited me (classmates) this experience
started something that meant my evangelization,
experience of a Christian community,
discernment in my professional choice, a reference
point for my actions and orientation in the
important decisions of my life. (Venezuela)
Since I started this work, my eyes and my attitudes
have always sought a little more than
a professionally coherent attitude, since for the
work that I have been given, a simple moral and
professional position was not sufficient. Cooperating
in the formation of lay Marists is the
same thing that, in all work of human and Christian
formation, demands an authentic wager on
values and attitudes that prove a life to be really
Christian. (Brazil)
began my Marist journey – a journey of love,
I faith, inclusivity, hospitality, service, generosity
and a genuine belief that with God our Father, Jesus
our Brother, Mary our Mother and Champagnat
our Guide, our lives would be forever shaped
and defined by the Marist Charism. (Australia)
Stages of the Journey
And as I already see the Lord waiting for me on
the other bank, arms open and heart full of
love and goodness, from this bank I cry to him:
Stay with me, because “it is nearly evening, and
the day is almost over” (Lk 24, 29). I am in total
confidence in living Marist spirituality, the love
Extended Bureau of the Laity
of the Good Mother and the tenderness of Saint
Marcellin for the definitive day of meeting with
the Lord. (Colombia)
As a child I decided that in the future I would
be a teacher, motivated by the testimony
of the brothers and of the few lay teachers that
there were at this time. What really delighted
me was the simple and friendly presence of the
brothers among the students. (Brazil)
On reflection, the Marist community helped
heal my rejection of God and the Catholic
Church. I think I was Marist before I was Catholic.
I enrolled my two daughters in a Catholic school
and felt the touch of God for the first time at my
daughter’s sacrament of reconciliation. God was
working in my life, even though I wasn’t searching.
I remember telling Brother N. who was Headmaster
at that time, about the profound experience I
had of God’s love for me and the next day receiving
a lovely card from him, acknowledging the call
from God and the challenge for me to respond.