Today's Marists 2024 Volume 8, Issue 2

News
Briefs
25th Anniversary of
the Canonization of
St. Marcellin Champagnat
On April 18, 2024, the Marist Brothers
(FMS) celebrated the 25th anniversary
of the canonization of Saint Marcellin
Champagnat, FMS Founder, at the
General House in Rome, Italy. The
FMS Superior General, Brother
Ernesto Sánchez, expressed, “We are
encouraged by the life of Marcellin, a
simple man, who lived with great trust
in God and in Mary our Good Mother.
He was a man attentive to the needs
of children and young people. Pope
John Paul II said on the day of his
canonization: “St Marcellin proclaimed
the Gospel with a burning heart. He was
sensitive to the spiritual and educational
needs of his time, especially to religious
ignorance and the situations of neglect
experienced in a particular way by
the young.” … Champagnat, “A heart
that knows no bounds” continues to
encourage us to walk together as a
global Marist family.”
New Mission in
Samsun, Turkey
In January 2024 the new “Omnes Gentes”
mission in Samsun, Turkey began with the
full community: Fr. Donato Kivi, SM (Fiji),
Fr. Arnaldo da Silva, SM (Brazil), Sr. Irene
Imurere, SMSM, and Sr. Juliana Mikaele,
SMSM. This mission is a collaboration
between the Society of Mary and the Marist
Missionary Sisters.
Let us continue to pray for this new mission
and Marist missionaries around the whole
world.
Members of the “Omnes Gentes” mission in Turkey
Book Corner
by Ted Keating, SM
Listening Together is an extraordinary little
book by Fr. Timothy Radcliffe, OP. He was
the spiritual adviser and retreat master to the
Synod on Synodality held in Rome in October
2023. Fr. Radcliffe was the Master General of
the Dominicans from 1992 to 2001. He has written
several books on theology and spirituality over the years and
is an excellent and inspiring author, speaker and retreat preacher.
The first part of Listening Together is a collection of six retreat
conferences Fr. Radcliffe presented at a three-day retreat for the
entire synod assembly. Following the retreat, the synod discussions
were divided into five sections, each beginning with a meditation.
Benedictine Mother Maria Ignazio Angelini and Fr. Radcliffe each
conducted three of the meditations, and the three given by Fr.
Radcliffe form the second section of the book. In the final chapter
of the book entitled “Go”, prepared after the synod assembly,
Fr. Radcliffe presents “how far we have come, the challenges we
face, and how to prepare for the next session in October 2024.”
Fr. Radcliffe includes a final Appendix, “Accountability and Coresponsibility
in the Government of the Church: The Example of the
Dominicans.” This is a paper he had written in April 2022 prior to the
synod.
The retreat conferences begin in the centrality of Hope as members
of the synod begin their work. Fr. Radcliffe then describes the task
at hand as one of growing friendship in their gathering. And finally,
he faces directly the fact that they come from many cultures and
nations with different hopes for and images of the Church and
how that must be honored. He describes it as often a “both/and”
reality and dialogue, best followed by a “Yes and response …”,
rather than “No.” The three meditations given by Fr. Radcliffe were
on Scripture: Meditation 1: “The Samaritan Woman at the Well (Jn.
4:7-30); Meditation 2: “The Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15:1-29); and
Meditation 3: The Seed Germinates (Mk. 4:27-29).
The final document published about the Synod on Synodality
and the many reports and observations we have seen call for this
wonderful book as it “open[s] up the possibility for individuals or
groups to read and continue to reflect on this synodal journey we all
share” in preparation for October 2024. Gathering together the very
purposes and hopes for the Synod in the mind of Pope Francis, Fr.
Radcliffe, in the Appendix, shares the experience of the Dominicans
who, from 1216, their founding year, have lived lives of responsibility
and accountability. It may not be well known throughout the Church
that the religious orders, from the very beginnings of the call for a
synod, perceived that they have had centuries of experience with
this type of synodal living. The Dominicans and the Franciscans
(founded 1209) with their “Chapter of Mats” (a meeting originally
open to all the Friars), led the way. The Dominican experience shared
in the Appendix “of holding truth and unity together, always in
fruitful tension … necessitates a patient listening, … demands that
we have imagination, trust, and transparent accountability, … which
can only be sustained by a way of life that is countercultural.” The
synodal process challenges us to embody “a culture in which loving
conversation between all is possible!”
Listening Together is available from www.Amazon.com.
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