Lay Marist Update: January 2021

 

Things are beginning to happen! The Lay Marist Council is very excited to announce that our first cohort for the new Marists of Champagnat formation program consists of 57 people, from every region of our USA Province – 9 Brothers and 48 Lay Marists. There are an additional 14 Brothers serving as mentors. Brothers Sean Sammon and Patrick McNamara will also be part of the team that will present the webinars. We are thrilled to have everyone on board and ready to go!

Where we’ve been so far:

January 2nd  -  the Feast of the Institute, and the prayer service to welcome the new cohort.  
January 7th  -  the mentor workshop, attended by many of the cohort participants who are also serving as mentors, as well as the Brothers.

Throughout January, mentors and participants met in conversations of discernment, reflecting on readings from Water from the Rock and sharing the living of the Marist charism. They have been overwhelmingly positive experiences so far.

Looking ahead:

February 3rd will begin the webinars. Participants have a choice of two sessions to choose from for each topic. Sessions will also be recorded, just in case people can’t make either, or for those who would like to use them for later viewing.

The topics being covered are as follows:

Feb 3 or 11  -  Session 1  -  "Marist, Marcellin and Me" presented by Br. Sean Sammon

Feb 17 or 25  -  Session 2  -  "He Gave us the Name of Mary: The Marist Tradition" presented by Chris Sullivan

March 3 or 11  -  Session 3  -  "Daily Life as a Marist Christian: The Five Pillars" presented by a panel of Lay Marists (Eyda Alegret, Joe Hallak, Tony Cantu, Madeline Picou, and Larry Tucker)

March 16 or 25  -  Session 4  -  "Marists of Champagnat: A Global Charismatic Family" presented By Br. Patrick McNamara

April 7 or 15  -  Session 5  -  "Marists in Mission: Love in Action" presented by Alice Miesnik

The sessions will held on Wednesday and Thursday evenings (except for Tuesday, March 16) from 8:00 - 9:00pm ET, 7:00 - 8:00pm CT. 

The Lay Council continues to meet regularly, working on the webinars, on membership and on communications. On January 11, Council members, along with Gerry Gonzalez (Christopher Columbus), Tony Cantu (St. Joseph Academy), and Br. Al Rivera, met with Raul Amaya, Secretary of the Laity. The purpose of the meeting was to share information on what has been going on in the USA Province, as well as for us to be informed about the long term plans for Lay formation on the Institute level.  

Also, there are still many folks who have expressed interest and were not able to join in this first formation cohort. Opportunities for prayer and socializing will continue. We’ll keep you posted!

For more information on any of the above, contact Maureen Hagan at mhagan8486@gmail.com.