newnamedlifelogo
THE FULCRUM
"...a new fulcrum must be found for the lever that moves the modern world"
- Bl. William Joseph Chaminade
February 2007 - Vol 1, Issue 1
In This Issue
Quick Links
From the National Office
Nolan HS

I recently took part in an inspiring visit to Nolan Catholic High School in Forth Worth, TX. I met with the LIFE Team (pictured above) and inquired about memories of their summer experience with Marianist LIFE. Chris described his experience as “crazy awesome,” taking special note of evening prayer under the stars. Andrea will forever remember the affirmation activity. Jessica was moved by the immigration simulation. Adam’s dyad (journey partner) was amazing. Kelly recalled her small group. And Rebecca reflected upon her image of God. Whatever it is you remember about your Marianist LIFE experience, I hope it strengthens your faith in God, Jesus, Mary, and yourself as it does for the students at Nolan Catholic.

On February 2, the Feast of the Presentation and Foundation Day of Lay Marianists, we remember and celebrate the original members of the Bordeaux Sodality who made their first act of consecration in 1801. May this day remind us of our own commitment to Mary and Chaminade’s call to build communities of faith wherever we are on the journey. In the spirit of celebration and remembrance, we welcome you to the first of many issues of The Fulcrum. This online intergenerational newsletter intends to help you stay connected to Marianist LIFE and the larger Marianist family.

Registration paperwork for our 2007 summer programs is now available online. Similar to last year, information will not be mailed to you and/or your institution. Therefore, you must download and photocopy all of the information for you, your administration, your participating moderators, and/or your students using our website.

Please note these important dates:

March 15, 2007 ... Pre-registration forms and deposit due
April 15, 2007 ... All Registration forms due
May 15, 2007 ... Final payment due

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Brian Reavey or our Administrative Assistant, Marie Wyman, at marianistlife@sm-usa.org. We look forward to another meaningful summer of building communities of faith with you and your students!
Purcell Marian

Purcell Marian High School in Cincinnati attended Marianist LIFE Central in July, 2006. Their LIFE Team (above) is pictured with moderators Jen Meinking (top left), Natalie Mulholland (top right), and Kevin Schomaker (bottom center). Marianist LIFE interviewed Meinking and Mulholland to hear more about their Marianist LIFE Communities.

To read their informative and entertaining feedback, and to learn more about how another institution lives out Marianist LIFE, click here
Marianist Puppets
In order to better share our gifts and talents to enhance the Marianist LIFE Community experience, the national office has set up an online “Resource Website” for all students and moderators to access. There are online resources currently available; however, we need your help! We are in need of students and moderators to email us prayer services, meeting ideas, MLC gathering agendas, fundraising ideas, pictures, etc. to make it the best possible interactive website for all involved.

The school or parish who submits the most materials to the national office by May 1, 2007 will receive $450.00 towards their LIFE program. The administrator, moderator, campus minister, or youth minister can use it towards a student scholarship to a summer program or put it towards the overall budget.

The unique portion of the Marianist LIFE website is for our use only. The private username for the site is “marianistlife” and the password is “chaminade”. We hope these resources, and those posted in the future, will help you and your MLCs.

Theme Song pic

We are initiating the “2007 Theme Song Challenge,” encouraging and inviting members of the Marianist LIFE community to help choose this summer’s theme song. The process is open to all interested (past and present) students, moderators, Marianist Young Adults (LIFE Alumni and Old Timers), administrators, and Coordinating Team members.

If you would like to be involved in the process, please note the following:
  • A theme song should convey a positive, Christian message
  • A theme song should be sing-able, sway-able, and capable of an effective live performance (as well as recorded)
  • A theme song cannot be repeated from past years (click here for past theme songs)
  • No more than three song choices per email address
  • Please email your choice(s) to marianistlife@sm-usa.org by Friday, February 23
  • Please include the song title, artist, and if possible, the link to the song lyrics online
Please spread the word in and among the Marianist LIFE community. We will contact you in the near future to explain the next step of the selection process and how you can be further involved.
Pacific Moderators
A lot of exciting energy is currently spreading around the Marianist family in the area of young adult involvement, programming, and activities. Many young adults desire opportunities for faith formation, retreats, and various events geared toward their age bracket in connection with the Marianist charism. Recently several Marianist entities have been collaborating on a regular basis to determine “next steps” for increased young adult programming.

Marianist LIFE will be sponsoring and hosting four separate young adult retreats for any and all college-aged students (18-22 years of age) in:

Hawai’i (time and date to be announced)
California (time and date to be announced)
Dayton (July 20-22, 2007; more information will follow)
San Antonio (July 27-29, 2007; more information will follow)

For more information on other current young adult opportunities in the Marianist family, visit:

Marianist Volunteer Program

Adele Social Justice Project & Marianist Social Justice Collaborative

Jtal
by Jennifer Talley from Bulverde, Texas

Jennifer (center) and husband Doug (right) with former LIFEr Kevin (left) at a worksite in New Orleans.

When deciding where to spend our vacation this year, my husband Doug and I choose to go to New Orleans. It is one of our favorite cities and wanting to be as supportive as we could, we felt that our vacation dollars would best be spent there. We also knew that we would want to spend some time helping with a volunteer effort but weren’t sure exactly what we would do. As fate would have it my “roommate” at Marianist LIFE Pacific, Marlena Johnston, had just returned from a week of volunteering with Catholic Charities in New Orleans. I had planned to contact Catholic Charities when I arrived in New Orleans but, once again, fate intervened when I saw Kevin Fitzpatrick (whom I know through Marianist LIFE South) at the Marianist Lay Network of North America conference in San Antonio a few weeks later. Kevin had been displaced from his job in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. He informed me that he was now working for Catholic Charities coordinating housing for volunteers. Through Kevin, Doug and I registered to spend a few days of our vacation gutting houses in the New Orleans area.

The work was hot and dirty, but extremely fun. We met wonderful people, many of whom were volunteering for extended periods of time. During lunch on the first day, I was sitting on the porch with one such volunteer, Kevin. He had been gutting houses for over five weeks. We sat talking about what brought us to New Orleans. I told him I was there due to my Marianist connections. He said that he was familiar with the Marianists as he had attended a program called LIFE in 1993. His volunteer youth minister, Virginia Mahoney (now Virginia Boesen) took him to LIFE at TECABOCA in Texas. Virginia and I know each other from our involvement in Marianist LIFE South. We talked about what a small world we live in and I told him how I had just seen Virginia and her husband Rick with their son in California the month before while I was there for Marianist LIFE Pacific. Just goes to show that you never know where life and LIFE will take you.
Gross Catholic HS
The national office receives phone calls, emails, and occasional letters from students and moderators updating us on MLC happenings across the map. We encourage all students, moderators, coordinating team members, and young adults to keep us updated on the "latest and greatest" about you and your faith communities...

  • One former moderator is studying to become a nun
  • One former LIFEr is eligible to eat three burritos a day for a whole year
  • One MLC made headlines for hosting a U2 prayer service
To read these Shout Outs and more, Click here...




Sr. Nicole Trahan, nFMI (pictured far left) has been a moderator, a coordinating team member, and will be the next Regional Coordinator for Marianist LIFE South. She is also in formation with the Marianist Sisters.
Click here to read her blog


We hope you enjoyed the first electronic issue of The Fulcrum. On behalf of Bro. Jack Ventura, SM and the Office of Religious Life, please know that you and your communities are in our thoughts and prayers. Let us know how we can be of better service to you and your Marianist LIFE Communities.

Peace and prayers,


Brian F. Reavey
National Coordinator
Marianist LIFE

phone: 215-634-4116