"EVERY STORY IS A SACRED STORY"

Ray McCracken, assistant director for programs at the North American Center for Marianist Studies (NACMS), is doing the research project of a lifetime—in fact, many lifetimes.

“Lest We Forget” is the title of a series of interviews McCracken and others, including the late Bro. Walt Oberster, have conducted with 120 Marianist brothers and sisters, primarily at the heathcare centers, as part of a NACMS-sponsored research project. The aim of the project is to record the life stories of Marianists and use the information to examine trends and other findings. Ninety-nine percent of brothers were positive about their vocation and life choice. The project began about 18 months ago and uses an approach called “heuristic research,” which means there is no formal hypothesis but rather a focus on deeply connecting with individuals during the data collection process.
Although it is early stages, McCracken has observed a few trends across the interviews of brothers including:

• 99% were positive about their vocation and life choice
• 95% felt the changes of Vatican II were positive
• A majority of brothers were positive about the future of the Society of Mary, despite the lack of vocations
• None reported negative feelings about those who left the order
• The number one thing that sustained them in their vocation was community life

McCracken emphasized that every interview is strictly confidential. The taped interviews and transcriptions are stored at NACMS and are not available for use without specific permission from the interviewee. Eventually NACMS would like to publish a book of the life stories and findings.