Community
Spotlight - Central Area of US
including
Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska,
South Dakota and Wisconsin
ARIZONA
When Affiliates Al
and Lorraine Pirc moved from Pueblo, Colorado,
to Arizona, they went with a mandate from the
Southern Colorado Affiliates to form an Affiliate
group in Sun City and spread the Marianist Spirit!
After Al's sudden death, Lorraine kept in touch
with Pueblo friends and would attend Affiliate
functions when she was visiting. When Fr. Al
McMenamy visited Lorraine and her second husband,
Jim Pojman, in
January of 1995,
Fr. "Mac" asked if she might invite
some prospective members. Almost
two dozen friends
attended a "Come
and See" gathering and
that was the beginning of the Sun City Affiliates! Sixteen are
still active and embrace Marianist spirituality.
A contingency of Pueblo Affiliates visited the
Sun City group shortly after they were formed
to welcome them into the Family. Fr. McMenamy usually visits
the group for
mini-Retreats in Advent and Lent.
Colorado
The
Marianist Associate Affiliates, Southern Colorado
Chapter was formed in 1967 (41 years ago!!) when
the Marianists staffed Roncalli High School for boys
in Pueblo. The Marianist Religious departed
in 1971, but the Marianist Spirit still lives! Various
Brothers visited us for at least twice a year over
the intervening years, until Fr. Al McMenamy was
named our Moderator.
Monthly
meetings are held during the school year with
a family picnic in the summer. Fr. "Mac" visits
us about 4 times a year. On those weekends,
we celebrate Eucharist on Friday evenings,
followed by a social. Saturdays and Sundays
are busy from one o'clock in the afternoon
with study, discussion and prayer; Mass at
five o'clock, followed by dinner at a local
restaurant. When Fr. Mac is not with
us, we meet in members' homes once a month
for study, discussion and prayer. We
currently have approximately 30 active members.
We
strive to work in whatever areas we are called
to serve in the spirit of Mary's words at Cana, "Do
whatever He tells you." We
encourage members to be active in parish work,
community work, and volunteer work, with a
Marianist spirit. We donate regularly
to the DECAMP project in Mexico and
to the Day Care in East
St. Louis where
Bro. Norbert Karpfinger has been active.
The
primary purpose of our organization is to form
members in the spirit of the Family of Mary according
to the writings of Chaminade in order to intensify
their Christian way of life. An intrinsic
element is the work of recruiting new members
to share the Marianist spirit. Before new members
are officially received, they are prepared during
a formation period, usually for one to two years.
Our
biggest challenge is attracting younger members. A
new push is underway with Roncalli graduates
who are encouraged to form their own group following
their particular interests. Bro. Jack Ventura
and Fr. Al McMenamy are helping with this endeavor.
NEBRASKA
The
first group of Omaha Lay Marianist Affiliates
made their Consecration May 1, 1974. The Marianist
priests and brothers were residing at Daniel
J. Gross Catholic High School and the protocol
was to invite the parents of a junior or senior
student to join the lay group. The formation
program followed for about six months before
actual entry as a Marianist Affiliate.
Today, there are around 20 active members. We
meet monthly, with gatherings consisting of either
a Holy Hour or a prayer service in the Chapel followed
by a potluck dinner. Occasionally we go to Mass together
and out to breakfast. When Father Al McMenamy comes
to visit, (about 3-4 times a year) we spend much
of a week-end together in prayer, discussion and
sharing. Each summer we gather for a picnic with
our extended families.
The Omaha Affiliates have a study group which meets
weekly to pray and discuss selected topics. These
range from books written by Marianists to the Renew
books on the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Several
times a year the Affiliates prepare and serve meals
at the Stephen Center, a shelter for the homeless
and abused in the Omaha area. We assist with support
to the DECAMP program for the economic improvement
of people in deprived areas of Mexico. We help
with the major fund-raiser for Gross Catholic High
School, Cele-Bration, by taking an ad in their program
and attending the event itself. We have raised funds
to purchase a statue of Our Blessed Mother for Gross'
courtyard. Most recently, we raised money to assist
the students of the LIFE program meet costs of travel
to New Orleans where clean-up work will be carried
out due to the devastation of the hurricane.
KANSAS
From
Marceta Reilly (sister of Fr. David Fleming, S.M)
I
am in Hoyt, KS, just north of Topeka, KS. I am
in two MLCs.....a daily lectio online MLC called
Our Lady of the Round Table (OLRT) and I have
started a monthly telephone group called Harvest
Women, comprised mostly of women in NE Kansas.
Joanne McCracken, NJ, coordinates the online
group and I coordinate the telephone group.
There
are no Marianist schools or vowed religious in
KS that I know of. My involvement developed out
of a Virtual Learning Community Course from Dayton.
I took the course, met some great people in it,
and we decided to form our online community.
From that I started our Harvest Women's group
for some of my local friends. Harvest
Women is a monthly tele-community of six women
which has been meeting by phone for almost two
years. The mission of the group is to "harvest
women" to deeper spirituality. All
but one of the women lives in Kansas. The
women meet monthly on a conference call, read
common books and materials (like Things
Marianist), and through the discussions,
help deepen their own spiritual lives.
[See
article below concerning their second face to
face meeting/retreat.] |
