February 2009

Marianist Lay Network of North America (MLNNA)

Building a Community of Communities

When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman,
"Call the workers and pay them their wages,
beginning with the last ones hired
and going on to the first".
(Mt 20, 8)

This year, the initiative is extended to the entire Family of Mary in our three official languages: Spanish, English and French. All of the materials can be accessed and printed from the web page of the Marianist Family of Spain  (www.last40.marianistas.org)
This address will go directly to the English-language version. Please note that since material is still being translated, not all may be available initially.

The campaign offers for each country: general data, statistics, history and maps, as well as a main text.  This year, that main text is a letter written specifically for this campaign by inhabitants of that particular country. We have asked them to tell us about their country, their personal situation, and about what they would like to say to the more developed countries. In this way, we try to "live" these forty days reading letters from the forty least developed countries, listening to their concerns, needs, desires, reproaches and gratitude, all from the point of view of their life and their development.

Following the reading of the letter, the campaign presents a short reading from the Word
of God. This section, called "God also writes," allows is to receive what He tells us,
thus deepening our own attentiveness and inviting us to prayer.

Finally, and in order that our concern for these "last forty" not only be manifest in our reading and in our prayer, it is suggested, as a small gesture, that a person respond in writing in a section entitled "Now You Write." At this point, it the individual's turn to write an answer to the letter that we have received, devoting the same effort that the original authors have done.

The campaign can easily be adapted for use in Marianist Communities.

In addition, the campaign can be adapted within your educational and pastoral works. We encourage anyone who does make these adaptations to share them and their results with the organizers of the campaign by sending them to link

We hope that this campaign helps us to mutually come to know each other's situations, both those who live in the "developed" countries, as well as those who live in the "last forty" countries. Thus, we will walk together towards the cross, and the glory of Easter, through this period of conversion when we ask for mercy and show it as well.

This year's campaign has been possible thanks to the collaboration of an extensive group of volunteers who have assisted in contacting the authors of the letters and those who have provided translation services. Among these, there are many Marianists who we would like to thank for their generous service:

Contacts: Bill Schlosser (Malawi), Christophe Muyuka (D. R. Congo), Maximin Magnan (Togo),
Stalislas Limdeyou (Haiti), Victor Sahayaraj (Nepal).

Translators: André Verhnes, Antonio Bringas, Arthur Cherrier, Domingo Fuentes, Enrique Zabala, Ignacio Otaño, José Antonio de Muguerza, José María Fernández de Retana, José María Salaverri, José Ramón Sebastián de Erice, Joseph Aziwa, Juan Manuel Rueda, Lorenzo Amigo, Louis-Daniel Lomie, Luis Gamboa, Mathieu Hilim-Peleke, Mike Galvin, Pablo Rambaud, Ray Domínguez, Robert Wood.

Building Peace in the Middle East

Larry Hufford, lay Marianist and chair of the MSJC Alternatives to Violence Team, has published an article titled "Global Support Needed for the Israeli Peace Movement."  Larry visited Israel and Palestine last year and has first hand experience with the situation there.  Click here to read the article.

 Jim Vogt,

 jimvogt2@yahoo.com.

859-291-6197     www.msjc.net

 JOIN THE MLNNA LEADERSHIP TEAM    

In June we will hold an election for the positions of Director of Development of Communities and Executive Secretary.
The positions are described as follows:

Executive Secretary:

If you are interested in either of these positions please contact aj@marianistfamily.org.

WANT AD

Financial Development Director
MLNNA is looking for a kind and generous volunteer to become our Financial Development Director. The individual in this position will help MLNNA generate the annual fundraising letter and help MLNNA reach its financial goals. The Development Director is a member of the MLNNA Leadership Team.

 
Outreach Committee
MLNNA is developing programs such as lectures, films or retreats for Communities around North America.

Interested in helping? Contact A.J. Wagner, President of MLNNA at aj@marinistfamily.org.
  
We want to identify any interested people by Saturday March 7th.  Thank-you for considering this opportunity to be involved and serve our organization.

Support MLNNA

We are working with Network for Good to collect financial contributions electronically. Check out our Donation Page.

Please remember that your contributions support this MLNNA E-news, the Saying Yes reflection, the Magnificat and Gifts and Tasks. Your contribution also supports the Marianist Social Justice Collaborative, the International Organization of Marianist Lay Comunities and the Marianist Lay Formation Initiative.

We want to do more for you and for our mission to others, but our budget is very limited. Our only source of contributions is our members, so any gift is greatly appreciated. If you have any questions or comments about our fundraising or our spending or if you have any suggestions, please let me know at aj@marianistfamily.org.

You can help MLNNA generate $$ everytime you search the web.  Click the link.  Set Marianist Lay Network of North America as your charity.  And everytime you search (powered by Yahoo - competitor for Google) our organization will receive 1 cent.

GoodShop which provides our MLNNA organization a portion of the sale price if you enter a store's website (such as Amazon, EBAY, Staples, Old Navy, Target, WalMart, the Gap and others) through the GoodShop portal.  If you make airline reservations through Expedia these also qualify.

Spread the word about GoodSearch, it doesn't cost you anymore to help us earn a little money.   GoodShop.com

Mary: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

Our vowed brothers and sisters conduct retreats every Summer to experience the love of God through the "flow of grace."   This year they have generously offered to include interested Lay Marianists. The retreat theme is "Mary: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow."

It will be offered at 5 different locations on five different weeks with different presenters at each location. It will be geared to the vowed members of our Family and will cost $500. Each retreat will begin Sunday evening and conclude the following Saturday at noon.
If you are interested contact Donna Tucker at dtucker@sm-usa.org or 314.533.1207.

Here is the schedule with locations:

    * Tecaboca at Ingram, Texas May 31 to June 6.
    * Bergamo Center at Dayton, Ohio June 21 to June 27.
    * Saint Anthony retreat Center at Honolulu, Hawaii July 12 to July 18.
    * Marianist Retreat Center at Eureka, Missouri July 19 to July 25.
    * Oblate Renewal Center at San Antonio, Texas July 26 to August 1.

Spiritual Direction

Spiritual direction encourages you to explore a closer relationship with God. In the midst of a busy life, many people find it difficult to notice God's action in their daily affairs. Yet, at the deepest level, all of us long for a more conscious experience of God's presence and love.

In spiritual direction, you reflect deeply on the experiences of your daily life. Gradually, as you contemplate, you may begin to recognize God's Presence and grace in your life. You may come to realize how God's spirit is truly with you every day and every where.

Spiritual direction is really not about being "directed". 
Rather, it is very much about being encouraged to draw closer to God.

Discover how God has been waiting for you to seek this closer relationship,

Contact: Ray McCracken or Pati Krasensky
The Marianist Center
Penn Treaty Building # 406
1341 N. Delaware Ave.
Philadelphia, PA 19125
215.634.4116

Australia News
By Julie Aherne, the MLC National Responsible for Australia, has provided this first-hand account of the bushfires in the state of Victoria. Julie lives in Langwarrin, located 48 km SE of Melbourne.








The weather here was 47.5 to 49 degrees Celsius. The winds started to blow and reached up to 80 miles an hour. Everything was so scorched and dry. The trees had all been cooked, the leaves were brown and curled. Everything was very hot to touch, so when a fire started there was very little hope of fighting it. The gum trees are full of eucalyptus oil, so the 40 to 50 metre high flames jumped quickly.

My son John and his wife Michelle had 5 acres burn on their farm in Neerim South. The fires were in the Bunyip Forrest.  John was getting all the soot and debris from the fires because the wind was whirling, hot and savage.  Neighbors came to their farm because the road to Warrigal was cut off. Their property has a long drive-way, the hay was cut and there aren't too many trees around the house. It was the safest place. It was very scary and frightening. John had been a volunteer firefighter here in Skye before he was married so he knew a lot of ways to help. Michelle had sprinklers all over the place and even under the house.

The weather and the wind had changed and the fire is going on to other areas, so the people and the firefighters are still in crisis.

It has been so, so sad. Many people are in the burns unit at the Alfred Hospital, many not expected to live because of the severe burns.  Whole towns are burnt flat. One man heard the fire was 25 km away. He said to his wife, "the poor people suffering there." In 15 min. the fire was on his property. They got away but their home was burnt down with all the others. The fire was so bad that it created its own weather - swirls, roaring, jumping and simply flying because of the 80 to 100 km an hour winds. That's how so many people lost their lives. They were trapped in their homes or crashed on the roads when the air turned black.

It looks like a nuclear bomb has hit some of the towns.  It is so hard to comprehend. A few well known people have lost their lives. One was our News reader for many years. He and his wife both died in their home. A water container on his trailer wasn't touched, it all happened so fast.

The number of deaths has now reached 173 and is rising. These are people, families just like mine and yours, it is so hard to talk of numbers like this. The Army and Police are going through the ruins looking for more people who were trapped in their homes. It is a mammoth task, and very emotional for those who are dealing with this.

Link to ABC news site for photos and updated information on the bushfires in Australia

JOYFUL NEWS
Do you want to share a big event in your life?  New job, new baby, or recovery from an illness.  You can submit any information for the E-news Click here

PRAYER REQUEST
Submit a request for community prayers to the E-news here.

Editor's Note

Submit an article for the next newsletter by March 6.  

Share your community or personnal experiences with your fellow Lay Marianists.
Send article and pictures to Jacqui Griswold, MLNNA editor
Keep copy short and describe who, what, why, when and how
If possible, select 1 or 2 of digital images in JPEG format (100 - 900K) and attach to the e-mail


Thanks for reading to the end.

For inspiration 212 movie