b'PHOTO: LARRY GATZThree years ago, as John Patricks health began to offering a living testimony to the power of faith and Debbie Mendez with her son,deteriorate, Debbie and her husband, John, took him how it is tested and grows. John Patrickand their daughter on a pilgrimage to Our Lady ofLourdes, a Marian shrine in France. We were praying A Marianist compass and guidefor a miracle, recalls Debbie, and, although that Father Chaminade believed that faith formationdidnt occur, what happened next was life-changing. starts in the family, much the way Mary loved Jesus.I felt something lift, she says. Mary became so Marianist schools nurture this budding faith throughreal to me, and she has been a tremendous source of engaging campus ministry programs and faith-filledcomfort ever since. leaders. The goal is to prepare adolescents for theJohn Patrick struggles to describe his experience complexities of life, organize a moral and Gospel-at the shrine. Like so many pilgrims who come to centered system for decision-making, and inspirethe springs at Lourdes each year, he came hoping for them to love, learn and lead tenets that embodya cure. As he entered the water, he asked for Gods the heart of a Marianist education.blessings and then surrendered to the outcome.But launching kids into an adult world also meansLet it be, he remembers praying.letting them know their faith will be challenged, turnedAlthough he didnt experience a miracle, something inside-out and stretched, sometimes beyond measure.in him shifted that day. By the time he returned home, And that all of this is normal and part of a lifelongJohn Patrick says, I realized that my connection to process.God was much stronger. Nothing can take away this Faith is a living thing, says Monica. It keepspeace that I feel.brushing up against life and is tested. In that test-Now, John Patrick is drawn to the LIFE program ing, something new emerges. It changes us, saysas a way of bringing his experience of God to others, Monica, keeps us growing.For more about the Marianist LIFE program, visit marianist.com/life.marianist.com/donate 13'