A Blest and Joy-filled Christmas and New Year As we celebrate God-with-us. "God gave all things life, and Mary is the mother through whom all things are given new life. Without God's Son, nothing could exist; without Mary's Son, nothing could be redeemed'. [Anselm of Canterbury: 1033 – 1109] Que Noël et cette Nouvelle Année soient bénis et remplis de joie, alors que nous célébrons Dieu-avec-nous « Dieu a donné la vie à toutes choses, et Marie est la mère par qui une nouvelle vie est donnée à toutes choses Sans le Fils de Dieu rien ne pourrait exister Sans le Fils de Marie, rien ne pourrait être racheté [Anselm of Canterbury: 1033 – 1109]

Le P. Pascal Boidin sm, membre de la communauté de Notre-Dame de France à Londres, atransmis ce témoignage pour publication dans le n°170 du feuillet EuroInfo de la Province d'Europe. Cette mémoire des migrants morts en Méditerranée montre la préoccupation pour la justice de ces étudiants européens. Fr Pascal Boidin SM, from the community of Notre-Dame de France in London, sent EuroInfo this account of a meeting of students from various countries, on the Italian island of Lampedusa, where a deadly wreckage caused the death of several hundred migrants. It is a remembrance of the need of justice cared for by many young people all over Europe. Bonjour à tous, je m'appelle Charles Vibert. Je sui...

Marist Charism and Peace-making This last week, on 01 December, Marists from 4 corners of the world made Presentations on our Marist Charism and Peace-making.The Marists Presenting were: Fr Hermes [Larry] Sabud – Ranong Thailand; SMSM Sisters Gisèle, Christiana, & Monique – Ngozi, Burundi, Africa; Fr Miguel Contreras – Peru, South America; and Fr Donato Kivi – Fiji, Oceania. The invitation came from the Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation Commission – JPIC Roma – who organize a workshop each year to train JPIC Promoters for Religious Congregations around the world. The Workshop was run this year from 28 November until 02 December, and had the Theme: Pacem in Terris and Laudato Si i...

Ross Flint, Marist Associate, and ordained member of the Anglican Communion, Tasmania, sends this short, stark, report – in the context of COP27 "World is on 'highway to climate hell",  - United Nations General Secretary warns at COP27 summit. António Guterres tells leaders 'global climate fight will be won or lost in this crucial decade – on our watch' In 1992, countries joined an international treaty, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, as a framework for international cooperation to combat climate change by limiting average global temperature increases and the resulting climate change, and coping with impacts that were, by then, inevitable. https://unfccc....

Fr Damien Diouf SM, NDF London, Chair of our Migrants and Refugee Commission, recently sent this report: Notre Dame Refugee Centre has been working with refugees and asylum seekers for more than 25 years, thanks to the generosity of those who share our aims and beliefs. Originally, it was set up by Notre Dame de France in 1996, in response to changes in asylum and immigration laws that year. It was then registered as an independent charity in 2007. Like many of our supporters, many of our visitors are French speaking, but we have welcomed visitors from 98 different countries over the five past years. We remain a bilingual English and French speaking refugee centre.  Our immigration team...

New Zealander, Fr Tony O'Connor-Hickman SM spent 12 years in the parish church of San Felipe in Brownsville, a town on the border between the US and Mexico. It faces the Mexican town of Matamoros, divided by the Rio Grande and by the border wall.  He previously had been on mission in Venezuela and Peru. San Felipe parish has been at the forefront of the migrant crisis in the US border lands. Thousands of unaccompanied minors seeking safety and a better life have been detained by the US Border force. Fr Tony and his San Felipe team have cared for, and ministered to many of these children. Following is an appreciation of his ministry.  [note: ed: By Michael Seifert - f...

Fr Jim Carty sm, Aussie Marist, calls us, in our current world situation, to remember the tragedy of Nuclear Warfare The secretary general of the United Nations warned on Monday (1stAugust 2022) that humanity was "just one misunderstanding, one miscalculation away from nuclear annihilation," citing the war in Ukraine among the conflicts driving the risk to a level not seen since the height of the Cold War. "All this at a time when the risks of proliferation are growing and guardrails to prevent escalation are weakening," the official, António Guterres, said. "And when crises — with nuclear undertones — are festering from the Middle East and the Korean Peninsula to Russia's invasion of U...

 Mary Ghisolfo, Lay Marist serving with Notre Dame des Victoires, San Francisco, California, writes to answer the question:  "Why Does Ministry Among the Poor Awaken for Us the Critical Role of a Marist Vocation?"  "At our best, we are instruments of God's mercy working to help others taste the boundless love of the Lord, especially those who find themselves on the margins." (Statement of Identity, US Province of the Society of Mary – Assembly and Chapter June 2013 The parishioners at Notre Dame des Victoires Church (NDV) are committed to supporting the Gubbio Project, an organization which serves the homeless, hungry and those in need of various health services...

Sr Christiana Nshimiyimana smsm - Rawandan Marist Missionary Sister - gives us this news from Ngozi, Burundi:   GIRITEKA is a project set up to respond to the phenomenon of street children in the city of Ngozi which, in recent years, has experienced accelerated expansion with its corollary of new problems. One of the consequences of this reality is the sad situation of street children given their ever-increasing number. The Missionary Sisters of the Society of Mary (Marists), called by the Bishop of Ngozi, sought ways to "recover" street children with a view to social reintegration. The reception Centre was set up in 2003. Since the beginning, we have been in contact with...

 Pope Francis—united to all the Bishops and Catholic faithful around the world— consecrated Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on Friday 25th March, the feast of the Annunciation. The Act of Consecration was prayed during the "24 Hours for the Lord" Lenten penitential service led from St. Peter's Basilica, which began at 5 PM Rome time. The official text is below - and offered for ongoing prayer and reflection:  O Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, in this time of trial we turn to you. As our Mother, you love us and know us: no concern of our hearts is hidden from you. Mother of mercy, how often we have experienced your watchful care a...

This week's blog, comes from Fr Kevin Head sm, written as the editorial for February's  Marist Messenger : Human trafficking occurs for many reasons – for work in sweatshops, illegal adoption of children, organ transplants, forced marriages, drug trafficking, begging and prostitution among others. When she was twenty-six, Blessing Okoedion went to Spain from Nigeria with a promise of work in a computer business. However, when she reached Spain, there was no job for her, she had a forged visa, and her traffickers said she owed them $70,000. She had no way to pay, so they sent her to Naples and forced her to work on the streets as a prostitute. Blessing found her way to a shelte...

Tony O'Connor, Kiwi Marist, writes from the USA-Mexico Border:    All is pretty quiet here in February. It is colder than normal which makes people sleepy perhaps? Or is there a weariness in the air? At first glance nothing seems to be happening. Lots of planes fly over without our knowing where they are going or who their passengers are. Unaccompanied Central American Minors protected by a US 2008 law are still being allowed to cross the river. But with COVID the centers for minors have them all grounded from coming to religious services here in San Felipe. Trump's Title 42 is perpetuated still by Biden because of OMICRON so they say, which means no to asylum seekers Many peo...

Fr Roger Kasiama sm, Superior of our Marist Community in Dakar, Senegal, wrote this Report at the end of 2021:  Nazareth - Family Reintegration Ministry -  represents the visible face of a project that aims to intervene with children and young people in family breakdown still living on the street, as well as with parents and guardians in order to achieve a healing reintegration into the family.  After a brief break during the winter months, the center's activities resumed at the beginning of October. The purpose of this report is to provide a brief illustrated summary of the achievements of the Nazareth Centre in 2021 THE IMPACT OF FIELD VISITS&nb...

Fr Tony O'Connor sm writes from Texaa: "DEL RIO" is a Texan town of some 35,000 people some 230 kilometers west of San Antonio on the Rio Grande River with an international bridge connecting with the town of Acuña (215,00 Pop) on the Mexican side. It is a quiet out of the way connection with the two countries and with very reduced border patrol facilities. The first photo below shows Haitians and Central Americans at Del Rio.  The  second shows them camped under the International Bridge at Del Rio. The stretch of border near Del Rio became the second busiest Border Patrol sector this year with nearly 215,000 arrests out of 1.47 million across the entire border s...

The UN Intergovernmental Panel on climate change has released its latest report. This Sixth Assessment Report is a weighty document at nearly 4000 pages and the science is described as robust. It has been tagged "code red" because human activity is changing our climate in unprecedented ways. A key word for the whole report, according to  Will Steffen  an Australian climate systems scientist, is "urgency". We have this current decade to act and to do so decisively. To shift all human activity and the global economy to a low-carbon footing is the task before us. There can be no new coal, gas or oil developments and existing fossil fuel extraction has to be phased out. 2030 is a key d...

One of the 7 Goals of Laudato Si is to respond to the Cry of the Poor. Tony O'Connor, on the Mexican Border, writes that the Cry of the Earth – drought in Honduras and Guatemala compounded by the Climate Crisis, and political instability, leads to the Cry of the Poor – of those he is working with. I got a call the other day asking if I could get someone to find out the situation of a Venezuelan migrant youth with COVID interned in the Carrion Hospital, Callao, Peru. That's right they asked me!! I left Peru in 2007! However, Pigeon Post is pretty sharp in Callao. We were able to report on the girl to her family in Valencia, Venezuela. That's connection. I was also really affected em...

"I was Sick and you took Care of me" [Matt 25: 36]  This is the Second Reflection from the Solidarity Commission of the European Province.  Translations below are in French and Spanish. God the Father, in sickness you let us experience the vulnerability of frail creatures: Bestow upon us abundantly your compassion. Jesus Christ, Son of God, sustain us in times of illness and help us carry your burden. Holy Spirit, we pray to be restored in moments of weariness, that we might ourselves become instruments of your loving mercy.  [Francis: XXVIII World Day of the Sick, 11 February, 2021] Constitutions: Sick and Elderly "The call (of the Marists) is to be truly missionary...

Fr Lionel Mechavez sm, Davao, Philippines, reports on our Marist mission there with the street boys:  Together, we are facing a truly unprecedented situation. The Covid-19 pandemic is affecting all of our families, our businesses, our works, our communities, and our way of life. During this time we wanted to reach out and update you on our life here in Balay Pasilungan. Our government agency, the Department of Education (DepEd), has decided that schedule of opening of classes for school year 2020-­‐2021 be moved to October 5, 2020 from the previous schedule of August 24, 2020. This is to give the Department of Education ample time to prepare all necessary requirements for the imple...

Fr Roger Kasiama sm [on the right in the picture below] writes from Dakar - Senegal, on the Marist Ministry of Family and Social Reintegration for Children in Street Situations:   Street actions are frequent visits by animators to various known drop-off points where street youth gather. They make it possible to keep in touch with the youth, to make sensitizations, to practice care on the spot and to give a practical help if necessary… Nazareth Wednesday's These days are reserved for the welcoming of young people in the Nazareth center, in the continuity of street-actions. The focus is on the well-being of children, a great family atmosphere during this day, better sensiti...

Br Ivan Vodopivec sm writes from Notre Dame de France, London: Normally on a Saturday morning our parish centre would be full of volunteers preparing sandwiches, crisps, cakes, biscuits, fruit and soup ready to welcome our 100 -120 visitors, most of them living on the streets or vulnerably housed. But on March 14th that all stopped. The normally lively bustling Leicester square with hundreds of people on the go became a still and quiet and somewhat eerie space. The lock-down had begun and due to socially distancing measures our centre was not able to welcome our guests and keep everyone safe from the virus. Westminster council swung into action and along with organisations like ours beg...