Doing the Work of Mary
Marists are men and women who strive to live the Gospel the way Mary lived it. We are scattered to the four corners of the world but united in one heart and one mind under the patronage of Mary, the mother of Jesus. We gather into religious congregations and lay movements: The Missionary Sisters of the Society of Mary, the Marist Sisters, the Marist Brothers, the Priests and Brothers of the Society of Mary, and many lay groups of Marist inspiration.

Today, we continue in the venture to renew the spirit and mission of the Church as a place of collaboration and true spiritual enrichment.

We invite you to discover that true strength is found in gentleness. Marist spirituality invites us to embrace this liberating truth, which comes to us from the heart of God, by following Mary, the Mother of Jesus. Like Mary, we too can hear the gentle rhythms of the grace of God in our lives by making our own her manner of thinking, judging, feeling, and acting.

    Mary's way is a direct path to the divine heart of mercy.

The International Day of Peace was established in 1981 by the United Nations General Assembly. Two decades later, in 2001, the General Assembly unanimously voted to designate the Day as a period of non-violence and cease-fire.

The United Nations invites all nations and people to honour a cessation of hostilities during the Day, and to otherwise commemorate the Day through education and public awareness on issues related to peace.

On 21 September 2018, from 9:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., the Secretary-General will celebrate the Day in the Peace Garden at United Nations Headquarters by ringing the Peace Bell and observing a minute of silence. United Nations Messengers of Peace will participate in the ceremony.

Peace Prayer of Saint Francis
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much
seek to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.

Learn more about the International Day of Peace>

Resources on Nonviolence and Just Peace>

Justice for Immigrant Families and Children

Every stranger who knocks at our door is an opportunity for an encounter with Jesus Christ, who identifies with the welcomed and rejected strangers of every age (See Matthew 25:35-43).
Pope Francis, from his 2018 World Day of Migrants and Refugees Message

Read Pope Francis' 2018 World Day of
Migrants and Refugees Message>

The Marists of the U.S. Province came to the United States to minister to immigrants on the move who speak other languages, and it has been part of our history since our arrival here in the United States in 1863.

We follow the lead of the U.S. Bishops in seeking a humane and consistent immigration policy for the United States but cannot be blind to the painful human needs and social situations of our immigrant brothers and sisters.

Read more about this issue>

Ten Things To Know About Family Separation (PDF)>

Pope Francis: Death Penalty is Inadmissible

Pope Francis has approved a new revision of paragraph number 2267 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, according to which "a new understanding has emerged of the significance of penal sanctions imposed by the state," thus "the death penalty is inadmissible". The text now reads:

Recourse to the death penalty on the part of legitimate authority, following a fair trial, was long considered an appropriate response to the gravity of certain crimes and an acceptable, albeit extreme, means of safeguarding the common good.

Today, however, there is an increasing awareness that the dignity of the person is not lost even after the commission of very serious crimes. In addition, a new understanding has emerged of the significance of penal sanctions imposed by the state. Lastly, more effective systems of detention have been developed, which ensure the due protection of citizens but, at the same time, do not definitively deprive the guilty of the possibility of redemption.

Consequently, the Church teaches, in the light of the Gospel, that "the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person",[1] and she works with determination for its abolition worldwide".

[1] FRANCIS, Address to Participants in the Meeting organized by the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, 11 October 2017: L'Osservatore Romano, 13 October 2017.

Read Full Article>

Take the Pledge to End the Death Penalty>

More Resources>

 

Pope Francis: Young People in Africa
Let us pray that young people in Africa may have access to education and work in their own countries.  Pope Francis - September 2018

"Africa is a wealthy continent, and its greatest, most valuable resource is its young people. They should be able to choose between letting themselves be overcome by difficulty or transforming the difficulty into an opportunity.

The most effective way to help them in this choice is to invest in their education. If young people don't have the possibility of education, what future can they have?

Let us pray that young people in Africa may have access to education and work in their own countries."

Video by Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network – Apostleship of Prayer

 

Seasonal Reflections

Read Our Seasonal Reflections>

Marists often speak of a Marian Church as a church with its doors wide open. It is a Church that welcomes, that bids others to enter and to know Jesus Christ and all the joy, love and peace that he offers.

But the doors of a Marian Church
are open for another reason.
They are open to enable the Church,
the people of God, to go outward.

Our Lady by Laura James

In going outward, the Church touches the lives of those who some may regard as "the least." They include among them the homeless and the hungry, the alcoholic and those whose bodies and hearts have been torn apart by addiction to drugs.

But often, they are people whose lives have been shattered by broken dreams, broken relationships (sometimes with the Church itself), and a feeling of abandonment. They are suffering and seeking at the same time, wondering if anyone cares and hoping that something better awaits them.

A Marian Church does not have all the answers for them. It is itself a people of God who are in struggle. But Marists believe that the model of Church they offer can make some difference in the lives of those who are in groaning.

At the very least it is willing to listen to their groaning, to speak to them of a Christ who cares, and to journey with them on their Calvary. It is a Church willing to go beyond doctrine and to feel deeply for others.

Read More Marist Thoughts on A Marian Church>

Read about A Marian People in action>

<<BACK TO TOP>>