Vision 2020: Gather at the River (reflection)

Lei kukui Malianika adorns the province gathering logo

Reflection presented at Province Gathering 2010
Session 2: Celebrating our beginnings
Thursday, July 1, 2010, 9:15 a.m.Hyatt Regency North Ballroom
Louisville, Kentucky

My Marianist story began seven years ago when, as a contact, I applied for—and was accepted to—the Marianist formation program. Since then, I have lived in four different parts of the Province: San Antonio as an aspirant; Dayton as a first-year novice; St. Louis as a second-year novice; and San Antonio as a temporary professed—and, as of last October, a perpetually professed.

Throughout my entire life in the Society of Mary, I have known and lived in only one province: the Province of the United States. Therefore, the story of the first eight years of the province coincides with my own formation as a Marianist brother. As I reflect on these past seven years, three thoughts come to mind.

The first thought is about relationships. When watching the slideshow, I’m sure we can recognize the many faces, places and events that highlighted the past eight years. In many of the photos, we see smiles and expressions of joy from those whose lives we touched not only because of our excellent professional ministries, but also by the value that we place on relationships with others.

There also were some faces shown who no longer are with us—some who have left our community and others who have gone before us as our deceased brothers, sister and members of the Marianist family.

Perhaps the most important message from the slideshow is that the story is not about you, me or some other Marianist, but it’s a story about us: our experiences, our accomplishments and our special moments as part of the Marianist Province of the United States.

Each one of us has a unique personal story that contributes to our larger Marianist story and, therefore, each one of us has a responsibility to continue that story to share with future generations.

The second thought is about sharing. One way that I can explain this idea is through an analogy of the Hawaiian custom of making and giving a lei. It is customary to honor someone by adorning their head and shoulder with a garland made of flowers, seeds, shells or feathers.

However, leis don’t grow on the trees—they have to be made. And it takes a lot of time, patience, effort, creativity and prayer to make a lei. From picking the flowers, cleaning the seeds, trimming the feathers, and putting the individual parts together, the process of creating a single lei can last up to several minutes to dozens of hours for a more complex lei.

And, of course, there’s the element of prayer involved—from prayers of thanksgiving offered to God in being able to take and use the gifts of creation to blessings on the person to whom the lei will be given.

Each individual flower, seed, shell or feather selected for the lei is unique and no two are alike; one-by-one, they are sewn or tied together with loving care and attention to detail to become the lei to be offered as a treasured gift for the person to be honored.

Similarly, the gift of the Marianist charism is shared among many with unique talents. We combine our individual and unique gifts to form “Ka Lei ‘Ohana Malianika,” Marianist family lei, that we offer as a gift to the Church and our world.

The final thought that comes to mind is that of prayer. The one prayer that all Marianists know, which is recited at least daily by most, is the Marianist doxology. This simple prayer is an excellent reminder about the reality of our life and the constant presence of challenges and difficulties amid successes and joys.

With all of our best collaborative efforts, we can try and reach our goals, yet, at the same time, need to remember that the outcome isn’t up to us, but up to God. And, it is important to recognize that, despite all of the challenges we face, we continue in faith our efforts to assist Mary’s mission of bringing Jesus to others.

So my brothers, sister and members of the Marianist family, please join me in concluding this reflection with our simple, Marianist prayer: May the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit be glorified in all places through the Immaculate Virgin Mary. Amen.