The love of God is inspiring. I find it hard to fathom the depths with which God loves us and the fact that God loves us the way we are! It amazes me just how God can be with us as life unfolds. On any particular day, we have intentions about what we are planning to do, or with whom we are intending to speak. Sometimes our day looks quite different in the morning to what it turns out to be in reality. God is flexible!
When I was growing up I had the privilege of living in a Dominican parish. This meant I attended a Dominican primary school and celebrated sacraments with the Dominican parish community. I grew to love this way of being Catholic. I felt the communal dimension and enjoyed listening to the Friars speak about their Founder St Dominic. I now sense I was beginning to understand a little about the significance of the charism of a Founder.
I then moved across to a Marist school for my later primary and secondary years. My parents chose such a school because they hoped I would develop 'a devotion to Our Lady'. This I did. At that time, I also learnt about Marcellin Champagnat and his experience of founding the Marist Brothers. I learnt too about his spirituality and his sayings like 'all to Jesus through Mary'.
As the years have progressed I have grown to appreciate Marcellin’s commitment to mission. He had a direct, yet understandable way of nurturing community. We could summarise his spirituality with the words: ‘the crib, the cross and the altar'.
It is exciting to see the evolution of the new Marist Association of St Marcellin Champagnat. Through our coming together, more men and women will be able to learn Marcellin’s way of living our Catholic faith. His way focuses on mission in the way of Mary. The Marist Association of St Marcellin Champagnat is an inspiring opportunity for us all.
John McMahon