Dear friends of Champagnat,

Greetings again from the Marcellin Centre in Vatuwaqa, Suva. This is to be the last Associates' Newsletter for the year. It's that time of year again, when we seem to be doing the rounds of concerts, prize-givings, break up parties and the like. The picture of Champagnat (at right)was part of an item produced by class six here at St Marcellin Primary School, in which they paid a wonderful hi-tech tribute to the Brothers. But as we see the prizes and awards being made, spare a thought for the student who works away year after year, but will never make it to the top of the class, might not even ever make it on to any awards list. Let's make an effort to acknowledge these forgotten ones in our own special way as we come to the year's end.

This edition also sees the final instalment of the "Come to the Hermitage" series, entitled "Who will tell the Story?". I hope you have found this series useful in your private or group prayer and reflection.

We begin our presentation of articles with this offering from Mrs Silila Bell. The article is taken from the "Samoan Observer".

"Champagnat Family Group assists Fiamalamalama"

Champagnat Family group from St Joseph's College donated clothing materials, paints, cake and ice cream for the Aoga Fiamalamalama, the school for the intellectually handicapped. Coordinator, Silila Bell, said the group is a lay partner with the Marist Brothers, Saint Joseph's. "St Marcellin Champagnat is our founder and his education is based on five spiritual gifts, which are the guidelines for our work," she said. Principal, Sharon Suhren thanked Champagnat Family group for their assistance, saying that to their school, any gift is greatly appreciated by the students and staff.

Thank you Silila for your contributions this year and we look forward to hearing from you again in 2008.

 

Champagnat Charism alive at Marist Suva Street

The following comes to us from Mrs Veronika Ratagisavili, (pictured with some of her students) a class five teacher at the school.

It is my great pleasure to share some of my experiences in this article. Having taught at Marist Brothers' Primary School for the last 14 years, I have come to experience the charism and values of our Founder St Marcellin as very much alive in our community here. Moulding and nurturing the lives of the young is both interesting and challenging. I face a lot of these challenges in all the classes I have taught in the past and the same with my current class of 48 boys. The values and charism which I have experienced and have owned made it possible for me to face up to these challenges.

I have heard comments like "You have a rich school". I will not dispute this comment because I can say that in being part of this Marist Community I have felt this "richness" in giving, sharing and reaching out to needy students of our school. A week ago one of our teachers brought some groceries to school - she had won them in a lottery - with the intention of sharing them out to some of the needy children. Two of my students became recipients. I know of teachers who go out of their own way in financially helping the needy students in their class by providing their bus fares. This richness in giving and reaching out does not only involve students and teachers, the parents are also very much part of it.
I am very much aware of the fact of the very few number of Brothers we have here in Fiji at the moment, and Marist Suva Street had been without a Brother for quite some time until Brother Jone Seduadua joined us in 2005. Despite the absence of the Brothers on the staff during those years, the team work and the family spirit experienced among staff members was something which kept us going as companions on a journey, supporting each other all the way. I can proudly say we held on to the fort and continued the work of our patron, St Marcellin, up to this moment.
To conclude this short article, I would say that the Spirit of Champagnat is very much alive in Marist Suva Street and through his spirit we are empowered to continue to live out his charism. Vinaka vakalalevu. God Bless!

Thank you very much Vero for your inspiring article.

 

Marist Champagnat Mission in Fiji - 2008.

In early November, a number of Champagnat Associates and Brothers met together to put forward an action plan for the consideration of the Fiji Marist Brothers' Education Trust Board. .In the meeting three areas surfaced as serious obstacles to the educational mission. They were

A Dysfunctional families
B Impoverished home environments
C Learning disabilities.

The group made a number of recommendations, urging to Board to implement policies to improve the learning environment. These included structural aspects, such as home visitation programmes, parent and staff awareness programmes, counselling services and structures and programmes for impoverished students.
The group also strongly recommended the promotion of "learning to learn" programmes, especially the "Move to Learn" as the simplest to employ and the most widely effective.
Thank you to Rita, Mervyn and the teachers of Champagnat Institute for your sharing. May your ideas bear much fruit.

Marist Spirit - a student's perspective Part II

This article follows on from the one in Newsletter 06. The writer is Mua Mausio, a Form 6 student at Marist Brothers' High School, Suva.

When I first came to Marist, I didn't know what Brotherhood meant. But along the past few very short years, I've come to understand that brotherhood, Champagnat's charism, is what makes Marist Brothers' High School special. I have experienced the charism of Champagnat that has stayed with me. An example is my friend Joe Vamaca who always encourages me to stay in school even when times are boring at school. Also through the attitude of Old Boys past and present, when they give back to the school, it tells me that they received something that can't be learned in books but through the Brothers' influence.

Thank you Mua!

As Christmas draws near, and our thoughts turn to the Holy Family, I would like to share with you this magic family picture. May the family spirit grow ever stronger in you this coming festive season. Some of you who are teachers in our schools may be moving on to new appointments. Thank you for having been part of the Marist Family, and may the spirit of Champagnat continue to guide you on your journey.
To you all, thank you for your contributions to the newsletter this year. Shall we say, next year again, please?

I wish you all a joyous and blessed Christmas and may you continue to walk faithfully in the footsteps of St Marcellin. Till 2008 then.

Br Kees van der Weert
keesfms@gmail.com

Champagnat Associates' Newsletter No. 8/2007 November 2007
Marcellin Centre,
P.O. Box 5448, Raiwaqa, Suva,
Fiji Islands.

COME HOME TO THE HERMITAGE (6)

Marcellin Champagnat And The Spiritual Exercises
"Who will tell the story?"

Grace to be desired in prayer:
- The gift of deep self knowledge of God's goodness to me in order that, filled with Thanksgiving, I may be empowered to respond totally in my love and service to God.

Who Will Tell The Story?

Try to imagine what our world would be like without the story of God's passionate love for us.
Think of what it would be like for us Christians if no one told the story of the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus any more. No one would hear the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth, the old childless couple who, wonder of wonders, conceive and bear a child who will be herald of the long-awaited Messiah. We would miss the sense of hope in God's goodness in spite of appearances which this story rouses. No one would hear the simple, yet dazzling story of the angel's appearance to the young girl Mary, the hush of the universe as it waited for her answer, and the sigh of relief when she is heard to say, "Here I am, the servant of the Lord: let it be with me according to your word." We would not hear the story of Jesus, the carpenter's son, who has enthralled millions of people down the centuries with his kindness, his strength, his honesty, his single minded devotion to God's kingdom and God's people. No one would know that the desire of the ever-lasting hills, the hope of the ages, the suffering servant has actually already appeared and has surpassed all expectations and all prophecies. We would not know that death has lost its sting, that the light has shone in our darkness and the darkness can not overcome it. We would not know the joy of the resurrection. We might have experiences of having our hearts burn within us when we meet a stranger on the road, but we would not know what to make of it and would forget it almost as soon as it happened.

We Christians need people who will tell the story of Jesus and of their experience of Jesus so that we can make sense of our own experiences. A dry text book description of someone who lived and died two thousand years ago will not feed our imaginations and arouse our desires as God wants them to be fed and aroused. We need people who witness to the good news, who tell the story as something real and still powerful now. This is the deepest meaning of the haunting phrase in Isaiah: "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces salvation, who says to Zion, 'Your God reigns,'" (Isaiah 52:7) Without the telling of the story with feeling there is no good news, and the world would be a bleak place indeed. And we the sadder.
These reflections lead us to the conclusion that each one of us must be a teller of the story, that each one of us is called to be a piece of good news for those we meet. We all have experiences of the power of the story of God's action in our world, of Jesus as our Saviour and dearest friend. We need to tell our stories. We all know of stories of God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit to tell one another. We do need to hear things that God has done in our midst.

Simple gestures bring home the experience that underlies the story. Anyone who gives a cup of water in Christ's name tells the story. Those nameless people who daily make their way to churches throughout the world to pray privately or participate in liturgies are telling the story. All priests, and religious, and lay people who daily pray the liturgical hours alone or in groups, all those who daily pray the rosary, all are part of the great number of those who tell the story. Those who feed the hungry, who protest against injustice, who speak out against the immorality of modern warfare, in the name of Jesus, keep the story alive. Indeed, I venture to say that whenever our hearts reach out to embrace the sufferings of others we are not only telling the story but also co-creating it with God. Telling the story, in other words, also enacts it.
Who will tell the story? The answer that our reflections lead us to is "Everyone." At least everyone is asked to contribute to the telling of the story. No one can tell the whole story, but we can all contribute our part to its full telling. Let's let the story live on our lips.

....each one of us must be a teller of the story, ... each one of us is called to be a piece of good news for those we meet.