The 2021 Annual Meeting of the Marist Family General Councils
“Marists – grounded, branching, and reaching out….”
From Thursday, May 13th through Saturday, May 15th, the General Councils of the 4 branches of the Marist Family met for its annual meeting. It was the first meeting of the Councils since the outbreak of the pandemic which cancelled the 2020 gathering.
The theme of this year’s gathering was “Marists—grounded, branching, and reaching out…” and focused on three matters of importance to the Marist Family:
- Learnings from our experience of the Pandemic and how to lead in Mary’s Way in Post-Pandemic time.
- Our Marist Places of Origin: possible ways of collaboration in the future.
- Laudato Si: carrying forward the efforts of the Marist Family Laudato Si working group.
Through large and small group sharing and input from the reflections of Pope Francis, those who participated were encouraged to listen—with the ears of our hearts—to the various presentations, to better understand each Branch’s experiences and learning concerning the pandemic, the Marist places of origin, and the efforts of the Laudato Si working group, and to develop concrete proposals, suggestions, and ideas for the future concerning these matters.
During the gathering, various invited guests from the different Branches joined the 4 council, gathered in Manziana, via ZOOM, among them: Brother Maurice Berquet, community leader of the Hermitage Community, offered some historical background and suggestions concerning our Marist places (Rosey, LaValla, and the Hermitage) and Brother Angel Diego Garcia, Director of the Secretariat of Solidarity, spoke of the work of the Secretariat in the area of integral ecology.
The gathering concluded with a liturgy with the theme of “Mary in the Midst of the Church” and a tree planting ceremony marking the Marist Family’s commitment to caring for our common home. Each Superior General also received a tree sapling which is to be planted at each of the 4 General Houses.
All in all, the gathering was a positive experience of gathering, fellowship, and exploration in each branch’s mission to create a Marian face of the Church.
