Marists All February 2001

ISSUE # 60

NEW PROVINCIAL FOR ESOPUS PROVINCE

Brother Robert Clark ('75) has been elected Provincial of the Province of Esopus. He is presently serving as Vice-Provincial. Brother Robert is a native of Brooklyn and a graduate of St. Mary's High School in Manhasset. He entered the Marist Brothers' formation program in Esopus in 1970, began his novitiate in 1975, and made final profession in 1982. He received his undergraduate degree from Marist College, an MA in counseling from Seton Hall, and an MAS in Applied Spirituality from the University of San Francisco. He also has a D.Min in Pastoral Counseling from the Graduate Theological Foundation.

Brother Robert has served as a teacher and counselor at Union Catholic High School in Scotch Plains, New Jersey, and at St. Joseph Academy in Brownsville, Texas. He also served as an administrator at Marist High School in Bayonne, New Jersey.

Brother Robert was Vocation Director for both provinces from 1985 to 1988. He worked as a Campus Minister at Rutgers University from 1988 to 1997, when he was named Director of Marist Evangelization. He became Vice Provincial in 1998. Brother Robert will assume his duties as Provincial at the Esopus Provincial Chapter in November of 2001. Congratulations, best wishes, and prayer, Brother Robert.

Re: Marists All  W E B S I T E

Our web site is being updated at regular intervals. We have not only made changes as needed and/or requested, but we have acquired a few added postal addresses and many more e-mail addresses. These may be found at the "Membership" page of the web site. We trust that these directories will make for easy contact with friends and will strengthen us in our Marist heritage.

To those who have e-mail we will send a notice when each new issue of the newsletter is in place at the web site; these people will not receive a hard copy of the newsletter unless they request it. We will continue to mail the printed edition to those with no access to the internet.

Although we have had many short positive responses to the announcement of our new web site, we have not had our usual number of extended articles for publication. Though we are pleased with our new technology and its ready access to detailed listings, we want to continue to draw articles that stir human interest and Marist spirit. Please don't feel that you have nothing to say!

FROM BR. DENIS HEVER ('64) in LIBERIA: Over the past few days the house has been full to beyond capacity: 11 people. Two visitors from Cape Palmas were in for a workshop and supplies and needed hospitality, two aspirants who come every other weekend as part of their and our discernment process, the six Brothers, and the cook. When I told one of the visitors that his bed would be needed on the weekend, he volunteered to share a bed with his compatriot from Cape Palmas. It is not unusual for a family to have one mattress for several people - if they have a mattress. Yet I know that insisting that someone needs his own bed is to impose a standard that is seen as totally foreign to the experience of people in this country, including that of the Brothers as they were growing up in their families.

The telephone lines were down for a while and unpredictable even now from time to time. Less than one in a hundred people have a telephone, so it doesn't affect life for the ordinary person.

Brother Augustine Martin left Friday for a Christmas family visit, the first since I am here. Brother Washington Tekay leaves today (if the truck leaves, truck - not bus). Tekay's trip may take him five days before he arrives at his village, possibly two days of driving, three days of walking, all in a country no bigger than Pennsylvania. I hope to stop work Friday before Christmas and eventually find a way of making the season seem real. I look forward to some moment where I can treasure you in quiet reflection. Remember to look at the big picture, God is with us. May our faith be a light to all that would cloud our vision.

We are looking for-ward to the arrival of Brothers Leo Shea and David Cooney on the 29th of January, Brother Luis Sobrado on the 30th from the General Council in Rome, and Brothers Manuel Jorques (Provincial of Levante, Spain) and Jose Ruiz (District Superior of West Africa). You can call it a summit of sorts! It will be good for all to see the realities of Liberia, as we contemplate this mission joining the Marist District of West Africa in the future. We may be facing a longer gestation period than most in being born.

As we contemplate the reality here, it has many good points. Much can be done for the Gospel. Our Marist reality is limited. We are a young group (with one exception!), young in the country, and young in establishing a history of reliability. We need to be here for a while so that people will come to know who we are and what we stand for. That does not come about easily or quickly. Many people see us through the lens of their needs and their wants, their desires. We also must be clear in our own minds about why we are here and who we are. Thanks to all of you who took the time to write. Thanks for your support.
 

FROM JOE McGRATH ('52): I am one of those folks who have the residence routine backwards. We like our Christmas up here in Vermont, but we will bail out for Florida around the middle of the month of January. Then we'll head back up here in the middle of May. You would think that after those long winters in Tyngsboro I'd have had enough of snow. Not yet. The Marists All web site is wonderful. Many thanks for keeping us together. I appreciate - greatly - all that you have done for us who are with the Marists in spirit and in prayerful remembrance. Guess it's time for me to put some words on paper for the Marists All missive. Not that I have anything transfixing to report, but it is immensely important to me to maintain a link with what was a very happy and rewarding formative life. Cheers.

FROM THOMAS NG ('62): I am so glad and excited to have received your note! It brings back such wonderful memories! Memories of the good old days at Tyngsboro and Poughkeepsie. Even at my "old" age I still relish those happy, growing years in the States. It's been such a long time, in fact 34 years, since I left the States. I am afraid I might have forgotten some of those years, but I am duty bound to give you just a little outline of those 34 years. When I left the States in October of 1966, I was posted to Ipoh in Malaysia. There I worked for eight years as a science teacher. I developed quite a satisfaction working with the youth of my school and the youth of neighboring convent schools in the Young Christian Student movement (YCS). In 1974 I was posted to Catholic High School in Kuala Lumpur as principal. It was a challenging task; somehow I managed to bring some changes to the school.

In 1979 I went for the Second Novitiate in Switzerland with Br. Luke Driscoll as Director and Father Jim as Spiritual advisor. Back in KL, I returned to Catholic High for another year, after which I was asked to be in charge of postulants for a year. During all these days of heavy responsibility I became quite acutely lonely and felt a certain emotional vacuum in my life. I prayed over this and tried to discern the will of God. But the emptiness continued. In the end I decided to leave the Brotherhood. I took a leave of absence in 1981 and was granted a dispensation the next year.

During my one year leave of absence I worked as a teacher at Catholic High School in Bentong (not Marist). In 1983 I was lucky enough to be accepted at Maris Stella High School, Singapore, with the kind help of Brother John Lek who was then the principal of that school. There I worked first as a teacher of science, and then as the head of the science department. Today I am only one year from my optional retirement in 2002. However, at age 60, I will be able to work for two more years if I choose, as the mandatory retirement age here is 62.

This much about my career history. What about my own life? Well, somehow God arranged for me to meet my sweetheart Mary Chee from Malacca. We were married in 1984. Starting in 1985 my Ng family grew in number each year or two: Bernard, Adeline, Jonathan. In 1990 we thought we had the last member in Christopher, but in 1995 God sent Winnie, another angel. My home was bursting with all sorts of activities. There were moments of pain and frustration, but there were also moments of joy and satisfaction. Overall there was more satisfaction than frustration. In Singapore few families have five kids. But both Mary and I have never doubted God's providence, and our faith has not been in vain. Bernard is in his last year of high school, Adeline is a junior, and Jonathan and Christopher are in Primary 6 and 5. Winnie is in Kindergarten 2. She is now 5+, and will be in Primary One next year.

I must say God has been quite good to me all these years. I have not regretted my decision about leaving the Brothers, neither have I regretted my spiritually fruitful years as a Marist Brother. Without my years of spiritual, intellectual and social training at Tyngsboro and Poughkeepsie, I would not have achieved my present state of faith and close relation with God. I am privileged to have been a Marist Brother, and am still a staunch Marist supporter today. I have lived all the days of my adolescent and adult life in the family of our Lady.

I would like to be in touch with many good old pals and classmates like John Allen, Duke, Joe Scanlon, and others whom I cannot recall at this moment. So long, may God bless you all.

FROM JOSEPH KUNG ('63): My days in Tynsboro and Poughkeepsie have had a most significant influence in my life. The training received at Marist led me to have a good profession and a successful life. I have often dreamed about living those good old days in Tyngsboro. In the city of Hong Kong, I have missed milking cows, picking potatoes, harvesting corn, canning spinach and repairing barns!

In July of 1967 I returned to Hong Kong for a visit to my home and then was assigned to teach at Sarawah in East Malaysia. I left the Brothers in 1969 and went back to Hong Kong and in February of that year I joined the Hong Kong International School, the oldest school following an American educational system, operated by the Lutheran Church of the Missouri Synod. For the first 10 years I taught science and math, developed the audio-visual program, and ran the media center in the school. In 1980 I started to learn computers and helped in equipping devices for the computer courses offered for interested groups. This led to working with computers in the school. Since February of '85 I have been working full time in the development of computer-use in the school. At present all of our school's 1200 stations are networked with 50% fiber and 50% UTP cables.

I have attached a recently taken family picture. The old man is me. My wife Grace is standing behind me. My daughter Patricia - 27 - is sitting beside me. My son Louis - 30 - is standing behind his girl friend Dorothy.

Occasionally I have had contact with the Marist Brothers in Hong Kong, but I have not had any contact with Marist College graduates who are not with the Brothers. I am pleased to be remembered. I hope to read more about my Marist classmates in the future.

FROM BR. NORBERT RODRIGUE ('40): Earlier I was Brother Norbert Justin. I am also known as Norby and Pancho! I just celebrated my 60th year as a Marist Brother. Sorry that I am not a writer, but I do love to read Marists All. On and off I have received the newsletter. At times it has not reached me through no fault of yours; I have changed my address frequently. I was nineteen years in Eugene, Oregon. In 1994 I left for a Miami retirement house. After a year there I went to teach in Tijuana, Mexico. I returned to Miami for a year after two years in Mexico. Then I went to Brownsville, Texas, for a year and a half. Last February I was in Liberia, Africa, for a month. Due to illnesses I had to leave Liberia to come back to the States. I have been going to Guadalajara, Mexico, for the past 27 summers to teach school teachers. I will be going back this coming summer. For now I am in Miami, this time at a new residence of the Brothers in Miami Lakes. I have read about the new web site. I would like you to add my e-mail address to the list. Every now and then I will look at the site to see and read about the news you put there. I enjoy it very much.

FROM BR. GERRY BRERETON ('59) in ROME: Thank you for the Marists All sent along by e-mail. I printed it out, no need to send a copy. I was happy to see Brother Fernand Dostie's piece in this issue. There are three other Brothers here in Rome who studied at Marist College in the 1950's: Franciso Castellanos from Spain, Andrew (Real) Fournier from Canada, and Jose Contreras from Mexico. Include me on the web.

FROM BR. BILL LAVIGNE ('50): Thanks for all you do to promote and maintain supportive relationships and communication among US MARISTS! Ministry at "Marists All" keeps expanding. Congratulations on the new web site, a great idea. Please add my addresses to the listings.

Phil Robert, Luke Reddington and I are in our third year of Marist ministry here in "Almost Heaven." We pastor three rural parishes with Father Mario Claro from the Diocese of Wheeling. As with any change, there was for us an initial adjustment from living in the Northeast, but now we are involved in all aspects of pastoring the three parishes and in the ecumenical and community activities of the three towns.

We just finished celebrating the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. There is a tradition here of having services for eight straight nights, rotating host churches and preachers. We're getting to learn some of the Christian hymns from the Protestant tradition while sharing some of our contemporary folk hymns when it was our turn to host. With Lent on the horizon we're busy preparing for that liturgical season. Each of our three towns has Lenten luncheons or suppers so we'll also be sharing those events with our associates in the three Ministerial Associations.

We're looking forward to hosting a group of men from my former parish in Westfield, New Jersey. They are coming down in mid-February to offer a "Cornerstone"-type retreat to the men of our Vicariate at one of our Diocesan Pastoral Centers. It will be a new experience for most of our men as they don't have a tradition of retreats in these parishes.

We hope to be able to bring some of our young people to that special Marist Youth Conference at Marist College in May. We are also looking forward to the bi-province Jubilee celebration in June when Luke will be joining the rest of his group for their Golden Anniversary.

This January we joined our Marist communities and friends in the special novena to Brother Francois for a cure for Leonard Voegtle. Len continues to inspire us with his faith, courage and humor in facing his illness. Our prayers also include Pat Tyrrell and Bart.

FROM JIM FRIEL ('52): I had the pleasure of going to Mt. St. Michael for the Metro Mac gathering several months ago. It was a delight. Gil Levesque and I went over to the laundry area and had a nice chat with Brother Vinnie, who, I take it, is in charge of the laundry and many other chores at the Mount these days. Vinnie and I were stationed at the Mount in 1956, and in 1962 we were together in Lawrence. And I was at the Memorial Service in Esopus in early November, too. I went with the Callahans. That was a delight also. The only strange thing was that after the service many of the Brothers who live there went back to their rooms and everyone else went to a delightful lunch. I wanted to chat with a couple of the residents; oh well, another time. I took some pictures at Esopus. Now I just have to figure out who will publish them. Is Marists All going visual, too?

My wife Kate and I live in Northport, Long Island. I'm still teaching at SUNY, Farmingdale. One of the courses that I start next week is "Philosophy, the Law, and the Citizen." I originated it under a grant from the state. I have managed to get a two-day week, full time. Seniority has its privileges. My wife is Assistant Director at the Northport Museum, where she teaches photo shop. Keep up the good work! Cheers.

SOME of the MANY REACTIONS to our WEB SITE

Thanks for the greetings and good news about "Marists All." We await your e-mail editions in the new millennium. I'm fine, just back from studies at St.George's College, Jerusalem, and awaiting the Second Novitiate in Manziana, Italy. God is most good! Hope the season is bright with goodness for you and your families. Br. Patrick McNamara

Peace and love be to all. Everything is well over here in Spain. Thanks for the work that you are putting into the creation of the web site. Ernie Belanger

From the Land of the Rising Sun: Delighted to hear from MARISTS ALL through e-mail, just as much as we have enjoyed getting news through regular mail. Gus Landry, Ramon Bereicua and Joe Yoshida send their best wishes. God bless you all. Marist Brothers Kobe

Yep, you've honed in on the correct e-mail address for one Brendan Haggerty. Thank you for the update, and very special "thank you" for keeping the Marist family together. Your "circulars" far surpass any other reading material AND every word is read! Best wishes. Brendan Haggerty

We shall be pleased to have our e-mail and snail-mail addresses posted in MARISTS ALL. We are delighted with the prospect of e-Marists All. Best wishes for you to experience in a special way the joy of Christmas. I shall be trying out a Tourtiere recipe soon as I associate it with this season. Wish me luck. Barbara joins me in these wishes. J. Richard La Pietra

Thank you for the Christmas issue of Marists All. I was inspired by the entries, especially Rene Roy's. I must write to him. Please pass on my wishes to all the Brothers - both those in and out of the Brotherhood. Raph Martin

Yes, email works well even in wild and wonderful West Virginia. In fact, it's especially helpful here in the hinterlands to communicate with the world we all came from. Please include my name and email address. Thanks, Br. Luke Reddington

I took a look at the new web site and it's really great! Congratulations. I was just on the phone today with Leo Shea. I still keep close FMS connections. Hope to get a chance to write soon, it's been a long time. 

Thank you for your continued publication of Marists All. Perusing the pages of the publication and reading of the good work being done by so many former monks is inspiring. I liken it to a form of spiritual reading. Best wishes for a blessed New Year. Br. Kevin Moran

Checked out the new web site, and found it to be great! The list of names brought back a flood of memories. There were a lot of names from the class of '55 that had slipped my mind. I had the "faces", but not the names. Thanks and God bless. Fred Horn.

Thanks for your mighty effort keeping communication flowing among us Marists All; it is very MUCH appreciated. I'm happy to have my addresses printed for the new web site. I am now in my 7th year in Rome, running our Second Novitiate, Third Age, and Marist Family programs. God continues to spoil me rotten, and I love it! Br. John McDonnell

FROM MARIA TERESA NARGANES: It is wonderful that you will now be able to send the publication Marists All by e-mail. I would like to take this opportunity of responding to your notice to thank you once again. I would also like to thank all of those members who took the time to write to me privately on behalf of my husband, Francisco Narganes. The letters were reactions to the article which appeared in one of the latest issues of your newsletter (#58). It is a wonderful feeling to know that some of you remember my husband, even studied or taught with him, and that you shared your memories of that time with me. Some of you even offered to assist our children who are attending Catholic schools, and you work in those schools. Thank you again from the bottom of my heart for your goodness and for your good will toward our family and for making us feel that we are still members of the kind "Marists All" family.
 

FROM RONALD "REGGIE" DISS ('60): Thanks always for keeping Marists All alive and circulating; it means a lot to me and to countless others. I'm glad to see Rene Roy back in Wheeling. We've kept in touch; he's visited here in Rural Retreat. We are attempting to enroll some of his students from Rwanda (Roy's Boys) here at Emroy & Henry College, where I teach. I was in Wheeling for the celebration of the Founder's canonization, had dinner with the monks and renewed many relationships and memorable times; it was wonderful seeing many former teachers and colleagues. And I was in Esopus August '99 for Tim Dooley's memorial service. And yes, I spent some time with Brother Edmund Jude. This time I did all the talking! 

FROM DAVID HEALY ('64): Since October of 1999 I have been living and working in New York, but my home is still in Perth, Western Australia. With wages for IT personnel in the states being what they are, and given the relative strength of the U.S. dollar vs the Aussie dollar, I may be in the U.S. for a while. My wife Kay has been here for the past month; two of our four children are still in college in Perth. We drove up to Kingston to see Len Voegtle before Christmas. He looked and sounded a whole lot better than we thought he might. We also dropped in on Esopus and Poughkeepsie. Kay had never seen Marist College. I'm glad we had the chance to look around. Keep up the great work with Marists All.

FROM ALLAN PERRONE ('61): Thanks to all working on the web site. Terrific work! Help me with the year that is posted with our names. My year is listed as '61, but I don't know exactly what that means - year of first vows, year of finishing Marist College, or what. I finished at Esopus in 1960 and went to Tyngsboro that same year, and I went on to Poughkeepsie in 1962. I took part at graduation at Marist College in 1965. Help with the meaning of that listed year will be welcome. Thanks much.

(Editor's note: Yes, Al, after a scholastic year as a postulant 1960-61, you took the habit (your investiture) on August 15th 1961. That makes you a member of the group of '61; such has been the customary way of identifying the monks. Marist College classifies your graduates as the class of '65. In the newsletter we stick to the investiture date to identify our people.

THE MARIST FAMILY INSTITUTE OF SPIRITUALITY

The coordinators of The Marist Family Institute of Spirituality have announced the dates and the theme of the seventh annual gathering of the event. It will be held at Marist College -- from Thursday, July 5th (4:30 p.m. registration) to Sunday, July 8th (lunch around noon). This year the theme is "Pray always" based on scripture's "Be joyful always, pray at all times, be thankful in all circumstances. This is what God wants of you in your life in Christ Jesus." I Thess. 5, 16. Br. Charles Marcellin is the primary coordinator this year. He tells us that more information about this Institute will be available for the next issue of the newsletter.

Meanwhile, Brother Charles informs us that, as a spin-off of the summer Institute, a group of people in the New York area meets for a type of "recollection" every October and March. This March 3rd at noon the group will gather at Molloy for prayer, a presentation (Barney Sheridan this time), discussion, coffee, and a pot-luck lunch. All are welcomed to join this event. Information about any of these events may be obtained by calling  or writing to Brother Charles at Molloy High School.

BRIEF MARIST NEWS NOTES … taken from province publications

> In January a novena through the intercession of Venerable Brother Francois, first superior general, was promoted by the provinces for the cure of Brother Leonard Voegtle. It was set to end with the feast of Brother Francois. Most of Leonard's many correspondents are quite aware of his illness, and pray for him regularly. A reminder to all of us to be especially conscious and concerned at all times about the needs of all of our Marist-related friends.

> Recently papers were given to Pope John Paul detailing the lives of people who witnessed to the faith by martyrdom since January 1, 1900. The list includes almost 200 Marist Brothers.

> Each December a representation of lay faculty members from most of the Marist schools in the U.S. go to Esopus for a weekend program entitled, "Sharing our Call." The sessions are designed to share the Marist spirit of evangelization with lay colleagues.

> Among the young people who helped with the summer camps in Esopus this past summer were thirty current and former students from Bishop Donohue High School in West Virginia. They traveled some 500 miles to be of service to disadvantaged people.

> An editorial in the Lawrence Eagle gave high praise to CCHS for its plan to build a 45,000 square foot addition and to admit a larger, more diverse student body, offering more financial aid to minority and low-income students. Many aspects of the addition will take care of other needs as well. Plans call for a new student center, expanded locker rooms, studios and galleries for fine arts, a science and technology center, and a campus ministry center with a new chapel.

>Michael Martin, the new speaker of Britain's House of Commons, is grateful to the Marist Brothers for his early education at St. Patrick's School in Glasgow, Scotland. Martin is the first Catholic to be elected speaker since the Reformation. He said, "My admiration for the Marist Brothers stems from my early days; I have the highest regard for them."

FROM LEONARD VOEGTLE ('50): Thanks to the prolonged sub-freezing weather we were having here in Esopus, the "stump-pullers" have finally been able to bring in their heavy equipment to remove the final major evidence of last May's tornadoes. As for the many fallen trees still in the woods, I think they will be there for a long time to come!

I'm convinced that much of the present improvement in my physical condition is related to the novena to Venerable Brother Francois on my behalf that the Marist Brothers in the U.S. and in Rome have just finished. From my point of view Francois was a very holy man -- and a fellow gardener! I'm sure that he's been listening and lending a hand. I keep reminding him it's time he emerged from Marcellin's shadow and started working on his own halo!

I'm supposed to stay off my feet and keep my left leg elevated, so my recliner has become my office, reading room and chapel ... an interesting vantage point from which to view my world and my life. One of the blessings of this illness -- and I've learned in many ways what a blessing it can be -- is the outpouring of concern and affection and prayer from so many. Bears out what I've said before, repeating one of our retreat masters many years ago: "We need more taffy during life and less epitaph-y after death." I'm getting lots of taffy these days.

And there's much witness to be given, just by being where and how I am at the moment, making that my ministry of patience, good humor, faith and acceptance. I made it to Bellport for Thanksgiving, and had a quiet, peaceful weekend with Jogues, Eddie and Charlie Marcellin. Had hoped to do it again over New Year's, but by then I was just out of hospital, and not exactly kicking up my heels, except to keep the leg elevated!

I still go to the archives each day -- partly to get out of the house, partly to do my e-mail, but I haven't done any real archiving in months. I've left that to my assistant, Kevin Coffey, who's computer-wise and archives-savvy. Br. Frank Farrell popped in one day to lend a hand, found out he loved the work, and spent hours classifying and filing all the documents that had piled up since I got sick. I checked out the new web site; great! It should help to draw us all closer together, formally and informally.

FROM JOHN ROGENER ('67): My last entry was ten years ago. We had just returned from a trip to Camp Marist where our son John spent his first summer away from home. He is now 20 and a sophomore at Villanova University. Our second child Elizabeth is 18 and a senior in high school. Mary Kate, who wasn't in the picture the last time I wrote, is 9 and in the third grade. My wife Shelly teaches preschool. After 19 years managing a host of Training and Organizational Development Departments at Citicorp, I decided to move to Pricewaterhouse-Cooper to head up their Learning Education and Change Management Organization. I now spend my days with auditors, attorneys, and accountants … oh my! Yet I still enjoy the classroom, so I maintain ties with NYU's Management Institute where I teach a variety of management development courses. This venture also enables me to keep current in my field of training, organizational development and change management.

I too read the newsletter immediately from cover to cover when it arrives, relishing the stories and experiences of people from my past. I am reminded of those present and former Marist Brothers who by their example inspired me to join their ranks almost 35 years ago. I am also reminded of the deep friendships I made during my eleven-year journey as a Marist Brother.

FROM MSGR. JOSEPH ROTH, D.D. (Patrick Kieran '56): At present I am the pastor of St. Andrew Catholic Church in Myrtle Beach, SC, and have just been named the Vicar General of the Diocese of Charleston, which consists in the entire state of South Carolina. Due to the size of the diocese, there are two Vicars General. I am the new one!

I am one of four tribunal judges in the entire state, which takes a lot of time. I am responsible for deacons and their formation. Other duties include membership in the curia, the personnel board, presbyterial and pastoral councils, building and renovation committee, and the investment and finance councils. I am also involved in many aspects of religious education: schools, RCIA, pre-Cana, marriage encounter, Cursillo, … Many of these things run themselves, but there is still liaison work to do. I can't imagine where I got the love for Catholic Education, but it is there. In my office on one of the walls is a nice picture of St. Marcellin Champagnat. (YES! One for our team!)

In addition to this, I lead a Pilgrimage to Rome each year. This year's will be my 10th or 11th. We stay in the same Hotel all the time (Visconti Palace near the Vatican) and have our own bus to take us around. I usually limit the group to 36 so that I can give them individual attention. In addition to celebrating Mass for them daily in one of the major basilicas, I am with them all day for a tour of each basilica and other important religious and historic places in Rome and the Vatican. We have our Wednesday audience and on Sunday Holy Mass at the altar of the Chair in St. Peter's. This is usually concelebrated by about 50 to 60 priests. We have a private tour of the Sistine Chapel and a tour of the "Scavi" excavations under St. Peter's, not the lower church but the archeological diggings! Two day trips include a trip to Assisi and another to Monte Casino, near Naples. From there we go on to a tour of the ruins of Pompeii. We have two additional days free for people to go where they want, to re-visit, etc. Filled up this year; leaving February 5th, coming home the 16th. Next year's trip is already sold out (2002), but some may drop off the list. I never count anything as fact until the money comes in! We are also booking for 2003!

The South is blossoming with people. 40,000 new homes are being built in my present parish alone! We need priests! HELP! The place is growing like TOPSY! New parishes are being built and new schools are being built. Yet, in the entire state we have only 60 active diocesan priests.

Well! God bless you all and thank you for the news. It is a pleasure to read Marists All and to hear about the Marist Brothers. You are doing great work. You are in my thoughts and prayers and all Marists have a remembrance in my Masses. Best to everyone.

EDITORS' NOTE: If you have received this issue of Marists All by postal mail, it is likely hat we do not have an e-mail address for you, or that an intermediary server is not sending our messages on to you. The latter situation is noted on the e-mail page of the Marists All web site by a (?) next to some e-mail addresses. We are pleased to continue mailing copies of the newsletter to anyone who would like to have our paper version. On the other hand, if there are additional persons who would be satisfied to have future issues over the internet, please send us your e-mail address; we will notify you by e-mail when a new issue of the newsletter is in place on the web. The postal and e-mail addresses of the editors appear on page one of this issue. Of course, we continue to clamor for correspondence. We do need you!

Source: Original Marists All Site

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