All Marianist Educators Retreat at Chaminade College Preparatory, CA

Erica Duarte, MFEP coordinating team member and Assistant to the Office of Sponsorship, sends us this update about the All Marianist Educators Retreat she helped facilitate at Chaminade College Preparatory in West Hills, CA. This Retreat promotes the commitments of the GCE - Global Compact on Education, along with MFEP's first goal—to promote Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation—and the third goal—to listen and educate in faith. The MFEP goals consolidate the seven commitments of the GCE, the seven action areas of the Laudato Si' Action Platform, and the five CME - Characteristics of Marianist Education.

What a delight to join the 210 faculty, staff, and administration of both the middle and high school campuses at Chaminade College Preparatory in West Hills, California, for their annual All Marianist Educators Retreat. Inspired by their focus on “Adaptation and Change,” the day examined the call of the school to be a place of authentic and meaningful evangelization in response to our Marianist mission of bringing Christ into the world. It was a privilege to lead an opening session that explored practical ways to evangelize in whatever role we may have on campus. Throughout the morning, small groups discussed ways to do this meaningfully through four characteristics of evangelization: encounter, community, accompaniment, and mission. The read more begins here: The session drew from the USCCB document “Living as Missionary Disciples” and documents from the most recent General Chapter of the Society of Mary. During the second half of the day, Bro. Adam Becerra, fsp, DMin, invited educators into a time of practical application by examining case studies and modeling how to respond to a student while keeping the spirit of true accompaniment at the forefront of the encounter.

I was also able to share a bit about my involvement in the Encounters initiative. I explained that I was initially hesitant to join our Encounters team because I felt my gifts and passions were not suited or qualified for this work. However, by being open to the Holy Spirit, I have found ways to support this vital work.

I was inspired and humbled to watch these educators interact with one another, deeply listen, support each other, and create community in their small groups. The day included an activity inviting each person to “shout out” a champion of evangelization on their campus. To hear the wide variety of names shared and the heartfelt examples of these educators sharing the Gospel with their community was a sacred moment – there was much laughter and a few tears. The day concluded with a beautiful Mass celebrated by Chaminade’s Chaplain, Fr. Mike Chiuri, SM.