Mrs. Macty Francis attended this course on behalf of JPII. This is her report.

Champagnat in the Pacific

As part of exploring the spirituality and pedagogy of Marist Education, I had the opportunity to attend the course titled Champagnat in the Pacific which was held at Long Bay, North Shore, Auckland.

The course was an enlightening journey from the head to the heart. It made us realize that our invitation is to move from being educators at Marist Schools to teaching with the heart of Marcellin Champagnat, following Mary’s way.

The course provided us an opportunity to:

1.Understand the Marist spirituality as “Passion for Christ and compassion for

others”

2.Explore ways to

· Provide holistic development of young people under our care.

· Being role models for children to be “strong in mind and Gentle at heart”.

· Train youngsters to be “agents of social change” by caring for people around them by “seeing Christ in others and being Christ for others“

· “Do good quietly” following ways of Mary, our good mother.

On a personal note, it was a wonderful learning experience packed with a lot of reflection, sharing experiences, and activities that made me think and work towards living my mission by both word and witness.