I am a Marist: Reflections

Accepting the Call Every Day
Patrick Scully, the newest ordained priest with the Marists of the Atlanta Province, doesn’t so much believe that he chose religious life as that God called him to this life of service and prayer. READ MORE...

Accepting the Call Every Day
Patrick Scully, the newest ordained priest with the Marists of the Atlanta Province, doesn’t so much believe that he chose religious life as that God called him to this life of service and prayer. Patrick went to the Benedictine-run St. Anselm’s College, where he enjoyed the chant and felt in touch with an ancient wisdom tradition. That the Marists stress not a particular ministry or position in life, but rather a posture toward the mystery of God builds a bridge for Patrick between that contemplative experience and his life as a Marist priest.

In Patrick’s words, the Marists work from the margins to the margins. He is taken with the Marist founder calling his brothers a "little, little society" with a preference for the poor. God is found, Patrick believes, in the "seemingly insignificant" everyday moments of life. What he found so appealing about the Marists, he says, is that they "make room for God."

"When I think of Jesus I think of a life lived from the margins. He connected the poor and the marginalized with God and he found God everywhere, especially in the ordinary and taught others to do the same." In discerning his priestly vocation, Patrick chose the Marists because their ministry to the margins keeps him rooted in that radical nature of Christ’s love.

Patrick feels a sense of energy and excitement in the Marist attentiveness to God’s mystery. "That openness to the Spirit helps the order to be open to new ways of reaching young people and it helps me to stay flexible as well."

There is a gentle strength in the Marists that Patrick admires and aspires to. It is a willingness to accept the call every day.

•Discernment      •Beginning the Path      •Using Your Gifts 
• I Am a Marist      •What About You?      •Come and See

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