September 2025 September 2025 Dear Graduates of Chaminade and Kellenberg Memorial,               Well, I’m back at my desk after a whirlwind, ten-day Jubilee of Youth pilgrimage to Italy, culminating in five days in Rome, the Eternal City.  Our band of forty students and eight faculty members experienced so many inspiring pilgrim moments.  We prayed at…

Dear Graduates of Chaminade and Kellenberg Memorial,               Welcome to Firebirds and Flyers from the Class of 2025!  This is the first time you are receiving your Magnificat in the mail – the first of many monthly Magnificats making their way to your home addresses in the summer and to your college addresses during the…

Dear Graduates of Chaminade and Kellenberg Memorial,               Greetings for downtown Des Moines, Iowa, where it is currently a sultry 87 degrees Fahrenheit, with thunderstorms predicted for the next couple of days as the air grows thicker and more oppressive by the minute.  I’m here for a week-long National Speech and Debate Association Tournament in…

Dear Firebirds and Flyers, As I write my Magnificat reflection for the month, I can’t help reflecting on what happened in May with the election of Pope Leo XIV and what’s in store for us all this June and beyond.  I’m preparing to leave for our annual Marianist LIFE program, a religious leadership retreat that…

May’s Pilgrims Marianist Reflection for May 2025 by Michael Patrick Duffy, SM AN INVITATION TO SAY “YES” TO THE JOURNEY “April showers bring May flowers. And what do May flowers bring? Pilgrims!” This answer to this well-known and admittedly somewhat corny riddle is, nevertheless, very appropriate for us today. We are pilgrims! We are on…

Hope Does Not Disappoint! Marianist Reflection for April 2025 by Bro. Patrick Cahill, SM – Marianist Seminarian, Rome, Italy “Hope does not disappoint!” Pope Francis opened the Jubilee Year of Hope back on Christmas Eve, and he chose those words from the Letter to the Romans as its theme. Standing in St. Peter’s Square that…

Unnoticed Saints Marianist Reflection for March 2025 by Bro. Roger Poletti, SM On March 19, the Church celebrates the solemnity of Saint Joseph, the husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the guardian of the Christ-child. We can imagine that St. Joseph did not fully understand the circumstances surrounding Christ’s conception and birth, but he…

Spread the Love Marianist Reflection for February 2025 by Fr. Peter Heiskell, SM God literally pours His love upon us. The more we are aware of that, the more we will spread the love ourselves. February 14 is Valentine’s Day. So, allow me to share a few thoughts about love. St. Thomas Aquinas defined love…

Pilgrims of Hope Marianist Reflection for January 2025 by Bro. Timothy Driscoll, SM Dear Friends, Happy New Year! Besides the usual opportunities and challenges, 2025 offers an extraordinary invitation for us to join the entire Church in celebrating the Jubilee Year. The Jubilee is an ancient tradition dating back to the Old Testament. For the…

One Quiet Moment Marianist Reflection for December 2024 by Bro. Michael J. McAward, SM “…in one quiet moment, a woman and man accepted the part they would have in God’s plan… Glory to God, for Salvation is near!” As we contemplate, once again, the great mystery of the Incarnation, how our God and Creator took…