JMJ
October 2026
Dear Graduates,
Whom do you look up to? And who is watching over you? These are two questions that I have been pondering as we begin the month of October.
I have just returned from a Junior Retreat at Meribah, where Fr. Bian Barr said Mass for us and was the homilist. If you know Fr. Brian, as many of you do, you will recall that he is an outstanding homilist who raises lots of thought-provoking questions and illustrates his themes with a variety of memorable and often rather unique stories.
Today was no exception. Fr. Brian told the story of researchers studying elephants in South Africa and the striking relationship these researchers discovered between young male elephants and older bulls.
As the story goes, in the 1990s, orphaned adolescent male elephants were introduced into Pilanesberg National Park. The young males subsequently became involved in abnormally aggressive behavior, including the killing of more than 40 rhinoceroses. Researchers found that after six older male elephants were introduced, the rhino killings stopped. The study was published in Nature in 2000.
That’s fascinating, because it gives some scientific basis to the general idea that young male elephants benefit from the presence of older males. Older bulls appear to serve a particularly important function for adolescent males, especially once those males begin developing adult male behavior.
I suspect you can guess where Fr. Brian went from here: As with the animal kingdom, so too with human beings. Young men need the positive influence of mentors, men who can model for them precisely what it means to be a responsible, virtuous, God-centered man. Our character and our behavior are shaped by the company we keep, especially by the role models whom we emulate. Whom do you look up to? That’s one of the central questions of adolescence and young adulthood. The answer will determine the kind of man we become.
So, consider this reflection a plea to find both peers and mentors who are men of character, men of faith. Friends who go to Mass will help you get to Mass, and vice-versa. Friends who avoid excess will help you to avoid excess. Men who place Christ at the center of their lives will help you do the same. Godly men reinforce one another’s devotion to Christ. “Hang” with godly men (and women). Be a godly man. Set a good and godly example for younger men who are still finding their way. The aphorism “You can tell a man by the company he keeps” is so well-known and so often repeated because it’s true!
Who is watching over you? This question comes to my mind because, in early October – October 2, to be exact – the Marianists celebrate the foundation of our religious congregation. It was on this date, in 1817, that our first Brothers, after completing their retreat at Saint-Laurent, decided upon the foundation of the Society of Mary. October 2, the Feast of the Guardian Angels, seemed very appropriate to Blessed William Joseph Chaminade as the foundation date of the Society of Mary, for the members of this new religious congregation were called, like the angels, to have one eye on God in prayer and the other eye on the people in the world in need.
To be candid, as a “child of the 60s,” I was somewhat skeptical of traditions like the guardian angels and the guardian-angel prayer. When I was growing up, my parents had a watercolor painting in our entrance foyer of a guardian angel watching over a little girl, and, to be honest, I found it a bit saccharine, a tad cloying.
I am still not a big fan of overly sentimental art, but I have since changed my mind about the reality of guardian angels. God loves us dearly and does everything in His power to keep us from harm – especially moral and spiritual harm. And this includes angels watching over me. (Yes, the reference to the Amy Grant song is deliberate.) The Book of Exodus assures us, “Thus says the Lord: ‘See, I am sending an angel before you, to guard you on the way and bring you to the place I have prepared. Be attentive to him and heed his voice’ ” (Exodus 23: 20 – 21). The psalmist echoes this promise: “For to His angels He has given command about you, that they guard you in all your ways” (Psalm 91: 11).
God is watching over us. He guides our steps along the right path, as do the angels, and, in particular, as does our guardian angel. But, of course, we have to be attentive to God and heed His voice. And, so too, we would do well to heed the voice of all the angels and saints who guard us in all our ways.
After all, Jesus has promised us, “I will not leave you orphans” (John 14: 18) and “Behold, I am with you always, even until the end of the age” (Matthew 28: 20). We know that Jesus is watching over us, and that, above all, we must look up to Him. There is no surer guide!
On behalf of all my Marianist Brothers,
Bro. Steve