111 master or owner, and he must always be sensitive to the new challenges and the needs of the people both within and outside of the Church. It seems that among the various communities and works begun and carried out by the Marians, priority must be given to matters related to life—the new life in Christ, from its beginning until the end. This ought to open us to all pro life actions, such as: retreats for engaged couples and for newly-weds; retreats and counseling for childless marriages; counseling, support groups, and homes for women considering abortion; retreats for women after abortion; providing funds and charitable assistance for large and poor families; stipends and educational actions, mediation and legal actions towards recognizing and safeguarding the dignity of human life at its beginning, etc. In our Marian life, we must become servants of the new life in Christ. Along with the communities directly involved in bringing about and strengthening faith, we surely must make a commitment to helping people with various addictions as well as to fi ghting the addictions. We must enliven both the clergy and the laity with our charism, organizing them into societies where they could fi rst draw from our charism and legacy, and then transmitting this spirit of God’s love to their neighbor. Our “help for the pastors” can surely include recollections for priests, publications, books, and centers of formation also for priests suffering from a deep crisis of faith or vocation. Along with pointing to heaven as our true Homeland, the Marians of tomorrow must give special attention to and support for the dying, the chronically ill, and their relatives. I’m thinking here about hospices, support groups and retreats for the bereaved; about staying at the side of the dying and their loved ones; about education and actions for the dignity of life at all stages. Assisting the pastors means above all participation in the tasks which they are unable carry out. It is not a matter of substituting for them wherever they do well, but of giving them the gift of our charism and of its richness. That would mean taking over the parishes wherever there is a shortage of priests, but also where their numbers are suffi cient. Parishes which are entrusted to the Marians must be run according to the local ordinary’s expectations, but also with the inclusion of our specifi city, our qualities or characteristics, our gifts. It would not be a good thing if, after several years of running a parish, our faithful still didn’t know the characteristics of the Marians and the difference between us and other Religious; worse yet, if they did not realize that we are not diocesan priests. Aside from parishes and churches with rectors, we run Marian shrines and those dedicated to The Divine Mercy; publishing apostolates, communities and societies… We also establish new foundations (presently in the Philippines). Sometimes, upon entering a church, one can recognize it as belonging to the Franciscans, the Redemptorists, or the Jesuits. What should be the mark of our churches, communities, foundations? The Immaculate Conception (and all that
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