From the Desk of Rev. Charles Warren
Spiritual failure doesn’t happen often in one’s life.
When it does, there are many remedies that can be applied, but I’ve become more and more convinced that the one we need to apply first…is true friendship.
Problem is that our youth can settle for cheap or easy substitutes (and us adults don’t always model the real thing ourselves or jump into the substitutes ourselves).
The kind of friendships I had in high school were best labeled by a Greek man who lived 2000 some years ago. Aristotle said people have friendships of utility when someone is useful to them, I thought of teammates and fellow band geeks. He said we had friendships of pleasure where I get pleasure out of the relationship. I thought of my friends who enjoyed video games and pop culture as I did. These kinds of friendships are good…but they don’t tend to last…and they only mildly grow the community.
The only friendships I’ve retained from high school are the ones that were “True”. The kind of friendships we want our youth to have at Marian are what Aristotle called True Friendships. A true friend is someone who we admire virtue in. Simply being around helps me become more who I am meant to be. Certainly a good friend will love me as I am…but if they do not push me to excellence or call me out when I go against excellence…they are not a true friend.
Spiritual failure will pop up often out of loneliness. Lacking people who really know us. Lacking people who inspire us to greatness.
I encourage and pray with my seniors that they make the most of the short time they have left together. That they focus on building one another up. Jokes have their place in friendship, but it’s important to say the positive things we notice about other people so that we end on a good note. It’s an important skill for all of us. Teasing is fine, joking is fine, but when we lean into sarcasm we risk making our friendships into verbal target practice.
Don’t let our community settle for easy online distractions or constant impersonal communication. We form the whole human person here at Marian. If our students are to meet Christ, they must first know that they can have real relationships.
Add “true friendships” to the end of the school-year goals. Watch the good that happens.
Rev. Charles Warren
Spiritual Director
Class of 2024 Yard Signs
Show your Hurricane Pride!
Class of 2024 yard signs are available for purchase by clicking the link below. Signs will be delivered to Marian Central and sent home with the student.
The deadline to order is Friday, May 3rd.
