17 September 2020 · 2020-09 newsletter
Dear Schoenstatt Family and Friends,
Greetings and blessings for this Covenant day – 18th September. Just a few days ago on the 15th September we commemorated the anniversary of the death of Father Kentenich in 1968. Two years ago when we commemorated the 50th anniversary of father’s death, much was said about the charism / mission he had been given for the Church and our challenge to continue this mission into our current times.
Father Kentenich himself had explained what he saw as his mission / charism when he said in 1958 on the occasion of his 73rd birthday:
“If we asked St. Paul what mission he had, he would tell us: I received the mission to proclaim the mystery of Christ to the world; Christ, the Redeemer, the Mediator, the Head of the Mystical Body.
We immediately ask: What mission did I receive seventy three years ago? With one eye on St. Paul, I may say: It was and is my mission to proclaim the mystery of Mary to the world. It is my task to proclaim the Blessed Mother, to make her known to our time as the permanent Helpmate of our Lord in the entire work of redemption, as the co-Redemptrix and Mediatrix of all graces; [to proclaim] the Blessed Mother- deeply united with our Lord, joined in two-in-oneness – with the specific mission which she has from her Schoenstatt Shrine for today.”
(Address in the Exile Shrine, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, November 16, 1958 From “In the School of the Apostle Paul, Peter Wolf [ed] P.169-170).
Father Kentenich never believed however that he had received this mission just for himself. Later on this same occasion he said:
My dear Schoenstatt Family— I may say, all of you are drawn into my mission. This mission was not placed on my shoulders alone, but also upon the shoulders of all Schoenstatt children. God has called you to help me fulfil this great mission. Every one of us receives now this great mission — the mission of our dear Mother and Queen of Schoenstatt. It is a consolation to me that it does not rest on my shoulders alone. It is wonderful that you want to help me fulfil my great mission.”
Dr. Sr. Elizabet Parodi in her address during the 50th anniversary commemoration of the death of Father Kentenich in speaking about the charism he had been given, said:
“Every spiritual family lives from the strength of its founding charism. It is the original mission that inspires its life, its style and its apostolate. Through this, the charism given to the founder is continued, enriched and actualized. The founder’s charism is the radiant center of a community, its spiritual identity, its innermost destiny, its DNA, so to speak. In its founding charism, this “heritage” continues to work and, through the originality of individuals, generations and peoples, it is given great diversity without losing its specific power. It is not about copying the founder, but of assuming the charism as a personal vocation; to live it according to one’s own personal characteristics, to one’s own history and mission. With this our gaze passes from the charism of the founder to our own vocation.”
In these current difficult times, our Schoenstatt Family here in Australia is trying to reflect on and discern what our mission will look like here in Australia as we move towards a “new normal” in our society, in our parishes and in our families.
We want to do this in the light of how our Schoenstatt Spirituality and our Covenant of Love help us in these times to live our mission as faithfully as possible.
For Reflection:
- Am I gripped by Schoenstatt’s Mission? What does it mean for me?
- How can I now live this mission and pass it on to others?
United with our father and founder, may Our Blessed Mother send us many graces from her Schoenstatt Shrines. May we continue to pray with each other, and for each other and we remember especially those of our Schoenstatt Family who are struggling at this time.
In covenant loyalty, may we remain, as Australian Schoenstatt Family:
“One heart in the Father, for the Family of God”
Shirley Hall
Filed underNewsletter · Reflections