18 September 2023 · 2023-09 newsletter
“You are our letter” 2 Corinthians 3: 2-3
Dear Schoenstatt Family and Friends,
I wish you many blessings and graces for this Covenant Day – 18th September.
A couple of days ago, on the 15th of September, we commemorated the death of Fr. Kentenich in 1968. In his address at the funeral, Bishop Tenhumberg described Father Kentenich as a letter of recommendation from God. This phrase became the focus of our spiritual striving for this year, and we have, throughout the year been looking at the life and mission father was given in and through Schoenstatt and which he has now passed on to us. We have been tasked with being his letter of recommendation to others.
One aspect of the life of Father Kentenich that I would like to highlight at this time is that Father Kentenich has always been seen not only as the founder of Schoenstatt, but also the father of our Schoenstatt Family.
During his time of exile in Milwaukee, Father Kentenich was asked which word he would choose to characterise himself. He answered:
“Just one word, Father. The meaning of my life is to be always and only father”.
(Fr. Hernan Alessandri, “Only and Always Father”, Josef M. Neuenhofer, 2014)
In 1935 Father Kentenich celebrated the twenty-fifth jubilee of his ordination. Up until that time he had always kept a low profile and as a rule avoided even being photographed. However, for this jubilee he permitted a celebration to be held on a larger scale than previously to make his family aware of the deep interconnectedness they had with him and among themselves in the Movement.
“To be a community means that the hearts of the members beat as one. If we may say that the Family is marked by a deep community spirit among the members, we must largely attribute it to the fact that most have given their very best to the Family. May I ask each one of you to admit honestly and humbly what you, with your own life’s blood, contributed to the life of the Family. If you do not know, I shall gladly tell you privately.”
Father Kentenich often referred to the Schoenstatt Work, the Schoenstatt Movement, as a FAMILY. Why? Because he was convinced that in God’s eyes, he and his followers were not only members of an apostolic Movement but a family. In this faith, he relied on the reality of the covenant they had made and the union of destiny among the members themselves.
In a talk given in Brazil in 1952, Father Kentenich spoke further about this when he said:
“Seen in a supernatural light, we are a real family: I and my followers — my followers and I. If we are a real family in God’s plans, then our destiny is interwoven, our destiny is interconnected in the supernatural sense. Practically speaking, the sacrifices my followers make on my behalf are really for my person; I count on this reality, and it has proven effective. By the same token, the sacrifices I offer on behalf of the Family are a means to save the Family. This is a great security for me.”
Schoenstatt has a structure and style of organisation that is family-like. It is made up of many different communities who are autonomous but united in their common mission and their unity in the covenant of love with our MTA in her shrine and with our father.
In a quote in 2014 as part of the preparations for Schoenstatt’s Jubilee we read:
“We come from different places, but around the shrine, all our differences are merged into one single family spirit, because we come to a place where we’re all children, where the Blessed Mother and our Father are waiting for us”.
And we can add, where our father and founder of Schoenstatt is waiting for us.
(Dear Mother Thrice Admirable), the faith of our father and founder inspired you to set up your home in Schoenstatt. In the shadow of this Shrine a family was born, a new spiritual way within the Church, a charism in the midst of our time.”
(Part of the prayer in preparation for the Jubilee Celebrations of Schoenstatt’s founding in 2014).
In gratitude for our father and founder, and in union with our Blessed Mother, may we be ever more united in our Covenant of Love and renewed in our mission for Schoenstatt and the Church.
“One Heart in the Father for the Family of God”
United in Covenant loyalty,
Shirley Hall
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