18 March 2024 · 2024-03 newsletter
Walking Together, Loving the Church
Dear Schoenstatt Family and Friends,
At our National Conference last October, we focussed on the Synod being held in Rome at that time. In convening this Synod, Pope Francis had invited the entire Church to reflect on synodality and what it means for the each of us.
During our conference we were made aware that:
“Synodality expresses the nature of the Church as the People of God journeying together, in the power of the Holy Spirit to proclaim the Gospel and to participate in the mission of the Church” (Preparatory Document, 1).
Journeying together in the spirit of synodality means walking together, listening to each other and discerning what is being said. For us in Schoenstatt, it is an invitation to make our Covenant with the most diverse partners with whom God brings us together in whatever ways. The synodal phase of the Church opens many doors for us to expand the Schoenstatt Covenant of Love – in the words of our founder:
"as a Covenant of Love with all members and divisions of the Church but also as a Covenant of Love with all people around the world ".
December 31, 1965.
We experience the Covenant of Love as a gift and as a mission, as we walk together facing the ever-present challenges in the Church and the world in a learning, open and truly synodal way.
From all our experiences in the October Conference we expressed our striving for this year as: “Walking together, loving the Church”. Walking together can also be seen as walking together as a community. Being in a community means being part of something that is larger than ourselves, it means working together, supporting each other and growing together in our faith. We want to create a community that reflects the love and compassion of Christ. For us in Schoenstatt, this means gathered around our Lady, united in our Covenant of Love.
As part of a community, everyone should feel valued and loved, where they can feel at home and come together to worship, to learn and to serve. In Schoenstatt we have the example of Father Kentenich who throughout his life, did not act on his own; he always counted on his followers, as a community, as a family.
On 31st August 1966, Father Kentenich said:
Our image of the community has permanent features characterized by the holistic nature of our covenant of love. We have always known that the covenant of love with our dear MTA should be seen and lived as an expression, a protection, safeguard and means for the covenant of love with the Blessed Trinity and the covenant of love among ourselves, the covenant of love with each other and for each other.
……Today we take it as a matter of course that we all have grown into an indescribable community of destinies, community of tasks and community of hearts the like of which can probably not be found anywhere else…..This way we lived in a spiritual union with each other, in each other and for each other so that we really understand only now what the image of the new person in the new community is all about. We might also sense that in this way we are approaching an ideal which the Church of the future will naturally feel urged to reach out for and that then the Church may rightly apply the praise to itself: See, how they love one another.
(From: “With Mary into the New Millennium”, J. Kentenich)
Father, I may awake with new strength to rekindle my love.
Let me joyfully greet you together with all your Schoenstatt.
We are united in the shrine where the flames of our hearts beat for our Mother Thrice Admirable
who, through us, wants to build your kingdom.
We kneel in the Holy Spirit and sing jubilant hymns to Christ, who sends us with her as instruments to change the destiny of nations.
We will soon conclude our Lenten journey and begin the beautiful season of Easter. May we celebrate the season of Easter, continuing to walk together, united in our Covenant of Love with Our Blessed Mother and our father and founder and with each other,.
In unity in our Covenant of Love,
Shirley Hall
Filed underNewsletter · Reflections