18 August 2022 · 2022-08 newsletter
This message was outlined in Pope Francis’ Christmas address in 2021, in which he highlighted the importance of “littleness’ to the public reminding them to value the little things and to embrace their own vulnerabilities. In his homily he continued, “Let us stop pining for a grandeur that is not ours to have," he said. "The littleness, the wonder at that small child – this is the message.” He also stated “Jesus is born in order to serve, and we spend a lifetime pursuing success. God does not seek power and might; he asks for tender love and interior littleness." (CNN Philippines published 25th Dec 2021).
Having just finished writing an article for our Probus Newsletter for which I write as the ‘Welfare Officer’, I thought about how I am a small cog in the working of our club but it is the small things I do that give me and God great pleasure and also the ones who receive them. A card, a meal, a phone-call, a text are all small ways of ‘loving my neighbour’. Earlier on I dropped off the Pilgrim Mother to the person due to have Her and it was the text from the person receiving her who made my heart warm – “Thank you for bringing my Mother to me I was just out walking” – I had left her at the door knowing I would hear from her and the small pleasure I got and gave to God, from that statement was all I needed to make my day feel ‘holistic’.
Talking about Shrines have you ever stopped to think in terms of its ‘littleness’ and how the original little Shrine in Vallendar which like all its replicas, holds about 25 people and yet has grown into a vast Movement of replica Shrines and miniature shrines that ‘move’, all around the world into people’s homes and hearts?
Father Kentenich was not looking for grandeur like building a Cathedral he was looking to grow a Movement that would honour a young small woman who birthed the Messiah and who would take charge of our education and lives.
“For nearly thirty years there was only this one little Shrine, the original Mother Shrine in Schoenstatt, Germany. In the course of time, in the ever-expanding circle of physical and spiritual outreach of Schoenstatt communities around the globe, we see the necessary practical adaptations and changes for Schoenstatt’s covenant spirituality effectively to be shared on a global scale. In 1943 the first little daughter or filial shrine, built after the pattern of the original, was constructed in Uruguay. Then, gradually, Schoenstatt Shrines of various kinds, all sharing fully in the graces and life stream of the original Shrine, began popping up around the globe” (https://www.theschoenstattcloud.com/schoenstatt-shrine and here on in).
Yes the Shrine first draws our attention, but have you ever stopped to “wonder” about the ‘littleness of the Child Jesus’ in the picture in the Shrine? It was that small child that grabbed my ‘heart’ the first time I walked into the shrine. Nowhere else had I seen Jesus portrayed as a little child – not a baby but a small child reaching out to someone. A picture of a Mother, and her Child, that invites you into it. Not a statue, not a picture of a mother holding a baby, but a Mother holding out her little child for you to carry into your own life and to others.
Father Kentenich in thinking about the remarkable and spontaneous development of various types of Schoenstatt shrines around the world coined the concept “the construction site shrine”, meaning the Blessed Mother has a whole construction program with shrines. It starts with the Original Shrine, goes to the Daughter Shrine, goes to the Home Shrine, then the Pilgrim Shrine and then you get a combination of all this in the Heart Shrine, the Living Shrine. This means that right after the Blessed Mother has shrines, visible shrines, the visible shrine is secondary. Primary is the living or smallest in stature the heart shrine.
This is the real construction task – the real result at the wonder of the “littleness of the child”. I myself must become a shrine. All shrines are of no value if they do not mean I become a living shrine, a temple of the Triune God. Becoming a living shrine is called in Schoenstatt spirituality the task of Everyday Sanctity. This is the central task of covenant spirituality, living out the Great Commandment of the love of God and love of neighbour holistically, physically and spiritually, with heart and mind and soul in all the contexts of our daily lives.
Angela
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