17 March 2023 · 2023-03 newsletter
When God’s Providence is the controlling hand amazing things happen. A series of what many people of today’s world would think of as coincidences, came together from way back last year culminating in a wonderful event in the Parish of Menai where Fr. Denis, my image of Fr. Kentenich, God rest their souls, began parish based Schoenstatt groups, the mothers being the most fruitful of the endeavours.
A retreat for Family Educators at Schoenstatt, Mulgoa last year, saw Sr. Elizabeth, Father’s sister; speak to one educator and to keep a long story short set in motion a connection with the actual Family Educator of Menai and myself. We met at a Family Mass in our parish which Kaye organised and I played the music for and she was the one who came up with the idea of this ‘Woman of Faith’ event.
Kaye asked four people to speak, myself being one of them and I asked Sr. Elizabeth (accompanied by Ann from her Zoom Mother’s Group) to attend.
It all came to fruition on the 1st of March with some 15 young mothers in attendance. Faith journeys were high on the talk’s agenda with two other Family Educators and me addressing them. The School counsellor for the Primary school gave the mothers some strategies around co-regulation of behaviours of parents and child. Most pertinent for us here is that I spoke on the “Nine Dispositions of Mary’ (Personal Ideal) and wove my life story into them.
What are those nine dispositions? Mary’s Dispositions
- Faith in Divine Providence (God)
- Being Childlike
- Trusting
- Having Courage
- Being Kind
- Practicing Calm
- Praying
- Being there for others
- Being a path to God
I am not going to re-write my talk here but rather I’m going to share the ‘Creative Resultants’ of this long, slow journey.
The Creative Resultants
Beginning last year, one couldn’t predict that those nine dispositions of Sr. Emilie’s Novena would be a meditation topic of the Camino last year in Advent and revert to Mary’s dispositions for this ‘Woman of Faith’ event this year. Add to this that the booklet that was put together for the Camino Walk has become two: one a Walk booklet without the Advent focus, just the Stations information, for the walk down the valley and with the Meditations to do rather in the Shrine: the second booklet was to take the pictures and gospel stories of the Advent booklet and make them into a separate ‘Mary’s life booklet’ in chronological order of her early life events with ‘colour-in’ pictures that make up her ‘Exemplary Role as a Mother’.
The suggestion was that the mothers could read the stories with their children and help them colour the pictures.
Twenty five front cover colour printed ‘Mary’s Life Story’ booklets (kindly done by my parish’s secretary) saw the mothers at the talk take at least one each home and leave only four. Some took black and white versions of it as well, we could say so all their children had a copy. Every mother present took home Shrine information leaflets, as well as the more, well known prayer leaflets and little summary cards of the ‘Nine Dispositions’ to ‘keep in their purse’ which I handed out to them all to be an inspiration for them.
The linking disposition from ‘Mary’s dispositions’ for all four talks was ‘Calm’. Even the school counsellor who came from the psychology perspective rather than the ‘Wisdom’ path linked ‘Calm’ to her talk. I had written: “Calm is a disposition at the time of Mary’s proclamation of her ‘Magnificat’ and at the time of her pregnancy travelling at nine months on the back of a donkey to register in Bethlehem. Now to be fair this is the hardest disposition to foster in myself. Five children all demanding attention at the same time was challenging and sometimes so are the grandchildren”. So (regardless of what pushes our buttons) “if calm goes in the adult then it too will go in the child”. (A. Benson. “Woman of Faith” Talk, 2023) (Brackets mine).
So possible further Creative Resultants?
Kaye the Family Educator has suggested repeats once a term already. If it be God’s will I am hopeful that I can repeat Father Denis’ legacy and start a new Schoenstatt young Mother’s Group in Menai during the week. It may be that introductory talks and information on Mary might have to precede that but anything is possible if I take Fr. Kentenich’s challenge to me all my Schoenstatt educated life to “See it through bravely”. Meanwhile ‘Mary’s Fiat’ will be my prayer (and you might make it your own too and pray for more success) as we navigate this new beginning.
Angela
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