Sarah-Leah Pimentel Tag

South Africa
SOUTH AFRICA, Sarah-Leah Pimentel • Protests erupted in South Africa on Friday, 9 July. Although it has not been officially confirmed, it is thought that the protests are being organized by factions within the ruling African National Congress who are unhappy with the incarceration of former President Jacob Zuma. — Zuma is facing 15 months in prison for refusing to cooperate with the courts on investigations into corruption during his tenure as president. The protests have escalated from Kwazulu-Natal Province — where Zuma has his stronghold — to Johannesburg andRead More
SOUTH AFRICA, Sarah-Leah Pimentel • Young people today need a safe space where they can be authentic, where they can truly be themselves.These were the words of the leaders of the Schoenstatt Girls at a leadership weekend held at the Constantia Shrine in Cape Town, South Africa on 6-8 April. — I had the opportunity to spend the weekend with them, facilitating some of the sessions. I arrived as a teacher but left as a student, reminded of what it means to live out my covenant of love and SchoenstattRead More
SOUTH AFRICA, Sarah-Leah Pimentel • On 2 December I received the sad news that the Schoenstatt Shrine in Johannesburg had been robbed. The thieves had got in through a window and stolen everything containing some kind of metal (probably to be melted or sold), including the tabernacle. Thank God the Schoenstatt Sister who stays on the property was unharmed. Bad news always spreads quickly and of course, the biggest concern, over and above the loss of our precious symbols in the shrine is what happened to the tabernacle and theRead More
SOUTH AFRICA, Sarah-Leah Pimentel • Do you ever look around at the world and feel completely hopeless? I work in media, and there are days that I just can’t watch another news program or read another newspaper. There is so much misery, despair, and power games at the cost of the most vulnerable people of the world. The problems are so complex and I am powerless to make even the slightest difference to alleviate the world’s troubles. But yet, I am moved by the suffering of countless millions. The needRead More
Sarah-Leah Pimentel, South Africa • Every month, Pope Francis shares his prayer intentions via The Pope Video initiative. The Holy Father’s intention for July is for people who are “distant from the Christian faith.” Pope Francis starts by urging us to “never forget that our joy is Jesus Christ.” In his wisdom and a lifetime of ministry, Francis recognises that “when a Christian becomes sad…he has distanced himself from Jesus.” It is precisely at this point, that each one of us, the community of believers is called act. We areRead More
SOUTH AFRICA, Sarah-Leah Pimentel and Schoenstatt Girls/Women’s League • When we tell our stories of covenant solidarity, we mostly mention our efforts to live our covenant of love by reaching out to others and going to the peripheries of our societies to share the graces of our covenant relationship. It is good to tell these stories because each act of covenant solidarity helps our Mother and Queen to add “stone on stone in building up your Schoenstatt work” as we pray in our evening prayer. These stories also encourage othersRead More
By Sarah-Leah Pimentel, Cape Town, South Africa There is a story that goes like this: A wicked king wanted to destroy his people’s faith in God. So he called his wisest advisors and asked them where they could hide the truth of God’s existence so that the people would never find him. The first adviser said: “Hide the truth of their God in the furthest star, where they can never find it.” “No,” said the second counsellor. “One day, they will learn to fly and find their God. It wouldRead More
Sarah-Leah Pimentel, Cape Town, South Africa • Over the last few weeks, I have spent my weekly Adoration hour meditating on a series of Fr. Kentenich’s sermons given in 1962 to the German immigrant community in Milwaukee (Exchange of Hearts, translated by Fr. Jonathan Niehaus). In the series, our founder speaks about an “exchange of hearts” to describe the Covenant of Love, where we exchange our weak hearts with Mary’s strong heart.  He says that this is the antidote for the “disease” of our times, where we have forgotten howRead More
by Sarah-Leah Pimentel, Cape Town, South Africa, member of the Editorial Board of schoenstatt.org • This week, the world has witnessed one of the most contentious elections of recent times. America’s election was foreshadowed by a mud-slinging contest between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.  But through all the mud, the election contest didn’t focus on the national economy or foreign policy.  It was a campaign about values. Clinton appealed to the extension of civil rights while Trump’s “Let’s make America great again” slogan appealed to the traditional values of familyRead More
by Sarah-Leah Pimentel • As we bring to a close this series on Pope Francis’ message to the Schoenstatt Family, we reflect on his encouragement to carry forward Schoenstatt’s mission for the Church, the last of the five areas of apostolic activity that the International Schoenstatt Movement takes forward into a new century. Eucharistic unity – “That they maybe one as we are one” Pope Francis begins by speaking for the need for renewal within the Church, but I have chosen to start where he ends – with the sacraments.Read More