CHILE, by Verónica Ciudad Pap •
The Alégrate mujer [Rejoice woman] management team is concerned about events in Chile and the world, and faithful to the gift they gave the Father and Founder on the centenary of the Covenant of Love as they travel throughout Chile training and evaluating monitors so the fruitfulness of this apostolate can reach every corner of their country.
Management team: Carola Gerstle, Paulina Respaldiza, María de la Luz Ferrada, Margarita Popelka, Alejandra Tike, Marcela Bustos, Verónica Ciudad. Adviser: Sr. M. Yerthy
A little history
They have already related about their project’s genesis in previous articles, at different Leaders’ and Branch Meetings etc., and also through external media. However, here is a short reminder.
Since 2011, they have witnessed society’s reaction to different social problems that, far from being just or unjust, have provoked havoc in values, more and more making everything fall into relativity and confusion, because people have lost the sense of transcendence given by God which orients creation in thinking and acting. A group of the Ladies’ Branch from the Agua Santa Shrine thought about what to give the Father and Founder for the anniversary of the Covenant of Love’s first 100 years. They reflected on the meaning of these events, and later after much discernment, they discovered that Fr. Kentenich had the answer when he clearly exposed his vision of the woman’s mission in the family, at work, or wherever. During the first formal meeting with the adviser, two women from Valle de María and one from the Mother’s Federation joined the group.
The first workshop, Alégrate Mujer, toda alma [Rejoice Woman, all soul], was incorporated in March 2013, followed by Alégrate Mujer, toda entrega: [Rejoice Woman, all commitment] in March 2015. Approximately 6,500 women have participated in these workshops, and in 2016, the group is already on the road to start a third workshop.
Throughout the project, the group has had the grace of counting on Sister advisers, who have loyally accompanied them, and who have guided them on this road. How can they forget the trust that Sr. María Beatriz, the national adviser of the branch, placed in them when they began the project? Or the enthusiasm that Sr. Luz María, the branch adviser, placed in their hearts when they began the project? Then during the past year, there was Sr. María Paz’ great contribution, enthusiasm and perseverance in the genesis and development of the second workshop, and of course the joy and tenderness of the present adviser, Sr. M. Yerthy.
It is God’s will
In every one of the many steps they have taken to carry out the content and in order to transmit Father’s great legacy in a genuine way, they have perceived that this is the path that God has planned for them. They have had problems, especially economic ones. Therefore they have studied the way to consolidate permanent financing that will allow them to grow in initiatives and in the realm of women’s issues that need to be addressed in order to continue to accomplish the objective of the project.
How are they organized?
In 2014, they proposed a sponsorship system as a way of having order and establishing control. Each member of the management team was assigned Chilean cities that they adopt as godmothers. Thus they take charge of the monitors, coordinated by them, maintaining close and direct contact. They also visit them once or twice a year to strengthen the attachment and to evaluate the situation on the ground.
Thus in September 2015, a concern emerged to visit Chile and to gather the different areas by zones: Large Northern Zone, Little Northern, South Central and South, and that is how the Alegretón were born.
They were inspired by a large 27-hour crusade of love, the Telethon, to give the initiative an identity, and consequently their visits were established with the Alegretón name. They also coordinated with the date, since their first big date was with the Central Southern zone’s monitors and coordinators in November of last year.
¡Alegretón!
On that day, roughly twenty-five monitors shared a motivational gathering at Valle de María Shrine in Buin. The majority of them had already had some experience in previous workshops that made the exchange of experiences, strategies and advice very enriching regarding the different scenarios presented to them.
In April, six women from the team (there are eight including Sr. M. Yerthy, the national adviser) traveled to Puerto Montt to meet with the future monitors from Temuco, Valdivia, Osorno, Puerto Montt, Coihaique and Punta Arenas. During three days of hard work, they enthusiastically, but with some difficulties, trained a group of women who committed to the project. To finalize their visit to the south, they went with some of the future monitors to present the workshop, Alégrate Mujer, Toda entrega, to forty-two women administrators, teachers’ aides, teachers and some representatives from a prestigious school in the area.
In May they went to La Serena to meet with women from Ovalle, Copiapó, Vallenar and La Serena. They had a strenuous training session so that the women would be capable of presenting both workshops as well as conducting an evaluation procedure. This last tool, which has been studied and applied by the team’s psychologist, is fundamental to opt for future financing.
From 8-11 June, five women from the team were in Iquique; Sr. M. Yerthy also accompanied them. Women from Calama, Arica, Antofagasta and Iquique met, and there the welcome was exceptional. Everything was prepared to ensure the meeting would be a success. The work was intense but very fruitful. The entire family welcomed them; the Ladies’ Branch took care of all the details with great affection and care.
Eighty women from different places, social status, work situations, and religious beliefs arrived to receive their treasure. At the end of the scheduled activity, several of them showed their interest in maintaining an attachment with the Shrine by continuing to enrich themselves with the Father and Founder’s spirituality.
The Church reaching out– Schoenstatt reaching out
“I want you to make yourselves heard in your dioceses, I want the noise to go out, I want the Church to go out onto the streets, I want us to resist everything worldly, everything static, everything comfortable, everything to do with clericalism, everything that might make us closed in on ourselves. The parishes, the schools, the institutions are made for going out…if they don’t, they become an NGO and the Church cannot be an NGO.” (25-7-13 at WYD, Rio)
By bringing Pope Francis’ words to life, one can conclude that all the “noise” these women have made fills them with satisfaction. They are overcome with a sense of accomplishment, of being the instruments God and the Blessed Mother chose for this mission. For each one of them, and one dares to also say it on behalf of this project’s many monitors, Alégrate Mujer Schoenstatt went out with the urgent task of giving this treasure to the world. The fact of having placed the emphasis more on woman’s being rather than the clearly religious is also a success that has opened a whole realm of possibilities.
As women of this day and age, they have been privileged to receive the Father and Founder’s valuable legacy. They have already begun the race; they are, as the Schoenstatt Family asks in “reaching out,” with some very expeditious stretches, others somewhat bumpy, but with the certainty that it is what God wants. However this provides a great challenge. Many women should assume this task in an effective and responsible manner. That is the only way that they can cooperate with its continuity contributing a little grain of sand for this new woman, image of Mary, that woman that the Father and Founder wanted, that woman that will be the forger of the Church on the New Shores.
Schoenstatt Women’s Column! We are reaching out! Let us continue, “to make noise”!
Original: Spanish. Translation: Celina M. Garza, San Antonio, TX USA. Edited: Melissa Peña-Janknegt, Elgin, TX USA
