works of mercy Category

PARAGUAY, Soledad León • Our story begins during 2016 when Schoenstatt’s Mothers’ Branch from Asunción carried out their usual convocation to form new groups.  Twelve women attended that meeting, guided by a profound devotion that they felt for Mary, without imagining what the Blessed Mother had prepared for their lives: feeding the hungry. — Laura González, Diana Arzamendia, Paola Morga, Mirian Larrea, Celeste Bonin, Paola Bieber, Karina Cuellar, Soledad León, Adriana Manzoni, Batania Buzo, Esther Ascurra, and Paola Noguera came from different places, diverse professions, and their own special andRead More
PARAGUAY, Pedro Cáceres • During the Year of Mercy, Pope Francis exhorted us to visit those in prison as one of the corporal works of mercy. One day, during a parish activity in front a lot of people, I expressed that it would be very hard to carry out this work of mercy, since I did not know whom to visit, or with whom I would go. During a conversation with Fr. Pedro in the middle of 2016, he invited me to accompany the Prison Ministry some Saturday. During thatRead More
PARAGUAY, Maria Fischer with material from the Press Office of the Ministry of Justice of Paraguay • In a ceremony charged with emotions, three young men successfully finished the program of social re-integration after prison of the Mother of Tupãrenda House. They received the recognition of relatives and instructors for the effort made to finish the process. — The Minister of Justice, Ever Martínez, who was present at the graduation, once again showed his satisfaction with the accomplishments of these youths and for the fact that “a public policy implementedRead More
CHILE, Luis Valdebenito Celedón • The Men’s Branch from Los Ángeles has chosen to carry out a concrete and very meritorious apostolate from its’ beginnings. They visit the Mulchén Preventive Detention Center every Saturday from 10:00 to 12:00. Currently between fifteen to twenty inmates – out of 150 – benefit from this apostolate. — In December, Bishop Felipe Bacarreza confirmed ten inmates in the Preventive Detention Center Chapel. Gendarmerie authorities, relatives of the confirmands, and the prison population attended the ceremony. The Blessed Mother established herself in the Preventive DetentionRead More
PARAGUAY, Maria Fischer • “From the Shrine to the poor.” With this motto, João Pozzobon, the initiator of the Schoenstatt Rosary Campaign, built “Villa noble de la Caridad,” uniting Santa Maria Shrine with this town through the Stations of the Cross. — “From the Shrine, he especially wanted to help families; in his visits to homes, he was concerned about family situations, and later he tried to attend to their needs. In the same way, he portrayed a very preferential dedication to the poor and needy, to children, to thoseRead More
PARAGUAY, Ani Souberlich and Maria Fischer • “I truly want to thank Natividad, the instructor to whom I caused a great deal of trouble because I did not want to learn how to sew…” Oh my! During that time at school, my handicrafts teacher was named Anneliese, but the rest of that phrase could be my testimony, only after several fruitless attempts at teaching me how to sew, and in breaking the second machine, she evaluated me as hopeless, “lack of trying and of talent.” The result, I was exempt.Read More
PARAGUAY, Verónica Gutiérrez • For many schools in South America, the month of March signals the return to classes. Summer is over, and the days are growing cooler. In their own way, every country prepares in beginning a new school year, and Paraguay is no exception, but it is in a special case: Dequení. — The Dequení Foundation works to protect and care for vulnerable children. It was born out of a group of young Schoenstatt members that organized activities in the streets, and then it grew into a significantRead More
PARAGUAY, ministeriodejusticia.gov.py, Paraguay’s National Government’s Ministry of Justice and the editorial team • The Ministry of Justice and the Foundation to Promote Values and Prevention of Violence  (Fundaprova) is strengthening its strategic alliance by extending the public–private cooperation agreement period of helping teens that broke the law with their reintegration into society.— The program is successful; there are already nine graduates that have zero index of delinquency recidivism. Several of the graduates work in areas in which they received instruction at Mother of Tupãrenda House. The Minister of Justice, EverRead More
BRAZIL, JUMAS Porto Alegre • Apostolic fruitfulness! Those words best summarize the new JUMAS POA(Boys’ Youth Porte Alegre) project, whose first edition took place on 17 February 2018. — The Schoenstatt Family helped with raising funds along with Father Inácio, pastor of Our Lady of Assumption Parish, where the food was prepared, provided the great help necessary to carry out this project. The menu consisted of rice, pasta, and chicken, and pineapple juice. After preparation with youths from JUMAS (Boys’ Youth) who “got to work”, stockpots were delivered to aRead More
BRAZIL, Jumas Jaraguá • “Wherever Schoenstatt is …should there still be misery?” This simple and profound question was enough to awaken a concern and to motivate the Schoenstatt Boys’ Youth from the Southeastern Region, to go out to encounter their homeless brethren in São Paulo, from 9 through 11 February. —   But it was necessary to learn more and the response came from the contact with Fr. Ailton, regional adviser, with Misión Belén, who has worked in the capital’s center for some time and helps street people. The firstRead More