Missions Category

PARAGUAY, José Argüello and Maria Fischer • MUC2016, the Catholic University Missions 2016, began on 22 March – the day of the attacks in Brussels – 956 young missionaries, approximately 300 more than last year, gathered in front of the Asunción Cathedral and in front of the Rotunda, at Villarrica to go out on mission to eight cities during Holy Week. They went out after a profound preparation, and it would be from their own encounter with God, knowing “…that a missionary is above all, someone who had an encounterRead More
ARGENTINA/SPAIN/ CHILE / CUBA, by Mercedes MacDonough and Maria Fischer • Precisely Cuba. Among all the possible places in the world, the historic encounter of 12 February – The embrace between Patriarch Kirill from Moscow and Pope Francis –actually took place in Cuba at the Havana airport. During the encounter, they signed a joint declaration. After two hours of intense conversation, the Pope and the Patriarch went to a hall in the airport, where President Raúl Castro waited for them to sign a joint Declaration. It is based on thirtyRead More
BRAZIL, Boys’ Youth of the Southern Region • Generation Missionary, Everything for the Queen! Guided by this motto and regionally divided into three groups: South, Southeast, and Parana, the Schoenstatt Boy’s Youth of Brazil carried out the 2016 Christ Tabor mission. Here is a report of the 2016 Christ Tabor Mission in Ibiúana, Sao Paulo: The city of Ibiúna/SP received a very special visit on 16-23 January. Following the year’s theme: Missionary Generation, all for the Queen, forty-four missionaries, with joy and the zeal characteristic of those whose hearts areRead More
ARGENTINA, by Lilita and Carlos Ricciardi • On Saturday, 30 January, the last day of La Plata’s Schoenstatt Family Missions at Magdalena, Francisco Carrera, a young, 76-year-old grandfather, told us about his first experience as a missionary. He is an engineer, a widower with daughters and grandchildren, and he has belonged to La Plata’s Family Work for about forty years. He is a Eucharistic Minister and a loyal guardian of Santuario de la Liberación del Padre (Shrine of Father’s Freedom). During the year, he attended meetings and he felt likeRead More
ARGENTINA, Mario and Marinés Martínez • Joyfully returning from the Family Missions, “beautiful experiences” perfectly describes what they felt during an unforgettable week. (And not just because of the suffocating heat). After Mass, departing from La Loma Shrine on Tuesday, 19 January, they took the Blessed Mother and Jesus with them toward Hernandarias, an area with a population of 9,000. The spiritual axis of the Missions was Mercy with the motto: “Together as a family, we build peace.” Ten families were divided into two schools; in total, there were slightlyRead More
PARAGUAY, Ricardo M. Acosta, Schoenstatt Brother of Mary, Diocese of San Lorenzo • “Schoenstatt for the Church” apostolic work has extended out to different spheres; the missions are one of great transcendence for the Church reaching out. Tupãrenda’s 2016 missions (the second edition in the city of Itá) gathered more than 100 people during the second week of the New Year; five days of very intensive mission work in a city that is located approximately 15 kilometers from Tupãrenda’s National Shrine. The ecclesial and missionary paradigm of reaching out hasRead More
ARGENTINA, by Carlos and Lilita Ricciardi • The Argentinean Marian Family Missions of the Schoenstatt Apostolic Movement will be carried out during the Year of Mercy from 24-31 January 2016, in Magdalena, Province of Buenos Aires, which is called the City of Mercy. Magdalena– City of Mercy The first “Divine Mercy City” is located in the Magdalena area. St. John Paul II (The mercy and family Pope) declared the world’s first one, thanks to the efforts of Bishop Ángel Diamante DÂuro, the pastor, at that time, of St. Mary MagdaleneRead More
PARAGUAY, Fr. Oscar Saldívar and Maria Fischer • The Tupãrenda Schoenstatt Youths’ missions began on 6 January. Approximately 120 missionaries will be in Itá for five days taking God and the Blessed Mother to many homes. They began with a marathon, carrying a lighted torch from the Tupãrenda Shrine to Itá. The novel idea (possibly inspired by Fackellauf– the torch carrying relay race during the Jubilee) was to take the fire that was born at the Tupãrenda Shrine to Itá. They lit the torch at the Shrine with the goalRead More
CUBA, by Juan Vicente and Juan Manuel, missionaries at Cuba • Mission Cuba is the Chilean Boys’ Youth project. At Fr. Bladimir of the Schoenstatt Federation of Cuban Diocesan Priests’ invitation, the Schoenstatt youths’ second team is at Santa Cruz at the parish where Fr. Bladimir is working with Schoenstatt groups. They will stay in Cuba for a few months at the service of Schoenstatt. Schoenstatt began at Cuba with the first generation of Misión Cuba [Mission Cuba] approximately 10 – 15 years ago. Two missionaries from Mission Cuba’s currentRead More
URUGUAY, by Fernando Olmedo, vía Schoenstatt.org.uy • Sometimes the encounter with Jesus is a “stormy sea.” A stormy sea of worries or daily routines, of hostility or the dryness and emptiness of the world, of sorrows and sadness from the past that are difficult to let go, or of the frustration of this or that project that did not turn out well. So sometimes it is necessary to take a daring leap or to step out like Peter took to go out to meet that tangible God made man, whoRead More