Something to think about Category

From Archbishop em. Robert Zollitsch DD, Freiburg, for schoenstatt.org – a contribution to the series: What does the Holy Year of Mercy mean? • On 13 March 2013 Francis was elected Pope. On Sunday 17 March he prayed the Sunday Angelus on St Peter’s Square for the first time. On that occasion he told the people, “In these days I read a book by a good theologian, a really good theologian, Cardinal Walter Kasper. The book did me so much good, so much good. Cardinal Kasper said that everything changesRead More
Oskar Bühler – On the hundredth birthday of Msgr. Wilhelm Wissing (1916-1996) on 31 January • “What sort of greenhorn have the bishops sent us now?” That was the question the German Chancellor, Konrad Adenaur, put to one of his ministers after the new director of the “Catholic Bureau” in Bonn had introduced himself. The new representative of the German Bishops to the German government and parliament, Wilhelm Wissing, who at the time was 42, was a priest of the Munster Diocese who had been in charge of the CatholicRead More
By Agustín Lombardi, Guarapuava, Brazil • Many are the unknowns within the uncertain future of our countries, in both their political and economic surroundings. Therefore more and more, concern grows among the people regarding the future and financial substance. It is not necessary to say that to have this precaution and to plan is a great step. But…are we likewise concerned with the preparation and development of the inheritance we are going to leave? In the daily routine in which we are involved, we often do not allow ourselves toRead More
HOLY YEAR OF MERCY – POPE FRANCIS’ MESSAGE FOR THE 50TH WORLD COMMUNICATIONS DAY • “Communication and Mercy: a fruitful encounter” is the title of Pope Francis’ message for World Communications Day 2016 which was presented on 22 January at the Holy See’s Press Office. The message was symbolically signed by the Holy Father on 24 January 2016, on the feast of St. Francis de Sales, the patron saint of journalists. The 50th World Communications Day will be celebrated on 8 May 2016. It’s a message that brings us joyRead More
By Agustín José Lombardi, an argentinean living in Guarapuava, Brazil • When we speak about originality within the movement, we normally refer to specific characteristics of Schoenstatt’s charism and pedagogy. Almost immediately, we connect this originality to the invitation our father and founder made to Mary, that she establish her abode in the Shrine and from there pour out her graces as intercessor. After a hundred years of history, we realize that Schoenstatt’s originality manifests itself through the characteristics that the Movement has developed in the countries where the cultureRead More
MESSAGE OF THE GENERAL PRESIDIUM OF SCHOENSTATT – FR JUAN PABLO CATOGGIO • The General Presidium gathered for its annual week-long meeting. The place and time were special: They met in Rome, at Belmonte, exactly fifty years after Fr Kentenich’s return from exile and his stay in Rome. During the meeting, the General Presidium drafted a message to the Schoenstatt Family to mark the 50th anniversary of the fourth milestone in the history of Schoenstatt, and the opening of the Year of Mercy. At the request of the President ofRead More
Fr.  Joaquín Alliende Luco, via schvivo.com • More courage, more commitment, more death leaps into the unknown. Less of the beach caressing us and more surfing on the crest of the wave, not because we’re at the height of the wave, but because of the sheer intensity of the wave. I feel that sometimes, some of us remain near the shore dipping our toes but not throwing ourselves into the violent swell of our times. More surf, higher, more dangerous. We should not be interested in tired, well-worn, sleepy waves.Read More
By Matías Rodríguez/University Students from Campanario – via www.jmschoenstatt.cl • In the last century, Father Kentenich stood firm in saying that we were experiencing an epoch without fathers. The different crises we are experiencing today have a great relationship to this lack of paternity. Leadership, welcoming, responsibility for one’s own, and education in freedom and love are characteristics of a father which are no longer seen today with a simple glance into our families, institutions and symbols of authority. Now we can go beyond what was expressed by Father JosephRead More
The Holy Year of Mercy by Fr Egon M. Zillekens • During October renovations to the Canaan Patris Shrine, the shrine in the garden of the Marienau, were carried out. The shrine suddenly looked different – the door was closed, the foundations exposed. In a letter to the Priests’ Federation Fr Egon M. Zillekens invited them to connect this view with the Holy Year of Mercy. Dear Confreres, Suddenly you can’t get in, the door is blocked off. Only when we no longer have something, do we discover how muchRead More
By Rafael Mota and Otávio Cesarini Ávila, JUMAS Brazil, www.jumasbrasil.com.br • The number of refugees leaving the northern part of Africa and Syria, fleeing situations which violate human rights like misery and war, has appealed to the attention and sensitivity of the world during these last days. The expectation of setting foot on European soil, sometimes interrupted and frustrated dramatically: the 71 immigrants dead and abandoned in a bus in Austria; the dead child on the Turkish shore. We Schoenstatters and part of JUMAS (Male Schoenstatt Youth), how do weRead More