USA, Carlos Cantú. The Schoenstatt Family of Texas celebrated its annual OCTOBER DAY on Sunday, October 24th, at the Confidentia Shrine/Schoenstatt Center in Rockport/Lamar, Texas. Two main reasons added to the significance of the day: the Texas Schoenstatt Family’s commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Father Joseph Kentenich’s ordination to the priesthood, and the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Schoenstatt Rosary Campaign by Joao Pozzobon.
Interspersed throughout the day’s activities were the four Schoenstatt milestones. Recalling these milestones kept the focus on the person of Schoenstatt’s Father and Founder, Father Joseph Kentenich, and his mission for the Church and world. The Celebration began with a beautiful serenade for the Blessed Mother in her Confidentia Shrine. The opening prayer included fitting words from the Father and Founder: “I know and have experienced how our family celebrations have strengthened our family bonds and nurtured our loyalty to our common cause, our Mother Thrice Admirable, but also to one another.” Everyone was then invited to sing the words of the new motto for the Texas Schoenstatt Family: WITH FATHER, PROCLAIM THE COVENANT OF LOVE!
Motivated by the Covenant of Love
The Schoenstatt Fathers, Héctor Vega, Christian Christensen, and Marcelo Aravena concelebrated at our Eucharistic Jubilee Celebration. In his homily, Fr. Héctor Vega stressed that we have come to give thanks and referred to Father Kentenich’s HEAVENWARDS prayers:
“We are closely united in Christ Jesus, deeply united in his holy wounds – we, his members, and He, the mighty Head: this is the message which no one can take from us.”
The Covenant of Love motivated everything Father Kentenich did.
“I am so intimately united with my own that we have always seen ourselves as one. Their sanctity is my life and inspiration; I would gladly give my life for them. I am so tenderly and loyally united with them that a voice within me always says: What you are and do affects their lives, determines their misfortune and increases their happiness.” (see FATHER, LOOK UPON OUR FAMILY, pp. 122-129, HEAVENWARDS, American Edition)
The two Texas Schoenstatt Shrines
Of major significance among the offertory gifts were two items: a replica of the gift which the Texas Schoenstatt Family presented to Schoenstatt’s Father and Founder, Father Joseph Kentenich, at the National Leaders’ Convention in Wisconsin this past July in honor of the centennial of his ordination to the priesthood, and a picture of Joao Pozzobon. The gift for Father Kentenich on July 8, 2010, beautifully prepared by Victor and Olga Alegría, was a picture of the two Texas Schoenstatt Shrines and the Lamar Shrine’s statue of Father Kentenich. The photograph shows the Confidentia Shrine – whose Golden Jubilee we celebrated in 2009 – and the San Antonio Cor Unum in Patre Shrine that was dedicated in 2008.
It is important to note that the Confidentia Shrine [1959] was offered as a gift of thanksgiving in advance for the liberation of Father Kentenich from his exile, and the Cor Unum in Patre Shrine was offered as a gift for the Golden Jubilee of the Confidentia Shrine. The photograph presented shows the Father and Founder in the center with each Shrine to one side.
Covenant with Father Kentenich
After lunch, everyone gathered to see two audio-visual presentations: one on 2014 and the other on the priesthood of the Father and Founder. The next step in the program was to seal or renew the Covenant of Love with Father Kentenich. Everyone went in procession to the statue of the Father and Founder that faces the Confidentia Shrine. The pleasant weather and joy in all hearts enhanced the solemnity of the occasion. After prayer that included recalling the fourth milestone, the group proceeded to seal or renew their Covenant of Love with Father Kentenich. Following is the prayer for that great moment:
Dear Father and Founder, we go with you, “Cor Unum in Patre.”
We are living in historic and prophetic times. It was not by chance that as we came to the end of the ‘Year for Priests’ proclaimed by our Holy Father, Benedict XVI, we were at the threshold of the Centennial Celebration of your ordination to the priesthood. Adding to the momentum is the beginning of the three-year preparation for the 100th Jubilee of the Covenant of Love, the founding of Schoenstatt.
We have been in a joyful spirit, very grateful by not only celebrating the Golden Jubilee of the Confidentia Shrine, but also grateful for the second Schoenstatt Shrine in Texas, the Cor Unum in Patre Shrine. As we now renew or seal our Covenant of Love with you, dear Father Kentenich, we promise:
That in joyful gratitude, with our hand in yours, we can say to all: With Father, Proclaim the Covenant of Love!
The present times in the Church and world confirm to us the need for fostering the culture of the Covenant of Love. It is our response as a Schoenstatt Family to what we have to face today.
As your Schoenstatt Family of Texas, and as we say: WITH FATHER, WE PROCLAIM THE COVENANT OF LOVE, we affirm the importance of the father and fatherhood in all aspects. We reject all types of violence. We stress the importance of respectful dialog and in this way we go toward the Jubilee 2014 forging the culture of the Covenant of Love.
May our Schoenstatt Shrines, our Wayside Shrines, our Home-Shrines, our Heart-Shrines and our Pilgrim Shrines be beacons of light where everyone can experience the Merciful Father and his loving Mother.
Dear Father Kentenich, you once said that we could always find you in the Shrine. Thank you for this gift. Amen.”
I sealed my Covenant with the Father and Founder
Each one then had the opportunity to go quietly to the statue of Father Kentenich and to confirm their ‘yes’ in a personal encounter with him, placing their hand in his. Father’s statue donned a special altar cloth that had been on the altar of the Exile Shrine where Father Kentenich celebrated Mass daily during the time of his exile.) Each person received a small document with the words:
“At the end of the ‘Year for Priests’ proclaimed by our Holy Father Benedict XVI, At the 100th Jubilee of Fr. Kentenich’s ordination to the priesthood, starting the Triennium for the 100th Jubilee of the Covenant of Love 2014 with a ‘Year of the Father’ -I sealed my Covenant of Love with our Father and Founder.”
Those renewing their covenant signed the document and the signature of Father Kentenich is to one side. Each person also received a small wooden chalice recalling the priesthood of the Father and Founder. Everyone was invited to officially sign a Covenant Book commemorating the occasion. Mementos and delicious Shrine cookies were then distributed.
Father Kentenich’s blessing
The almost 200 participants then made a loyalty ring around the Shrine and the statue of the Father and Founder. The Covenant of Love was renewed in song. The culminating point for the day then came with the voice of Father Kentenich pronouncing the final benediction for the celebration.
