Posted On 2011-04-11 In Covenant Life

Schoenstatt.org afire

USA, Joe Yank. Whenever I browse this international Schoenstatt website, I am impressed to see how much life there is in our Schoenstatt Family throughout the world. With almost 200 shrines, Schoenstatt has spread across the Globe like wildfire throughout these past ninety-seven years, and we owe it all to the Covenant of Love our dear Mother Thrice Admirable has entered into with her children.

 

 

Father Carlos Boskamp always told us as youth that we must come to know Schoenstatt as an International Movement. Back in the ‘60s and early ‘70s, we didn’t have the internet or access to a website like Schoenstatt.de that has now become even more international as www.schoenstatt.org. Today there is no excuse for us not to know the international life of our Schoenstatt Family that is running like a raging river through our Church and world today.

The illuminating glow will be seen for miles and miles…

There was an article in February on this website that alluded to the thought that if we would light a torch or a candle on the eve of October 18th, at the same time, in every Shrine all over the world, in every home shrine, in every wayside shrine, and before every pilgrim MTA, there would be a light that would glow so bright that the world would be warmed and the illuminating glow could be seen for miles and miles.

Our dear Mother Thrice Admirable, the Star of the Sea, in her covenant with us has given us this glow in our hearts, a bright and brilliant torch of hope for the future.

A fire is lit…

In the famous literary classic The Lord of the Rings, by J. R. R. Tolkien, in a part from the third book of the trilogy, The Return of the King, we find an image that vivifies the lighting of the flame. In the movie that was made from the books this image is very impressive. When the world is completely dominated by evil, and the evil one is about to go to war against all those who are good, a fire from the highest point in the good camp, a beacon that can be seen far and wide, is lit. It is seen from another mountain top on which another beacon fire is lit. This triggers a chain from mountain top to mountain top all across the earth, and as each fire is lit, the people are ready to answer the call until all the good people who have been called enter into the battle against the evil one.

Although the odds seem overwhelming, they are willing to face even death and destruction to stand for what is good and true. In their willingness to suffer and die for their king and his promise to die for them, we can see a parallel to our own willingness to enter into inscriptio and Josef Engling Consecration.

The network of Shrines

We too are all called forth by the beacon fires burning in our shrines, the fire that is enkindled in our hearts by the Covenant of Love we have made with our dear Mother and the Triune God. Every 18th of the month, the network of shrines around the world is remembered in a special way from the Original Shrine, from whence all graces flow to our filial shrines, home shrines, pilgrim shrines and heart shrines, and we can participate not only spiritually, in our hearts and minds, but also with our senses of sight and hearing. We are called not in the more primitive way of communication alluded to above but by the newer form. We can access this event every month through the internet www.schoenstatt.org.

Every 18th the network of Shrines is remembered in a special way in a Mass at the Original Shrine. At the renewal of the Covenant of Love in the Original Shrine on February 18th, Fr. Michael Marmann said, “…it is this network that unites us as a family inspiring those physically present to consciously remember everyone who was renewing the Covenant of Love on this day in so many places the world over.”

We can see how truly universal our Covenant of Love with our MTA has become, like a wildfire, it has spread to many, many hearts and homes spreading its glow across all the continents of the world.

The first Covenant between Mother and Child

In a letter to Monsignor Joseph Schmitz in 1952, our Father and Founder said, “that our covenant of love is a unique, concrete form of the covenant which God sealed with humanity in paradise and wants to realize through the history of salvation and of the world.”

He goes on to say, “For us, the covenant of love with the Blessed Mother as it historically came about and came to fruition is a far reaching renewal, reinforcement and safeguard of the baptismal covenant, namely the covenant with Christ and the Blessed Trinity.”

As we prepare for the Easter Triduum, we can see our covenant of love with our MTA burning brightly from Golgotha. As our Lord entered into the everlasting Covenant, he looked down from the cross and said, “Woman, behold your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.” Was that not the first covenant of love between Mother and child mandated by Christ himself? And when Holy Scripture tells us from that hour the disciple took her into his home, does the image of the home shrine come to mind?

The Covenant of Love – a gift for the world

The gift that our Mother Thrice Admirable gave us in the Covenant of Love from our Shrine, through the hands of our Father and Founder, is truly a gift for the Church and the world planned by Providence from the beginning of time and sealed in the fullness of time by our Mother and the disciple at the foot of the Cross.

We are one…

This covenant is already universal in its perspective, because all who enter in are united by the same heart – we are one because we have all exchanged our hearts with the heart of our dear MTA. Therefore we are all united in the same mission, her mission, the mission to bring forth the Son of God in our world today. We are united in the Shrine our home, where we know our Mother is with our Father and Founder and all our Schoenstatt Heroes.

This unity is a spiritual unity that can only be seen in the context of our founder’s understanding of the covenant and the Shrine: “The final explanation is to be found in … the covenant of love with the Mother Thrice Admirable and Queen of Schoenstatt, and in the fact that, in accordance with God’s plan and wish, this covenant is sealed in the place of her particular effectiveness, in her Shrine.”

Do you know these Shrines? One of them is the Original Shrine and one of them is the Shrine of Father’s Exile. The others are from different continents throughout the world. They can all be accessed on this web site by clicking on Schoenstatt Shrines in the World under the Tools bar beneath Father’s picture at the side.

Places like health spas

When I browse through them looking at the many Schoenstatt Shrines throughout the world, I think of our Founder’s famous words, “The same sun shines everywhere, and yet its rays are especially effective in particular places, as in health spas. A similar effect is found with our Lady. She seeks a nearness to the earth in a truly human and motherly way. She chooses ‘favorite places’ for herself…”

Anyone who knows the Schoenstatt Shrine, whether it be the Original, one of the 200 Filial Shrines, the Home Shrines or the Pilgrim MTAs knows that our dear Mother has chosen to be with us in a particularly unique way. Can we say unique to all other ways she has manifested herself in the Church in the past?

She has seen no need of apparitions or to manifest herself in locutions or special visions. She has not seen it necessary to contact us directly, because through her education in the shrine, through the covenant, we have learned to watch for the signs of Divine Providence in our daily lives. We have learned from them the law of the open door and the creative resultant thereby, like our father and founder, to keep our feet on the ground, our hearts and minds in heaven and our ears to the pulse of the times.

My homepage

I go into Schoestatt.org at least once or twice a day to keep in touch with the International Schoenstatt Family. On my computer at home, I have made it my homepage, so every time I go onto the internet, I see the good father of this family and can get a word of wisdom and blessing from his telephone message.

When I look at all the life that is reported in the many articles that are written from the many places throughout the world and browse the many different Shrines in their various locations throughout the world, I am awe struck at Fr. Kentenich’s prophetic insight when he walked through the open door of the little Shrine in Schoenstatt, Germany and entered into the covenant with the boys and our dear Mother. We can now see a very impressive creative resultant on these pages of Schoenstatt.org.

Fr. Carlos was one to keep up with the newest forms of communication. He would always have the newest gadgets for the telephones through which he kept in touch with various Schoenstatt Family members throughout the world. He was not privileged to be a part of the computer generation but he would have loved it. In the true spirit of our founder, he looked toward the future with confidence in our dear Mother and with a childlike heart taught us to do the same.

With hope and joy, confident in the victory, we go with Mary into the electronic age

Our founder’s words were “with hope and joy we, confident in the victory, we go with Mary into the postmodern age.” May we say with hope and joy, confident in the victory, we go with Mary into the electronic age. And with his blessing and that of our dear MTA, I am sure we will conquer the world for Christ and this form of media will be instrumental in bringing us many examples of selfless service to the individual throughout the world. All we need to do is look and listen and learn. Thanks, a thousand thanks to all those responsible for making this site a reality.

2 Responses

  1. Margaret Fenelon says:

    Excellent, Joe! Thank you!

  2. servusmarie says:

    What wonderful imagery to describe the network of Shrines!
    May we all light the beacons of our heart shrines and be light to the world!

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