ARGENTINA, Techi Pretel. On October 29th and 30th, 2011, with the recent opening of the Year of the Shrine, the Argentinean Family represented by its seventy-three lay delegates, Sisters and Fathers, gathered close to their National Shrine in Florencio Varela.
As the participants arrived, the joy of the fraternal reunion was warm and sincere. Father Tommy Dell’Oca presided at the Eucharist, where he invited everyone to wait with hope without despair. It was a time of welcome, prayer, and communion.
Looking back: fruits of the Year of the Father current
Once in the Solaz de Maria Hall after the songs and presentations under the charge of Marcelo and Laura Salvarini, Father Javier Arteaga began giving multicolored brush strokes of what they have done as an Argentinean Family in favor of life and as loyal instruments of the MTA during the Year of the Father current.
Then the regional coordinators presented what they had done in each diocese giving an analysis of the Movement’s situation in the nation to those present. During the past year, they have gotten to know Father better, and they became attached more profoundly to him. They wanted to assume his inheritance of Father and prophet, promoting life creatively, offering a covenant culture.
Now for these times of change, the Blessed Mother asks us to decide to be “Family of the Father, with Mary,” to root ourselves in his home, the Shrine, his cenacle, and his trampoline to the world.
Father José Parodi, along with the Diocesan Institute of the Schoenstatt Fathers, is giving life to the Founding Father’s desire of taking Schoenstatt to the heart of the Church. They are building a Meeting House close to the Belmonte Shrine in Italy for this reason. He invited them to collaborate spiritually and materially and also to form a large picture of the Blessed Mother for 2014 with faces of Schoenstatters allover the world.
The Shrine, place of covenant and mission
During the afternoon, a couple, María Inés and José Eduardo Epele, who are Area Leaders of the Family Federation, in a masterful talk, they spoke about “The Shrine, place of covenant and mission.”
They began by recalling two of the Founding Father’s phrases: “Whoever seeks me, will find me in the Shrine” and “Without the Shrine I can do nothing.” Then they presented the Shrines from the Old and New Testaments, concluding with the Marian Shrines in general, and with the Schoenstatt Shrine in particular with its importance, originality, and charism.
Reading from the Founding Document: “We could not carry out a greater apostolic work…” The aim of the Shrine is the “acceleration of our self-sanctification.” The Shrine is also the cradle of renewal of the world. His prophetic words in 1929, “In the shadow of the shrine…” speak of the certainty he had because of its importance.
Then they recalled the fundamental elements of the Schoenstatt Shrine:
- Local attachment
- The universal fruitfulness of the Most Holy Virgin
- Free divine action, and free human cooperation
All of this led to speaking about Father’s Shrine, its history, transcendence, and attachment to the Founding Father. The National Shrine is perhaps Father’s great inheritance to the Argentinean Family. In a video, Sister Ursula spoke to them about all of this in a very touching and persuasive manner. Father Kentenich made monetary contributions to reach the million pesos that the grounds cost at that time, and he especially came to bless it on January 20, 1952. On March 19th of the same year when the Founding Father placed the Father Symbol in the National Shrine, the double patro-centric current was expressed: God’s paternity and human paternity.
At the end, the Epeles gave a testimony of how the Rawson Shrine was erected, its significance and the present challenge.
Give to the Shrine today
Then the search for target areas for the year 2012 began. After discussion in groups and in the plenary, they arrived at these two goals:
1. To embody the Mystery of the Shrine:
– Living the maternity-paternity/ childlikeness
– Everyday sanctity
2. Give to the Shrine today:
– Homeshrine and work
– Pastorate of the Shrine is everyone’s responsibility
Sunday morning the proposals were defined. After a profound invocation to the Holy Spirit, the motto for the year was finally chosen: “Living Shrine, home for the world”
Toward 2014
On Saturday night, a liturgy was held around the Father Symbol. This gave impetus to the attachment and preparation for the arrival of the Father Symbol in Argentina on January 2nd. The Symbol will travel throughout the country until May 26, 2012.
Commission 2014 presented the activities that will be developed to promote the spiritual preparation, to coordinate the visit of the Father Symbol, and to organize the pilgrimage for October 2014 in such a way, that many Argentineans will be able to participate, be it traveling to Germany or in the celebrations in Argentina.
The event concluded near Father’s statue, where they renewed their commitment with the Founder, and they presented him with the capital of grace offered in the Conference.
Photos (Claudia Echenique)
Celina M. Garza: Spanish/English translation – Melissa Peña-Janknegt: English edit
