PERU, Carmen Roldán de Scamarone. What is Advent? How can it be lived as a family? Many arrived without knowing the answer to these two questions, but as time passed, they learned that the essence of Advent is that it is a time of “waiting with hope…as a family,” Father Paul Jaimes said. The entire Church waits for the coming of the God Child, his birth in every heart, with the resolution of preparing for His second coming. It is that simple! The challenge is to gather the members of every family… While it was accomplished in the majority of the cases, surely those who came alone could also take a seed of love to their homes.
Looking back…
In the garden, Father Jaimes reflected on what Advent is and how to live it within the family, implementing the multiple resolutions suggested in the “Little Advent Book” prepared by Susan Sáez de Escobar. The book explains the meaning of the Advent wreath, and there are mediations for each Sunday in Advent and for Christmas Eve.
Then there was a time for reflection as a family. In order to do this, each family moved away from the others, and they answered the following questions:
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Which were the most beautiful moments and which were the most difficult that we experienced as a family during this year of 2011?
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What have we learned from them?
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What is each one willing to change to enrich our family?
After a time for individual responses, the results were shared with the rest of the family to then seek a resolution in common to enter the coming year with strength.
The manger is already prepared
Then the participants entered the Shrine to set up the manger, meditating on each character that was put in place. Finally, after it was set up, the lights were turned off, and they sang Christmas carols to Mary and Joseph, who are waiting for the God Child.
The night ended with a family meeting, where the typical bread with warm chocolate was shared, along with delicious sandwiches, soft drinks, and the “Blessed Mother’s Brownies” that are always served at the meetings.. This is how Advent 2011 began with the impetus of living it better than ever…waiting with hope that the God Child will live in each heart, and that the beloved Blessed Mother will shelter, transform, and educate each one as she did with her Son.
This year will be very different from the others! Why? Because it is the Advent during the “Year of the Shrine” on the road to 2014!
This means that the beloved Blessed Mother will intercede so that each Schoenstatter will receive special graces for everything that is given to her Shrine as a contribution to the Capital of Grace and as a return current to the Original Shrine!
Translation: Celina Garza, San Antonio, USA / Melissa Janknegt, USA
