María Elena Vilches/fma The Holy Mass toward 2014 in Covenant with South Korea was celebrated on May 5th, the first Saturday of the month of Mary in many countries. Presently there is no direct contact with this country, but something is clear: the Blessed Mother is there working. In Santa Maria, Brazil, they know that the Pilgrim MTA is present in South Korea, because many years ago, Bishop Wilhelm Wising took hundreds of pictures of the MTA into the country, and the English version of this website is always visited by people from there.
On this first Saturday of the month, Schoenstatt TV was present, and it transmitted the Mass. It was a markedly simple Mass, but it was the Mass “toward 2014” in the Original Shrine, and that is what is important. This time the Holy Mass was not celebrated by a Schoenstatt Father from the Mount Zion Father House; but rather, by Bishop Hans Schnocks, the rector of the Schoenstatt Diocesan Priests’ House on Mount Moriah. It was especially offered for the Schoenstatt Family from South Korea, for those who are present now and for those who will come, for all the people in South Korea, who have an attachment to the picture of the Mother Thrice Admirable of Schoenstatt, and those who know the graces and the streams of life that emerge from Schoenstatt.
Just like every week, we prayed for the entire Schoenstatt Family on its pilgrimage toward 2014, for the apostolic projects that have awakened throughout the world as a fruit of the Covenant of Love, and for everyone who will come to this Shrine.
Each Saturday…we fill the jars of the Shrine with our gifts
Week by week petitions arriving from many countries are placed in the jars. They are petitions, expressions of gratitude, and contributions that are made with great love and devotion for the MTA. Those who send them completely trust that these will be placed in the jars by the celebrant during this Mass…Some may wonder…What if they forget to place them in the jar? What if they are not even taken? It can happen! And this was the case on this Saturday morning.
But do not worry. When this was noticed, there was a brief exchange within the schoenstatt.org editing team, and the schoenstatt.org correspondent from here decided to print all the petitions, which she then personally took to the Blessed Mother in the Original Shrine.
“I felt a great joy and responsibility when I took these prayers that many had trustfully sent!” she said. Now everyone, who sent their petitions from Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Spain, the United States, Paraguay, Mexico, Portugal and Italy can be assured that the Blessed Mother received your gratitude, giving of self, repentance and desires.
In Covenant solidarity as an International Family
This is how the pilgrimage to the great Jubilee of the Covenant of Love progresses…in Covenant solidarity as an International Family.
The pilgrimage progresses in Covenant solidarity that goes beyond the Schoenstatt Family,which embraces everyone who has a place in any Shrine, especially in those Shrines that know how to welcome many, many more people than the Shrines made of stone: these are the heartshrines. The Original Shrine, just like all the Daughter Shrines, at this time holds a maximum of one hundred people. There are heartshrines, where hundreds and hundreds of people live…there are heartshrines, which embrace entire towns…
In the Original Shrine jar…and in your heart?
The page at schoenstatt.org where you can send petitions is the direct link to the Original Shrine, and it is the direct link to the Blessed Mother; that is, it is like channel that goes directly to the jar of the Original Shrine. It is for this reason that the petitions (gathered by a schoenstatt.org collaborator and sent on Fridays to a Schoenstatt Father at Mount Zion, who gives it to the celebrant) are not read, except in a cell of a Benedictine Monastery in Brazil, where there is a Homeshrine that is open to the entire world, and it is strictly confidential… What each person states remains a secret of love between the Blessed Mother and those who write to Her. The only thing that is read is where it is from – that is the reason the countries are named in each Mass (and in each article).
A Minute for a Miracle
But sometimes there are petitions that are directed to “the Schoenstatt Family” – these petitions are referred to the Covenant solidarity.
One of these – was presented this Saturday – it came from Santiago, Chile, it is from a young couple whose photo was recently uploaded to the MTA mosaic by Carmen Rogers. This couple wrote to the Schoenstatt Family:
“The other day I saw a case about a miracle on television that resulted from a prayer chain created through a webpage, where thousands of people from around the world, of different races and religions, prayed for a case and the miracle happened.
I do not have money to pay for a webpage, but I do dare to ask you, through this email to help us now.
Three years ago, my husband, Sebastian, became ill. He has been hospitalized about fifteen times in two years for different reasons. He has Crohn’s disease; it is a very invasive auto-immune illness that causes other illnesses such as pancreatitis (he has already had it 3 times), kidney stones and other things. Unfortunately, he is a patient, who is not receptive to the least aggressive and more economical treatments, and he has had serious reactions. Then we had to opt for more a more expensive treatment, but it is the one that has been the most effective. It is an injection that he takes every two months. He has to be hospitalized overnight for monitoring (possible allergies or other things). The injection alone costs about $1,750,000 (Chilean pesos) and we have to add the cost of hospitalization.
Our insurance disqualified him arguing pre-existing condition, and the case has already reached the Superintendent of Health through our lawyer. We owe close to eighteen million pesos to the clinic and everything has been decided against us. Everything. We are down to our last resources.
The pain, anguish, the waiting, the uncertainty, and injustice have made us sicker day by day.
It is almost impossible to live a normal life when you are desperate, and you see everything as black, you do not want to do any more, and the only thing you want to do is to cry and to throw everything to….
And this is where you come in.
With a little embarrassment, because I don’t think it is the first time that I write for something like this and for taking your time; I only ask that you pray for us, our marriage, Sebastian’s illness, and for justice. Please.
If everyone prays their favorite prayer with faith, and you ask your families and friends to do it for a special intention, beside the miracle of praying together (even those who do not do it), perhaps we will also receive a miracle, like the case I saw on television.
A hug to everyone – THANKS – Maida.”
Maida and Sebastían in the MTA mosaic.
Maida`s comment:
How wonderful, Carmen!
Thank you very much! We are close to the Blessed Mother’s head,
That is in her thoughts
Thank you for placing us there…
Translation from Spanish:Celina M. Garza, San Antonio, TX, Melissa Janknegt, Elgin, USA
