BRAZIL, Sr. Adriane Maria Barbosa. About 4,000 people gathered at the Tabor of Hope Shrine to celebrate and give thanks for the gift of the Covenant of Love and the Shrine in their lives. People came from the Luziânia, Formosa, Anápolis, Goiânia, the Brasília dioceses, and the Military archdiocese.
A blessing with the Blessed Sacrament kicked off the program. The Shrine chaplain, Fr. Adilson Antônio da Costa then gave a talk.
“The Year of Faith in the Light of Divine Providence”
Among other things, Fr. Costa highlighted the reasons why the Holy Father declared a Year of Faith fifty years after the Second Vatican Council and explained the importance of revitalizing our faith. Fr. Costa added: “Only God can give light to our lives. We should not put our faith on an object or a person, but in God.” He said that we should reflect on three things during this year: Revitalize, Confirm and Purify. He then linked Faith to the Shrine, drawing the connection with the ninety-eight years of the Covenant of Love: “The Shrine is God’s Work. Fr. Kentenich’s faith is a practical faith.” He also highlighted preparations for 2014.
The pilgrims then walked in the footsteps of our Father and Founder and Sr. Emilie, in an exhibition of videos and quotations that focused on their experience of faith and rooted-ness in the reality of the Covenant of Love. Here are some comments on the exhibition: “Deep gratitude to Sr. Emilie for giving her yes to the Movement, giving life to so many families.” Celeste – “Each time I delve deeper into the history of Divine Providence and the Pilgrim Mother Campaign, I feel happy, moved, gifted and my heart is humbled because I can see that all this is wonderful, and today I am very moved to experience a small part of the lives of Fr. Kentenich and Sr. M. Emilie. I give thanks to God and our Mother and Queen for all this. You are Thrice Admirable.” Marilene Rodrigues Romero
Countdown to 2014
During the afternoon, the Girls’ Youth spoke about the deepening of the Covenant of Love, showing the international character of the Schoenstatt Work and its unity through the Covenant. Then everyone looked at the projects planned for the future Pilgrims Church and went to the site to pray the prayer of St. Joseph and ask for his intercession.
During the Holy Mass at 16.00, Fr. Costa highlighted the ninety-eight years of the Covenant of Love in which God, through Fr. Kentenich, gave abundant life to the various branches of the Schoenstatt tree, allowing different groups of Catholics to drink from this charism, where the new person is born from the Covenant of Love. “We are counting down – in only two years we will be celebrating the Jubilee of the Covenant of Love!” He motivated everyone! He highlighted the importance of the various apostolic activities that help to renew faith in Christ, alluding to WYD and encouraged the youth to participate as a way of deepening their faith in Christ!
It was also World Mission Sunday, so Fr. Costa further emphasized that each person is a missionary in his/her little worlds, where they have the mission to evangelize the family. The Pilgrim Mother’s missionaries also evangelize and welcome the Gospel of Christ by their witness and their contact with the families who receive the Pilgrim Mother.
It was a day where everyone was reminded that the Covenant of Love is the trademark! “Our deep faith in the reality of the covenant of love with the Blessed Mother is what moves and inspires us globally. This is the source of our fruitfulness and the concrete way in which live and follow Christ. This is exactly what we want to celebrate throughout our jubilee in 2014.” (Conference 2014)
Source: http://www.maeperegrina.org.br
Original: Portuguese. Translation: Sarah-Leah Pimentel, Johannesburg, South Africa
