ITALY, Pamela Fabiano •
We were all ready to start our day, but then Sister Vera Lucia comes and stops everything: “Let’s wait a little longer. The buses from Tuscany are still coming. Let’s wait for them, and then we’ll start. Breathing air from home and the joy from family has been noticeable since the morning! The waiting for the arrival of the guests is the most beautiful and most natural gesture which one can make in a family. And we have shown that we can do that. —
More than 150 people from all over Italy, from the regions of Lazio, Campania, Emilia Romagna, Tuscany, Sicily, Apulia and Calabria, met on September 29th to begin the pastoral year 2019/2020 of the Schoenstatt Movement in Italy and the Rosary Campaign. The leaders, but also many missionaries, Schoenstatt Fathers, Sisters of Mary, Women of Schoenstatt and diocesan priests wanted to gather in the Father Kentenich House to celebrate a solemn Holy Mass followed by a recitation of the Rosary.
The theme that will guide this year, “A New Beginning in the Holy Spirit”, was presented through a lecture by the leader of the Movement in Italy, Father Facundo Bernabei, and some testimonies of life that were reported from experiences made in different branches in the past year.
Are we ready today to give the movement a new missionary twist?
Fr. Facundo spoke of the importance of “eating” inspired by the Gospel of the Day (Lk 16:19-31), the parable of the rich man. The sharing and recognition of the other as a brother is the foundation of our Christian faith and the quest for a new beginning in the Holy Spirit is a challenge that must be accepted in order to point to a strong sense of sharing, of mutual support, and of renewed life.
The motto “A new beginning in the Holy Spirit” naturally refers to the current 50 years after the death of Father Kentenich. Are we ready, today as then, to give a missionary impulse to the Movement without the Founder, but as he told us? This is the reflection that needs to be made and that can be worked on in the groups.
The day was very beautiful and well ordered from Sister Ivonne Zenovelo (director of the Rosary Campaign), Don Marcelo Cervi (rector of the Shrine of Belmonte), Sr. Vera Lucia Mangas (Superior of the Sisters of Mary in Rome) and all the members of the organizing team. It ended with a prayer of the rosary of mission, so that everyone in his groups and branches could find ways to live the current year in the Holy Spirit, with new missionary enthusiasm, in the sign of the Father and Founder and in the sign of the Covenant culture.
Photos: Francesco Mennillo
Original: Italian, 26.09.2019 Translation: Lindsay Burger, Ohio, USA
