Mircia C. Botano. Once again, on the first Saturday of the month, another live transmission (or a taped one for those who are not so heroic) of the Mass “toward 2014.” Once more it is this magic moment of bonding with an almost unknown country, with brothers/sisters in the Covenant, who live so far away and yet only a distance of a “My Queen, my Mother” away. It is once more time to pray for the intentions of the Schoenstatt Family and to feel that gift of internationality, a gift from the paternal-universal heart of Father Kentenich. This Saturday the Mass was celebrated in covenant with Liberia.
The love for freedom brought us here
At the beginning of the Mass in German and English, Father Jonathan Niehaus greeted those in attendance physically and those virtually, who participated via the Internet. He invited everyone to unite spiritually with the Schoenstatt Family and the people of Liberia on this day when the universal Church celebrated the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and the German speaking countries celebrated the Feast of the Visitation. The dynamic Sisters of Providence were in charge of the musical accompaniment.
The Republic of Liberia, or simply Liberia (meaning Free Land), with the motto, “Love for freedom brought us here,” is a country on the West Coast of Africa, and one of the first independent countries on the continent founded as a place of destination for African-American slaves, who were freed. It is a country that has been immersed in two recent civil wars (1989-1996 and 1999-2003) that have displaced hundreds of thousands of their citizens and devastated its economy. And it was precisely in this country that many years ago an Argentinean religious, who was a relative of a missionary couple, took the Pilgrim MTA to those who needed her most.
What moves the Schoenstatt Family – Prayer Petitions of the people
Just like every Saturday, this Holy Mass was especially offered in preparation for the worldwide Schoensatt Family’s Centennial of the Covenant of Love in 2014, through everyone’s pilgrimage road and through all those who are developing a covenant culture through apostolic projects, and this week above all for Schoenstatt in Liberia. We prayed for all the pilgrims who came to the Original Shrine, all the Shrines and wayside shrines world-wide during this week and for the missions of the Boys’ Youth from Cordoba, for the people of the Argentinean Patagonia, seriously affected by volcanic ash, for the preparations for World Youth Day, and for a 21 year-old young man who died on Friday in an accident on the turnpike near Schoenstatt.
The petitions that were sent to the Original Shrine this week from Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Mexico, New Zealand, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico and Bolivia were also entrusted to the Blessed Mother and Father Kentenich – and to the prayers of the entire Family.
Next Saturday, the Holy Mass will be celebrated in covenant with Liechtenstein, one of the smallest states in the world, located between Switzerland and Austria…In this country there are not only benefactors of the social projects of the Schoenstatt Fathers in Burundi, but also the Pilgrim MTA is present, and week after week there are visits to the German edition of schoenstatt.org from Liechtenstein.
