Covenant culture: let’s get to work

ARGENTINA, jbc. “Mary serves,” Cordoba, Argentina’s team of social and political action, is preparing the 8^th Social and Political Workshops 2013, which will be developed with the motto:  “COVENANT CULTURE: LET’S GET TO WORK”.  “Covenant culture was the great theme for the 2014 Conference, as a response to the Church and society’s question to Schoenstatt:  What do you do?  What do you do for us?  Covenant culture is not cultivating the covenant of love, nor is it about members within the Movement treating each other with respect; rather, it is going from the covenant of love as a way of life, to live and to create covenants in all areas, covenant solidarity is the soul of this covenant culture.

It is precisely the theme of solidarity that was chosen as the focus of this social and political workshop in Cordoba.

The summons says:

That, to integrate a joint strategy with “everyone” in our beloved Church, we take the “GLOBALIZATION OF SOLIDARITY” (JPII) as a special contribution and in the spirit of Francis’ words:

“In the Church, but also in society, ‘solidarity’ is a key work that we should not fear:  that is, to know how to place what we have at God’s disposal, our humble capabilities, because our life will only be fruitful, it will give fruit, only through sharing, giving…”

These are workshops in which the members of the Schoenstatt Movement and collaborators, address the people who are working or have an interest in promoting social action and political participating, proposing an annual meeting following the objectives that gave it its origin:

• To assemble those people who work in the social field to sustain, train, nurture, kindle, and to attach them to each other.
• To transmit and awaken new vocations, new social leaders who work promoting human dignity.
• To set up networks of work, of attachments and to exchange rich experiences.
• To provoke a multiplying effect in each one of the communities of origin of the participants of the workshop.
• Adding a new objective:  To install and to sustain a training course in each community, the pedagogical itinerary of social and political actions.

In the first place, during these Workshops 2014, we will pay tribute to the people who initiated and maintained them during these seven years.

We will enjoy hearing how to make a “Covenant Culture a reality in Francis’ pontificate”.

We will be motivated by a testimonial panel of Social and Political participation.

We will work hard to conclude with practical recommendations that will contribute to a “Covenant Culture”.

Finally, we will launch and initiate the organization to take the pedagogical itinerary of social and political actions to every community.

The gifts of jubilee 2014

The “traditional” and usual Schoenstatt gifts for jubilees are crowns, scepters, and religious symbols which adorn the shrines of the world.  On the road to the covenant of love jubilee, the call of Conference 2014 – a conference composed of the directors of the Movement and the Movement leaders from 33 countries – is to prepare, as a jubilee gift, projects of covenant culture.  With the apostolic projects of the covenant culture, –citing Francis –  Schoenstatt goes to the street.  It could be that upon entering into the real challenges of the world accidents will happen.  Just as with the Original Pilgrim MTA that will always bear the “wounds” of her accident during her pilgrimage to the jubilee:

But we know:

“A Church that does not go out of itself, sooner or later, sickens from the stale air of closed rooms. At times, like anyone else, in going out the Church risks running into accidents.  But I prefer a thousand times over a Church of accidents than a sick Church.  The Church typically suffers from being self-referential; of only looking to and relying on itself like that woman of the Gospel.  It is kind of narcissism that leads to a routine spirituality and convoluted clericalism, and prevents people from experiencing the sweet and comforting joy of evangelization.” (Text from page http://en.radiovaticana.va/articolo.asp?c=683985
of the Vatican Radio website)

Francis to the bishops of Argentina

Original Spanish –Translation Celina M. Garza San Antonio, Texas USA