INTERNATIONAL, mda. “Does it perhaps sound too simple? I hope that in its second century Schoenstatt won’t hide its light under a tub. Can that be misunderstood?” Stephan Jehle pondered out loud. “It’s not that Schoenstatt should bask in its success, but quite simply that everyone who belongs to Schoenstatt should go out onto the streets, have the courage not to hide, but say what has to happen and then do all in their power to bring about a better world. It sounds so simple … and it is. To be on fire together for Schoenstatt’s cause. That’s why we are running the 1800 kilometres. Our Lord wants to go out onto the streets through me; he wants to touch people through me.” That final sentence is spoken with utter conviction. This coming Wednesday, 8 October, during the General Audience on St Peter’s Square, Pope Francis will light the torch that 85 young men will carry from Pompeii to Rome in the nine days that follow. They will arrive during the Vigil for 18th that is being conducted by the youth.
There is one bit of bad news in this long-planned Torch Relay 2014, which required incredible logistical forethought. Three young men from India have not been granted a visa, despite all the guarantees and undertakings, and despite taking their case right to Bonn. This has deeply saddened the initiators and is felt by all, because the torch relay will now “only” be run by young men from Europe and America. Men from Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Spain, the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and England will be there from Europe, and men from Ecuador, Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay will represent South America. Guido Wolf, the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Baden-Württemberg, has supported the relay racers by helping with the travel costs of the South Americans. As for the financial and prayer support, so many have been so generous that they don’t have to worry …
It’s not just in Schoenstatt that the Torch Relay, a free initiative of young men in the Schoenstatt Youth, has become an important and central element of the Jubilee celebrations. The media has shown a great deal of interest also in the places through which the Torch Relay will go. “We will be wonderfully cared for at almost all the places where we will spend the night”, Stephan Jehle reported. It isn’t yet certain whether they will meet the local Bishop in Pompeii, but the meeting with the Schoenstatt Youth of Rome is certain, and they will also carry the torch from St Peter’s Square to Belmonte, where there will be an evening celebration on 10 October, as well as a big celebration in Freiburg. “Auxiliary Bishop Gerber will run one of the stages with the torch”, Stephan Jehle told us. The Schoenstatt Girls will also be there, along with a group of Young Men from the Oberland whose members were not allowed to take part in the Torch Relay, because they aren’t yet 18. In Freiburg the KNA (Catholic News Agency) will also be there. The press releases in Italian and German have already been prepared. Ten members of the Federal Armed Forces will take over a stage at Bruchsal, and along the route from Koblenz to Schoenstatt we will have a police escort over the Rhine bridge. “The whole group of runners will be involved”, Stephan Jehle noted.
“We are a bit too small and really don’t have the confidence”
In the last few days the “Runner’s Book” has arrived. It is 300 pages long with all the songs, prayers, daily inspirations, schedules and profiles of the runners, and has been professionally prepared by Franziska Thurm. The printers were asked to print 125 copies and they were awaited with great joy and excitement. When the proofs arrived, Stephan Jehle and his wife discovered that the second page of each of the daily schedules was missing. They immediately phoned the printer, but it was too late. Should they pay for it to be re-printed? “I lost both my patience and my trust”, Stephan Jehle said. Three hours later the printer called: They had managed to stop the print run after all, and were just about to start printing the corrected text. “That was a wonderful experience for me. We are a bit too small and expect too little of the Blessed Mother, we don’t really trust her.”
What matters is to keep going
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate – our deepest fear is that we are boundlessly powerful. Our light – not our darkness – is what makes us most afraid. It doesn’t serve the world if you make yourself seem small. It isn’t enlightened behaviour if your make yourself appear small only in order that the people around you may not feel insecure. We were born to manifest the glory of God in us. He isn’t present only in some of us; he is present in each one of us. If we allow our light to shine out, we unconsciously give others the permission to do the same. If we have been set free from our own fears, our presence automatically sets others free.”
The motto for the Torch Relay 2009 was based on those words of Nelson Mandela. “Now, five years later, we are doing exactly what we promised in 2009. We are keeping going. We pursue our path without wavering,” the home page declares.
“In Valle di Pompeii a little idea gave rise to a great place of pilgrimage. Taking this as his inspiration, Fr Kentenich and his students dared to make Schoenstatt a reality. From it an international Movement within the Catholic Church came into existence. No, a hundred years later, we dare to continue this work in our own way.
The torch relay in 2014 highlights new features. We will have to overcome ourselves to dare to take not just the first step, but also the second and third. What matters is “to keep going”. Schoenstatt is an international Movement, so we need an international torch relay. Only together can we overcome the challenges and problems of the future. The riches of diversity have to characterise our field of vision.
In a hundred years a great deal has come about that at first seemed impossible. We make our contribution in order to be part of something great. We help to carry out the task God has placed before each one of us. And so we carry the light of faith into the future.“
Prayer intentions – solidarity in practice
The most important element of the Torch Relay is the prayer intentions. These hopes, prayers and worries can be given to the runners by anyone.
Each relay runner will take along one of these prayer intentions on his stretch. In this way he sets out for someone else. These prayer intentions also help him to grow beyond himself; they become part of the school for life for each one.
So far more than 500 prayer intentions have been sent in. “Many obviously come from Schoenstatt mothers who ask that their sons and daughters may return to the Church. However, there are also prayer intentions that really get under the skin. I have to think which runner I can entrust them to, because not everyone will be able to cope with running for that intention.” That is the decisive point. What matters is not just oneself, we pray for others, we run for others, for another very definite person.
“Of course!” The answer was immediate. “Of course we will take along prayer intentions sent in to the Blessed Mother in the Original Shrine via schoenstatt.org.” All! All that have arrived since January 2014 following the Cruzada de Maria.
Whoever would still like to send in an intention to be carried by a runner during his stretch with the torch can do so here.
Be there!
Via the home page www.fackellauf2014.org the whole Schoenstatt Family can take part in the torch relay. Schoenstatt.org will provide a summary from time to time, and will also provide the translations.
And this is also seen to: Thanks to a wonderful camera and other equipment there will be a video, as after the 2009 Torch Relay, and good photos. That is certain!
In the meantime the first young men have set off for Rome. On 8 October Pope Francis will light the torch that 85 young men will carry into Schoenstatt’s second century. Schoenstatt, shine your light!
Follow the Torch:
Homepage: www.fackellauf2014.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fackellauf-2014/320802418034828
Application for Smartphone
iPhone: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fackellauf/id916013188?ls=1&mt=8
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?
The Audience will be live transmitted (like each Wednesday) by CTV. On Internet via the homepage of Radio Vatican.
Original: German. Translation: Mary Cole, Manchester, England
