BRAZIL, Sr. M. Nilza. The pilgrims present at the Schoenstatt Shrine in Atibaia/São Paulo on June 3rd experienced a special moment of grace when diocesan priest, Fr. Francisco José Lemes Gonçalves, parish priest at Capelo do Alto/ São Paulo from where most of the 700 pilgrims came, made his Covenant of Love.
Fr. Francisco tells us that before he was born, his mother consecrated him to Mary, and that today, after nearly a year’s preparation, he is consecrating himself again. As a sign of his Covenant of Love, Fr. Francisco gave our Mother and Queen his philosophy and theology ring, placing his priestly life on the altar.
Mother, remember that my life is on the altar of the Shrine
The holy atmosphere when he made his Covenant of Love was powerful. Fr. Francisco prayed spontaneously and with great emotion: “Mother and Queen, when in the last moments of my life, I am no longer able to speak, remember, Mother, that my life is here on the altar of the Shrine, and I am offering everything for the Capital of Grace that you may continue to be present in all the Schoenstatt Shrines, distributing your graces.” The priest also consecrated all those who have been and will be entrusted to him.
He spoke to us about what this moment meant: “Making the Covenant of Love was a desire I have had for a long time already. The first time I came here to the Schoenstatt Shrine, I was still a seminarian in Aparecida/São Paulo. When I arrived here as parish priest at Capela do Alto, I observed the growth of the Schoenstatt Apostolic Movement and realized that it was not by chance that I came to the Shrine almost 20 years ago.
My preparation for the Covenant of Love brought back many memories from my childhood, first my mother had already consecrated me to Our Lady before I was born. Today, as I made my Covenant of Love, it was as if I was watching a movie of my life in my mind. It was as if, at that moment, I was able to complete what my mother did on my behalf. This Covenant of Love is something very concrete and deep. This experience allows people to understand the entire biblical covenant personally, and they understand why God enters into a covenant with us. I also understood that the Blessed Mother is the one who takes care of this life in Covenant with God.
Fr. Kentenich had a strong connection to the Holy Spirit as we pray in the Eucharistic Prayer. He understood what the covenant was about, and experienced it with a group of young boys, and it grew to become a tree that bears good fruit. One can only understand this by sealing the Covenant of Love and becoming deeply, spiritually involved with the Schoenstatt Apostolic Work, which will soon celebrate its centenary.
I was ordained a priest through the hands of a bishop. My own hands are clasped in prayer, and this Covenant of Love has strengthened my priestly vocation, and my actions as a parish priest. It has also increased my responsibility. In the consecration prayer, we emphasize this self-giving: my eyes, my ears…my entire self. We really do seal a Covenant. To seal something is a very serious matter. It is something that cannot be broken. For me, this Covenant of Love is something very serious. The Blessed Mother reminded me of my ordination, my vows of obedience and chastity, of being a leader to the people.
The people were not present 100 years ago. When the first Covenant of Love was sealed in Schoenstatt, Germany was in the middle of the First World War. It is that different from the world we live in today. To seal a Covenant of Love in these difficult times is a great challenge. But the greater challenge is to be faithful to this Covenant.
Making the Covenant of Love is not something we do just because we are moved only by sentiments or because it is beautiful. The Covenant of Love is a very big responsibility. If people understood this dimension of the Covenant of Love, they would have a better understanding of the meaning of the first covenant on their day of baptism.
Why did you offer your ring as a gift to the Blessed Mother?
“As I was about to enter the Shrine to say the Consecration prayer, it was as if the history of my life quickly passed before me and the Blessed Mother. I thought: What concrete thing can I give to Our Lady? I thought of Pope John Paul II, who when he was already quite ill gave his cardinal’s ring to Our Lady of Fatima. That is when I decided to give my philosophy and theology ring, not that I want to make myself an equal with the Holy Father. But, this ring represents the history of my vocation from the moment I entered the seminary until my priestly ordination. On that journey, there were many difficult things, so giving her that philosophy and theology ring was also to give her the history of my life.
Our Lady has accompanied me throughout my priestly vocation, from the Archdiocese of Aparecida to the Itapetininga Diocese, until I met our Mother and Queen in the parish’s home shrine in Capela do Alto. When I gave her my ring today, on the altar of the Shrine, it seemed that I had been born again. Looking at the Mother of God with her Son in her arms, and offering her my ring, I understood that this child was I, because today I was born again. This ring is a present my aunt gave me at my theology graduation and bears the theology and philosophy symbols. By offering this ring, I am giving the history of my life to the Mother and Queen and begin everything anew from this day forward.”
A Covenant atmosphere permeated the pilgrim day at the Shrine. The prayers and the Holy Mass, celebrated by Fr. Francisco, were a continuity of that hour of grace. Both parish priest and parish belong to our Mother and Queen, and with her, we journey towards the centenary in 2014.
Source: www.maeperegrina.com.br
Translation: Sarah-Leah Pimentel, Johannesburg, South Africa
