Posted On 2010-08-11 In Year for Priests

Father Kentenich: your charisma – our strength

"Dein Charisma - unsere Kraft"mkf. “Father Kentenich, our father and prophet, your charisma, our strength. You work through all times by means of persons who – their hand in your hand, their heart in your heart – sow eternity.” You really could not tell what was most intimately moving: the song with its catching melody or the radiant faces of the singers and of the entire band….. It was July 18, 2010. Before the glowing Shrine, white, at “Schoenstatt on the mountain” in Memholz, the friends of Father Kentenich gathered to celebrate father, the priest and prophet. That father, priest and prophet who continues alive in the persons who open up to him and his charisma and in whose lives what Susanne Leibrecht says becomes a reality in this hymn composed for the centennial of his ordination to the priesthood: “your great vision opens new horizons…..”

Rumbo al Santuario

If four and five year old children can be heard, as well as girls from Argentina and Paraguay – who hardly understand German – hum a few days after the festivity: “Father Kentenich, our father and prophet…..,” then they were touched to the core of their being! Father Kentenich could touch the depth of the personality of each person and help each one develop his/her best. He loved God and mankind “with his whole heart and strength.” This Father Kentenich and the persons in relationship to him with his charisma and strength have been transformed into “small prophets,” and could be found everywhere on this July 18th in Memholz.

So then, you continue alive among us

Padre Kentenich, nuestro Padre y ProfetaThe festivity began in the Shrine at 10:00 A.M. The meadows, woodlands, and trees were donning the freshness of an extra cleansing. The sun and a slight breeze helped the volunteers dry the benches. A great multitude of people arrived at the Shrine: families with children, youths, seniors….. “This hymn seems familiar…..,” commented a lady who has visited the Shrine for many years. The old song Wir kommen von Vertrauen – We arrive with confidence – sounded so new, passionate and dynamic that hardly anyone recognized it. Christine and Erwin Hinterberger greeted those who were arriving to celebrate the centennial anniversary of Father Kentenich’s ordination and ministry to the priesthood…..they came to celebrate with him who continues alive. If we are committed to him, if we listen to his words, if our work, the preparations for our celebrations, if family life is marked with his spirit, if we build with him the Church at the new shores… “Then, Father, you are here, then you continue living among us. Then you are in our midst, then your life is manifested in our lives.”

Libro de amistadGertrud and Norbert Jehle carried to the front of the entrance vestibule of the house of the Family, the image of Father Kentenich. It really was not about just taking any picture which would sooner or later end up in a corner somewhere, but an image to which values and experiences are attached, an image in which Father Kentenich is alive. “And now, after the celebration, I like this image in the vestibule even more,” someone said in the evening. Throughout the entire day, the friends of Father Kentenich were invited to write a greeting in the “Book of Friendship.”

“We now sing once again the centennial hymn,” said Miriam Stetter after the activity. It simply had to be done…..”Father Kentenich, our father and prophet…..” Everyone can sing it now.

Sources of strength – Points of encounter

Erwin y Christine Hinterberger durante la aperturaFor three hours, the five hundred guests enjoyed brimming sources of strength and points of encounter. A point of encounter began on the hour every hour and continuously there was the possibility for confession, visiting the information booths which were charmingly attended to -among others was the blessing of mothers and fathers, the Academy for Family Pedagogy, the Kentenich School, the project of Kentenich pedagogy, the International Kentenich Academy for Leaders (IKAF), TeenSTAR – a model for Christian Sexual Education. Also offered continuously was lunch and coffee with sandwiches in the tent where not only was lunch shared but also enriching dialogs for transforming the world, continuing to establish Schoenstatt, design projects, purchasing raffle tickets (first prize had still not been selected), making new friends, renewing and deepening existing friendships, planning the next celebration….. Simultaneously in the meadow in front of the house, the raffle took place as well as the program for the little ones in the children’s park and the tent for arts and crafts. “I finally see children in Germany,” commented Jorgelina who is from Argentina and has been in Schoenstatt for four months now.

Desires of the heart

Cartel del bienvenidoThere are those who successively participate in three points of encounter and almost have no time for lunch. Some of the presenters lamented that during “their” hour they were not able to participate in another point of encounter in which they were interested. There was no division between collaborators and guests. This is somewhat typical of the Kentenich style, commented Ulrich Grauert. In their closeness, all become collaborators. Varied and multifaceted, like Father Kentenich’s charisma, were the offerings of the points of encounter, the favorite topics, the desires of the hearts of the presenters. Many areas and varied aspects of Father Kentenich’s charisma, for example: paternity as a virtue of the zealous empresario (led by Melanie and Ulrich Grauert from Switzerland), how to be priestly parents (Sabrina and Peter Quan from Switzerland), how to reach the depth of the hearts of men and women….. Other points of encounter dealt with the application of Kentenich pedagogy, sex education (project TeenSTAR) and NER (natural family planning). There was music, hymns, dances, artistic activities and presentations – in texts, photos and videos – of moments in the life of Father Kentenich and the fundamental characteristics of his priesthood. “Father Kentenich wanted to form determined men,” said Erwin Hinterberger during the morning presentation. There were more offerings which could be attended….. And there is still the Shrine, the founder’s room, the tent, the bench up in the mountains where you can hear the ting-a-ling of the cow bells in the distance, the group of magicians for children and adults and, of course, the raffle! The first prize was still not selected: it is a weekend stay in Memholz for the entire family. And in the center, Father Kentenich, full of life…

“I am grateful to all Schoenstatt children. I am grateful for those who have gone on, I am grateful for those living, I am grateful for the coming generations….. In large part…..throughout several decades, the destiny of each one has been attached to mine. If I am not mistaken, when I explain that the vocation to Schoenstatt is connected – and it can be demonstrated – to a first personal encounter….. If I think of the first generation of our Schoenstatt Fathers, Priests or Sisters, the majority of the time, I know they were moved by the first friendly relationship in a retreat or in a personal conversation. And I believe, and I can prove it to each one: grace becomes active here…..,” Father Kentenich would affirm in 1935 on the silver anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood. For some, grace became active this July 18, 2010…

The blessing of a priestly life

Frente del SantuarioAround 2:30 P.M., everyone gathered at the Shrine to participate in Holy Mass which was concelebrated by several priests and accompanied once again by youthful enthusiasm. In the homily, Fr. Leonhard Erhard (Schoenstatt Federation of Diocesan Priests) recalled some of the words of Father Kentenich’s allocution in 1935 on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood: “Yes, I also know it and I joyfully admit it: there are few priestly lives so extraordinarily blessed as mine.” Behind it is “evidently the experience that everything I did in reality is nothing with what has come forth,” recalled Fr. Erhard. “With it, he made us feel to what level his priestly service, his priestly personality, express the meaning of the word blessing.” This means: if I did not do it, then it is about the concrete experience of the effectiveness of God’s working. “The effectiveness of God working in him and through him is nourished by the union with Christ and Mary… from which the effective working of Christ and Mary comes forth,” adds Fr. Erhard. “From wherever I saw a healthy growth, I totally turned away,” according to a personal testimony of Father Kentenich. But this means “that this which has come forth from men to whom he has given above all the attachment to God, the attachment to the Blessed Virgin, was also literally the work of God and the work of the first servant of God and of mankind. She has demonstrated She is effective in the reality of the world and that this effectiveness is visible and appreciated in mankind because they have been transformed in her closeness and in her hand and with the word of Father Kentenich.”

Prédica: P.  Leonhard ErhardBut in this sense, the blessing is even more important, said Fr. Erhard. “He saw persons as a blessing. He said of them ‘Nothing would have been done without you, my personality would be nothing today, as I find myself today and as I am today.’ This can be seen in a two-fold manner, exactly since this effectiveness and divine presence is very visible in his person, but at the same time it is a testimony: you are the blessing.” When Father Kentenich could speak this way of this blessing at the 25th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood, when his work was primarily in Germany, how much more would this be worth today when persons from seven countries can celebrate the centennial of his ordination to the priesthood “in little Memholz!” The international expansion of Schoenstatt is one of the clear signs of the blessing of this priestly life.

I want to be your blessing

Quiero ser tu bendiciónIn reality, commented Fr. Erhard, we almost want to be grateful that Father Kentenich is no longer tied to the limits of his earthly person, to a place, to a time and to his own strengths. We can see “that from this ordination to the priesthood, we now receive throughout the world the strength of God. A Movement has been born which takes divine fortitude to the interior of the Church so that it can take anew the redeeming power to a world which is in terrible need of salvation.” Father Kentenich remains alive, he remains attached with everyone and with all which he left on earth, affirms Fr. Erhard, and he is united “with the same love to us and tells us: you are my blessing, the blessing of my priesthood, the blessing which now becomes one hundred years old, spreads and is effective on all continents of this earth.” What was manifested in the morning dialog with Father Kentenich, now returns, concluded Fr. Erhard: “So the blessing will reach throughout the world only when the one who blesses is present. May his effective acting be unchangeable today, may his blessing be present among us. It will become a reality when we are somehow in contact with that effective action. He continues present and with his presence he offers us that we may have the desire to take his strength. But this means that then we may also say: we are disposed to be your blessing, even when this may be very demanding. And when I can be a blessing along with you, then I want that your heart be in my heart, your thoughts in my thoughts and your hand in my hand.”

Ich will dein Segen seinAt the conclusion of the Holy Mass, the written intentions were burned along with all those which had previously been deposited in the jar. For many, this was a first time experience. And the small Father Eye Symbol which for years always announces somehow that in Memholz, the effective acting of the Father God in his instrument and prophet was sent to the communities of the diocese.

Now we came to the conclusion. Every celebration has it end… Naturally, once again with Father Kentenich, our father and prophet… and in unity to all those who are his blessing.

The tent will be dismantled the following morning.

Concelebrantes

Photoalbum

Video 1 (Jorgelina Jordá)

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Video 2 (Jorgelina Jordá)

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Translation: Carlos Cantú, Schoenstatt Family Federation, La Feria, Texas USA 080710

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