MÉXICO, by Cristel Amellaly González Galavis, Girls’ Youth from Monclova, Coah. México •
You do not realize how much you want, or how much you love something until you experience it in every part of your being. It is like most things when you become interested in a person or a new activity. First you arrive at something completely unknown, then you try to learn something and the deeper you get, the smaller you feel before the magnitude of what it is, and consequently, you become more interested.
That happened to me with Schoenstatt; I put it off for several afternoons before deciding to go to the group, but when I went, my life began to change. Maybe in a slow and challenging manner initially, but now after just two years, I feel that Schoenstatt is my life. And today when I awake in the morning, I feel that someone is close to me; it is she, the Blessed Mother. When I am happy, I know that God is with me, and also when I am sad. I turn to them first, but before this, that did not happen, before I believed, but I did not feel it.
When I experienced Schoenstatt, my love for God and Mary became true
Beforehand, although it may sound cold, I did not love Schoenstatt the first time. I began to love it little by little, as things are loved in life. First, I received the Lily Scepter, then I went to the shrine and I made the Covenant of Love. I shared more with my covenant sisters, not only within the group but also in other places. However, the Mexican missions, Mary’s Light, were undoubtedly the experience that brought me to this point of reflection about what I truly felt. Then I realized that when you begin to live everything that Schoenstatt offers, you understand how your love for God and Mary becomes something true– to belong to the Girls’ Youth is to give it all for love.
Although my first missions were when I was 22, I consider that experience as having given me something very meaningful. Since that time, it has marked a pattern in my life of reflecting on what I should change, and most of all, what I want to contribute is in helping my group grow in its love for the Blessed Mother and Schoenstatt.
Original: Spanish. Translation: Celina M. Garza, San Antonio, TX USA – Edited: Melissa Peña-Janknegt, Elgin, TX USA
