PARAGUAY, Maria Fischer •
In light blue and green colors, and made in a very professional manner – as it corresponds to a work that wants to give dignity to chronically abandoned and underestimated people– an official website is introduced for one of Schoenstatt’s newest and most impressive social works: Mother of Tupãrenda House (CMT), a social-educational program for the social incorporation and personal development of young boys and teen-agers, inspired on Schoenstatt Apostolic Movement spirituality and in the pedagogy of its founder, Fr. Joseph Kentenich. Fundaprova carries out this work, a foundation that emerged in the bosom of the Schoenstatt Movement, along with the Ministry of Justice and supported by several institutions and a growing network of benefactors not just from Paraguay. —
After a failed attempt with another communication agency that was going to do it for free, Fundaprova’s members decided to contract a professional agency, Meraki, and pay it out of their own pockets. “Meraki is a Greek word meaning: to do something with love and creativity, leaving the soul in it, this is what we want to transmit in everything we do,” the Meraki website states and this is evident in the website they created for the poorest and most abandoned, for those young boys that entered jail because of not having anyone to give them support, food, a home, or an opportunity. Behind the Mother of Tupãrenda House is “the desire to offer those who really want a better life, the opportunity to carry out this dream. I am convinced that the Blessed Mother wants to do something for these. her very helpless children in Tupãrenda. For many it will be the first opportunity in their lives…” Fr. Pedro Kühlcke commented.
For those who want to come closer…
The website in brief and concise text explains the program, the conditions, the accomplishments, and motivations behind this two-year project, in the shadow of the Tupãrenda Shrine. Like all Schoenstatt projects, this project emerged from a dialogue among the voices of the times and the personal charism of those who formed the blessed beginning. “Mother of Tupãrenda House is not a mission for everyone,” Fr. Pedro Kühlcke said. For those who do feel it as a mission, it is a mission of life and a source of Schoenstatt happiness. Fr. Pedro Kühlcke wasn’t very surprised when I explained my two wishes for the few days I will be in Paraguay: the Sunday Mass at the Juvenile Detention Center (16 September) and the Covenant Mass (the Mass of 18 September), with the young boys of Mother of Tupãrenda House…
Social houses in the shadow of the Shrine
When this Project was “configured,” Fr. Pedro reread the article about the Shrine of the Queen of the Rosary in the Valley of Pompeii, the article that inspired Fr. Kentenich to found Schoenstatt. In this article, the author spoke a lot about the social works that Bartolo Longo began around the Shrine of the Queen of the Rosary.
In 1872, Bartolo Longo became established in Pompeii for professional reasons. He was deeply impressed by the human and religious misery of the poor peasants. In 1876, the campaign of a “monthly salary” began building a church in Pompeii. As a result of the human cooperation and the prodigious intercession of Mary, a beautiful shrine emerged. And around this building, a Marian city was born, enriched with many institutes of charity. The “miracle of Pompeii” is a product of fifty years of untiring, ardent, and intelligent work. Thousands of abandoned children received help, a home. Thousands of people gave themselves in prayer, thanks to St. Bartolo Longo’s writings. Millions of pilgrims visited the Blessed Mother in her new Shrine.
A dream? “I believe that the social works also inspired Fr. Kentenich,” Fr. Pedro said. “Who knows… someday, our Tupãrenda Shrine will be surrounded by houses of social works, works of mercy.”
Throughout his life, Fr. Joseph Kentenich took care and was concerned about social action. He said: “A real education cannot be given without the recognition of the great social problems of our time and without the management of the ideal way to overcome them. We should have a thought with a social attitude, that consists in the consideration of others, in having compassion of the misery of others to give a prompt and opportune answer, based on love and in kindness.”
This answer given in Tupãrenda.
I want to help
Perhaps it not everyone’s mission to go to the jail, hug the young boys, teach them a trade, or social and human values in the Mother of Tupãrenda House. Perhaps not everyone can do it because of distance or lack of time, although you may want to.
But everyone can do something: help. Help with prayer, help with capital of grace, help by making the website known.
Help. Yes, also with money. It can be done at two accounts, and it can be done online. Just click on the I WANT TO HELP button.
It does not have to be a monthly salary like in Pompeii. But something.
Material about Bartolo Longo from ACIprensa.
Original: Spanish. 18 August 2018. Translation: Celina M. Garza, San Antonio, TX USA. Edited: Melissa Peña-Janknegt, Elgin, TX USA
