mkf. A group of families with children, Schoenstatt Fathers, the entire team of the Father Kentenich’s Secretariat, Monsignor Peter Wolf, the head of the Press Office, Sister Mary Teresa of the General Council of the Sisters of Mary, Sister Mary Julia…The group of guests who gathered on Mount Zion on November 15th came from many nations to celebrate ”their” Father Angel’s birthday, and it was as broad as Father Angel Strada’s horizons.
The chapel was filled with people when Holy Mass began at 11:00 p.m. Father Heinrich Walter, General Superior of the Schoenstatt Fathers, Father Angel Strada, and Monsignor Peter Wolf, General Rector of the Institute of Schoenstatt Diocesan Priests, presided at the altar. Father Angel began by expressing his sincere gratitude for the MTA’s gifts throughout his seventy years of life: for his family, for his happy childhood and youth in his native Cordoba, his vocation in Schoenstatt, the priesthood and the community of Fathers, who helped found Schoenstatt in his country, and for seeing the dream of Schoenstatt’s Founder born at that wayside shrine in Villa Warcaldes in Argentina, fully realized, where Schoenstatt is present in almost every diocese. The Sisters of Mary from Argentina were privileged witnesses and fruit of that dream that began about fifty years ago, and they were also present at this Mass.
Father’s living word
In his homily based on the readings of the day, Father Heinrich Walter explained how Father’s words touched Angel Strada: calling him from his youth to work in the Catholic Action, to a strong political and social commitment in his country that led him to opt for a career as a lawyer, and then to discover another vocation – the vocation for Schoenstatt, the priesthood, the Schoenstatt Fathers, the community which he served as rector of the seminary in Munich and then for many years in the General Council. Referring tacitly to his course ideal, Father Walter pointed out that through the relationship with Father Kentenich, in his work for Schoenstatt in Argentina, and his task as postulator of Father’s cause of canonization, he was transformed into Father’s living word.
A well-deserved celebration
During the lunch in the Fathers’ dining room, several of the guests expressed their greetings: Father Penner-representing his generation of Schoenstatt Fathers, Monsignor Peter Wolf and especially the representatives of the German – Latin Families, which Father Angel had met with for years for their group meetings. But however, the most beautiful thing was the musical contribution of the children from these families, who invited everyone to sing “Happy Birthday” to Father Angel, and along with their parents they sang a hymn, which for obvious reasons could place the future canonization of Father Angel Strada at risk because of the high level of veneration…
Translation: Celina Garza, San Antonio, USA /Melissa Janknegt, Elgin, USA
