mkf. Though the night was short, yet everyone came for the Sending forth Mass on Sunday morning that ended the Night of the Shrine. The main celebrant was Father Norbert Becker who himself was head of the preparation team a few years ago.
After a short ‘wake-up program,’ Mass naturally started with the Night of the Shrine 2010 theme song and with the impressive entry by priests and seminarians.
“But you choose the future” – in everyday life
Father Norbert Becker took off with a story from his days as a young group leader in the Boys’ Youth with the point Torsten Hartung had made the previous day. You can challenge God. You can count on God. You can trust God to respond, to honesty, heartfelt wishes, and dreams for the future… Three things he gave the teens to think about in everyday life, where now it is time to live out the motto- But you choose the future.
Future needs trust. You can trust in God. Not only can you but you must count on God in the easy and hard decisions.
Future does not come without tears. God is no wishing machine: Throw a wish in and get the answer out, complete automatic and with a lifetime guarantee. There are moments where everything is going bad, and it seems there is no future left. But the impressive testimony from Torsten Hartung shows us that in those moments God especially pulls us out of misery and sets us straight. A small piece of advice: When looking at the future, one should not think of all the horrible things that could happen. That is only in the way.
Future is always a risk. Through trusting in God, I can put everything on the line and the risk stays. God’s path is not always the easiest, but always the best. The picture of God’s ‘paper chase’ that Torsten Hartung had used in his speech, so to say: an intense searching trail, can accompany the youth. God leads, step after step, decision after decision…
Our idol for this way is the Blessed Mother. In the Covenant with her, we can also choose the future today. Two last questions: Have you already chosen your future? Have you challenged God?
Into the promised land of the future…
For the last time with their peppy, energetic songs, the band, 1+1=11, created a great atmosphere during Mass, exciting and full of joy for the future. It was no wonder that after the blessing, this time could not quite be over and one hit had to come after the other. And of course the theme song for the Night of the Shrine at the end, with the sending forth words, into the future’s promised land.
In the middle of this, the overtired but happy team from the press office passes out their magnificent work, “The Night of the Shrine newspaper” that had just come from the printer full of news, statements, comments, interviews, and more about the Night of the Shrine.
We’ll meet again – in Madrid at WYD and in Schönstatt for the Night of the Shrine 2011
At the end, invitations still had to be handed out for World Youth Day in Madrid, which the Schönstatt youth from Spain and the whole world are waiting for and there will be a big step for the youth towards the 100th anniversary of Schönstatt in 2014. Between the program in the diocese and the start of World Youth Day, there will be a gigantic international meeting of both youth organizations (first alone and then together), so Schönstatt can attend World Youth Day from that point on together as one big international group.
One week after World Youth Day, from the August 26 – 28, 2011, is the 2011Night of the Shrine! Until then: But you choose the future!
Video
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