ARGENTINA, Lilita and Carlos Ricciardi • Today, Sunday, July 17, the Family Missions begin in the city of Saladillo, Province of Buenos Aires, where the missionaries, who are leaving from the Shrine of La Plata, will be until Sunday, July 24. — Saladillo is a city in the Diocese of Azul, in the province of Buenos Aires, with about 40,000 inhabitants, and it has already had missions of the Schoenstatt Youth from La Plata and from the Shrine of Los Olmos, in Pilar, among others, in previous years. As in
Read More ARGENTINA, Paula and Marcos Firenze • This year, during the Family Missions in Córdoba, the Blessed Mother surprised us with many changes. Many young people joined us. More than half of on mission were younger than 18 years old. — We left Córdoba on Saturday, 18 January and headed for Saturnino María Laspiur, some 194 kilometers East of Córdoba, in Argentina’s central region. We began our third cycle of missions. These are our seventh Family Missions. Renewal with our heroes In previous years, each participating family received the name of
Read More COSTA RICA, Catalina Hutt • A few weeks ago the photo of a missionary with the Pilgrim MTA on a bicycle went viral. We put it up on schoenstatt.org’s Instagram account with this comment: beautiful photo, but we don’t know where or what real story of life is behind it. A few minutes later, we received a WhatsApp from Catalina Hutt de Cabezas, from Costa Rica: “This photo is of a great collaborator of the Movement in Guanacaste here in Costa Rica!— Here’s what Cata found out while looking for
Read More MEXICO – Roy and Cinthia Garza • Putting the entire mixture of feelings experienced during the week we were in the family missions in the municipality of La Asunción in Nuevo León, Mexico into words is very difficult. From previous years, we already had heard of families returning “full” from the experience, and this year, we were fortunate to be able to be part of this very special team. In our children’s short life, it was the first time going on mission, and we had no idea what to expect.
Read More ARGENTINA, Carlos and Lilita Riccardi • Once again the Schoenstatt Family Missions of La Plata (Mission #21 uninterruptedly) went on mission, this time to General Alvear, in the Province of Buenos Aires. A town that is 228 km from the Federal Capital that seems to frozen in time, typical of the interior of the province, with its church in the main square, next to the mayor’s office and other government offices. A village of about 10,000 inhabitants, where the majority of young people emigrate at age 17/18 to study or
Read More PERÚ, Manuel Huapaya • “Gospel for the poor,” with this phrase that framed Bishop Reinaldo Nann, Bishop of the Prelature of Caravelí’s pastoral work, we gathered a little more than a year ago to begin the first Schoenstatt Family Missions in his city. At that time, everything seemed so far away, but it was interesting and challenging. Undoubtedly the Blessed Mother had a course charted, and so Bishop Nann asked Fr. Esteban Casquiero from Argentina (Institute of Schoenstatt Diocesan Priests) to be in charge as adviser and to direct this
Read More ARGENTINA, Carlos and Lilita Ricciardi • This year the summer Family Missions in General Alvear, Argentina that families and youth from La Plata will carry out coincides with World Youth Day in Panama. Just like every year, they are accompanied with prayer and capital of grace from many places of the world, and this time we will simultaneously pray for World Youth Day. — Last Covenant Day, Tuesday December 18th, in the Shrine of Father’s Freedom, La Plata, Argentina, we began a Prayer Chain for the Argentinean Marian Family Missions
Read More ARGENTINA, Belkys and Sebastián Cajide• On Saturday, December 8th, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary was commemorated through the first Advent Mission in Resistencia. The family missions organized it and the large Schoenstatt Family accompanied it.— We had the participation and collaboration from different Branches that make up the Movement; it was an experience of community and fraternity through service to most needy. Ninety missionaries went out to the encounter, visiting our fellowmen and from the Villa Chica neighborhood. We gathered there to conquer our greatly, desired shrine.
Read More ARGENTINA, Sebastián Cajide • This year, the Schoenstatt Family Missions once again went forth to encounter the communities, this time in the area of Colonias Unidas, a town located 100 km from Resistencia, the provincial capital Chaco, Argentina. – To Colonias Unidas with 105 missionaries We feel that our Family Missions are an apostolate of reaching out that reflects Schoenstatt’s newness and that wants to give the Church and the world a message of hope, of family, of love and peace. This time, we were 105 missionaries who gave our
Read More MEXICO, Ana Echavarría Barrios • During the summer family missions this year, from July 31 to August 5, seven families from San Luis Potosí, Mexico, visited the community of San Francisco, in Villa de Arriaga, accompanied by their own and other children: in total were sixty-eight missionaries, including two youths from the Boys’ Youth from the USA and Paraguay. — The community consisted of approximately 400 families made up of simple people who work in the fields (the milpa as they say), although others have immigrated to the United States.
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