youth Tag

Brazil, JUMAS South-East Region, 16 November 2015 on 130th birthday of Fr Kentenich • The year 2015, when we celebrated the fortieth anniversary of the Schoenstatt Young Men in the South-East Region, was marked by intensive currents of life, in particular through the resonance of the centenary celebrations of the covenant of love. Among the many spiritual inspirations in the Region, one thing came more and more to the fore: our founder, Fr Kentenich. He was present in various ways, for example, in the motto of the Schoenstatt Family: “WithRead More
FRANCIS IN AFRICA, by Sarah-Leah Pimentel • The Kenyan headlines on 26 November were abuzz with news about the Pope. Every detail of his trip to Kenya has been reported in the mainstream media. The headline in The East African read: “Kenyans brave morning rain for Pope’s Mass.” The front page of Standard Digital carried a large picture of Pope Francis greeting the priests who attended the Papal Mass. The website also has a number that readers can SMS to receive “alerts on Pope Francis’ visit.” Other headlines included: “PopeRead More
By Sarah-Leah Pimentel, South Africa • One of my favourite church hymns has this chorus: “And they’ll know we are Christians by our love.” This reminds me of its antithesis. Mahatma Ghandi was once quoted as saying that he had great respect for Christ but did not have great regard for Christians. Ghandi’s comment touches the heart of what where we have often failed to be truly Christian. To be a Christian is not about the number of Masses we attend, the number of rosaries we pray or being involvedRead More
CUBA, Juan Vicente Escobar and Juan Miguel de la Fuente • Our first impression of Cuba was literally, a blast of hot air on our faces that almost knocked us to floor! When we arrived, besides getting lost in the small Havana airport, twenty-three Spanish girls (and some Cubans) singing the Franz Reinisch Hymn quite loudly welcomed us; it was a triumphant entrance (not bad, we can’t complain). Then we bid farewell to the missionaries from Spain, with crying, tears, come back soon, we will not forget you, etc. etc.Read More
POPE FRANCIS IN CUBA – MISSIONARY OF MERCY • The Pope left the cathedral in Havana and went to the Félix Varela Cultural Centre, where thousands of young people were waiting for him under a heavy rain. Catholics, members of other faiths, non-believers….and Francis once again improvised, this time around two concepts: dreams and hope. Complete text of Pope Francis at the Félix Varela Cultural Centre You are standing up and I am sitting. How rude! But you know why I am sitting; it is because I was taking notesRead More
Today, Father Elmar Busse (*1951) answers: He has known Schoenstatt since his childhood, because his parents belonged to the first course of Family Federation in the German Democratic Republic. The Friedrichroda Schoenstatt Center in the region of the Thuringia Forest (Shrine blessed in 1954) was his spiritual home. Since there were no priests for the Schoenstatt youths, he made the decision, along with other adventurous students of theology, to found the community of Schoenstatt Fathers in then East Germany. This became a reality on June 18, 1978, after a longRead More
INDIA, by Maria Fischer • Did you know there was a Schoenstatt Shrine in Kuttur, India? The editors of Schoenstatt.org admit that they didn’t. That is why almost one year after it`s blessing on August 31, 2014, this shrine is appearing for the first time on Schoenstatt.org – proving once again that Schoenstatt.org, which serves the whole of Schoenstatt, is “nothing” without the motivated volunteer correspondents who feel urged to communicate – via Schoenstatt.org – to all Schoenstatt about what God and his instruments bring about in their their region,Read More
PARAGUAY, Ismelda Vázquez, “Splendour of Tabor” Circle 36 of the Family Work in San Lorenzo, and member of the “Mary’s Visitation” prison ministry • One Sunday. Mass at Tupãrenda celebrated by Fr. Pedro Kühlcke. At the end of Mass, Fr. Pedro told us a bit about the Prison Ministry at C.E.I (Itauguá Educational Centre, a penitentiary for minors) and invited the community to participate, in the way that only he knows how. I felt that the message was for me and that it was an opportunity to help with whatRead More
ITALY, Braulio Heisecke/Misión Roma • On Sunday, 28 June, we departed along with thirty other boys from Sani Patroni d’Italia parish, which is run by the Schoenstatt Fathers, to “Campo Estivo 2015” [Summer Camp 2015]; a camp that was organized by the parish youths ages 15-17. A camp for the parish youth After being in the city of Rome for about four months, enjoying ourselves, meeting people, perfecting the language, establishing attachments and especially praying, we, as a group, had a great challenge– to accompany a group of youths inRead More
PARAGUAY, by María Fischer, with Fr. Pedro Kühlcke • “After having read the Gospel, Orlando drew closer to greet me and told me: ‘I ask you to pray for the freedom of each one of us, of everyone.’ This is the blessing that Orlando asked for each of us. This is the blessing that we now ask together: freedom.” This is how Pope Francis began the most spontaneous speech of his trip through South America on Sunday 12 July. “Orlando, the youth that made the Pope change his speech,” wereRead More