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Los niños disfrutando de la festividad The children enjoyed the party Den Kindern hat das Fest gefallen |
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Con la Hna Nadia With Sr. Nadia Mit Schw. Nadia |
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Encuentro Meeting Austausch |
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P. Alexandre con niños Fr. Alexandre with children P. Alexandre zieht es zu den Kindern |
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Broche de oro The absolute climax Der absolute Höhepunkt Fotos: Camara Pestana © 2005 |
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PORTUGAL, Raquel and Antonio Gabriel. The Family Work of Portugal, united with all the Schoenstatt Family, to celebrate its fortieth anniversary, at a time when the debate about the so called "marriage" between homosexuals is affecting the world, and when, on the other hand, as a result of the crisis in the family, institutions are called to implement all kind of means to support them.
During the Holy Mass at 12:00 p.m. celebrated in the Shrine, some introductory words l explained the meaning of the celebration:
"We are here, in the Cenacle of the Family of the Father, to commemorate the 40 years of the founding of the Family Work in Portugal.
With joy and gratitude we feel profoundly united to the Family Work of Schoenstatt and all the Family of the Father in the whole world.
We feel particularly united to those who, as transparencies and instruments of the Father, here in the land of Santa Maria, who formed us and led us to final approval for the founding of the Family Work in Portugal.
It was forty years ago, that with the enthusiasm and the joy that are intrinsic of youth, we, as a group of engaged couples, planted this seed with the conviction that this was our contribution for the fulfillment of the Schoenstatt mission in Portugal, for the Church and for society, through the families.
We remember with gratitude all the instruments of the Father who accompanied us throughout all these years, the couples and the groups that emerged and grew in the shadow of the Cenacle of the Family of the Father.
A true Covenant history
"We are grateful for life, the joys and sorrows that we have experienced along the way and that led to the contributions to the Capital of Grace of our Blessed Mother, for the growth and fruitfulness of the Family Work and all the Family of the Father.
We remember with joy the work that was accomplished as Family Work, for the consecration of the families to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, in Fatima, on Pentecost Sunday in the International Year of the Family.
We recognize with gratitude, a true Covenant history, where the initiatives of God were united, the answers and orientations of our Father and Founder, and the contributions of all of us, who simply gave a generous response of love, growing as instruments in the hands of the Father and the Blessed Mother for the building of a new world and of a new culture.
We are grateful that now there are three communities of the Family Work in Portugal (N.d R. League, Federation and Institute) as well as vocations for the totally consecrated life to God that emerged from the heart of our families.
With joy we are grateful for the spirit of Family that has existed since the beginning. It is a gift that we constantly want to conquer.
As a fruit of this remembrance of gratitude, we want to implore the gift of renewal of our commitment forty years ago.
We want to renew our mission with the enthusiasm of the first love, the profound attachment to the original sources, to our commitment and hopes. This is the idea that guides this celebration.
We offer all the smallness we have experienced, grateful for the merciful action of grace in the Shrine.
This will be the framework to renew our apostolic commitment in building the Family of God for the Church and the world, from our Home Shrine, to daily make the Covenant of Love, our life, in the strength of Pentecost, for the glory of the Holy Trinity.
We ran out of time!
United in this same spirit, during this Eucharist the couples renewed their commitment and they reassumed the mission to be Foundation and Crown in building of the Family of the Father. With this ideal, they want to be instruments of the new evangelization, builders of the civilization of life and love, imploring the Blessed Mother:
Our Queen, above all of us, according to God’s will,
Transform us into the salt and yeast of the world,
That we may be of one heart and soul,
As the Lord implored here on earth.
This was the spirit that prevailed during the afternoon in the reception in the "Moinho da Pascoa", a very pleasant place that Misau and Manuel Barata placed at our disposal and where we could experience the warmth of the family in an atmosphere that had been previously prepared for this event.
We were also graced with the presence of two couples from Aveiro who belong to the Institute of Families (Sao and Joao; Guida and el Vasco), and also by the fellowship of some engaged couples and the presence of the always beloved Assessors, Father Alexandre and Sister M. Nadia.
At the conclusion we noticed that time ran out for the planned program. You can imagine what an outdoor, picnic lunch in the outskirts of Lisbon is like, the time that is lost (or gained, depending on your perspective), the last minute preparations, and the inevitable conversations, making it impossible to leave on time, to carry out the planned activity…
Enthused as they were with the presentations about the history of the founding they ran out time and were unable to present the testimonies that would have been, the highlight of the encounter. We must recognize the mistakes so we can learn from them!…But it is also important to be grateful for all the good that transpired during this day: the joy of sharing, the spirit of unity, the meeting of different generations that have had taken on a consciousness of the common history..
We hope that sometime soon, Manuel Luis and Zita, who were to give a testimony about the experiences of that time, and Manuel Barata, who was to speak about the timeliness of Father Kentenich’s Letter to the Families, will have the opportunity to give their presentations. These are treasures that we cannot afford to lose…
The afternoon ended with a release of balloons by the children, with messages about the family.
Translation: Celina M Garza, Harlingen, TX, USA