Lecture By Father Angel Lorenzo Strada

Commemorating the 120^th Anniversary of the birth of Father Joseph Kentenich

Gymnich, November 20, 2005

One hundred and twenty years ago, a very common event took place in Gymnich: the birth of a child. One hundred and twenty years later, we are gathered here in an uncommon meeting to commemorate said event. The same is being done by many people on all continents.

What occurred one hundred and twenty years ago? Catherine, the youngest of the eight children of the Kentenich family, at that time was employed as a domestic on the Heuser farm in Oberbohlheim. There, she met Mattthias Joseph Koep, a native of Eggersheim and administrator of the farm. Catherine was 22 and was left pregnant. We do not know much about the relationship of these two. Matthias Koep was twice her age. We do not know if that was the reason why he did not marry her and legitimize the child, or perhaps if it was due to the family situation and the needs of Matthias’ younger sister. Whatever the reason, this situation was a heavy cross for Catherine and her son.

What more do we know about the mother and the father of this child? It is said that Catherine Kentenich was a hard worker, very helpful, frugal, modest, profoundly religious and loved her family. "My mother was a very fine and holy woman," Father Kentenich once expressed in a conversation.

The father had a good reputation. He worked in agriculture and in his old age he had an apiary. According to those who knew him, "he led an orderly life." He was respected, he was on the town council for many years, and attended Mass often, even during the week.

The child was baptized in the parish of St. Kunnibert on November 19, 1885, with the name "Peter Joseph." Some time ago, the parish printed a postcard showing the copy of the corresponding note in the baptismal registry. The parish church became for Joseph Kentenich the place where the Eucharist was celebrated, a place for personal prayer, and the place where he encountered the saints, and the place for daily Catholic life. The young Joseph was probably impressed by the venerable tradition of the "Gymnich Cavalcade." This rogation procession on horseback takes place on the feast of the Ascension of the Lord. It is linked to the fifth Crusade which took place at the beginning of the thirteenth century. In this crusade, the nobleman, Arnold I of Gymnich, finding himself in danger of death experienced the special protection of God. In gratitude for the divine assistance, he promised to arrange a yearly cavalcade. That promise has been faithfully fulfilled until today. The cavalcade even took place during the critical years of both World Wars. It was only cancelled during the Thirty Years War and in 1666, due to the plague.

As a single mother who had to educate her child by herself, she dedicated to him all her strength and love. Her letters give witness to the loving relationship with Joseph and of her profound religiosity. In a letter on the 28^th of September of 1917 (Father Kentenich was already 31 years old!) she writes the following: "My dear child: both of us want to offer our lives to God. I am grateful to God for having such a good child. That makes me very happy, happier than if I were given the whole world. Thus, dear child, I wish you renewed strength and health…..If you have some wish, please, let me know. You know that I am always here for you. With a cordial greeting, your mother who loves you very much."

Elementary school, under the direction of Joseph Zimmermann, and later under August Klinkhammer, has 355 students. Joseph is a good student, but it cannot be said that he went to school happily. The school stressed discipline and repetition very much; he valued freedom and self-activity. Joseph’s classmates relate that the teachers were very severe and prone to using the switch for punishment. From 8:00 to 11:00 A.M. and from 1:00 to 3:00 P.M., Joseph Kentenich learns to read, to write, Bible History, mathematics, geography, drawing, choir, manual skills…..

While school did not motivate him very much, life "outdoors" was a true joy for him. In summer, the moat at the castle was used for fishing and in winter for skating; the forests were used for playing hide and seek. Naturally, stolen apples were delicious, more delicious than apples from one’s own orchard! At nineteen years of age, Joseph writes during his summer vacation in Gymnich: "My health is better. As soon as I breathed the air from the town…..everything was in place again. One lives comfortably among the farmers."

When Joseph was eight years old, his mother had the need to accept a full-time job as a cook in Cologne for the von Guillaume family. Her confessor, Father August Savels, pastor of Holy Apostles in Cologne, advises her to take her son to the orphanage in Oberhausen. Father Savels had founded the establishment. The mother follows the advice in spite of the heartfelt pain. In making this decision, her economic situation played an important part as did the death of the grandfather which had occurred five years earlier. Other important considerations were the advanced years of the grandmother and also the good possibilities for an education in Oberhausen. Joseph and his mother bid Gymnich farewell. With an eight month interruption in Straussburg, Joseph Kentenich spent the first eight years of his life in Gymnich. Psychology tells us that the first experiences of a child leave fundamental marks.

On April 12, 1894, Joseph Kentenich enters the St. Vincent Orphanage. Saying good bye is difficult for the child and for his mother. Years later, Father Kentenich related that his mother consecrated him and entrusted him to the Mother of God in the chapel of the orphanage before a statue of the Virgin: "What did she do amid this anxiety and worry? She took the only valuable remembrance of her own childhood, a keepsake of her first communion and placed it around the neck of the statue and prayed fervently: ‘You educate my child, be totally a mother for him. Fulfill my maternal duties.’"

Approximately 200 children have a very modest and poor existence at the orphanage. Joseph makes his first communion there on Cuasimodo Sunday, 1897. On that day he tells his mother of his desire to be a priest. His wish will come true. In September of 1899, Father Savels accompanies him to Ehrenbreitstein, Koblenz in order to enter the Minor Seminary of the Palottine Fathers.

The place of birth is more that just mere personal data of identity. The family atmosphere and the surroundings are decisive for life. "I am me and my circumstance" were words of the Spanish philosopher Ortega y Gasset. We are accustomed to link our saints with the place of their birth: Francis of Assisi, Teresa of Avila, Ignatius of Loyola. Francis, Teresa and Ignatius were marked by such concrete places and these in turn owe them their significance and hierarchical histories. Lastly, we speak of Jesus of Nazareth. The incarnation principle of our faith demands this locality in space and in time.

Joseph Kentenich is located in the space and time of Gymnich, the Gymnich at the end of the 19^th century, the Gymnich near Cologne. None other than Pope Benedict XVI helps us to discover the central traits of the culture and Christian tradition of Cologne and its surroundings: "Here you can perceive the great history and the river which opens us to the world. It is a place where cultures meet. I always enjoyed the charm and wit, the good humor and the intelligence of the people of Cologne. But, I also always enjoyed the profound Catholicity rooted in the people from Cologne because there have been Christians here for two thousand years and thus Catholicism has made a deep impression in the character of the Cologne people through a religiosity marked by joyfulness" (Benedict XVI, Allocution in the Cathedral of Cologne on the 18^th of August, 2005, in OR, August 26, 2005).

After his arrival at the Cologne airport, the Pope said:

"The diocese and in particular the region of Cologne preserve a living remembrance of great witnesses to the faith. Saints who, so to speak, are on the pilgrimage of the great pilgrims which began with the Three Wise Men. I think of St. Boniface, St. Ursula, St. Albert the Great, and in contemporary times of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein) and in Blessed Adolph Kolping. These, our brothers and sisters in the faith, maintained the torch of sanctity lit throughout centuries; they were persons who saw the star and they pointed it out to others." (Benedict XVI, Allocution at the International Cologne/Bonn Airport, August 18, 2005, in: OR, August 26, 2005)

That torch of sanctity radiated in the life of Father Kentenich. His process of canonization began on February 10, 1975 in Treveris. After some pauses and the intense work with the voluminous documentation and numerous volumes of declarations by witnesses, we hope for the soon conclusion of the diocesan phase of the process. The reputation of sanctity is very well spread. Thousands of persons from eighty seven countries attest to the fact that Father Kentenich is for them a model of life, that they are inspired by him to live their faith, and that they trust in his intercession before God. They are convinced that he is a saint.

The fire from this torch is not left isolated. It expanded and gave light and warmth. In the ardor for the same ideals, that fire lit in Germany the life of the youth leader and seminarian, Carl Leisner – beatified by Pope John Paul II nine years ago – the life of the young seminarian, Joseph Engling, the life of Gertraud von Bouillon and of Sister Emilie Engel; in the south of Brazil, the life of the father of a family and merchant, Joao Pozzobon; in Santiago de Chile, the life of the engineer and university professor, Mario Hiriart. Their processes of canonization are on course in Rome or in their respective dioceses.

Charm, wit and humor characterize the men of this region. We just heard this on behalf of Benedict XVI. That was the case of Father Kentenich. "The supernatural man must be at the same time the most natural," that was his instruction. They tell that during the difficult years of his exile in Milwaukee USA, he was visited by a nun. She had heard from a Schoenstatt Sister of Mary that Father Kentenich was a wise man, a generous and very paternal priest, a saint. Moved by her enthusiasm, after greeting Father Kentenich, she said: "Father, truthfully, I do not want anything from you. I only want to see you because that Sister says you are a saint." Quickly, Father Kentenich answered her laughing: "That will be five dollars" (cf. Peter Locher, WITH HEART AND HUMOR. Accounts of the life of Father Kentenich, Vallendar – Schoenstatt, 1981, page 134).

"Here you sense the great history and the river which opens up the world," says the Pope referring to Cologne. The great history with its numerous radiant and dark aspects was for Father Kentenich very important. He defines his fundamental attitude in the following way: "The hand on the pulse of time and the ear on the heart of God." In his passion for God he seeks the God of the altar, the God of Sacred Scripture, but above all the God of history because God reveals his desires in the happenings of the world. The theme for his first lecture to the young students in 1912, was the rapid progress of technology and science and the danger of neglecting the world within the human being. His courses and conferences deal with the social question, the new position of woman, the new vision of sexuality and love, the family and society, authority and freedom, and the new challenges of education. He perceived with sharpness the processes which were coming forth in the Catholic Church before the Council; a Church which had difficulties especially in its relation to the modern world. He analyzed these processes and took a clear position regarding them. In the 1930’s, one third of the German clergy participated in his courses finding in them guidance and a renewed spirit. "Have you heard Father Kentenich?" was asked among the priests who were searching for answers to new and urgent questions. Father Kentenich was very happy and felt affirmed when Pope John XXIII convoked the Second Vatican Council so that the Church would offer its message to the world with open doors and open windows.

He is not satisfied with a truthful diagnosis and with erudite conferences. The God of history looks for collaborators and entrusts tasks. Neither passivism nor blind activism are of any use; what is lacking is sharing the responsibility for the cause of Christ…..a daring coresponsibility nurtured in faith in Divine Providence. "The river which opens up the world to us" not only on the wide horizon of reflection but also in an active missionary commitment. Only seven years after founding the community, Father Kentenich sent the first Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary to South Africa; two years later to Brazil, Chile, Argentina and Uruguay. The three years and eight months of exile in the Concentration Camp Dachau offered him the possibility to make contact with priests and laity from Poland, France, Italy and other countries. In that place of death and hate, he founded the International of the Schoenstatt Movement. "There is a fire in his heart" is the title of one of his biographies written in German. After his liberation from the Concentration Camp of Dachau, that fire motivated him, already at the age of 61, to begin trips to South Africa, Latin America and the USA. He followed carefully the process of de-Europeization of the Catholic Church and the incipient globalization of the world. All nations, all races, all cultures have a place in the Catholicity of the Church and should offer their contributions for a world with more dignity to the human being, a world of peace and freedom. Mary, mother of all mankind and example of the woman of solidarity wants to and should help to imprint the characteristics of Christ in the cultures of the people. It is a believable conviction which he shares with Pope John Paul II. More than one hundred and eighty Schoenstatt Shrines on all continents today enrich the "geography of faith."

For Father Kentenich, not only was the great universal history important, but also important was the small history of each person with its own originality and dignity. He placed himself totally at the service of concrete persons. His motto was: "To serve life disinterestedly." Thus he became spiritual Father and good companion to thousands of persons. "Totally a Father" is the name of one of his biographies written in Spanish. Father Kentenich would say: "In the beginning of my priesthood, I read many books, later I read souls." In all human life he would look for the footprints of God. At the celebration of the silver anniversary of his priesthood, in August of 1935, he expressed warmly his gratitude that many persons had offered him their confidence, opened their hearts and that in this way a deep community of hearts had come forth in which the way of pilgrimage to God had become more clear. He always stated that the International Schoenstatt Movement was a Work done in common.

All of this would not have been possible if Father Kentenich on his pilgrimage, which was long and often difficult, would not have followed a star. And as in the story of the Three Wise Men, he also found "the child and Mary His mother." "I owe everything to Her"….. "She has been the great teacher of my interior and exterior life"….. "She is the soul of my soul"….. are expressions of his profound and fervent love for the Blessed Mother. That love is more that a pious and romantic sentiment. With all of his energy, he placed himself at the service of the mission of the Blessed Virgin for the actual and future model of the Church and the world. "A Prophet of Mary" is the title of one of his biographies published in Spanish. And Mary led him to a living and personal encounter with the God of Jesus Christ, the Father rich in mercy. In his life becomes visible that which Pope Benedict refers to with the words "religiosity marked by joy" from the people of Cologne. His birth as an illegitimate child, the orphanage, the two World Wars, Dachau, the fourteen years of separation from his Work and the lack of understanding on the part of the Church were not able to sway nor to destroy his faith and his confidence in a God who loves and is a person. There is the source of his serenity, of his interior calm, of his generosity. Because it is not possible to believe in a good Heavenly Father and a loving and faithful Mother and at the same time live a sad life filled with anxiety and boredom. Surely, it is not a coincidence that precisely in the Shrine of Cologne, in 1966, Father Kentenich sealed a Covenant of Love with God the Father. As a young novice, he wrote in his diary: "God is my origin; God is my goal – He also has to be the guiding star of my life, the axis of all my ideals." He remained faithful to the end of his life until God called him home on September 15, 1968, immediately after celebrating the Holy Eucharist in the Adoration Church in Schoenstatt.

Father Kentenich is not private property of the Schoenstatt Movement. He belongs to all of us, he belongs to the Church, he belongs to humanity. The deceased Pope John Paul II exhorted the Schoenstatters to not keep for themselves the legacy of the person and the message of Father Kentenich, but to offer it to others. In his allocution to the International Schoenstatt Movement twenty years ago, the Pope said: "You are called to participate in the grace which your founder received and to offer it to the entire Church because the charism of the founder reveals itself as an experience performed by the Spirit which is transmitted to the disciples so that these may live according to it. Take care of it, deepen it and continuously develop it precisely in communion with the entire Church and for the good of the entire Church" (John Paul II, Allocution to the International Schoenstatt Family, Rome, September 20, 1985).

Surely, it is very important to correct the great deficit in the budget of a nation. Surely, it is important to remedy errors in education or health. But is it not more important to resolve a major deficit as the lack of credible personalities, of authentic examples of truly human and Christian lives? The Church will always be deficient if it is content with proclaiming truths and does not show the true realization of these truths in the lives of men and women who followed the Lord unconditionally. That is why it is important to remember Father Kentenich. That is why it is important that we praise God for his person and his message.

With heartfelt gratitude, I thank you for the attention you have given me today.

Translation: Carlos Cantú Family Federation La Feria, Texas USA