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Estatua de la Sagrada Familia, en el Santuario de Tuparenda, Paraguay Statue of the Holy Family, in the Shrine in Tuparenda,
Statue der Heiligen Familie im Heiligtum von Tuparenda, Paraguay Foto: Schoenstatt Paraguay © 2006 |
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Novena Novena Novene Foto: Editorial Patris |
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Todo un Padre: P. José Kentenich A Father for all: Fr. Joseph Kentenich Ganz Vater: Pater Josef Kentenich Foto: Schoenstatt Milwaukee © 2006 |
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INTERNATIONAL, mkf. Since the 19 of March falls on a Sunday the Feast of Saint Joseph will be celebrated again on the 20 of March. Saint Joseph, the patron, is present in many of the Schoenstatt Shrines, he is also present in the life of the Schoenstatt Family for his personal vocation and mission, for the passion of his life: Jesus, Maria and the Church. Another person by the name of Joseph also had mission and passion and his saint day is celebrated each year by all the family with joy and gratitude: Joseph Kentenich. Through the meditations of the Saint Joseph Novena recently written by Father Marcelo Gallardo, the "traits of his rich personality and close to him he travels the beautiful and demanding way of sanctity."
Each Sunday, the introduction of the novena is read, when we pray the Creed, we say: "I believe in the communion of the saints", and with these words we recognize that the Church is a great family, formed by members who are on pilgrimage on earth, for others who have died and are in that state of purification and for others who already enjoy the glory of God and they intercede for us: the saints. They are men and women who moved by grace lived faith, hope and love heroically and in this way they became great friends of God and of their brothers, man. Saint Joseph occupies a very special place in the concert of saints. The preface of the Mass of Saint Joseph reads in part: He is the just man who you chose for the Virgin and Mother of God as a husband.; he is the loyal and prudent servant who was the head of the family so that in his role as a father he took care of your only Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, our Lord" And in this way he synthesizes his personal vocation and mission, the passion of his life: Jesus, Mary and the Church.
The nine days of the Novena show Saint Joseph in his relationship with the Blessed Mother, with the family and with work: it shows Saint Joseph in paternity, in sanctity, humility, in prayer and in heaven. Each day there is a prayer of Father Joseph Kentenich and it is not only through these prayers, that one thinks about Father Kentenich at each step…and of his paternity, his humility, his relationship with the Blessed Mother, the family…
"A Father is he who is daring enough to give up his own life so that others may have abundance," says the novena. You could also say it to fullest extent of the word of Joseph Kentenich.
A Father is he who serves others selflessly
This is a phrase that Father Kentenich used frequently to show the mystery of the complete Schoenstatt pedagogy and it also used in Schoenstatt communication, it is the introduction to the first day of the novena. The meditation reads:
Saint Joseph, God honored you with the beautiful and demanding mission of being a father here on earth of He who came to show us the face of the Father of heaven. To be a father is a passionate and complex mission, it means giving life, serving selflessly in this life and to accompany it with wisdom towards its fulfillment. It is not easy to serve our children selflessly. We have to make time, listen, interpret what they are trying to tell us, wait patiently at the different stages of development of their growth, to be firm without ever losing the tenderness of love. Many times it implies to forget ourselves, so that others can grow according to their originality.
In the person of the Good Shepherd and in the scene at the cross we have the most eloquent testimony of what it means to be fathers. A Father is he who dares to give up his own life so that others may have it in abundance.
Prayer to Saint Joseph (at the beginning of each day)
Saint Joseph,
Good father of Jesus and loyal spouse of Mary.
Just and generous friend who
the Lord chose as guardian of his family.
Saint of God, who knew how to transform
daily life into an original way to sanctity.
Help us to have clean heart,
humble and prayerful like yours,
to always discover the merciful
action of God in our lives.
Texts of the Novena with permission of Editorial Patris, Argentina. Novena (in Spanish) available at editorial-patris-argentia@schoenstatt.org.ar
Happy nameday, all Josephs in heaven and on earth - Joseph Engling, Joseph Klein, Joseph Fischer, Joseph Wieland, Joseph Treutlein, Joseph Barriga, Joseph M. Sanguinetti, Joseph Kostner, Joseph Grill, Joseph Danner, Joseph Luis Correa, Juan Joseph Riba, Joseph Vilalaba.....
On the 17, 18, 19 of March we will publish a tridium of the Saint Joseph Novena (in Spanish and hopefully also in German and English! on the Schoenstatt blog
Translation: Celina M Garza, Harlingen, TX, USA