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 published: 2006-10-19

May my Covenant of Love become expansive and embracing

Celebration of the Covenant of Love in the evening of October 18th , in the Original Shrine: "You set me free in the open"

 

18 de octubre de 2006, renovación de la Alianza de Amor en el Santuario Original

October 18, 2006: Covenant Renewal at the Original Shrine

18. Oktober 2006: Bündniserneuerung am Urheiligtum

 

Padre Heinrich Walter: predica

Father Heinrich Walter: sermon

Pater Heinrich Walter bei der Predigt

 
 

Procesión hacia el Santuario Original

Procession to the Original Shrine

Prozession zum Urheiligtum

 
 

Ampliar la alianza y el corazón...

Opening the covenant and one’s own heart...

Das Bündnis und das eigene Herz weiten…

 
 

Antorchas iluminaron el Santuario

Torches illuminated the Shrine

Fackeln erhellen die Nacht

 
 

Oración: P. Lothar Penners, P. Franz Widmaier

Prayer: Fr. Lothar Penners, P. Franz Widmaier

Gebet: Pater Lothar Penners, P. Franz Widmaier

 
 

Quema del capital de gracias

The fire of the capital of grace

Im Feuer werden die Zettel aus den Krügen verbrannt

Fotos: POS Brehm © 2006

 

 

 

SCHOENSTATT, mkf. How many people in the entire world would give anything to be able to be here, in the Original Shrine, at least once in their life, and especially on October 18th! How many would like to be here, in the Original Shrine, praying the short consecration prayer along with all the Schoenstatt Family! It is nine o’clock. In the darkness, the torches shine and the Schoenstatt Family, with representatives from many peoples and nations, form a circle around the fully illuminated Original Shrine. It is totally silent. Father Heinrich Walter has invited three, four, five, six persons to be here spiritually. Did Fredy Agúero, Tita, Inés, Juan Gonzalo, Elena, Amy, Osvaldo feel they were here? The circle around the Shrine gets wider…Ángela Merkel. Natascha Kampusch. Kim Jong II. Marvin. The collaborators of BenQ. And She Works.

As on every 18th, around 7:30 p.m. everyone rushes to the Pilgrims’ Church in Schoenstatt. It is getting dark, but the people can see than the usual 18th. It is THE 18th, October 18th. Throughout the afternoon a large group of Brazilians, youth from several countries, pilgrims from Portugal, Bolivia, Paraguay, Mexico, people from in and around Schoenstatt and gather with some five hundred delegates from all over Germany who are participating in October Week. At the beginning of the Holy Mass, Father Penners greets everyone and gives a brief synthesis of October Week and its intentions.

Announce that God is truly a person who is alive

"You set me free in the open" (Ps. 18,20) Father Heinrich Walter, head of the Schoenstatt General Presidency, chose these words of psalm 18 as the main idea of his homily. The last reading of the day – the feast of Saint Luke, the evangelist – speaks about the "Areopagus" of our days, announcing the good news like Saint Paul in Athens. The message is often misunderstood and many times turns into a mockery of others, in the workplace, within one’s circle of friends, of one’s own relatives. Do we sometimes feel like saying, as Saint Paul did, that everything is full of idols, idols that do not lead to God?

Today, on Covenant Day, we also want to ask: What do we announce in the Areopagus in which we live? Isn’t it the message that God is real and is alive, and that Mary has brought us close to this God of life, that she leads us to Him? We want to announce more and more what we experience in this small chapel which we call the Shrine, and that in this Shrine everything related to the living God becomes a reality for us. It gives new meaning to this dialogue with the God of life, it gives meaning to suffering, and that this Covenant attaches me to the rest of humanity and cultures...We go to the Original Shrine thinking about this.

Others speak about a universal ethic and we seal a Covenant

We want to renew the Covenant of Love within the framework of the present day experiences, said Father Walter. The Covenant guides us to expansion, and that is why everything that happens in the world is of interest to us. The Covenant makes us respond to the events of the world. It continuously demands that we allow ourselves to be touched by what happens, and even if it is only that we feel attached, said Father Walter, emphasizing, "others speak of a universal ethic and we seal a Covenant".

In the Covenant the people come closer. Those who have Internet know that today Paraguay is celebrating the Silver Anniversary of the Schoenstatt National Shrine, said Father Walter. Four Holy Masses will be celebrated during the day, and they expect at least 50,000 pilgrims. "All of Paraguay is a Tuparenda", a dwelling of God, is the motto that they have chosen. This is symbolically expressed with a postal stamp that was especially issued for this date. They have assumed the mission to make their country a Nation of God and the heart of America, and this is not only a motto, said Father Walter. The contribution is concrete; the Schoenstatters have become involved in politics, in the social arena. They understand the commitment at a high political level as a contribution to the Covenant of Love for their country. Something similar is the initiative of the Schoenstatt Movement in Venezuela: this October 18th one million children will pray the rosary for peace.

It means from the Covenant they become interested in what happens in the world, they do not leave it for "someone" to do it; rather, they commit themselves to do it.

The charisma of hospitality, a charisma of the country of origin

The Covenant leads to expansion, and thus the effect it has on the people who arrive in Schoenstatt from the entire world. And this is a challenge: How do we encounter them as a German Schoenstatt Movement? The people do not only come to have an encounter with the Blessed Mother; rather they also want to encounter the Schoenstatt Family from this place. "And they not only want to take something from her; rather, they also bring much with them", said Father Walter, "and many times I wish that we would have more encounters with them". When the people arrive, it is good to see how much love they have for this place of origin, and it would be good for us who love here to come more often, and to allow ourselves to be touched more by their original Schoenstatt joy. These people are the return stream of which Father Kentenich spoke.

Multiple surprises await us. In nearby Switzerland, the Movement is currently growing by gigantic steps, and this growth is coming from citizens from other countries, who are a very valuable contribution for the Swiss Schoenstatt Family.

In regard to this return stream, it is about becoming interested in it, noticing it, accepting it, and receiving it. The world soccer championship showed Germany that it can be hospitable. The charisma of hospitality is given to the German Schoenstatt Family as the Family of the country of origin, and this charisma is more and more important for Germany in this international exchange.

The Covenant that leads us to expansion should be assumed even more widely. It should stimulate us to commit ourselves socially and to pose the questions that mobilize our society. If we are open for this expansion, if we are affected by what happens in the world, we will go deeper. This afternoon, the Blessed Mother invites us to expand our personal Covenant of Love and to include someone or something in it. Why not the politicians from North Korea? The Blessed Mother wants to guide us today, in the Original Shrine , toward expansion.

Renewal of the Covenant in the Original Shrine

The procession to the Original Shrine began with torches, flags, pictures, Pilgrim MTAs, and lso with the jars that were taken from the Shrines to the Original Shrine. One of the jars was on a blue, swaying cart. Maybe the Covenant of Love will stir a new spirit in some strong men, and while this little cart will be replaced, it may make some think about the children from Bullerbu. Paraguay’s Dr. Enrique Molas took the flag from his country and a sheet of stamps that were issued for this day. Precisely at this moment, the Holy Mass for the Sick was beginning in Paraguay.

Once in the Original Shrine, Father Walter introduced the renewal of the Covenant with a spontaneous prayer. Again he mentioned expansion and the attachment with the international Schoenstatt Family. Then we all renewed the Covenant of Love, and the petitions in the jars were burned in the pyre. Everything concluded with songs and many encounters. Many stayed in the Original Shrine to pray. In some way, She began to work…

Translation: Celina Garza, Harlingen, TX, USA / Judy Harlow, Milwaukee, USA


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