A sensitive manifestation that this Shrine has been transformed into a cradle of our hope.

Renewal of the Covenant of Love, 10-18-07

Invitation and introduction: Monsignor Dr. Peter Wolf

Our Pilgrims’ Church has gradually filled. We have come from the mountains and from the valley, from different dioceses, and even from other countries and continents.

We have congregated this afternoon with the desire to celebrate the Founding Day of Schoenstatt together and to touch this land that is the cradle of our hope. Therefore, I extend a cordial welcome to you, and I also extend it on behalf of the General Presidency.

I will use a biblical image that may serve as an inspiration to us as it also served our Founder on that memorable October 18, 1914 to make his "secret idea" explicitly known to the young boys who were listening. The secret hope grew in him that in this place, something like what occurred with Jesus on Mount Tabor would occur here. Couldn’t this place become a place where the glories of Mary could be manifested? His desire and his hope were not the fruit of a vision or a dream. Our Father followed these footsteps by seeking with faith in Divine Providence.

The small chapel in the valley would be transformed into our Tabor "where Mary’s glories would be manifested." In the following years, our Founder paused on this aspect more than once: to take the real presence of the Blessed Mother seriously and to trust in her silent work. Part of this believing trust is also found in the way in which the Orthodox Church is attached to its icons. They venerate the presence of the Lord and of his Mother in their icons through incense and a kiss. They depend on their closeness and effective work, like we do in relation with our Shrine and with the Pilgrim MTA. We want to open ourselves with this attitude to the event of hope which we contemplate in the icon of the transfiguration on Mount Tabor.

We want to inflame ourselves in this hope and go on our way. Whoever has the light of Christ can walk in the midst of the darkness. For Him, every road is a road of hope, above all if you walk precisely to a place of hope. That is exactly what we want to do this afternoon, since our small Shrine in the valley is our true cradle of hope. The spark of hope from the heart of our Father has inflamed many. Many of your hearts have been captivated by its fire: then and now. We also want this to happen tonight, when we renew the Covenant of Love in the holy place. Our walk there is a sensitive manifestation that this Shrine has been transformed into a cradle of our hope.

It is a manifestation of the experience that our worldwide Movement has a home in the heart of the Blessed Mother in this place.

It is a manifestation of hope in which the grace of this place continually transforms and empowers us for a new life.

It is a manifestation that in the midst of the radical changes of our time a stream of life for the future and the faith of the Church has developed here.

I invite you to open yourselves to the graces of this Covenant Day and to continue walking together on the road of our Covenant celebration.

Translation: Celina Garza, Harlingen, TX, USA /amj