She Arrived Searching for a Founder and Found a Father

Sister M. Petra’s Visit to Ciudad del Este

La Hna. Petra con Jorge y Pichina Ferreira, los nuevos Asesores Laicos de la Rama Familiar Sister Petra with Jorge and Pichina Ferreira, new lay assistants of the Family Branch Schw. Petra mit Jorge und Pichina Ferreira, den neuen laikalen Standesleitern der Familienbewegung
Integrantes del Hermana Petra Fan Club Members of the Sister Petra Fan Club Mitglieder des Schwester Petra Fan Clubs
Con miembros de la Juventud Femenina With members of the Girls Youth Mit Vertreterinnen der Mädchenjugend
Con un grupo de la JM With a group of the Boys’ Youth Mit einer Gruppe der SMJ
El matrimonio Romañach presentando a la Hna Petra The Romañach presenting Sister Petra Ehepaar Romañach Stella Schwester Petra vor
10 de noviembre: consagración perpetua del curso „Pilares del Santuario“ de la Federación de Familias November 10: Perpetual consecration of the course “Pillars of the Shrine” of the Federation of Families 10. November: Ewigweihe des Kurses “Säulen des Heiligtums“ der Familienbundes Fotos: Zapata/Cabral © 2007 Álbum de fotos – photo album – Fotoalbum

PARAGUAY, Gloria de Ruiz Diaz / Javier Cabral. November 9th and 10th was an intense weekend at the Shrine of the Homeland in Ciudad del Este: the "Pillars of the Shrine" Family Federation course was celebrating their final consecration, both the Boys’ Youth and the Girls’Youth were having meetings, and on the evening of the 9^th, almost the entire Family gathered to hear Sr. M. Petra speak on her experiences with Father Kentenich.

Sister M. Petra arrived in the early morning at Ciudad del Este and enjoyed the hospitality of Martina and Vicente Zapata, new leaders of the Families Branch. In the afternoon, Martina accompanied her to the Shrine of the Homeland. Sister emphasized the beauty of the place and chatted with three girls from the Girls’ Youth who had recently sealed their Covenant of Childlikeness with Father Kentenich: María Laura, Macarena and Montserrat. In their preparation, they read a book in which Sr. Petra narrates her experiences with Father Kentenich (it is a collection of the talks which she gave when she visited Chile and which was edited there). They were fascinated and the book was shared with all of the Girls’ Youth. This created a great expectation for her coming to Ciudad del Este. The boys from the Boys’ Youth were meeting in the afternoon and then there would be the encounter with Sister. She gave a short talk to each group.

In the evening talk, almost half of the audience was made up from the Girls’ Youth and the Boys’ Youth. Sister was really in tune with the youth. All of them are from the "zapping generation" and were very attentive throughout the talk. Two of the younger ones were sitting on the first row and throughout the talk their faces radiated ecstasy.

An encounter with Father

Sister Petra began by asking our Father and Founder to come for a personal encounter with each one of those present on that evening of November 9^th in which the Family from Ciudad del Este gathered with great expectation to hear her life experience. She asked Father for an encounter…..a real encounter, intimate, profound…..like the ones he was accustomed to give to his own, those he embraced in his heart. Those children who have encountered him experience a feeling of belonging, of belonging to the Founder. They consider themselves living members of Schoenstatt and have the conviction, "I belong to the Founder."

Sister Petra’s experiences with our Father and Founder have been marked from the beginning with the loving expression of the will of God. This awakened a strong impulse in her which brought her from Germany to Milwaukee in search of the Founder of Schoenstatt. She arrived searching for the Founder and she found a Father, a father who would mark her life forever. That is precisely what everyone encounters when they come to Schoenstatt: a Father, a Mother, a Home (the three contact points).

Sister’s attachment to Father Kentenich came about at a fundamental moment in Father’s life. It was the time of his exile, a time of trial…..a trial of fire not only for him but for the entire Schoenstatt Family. The fourteen stations of the cross of the exile tested the loyalty of the Family in regard to its Founder, to the point that today one can affirm: "in the shadow of the Exile Shrine, the destiny of Schoenstatt was co-decided."

Facets of a Father and Prophet

With a very special charisma, Sr. Petra revealed different facets of Father’s personality, highlighting among them his paternity. She experienced it from the very moment of her arrival when Father came to meet her and offered her a very warm welcome and showed concern for her material and spiritual needs. This was a very typical characteristic of the Founder which united the natural with the supernatural in beautiful harmony. In addition, Sr. Petra met a person who had incredible self-control…..a person who did not show any sign of the hard exile he was undergoing…..even after everything had been taken from him, he could give abundantly because he had that which was more valuable: his Covenant of Love with Mary. That extraordinary self-control led him to consider pain and suffering as holy pain and suffering which God gives to each one so that it can be suffered in a personal way without sharing it with others or making them suffer. He even considered it a privilege because it is Jesus Himself who invites him to share his Way of the Cross.

She also found an Educator, an Educator who respects his student and who seeing it all and hearing it all, respects his freedom and begins the process of educating when there is a relationship of mutual trust. He educates by means of life, in the everyday and in what is natural, valuing the good of the other person. The message for parents, leaders and those in charge is that one must first observe a great deal before intervening and thus impress deeply in the process of education. Father especially educated with his life’s testimony. All which he transmitted he had lived fully even to the point of affirming that Father is not a Schoenstatter. Father is Schoenstatt.

Father’s hands

The richness of the experiences shared by Sister, transports those present to a true, personal encounter with Father and you could hardly notice that you had been there already for two hours. As a final flourish, Sr. Petra shared with everyone present, the beautiful gift which Father Kentenich had given to her: his hands, those hands with which Father had accepted Sister’s freedom and had then returned to her, but as his possession. They are those same hands which Father Kentenich extends to his children so that they may deposit there their most valuable possession which they want to leave in his care.

We are in a state of euphoria, filled with Schoenstatt

"Today we are euphoric, filled with Schoenstatt: Father Joseph was here with us," comments Martina Zapata, and continues: "I think that from now on, I will want to find texts where I learn more about his thinking and about his daily life. I especially feel as if I am in the clouds…..blessed, happy…..since each word, each glance, and each smile from Sr. Petra reflected the face of our Father and Founder. I felt as if it were he who was speaking to me. No matter how much she spoke, it was Father Kentenich who was speaking to me. In her walk, in her tone of voice, and in the joy on her face, she reflected everything which I had imagined about Father according to the little I had read about him. I want to highlight something which Sr. Petra told me: she emphasized that today, when she had been with us, she noticed that I listened with a great deal of attention to everything she told me or which she spoke to others…..even during the talk, she had observed me with great detail, and this is what she said: it seemed as if you did not want to miss a single detail in all referring to Father, so my daughter, develop that gift of listening which God gave you for this new path which begins.

It was something great for me, especially since she was speaking to hundreds of persons and still noticed these small details. She made me feel just like Father Kentenich made others feel when the approached him, like someone very special and very important to him…..

I feel so much joy that I am so happy and at the same time I search for the message from the Blessed Mother through this visit. What I find is that She says…..onward, you do your part and I will do the rest.

I feel an interior strength which had previously faded and was somewhat overwhelmed with so many commitments. Today I feel all lit up and ready to start on that great mission. I feel with enough strength to strive so that this works.

Thank you, Sister Petra….."

Translation: Carlos Cantú Family Federation La Feria, Texas USA 111707