For A Culture of the Covenant capable of a "Change of Panorama"

Interview with Sister Elizabet Parodi – Delegate from Paraguay to Conference 2014

La Hna. M. Elizabet Parodi con la delegación de Paraguay Sister M. Elizabet Parodi with the delegation from Paraguay Schw. M. Elizabet Parodi mit der Delegation aus Paraguay
En un momento de intercambio con uno de los voluntarios Meeting with one of the volunteers Im Gespräch mit einem der Helfer
Presentación del borrador del Mensaje 2014 Presentation of the draft of the Message 2014 Vorstellung des ersten Entwurfes der Botschaft 2014
El cambio somos nosotros: el Santuario Original hecho de las fotos de los participantes de la Conferencia We are the change: the Original Shrine composed by the photos of the participants of the Conference Der Wandel sind wir: Urheiligtum zusammengesetzt aus den Fotos der Teilnehmer der Konferenz Fotos: K2014 – Schick, Leal, Fischer © 2009

CONFERENCE 2014. 2,046 days from October 18, 2014, Sister M. Elizabet Parodi, delegate from Paraguay to Conference 2014, speaks about what she expects as "the start of a new era in the development of our Movement."

Sr. M. Elizabet Parodi, from Argentina and with a Doctorate in Theology, is co-author of Message 2014. She is superior of the Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary in Paraguay and works as an advisor for the Schoenstatt Movement in Paraguay.

Sister, Conference 2014 ended over a month ago. Is it fair to say that it is already a part of the "history" of Schoenstatt, or not?

It depends on the vision one has of the history…..and on which vision one has of the conference. History does not always end when there is a culminating event. According to the interior dynamism which the event awakens, often, just at that moment, a "new history" often begins…..a new phase of the history.

Of the history of Schoenstatt?

Yes, I believe that Conference 2014 can be the beginning of a new era in the development of our Movement. I express it with a metaphor: One of the realities which calls our attention in Germany when one arrives from other countries, is the transition from Winter to Spring…..Great changes in panorama! The culmination of Conference 2014 was one month ago. In this time period – so brief – one notices clearly the differences in climate and landscape around Schoenstatt. This made me think about what we experienced during the Conference and in the challenges it proposes: to unite the forces for a "change of panorama" in our Schoenstatt Family, in our countries, in the entire world. This is the metaphor: to change the panorama…..

Do you think we have the strength for this change?

Of course. It was one of the great moments of God in the Conference: when we were able to be conscious of the potential we have with our charism, with the power of the "open trilogy"…..

A rare expression. What do you mean by this?

Nature has an intrinsic dynamism: the landscape of a place cannot change if the conditions are in place….. It is the power of its "interior passion," the ancient Greeks would say: the dynamism of its entelechy. One of the great moments of God in the Conference was when – as fruitfulness of a process of exchange and reflection – we again affirmed and became inflamed by the gift God had given us with the Covenant of Love. That "eruption of the Divine" on that 18^th of October 1914, is the beginning of a history of graces. In that eruption, a trilogy is clearly designed: the MTA – Mediatrix of Graces – the Shrine – a place of graces – and our Founder – first receiver and bearer of the grace – the conviction of the reality of that trilogy, (or the three contact points as we often name them in Schoenstatt), is the guarantee that we count on the strength for the change. But the dynamism of Schoenstatt implies, likewise, that that trilogy be "open" : without our participation, the power does not become active in today’s history. That is, without us, there can be no change. This is as real as the fact that, nevertheless, we are not the ones who have the power for the change. It is Mary who has it. That is the dynamism of the Covenant, the key of the…..Nothing without You, Nothing without Me.

Well then, can it be said that the strength of the change is guaranteed in that Schoenstatt is a Movement of Graces?

Yes, but not only that. The open trilogy supposes our participation. If we integrate ourselves into the current of graces, if we participate actively in the mystery of that trilogy, we are the bearers of the Grace which God gives from the Shrine. Schoenstatt is also a Movement of life. It is in me, in each one of us, where the "Spring" should be noticed, the strength of the change. It is our life which generates a dynamism around us, but not by our own strength: it is our life in the strength of the Covenant.

Aha, you are reminding us that Schoenstatt is a Movement of Graces and, likewise, a Movement of life…..

And something else. It is not in vain that we also call it a Movement of Ideas: we have a way, a spirituality, an idealism which makes the encounter with the source of graces possible and helps us to place our life in tune with the trilogy. Father’s charism, his spirit, gave us the pedagogy to make the Covenant a life experience.

That Movement of Graces, of Life, of Ideas…..is that what Schoenstatt wants to put into effect in light of 2014?

Yes, because there underlie the currents which have the strength for a change in our life, in the Church, in the world. That was the conviction and the great enthusiasm which awakened in us Conference 2014. Those currents are present today in the Family: in the desire to make the Shrine known, to grow in the attachment with the Father and Founder and to be a family united in the mission which has been entrusted to us.

Do you fear that the Conference would just remain as enthusiasm?

No, because I believe that we did not only come out of it enthused, but also committed to that change. Each country, each Schoenstatt Center wants to ask itself in light of 2014: which concrete project is it going to put in force so that there may be "Spring" around that place so that other persons may encounter in the eruption of Graces from Schoenstatt the strength for the change.

Was there a concrete agreement?

Yes, but broad. Each country is committed with the change, with the gestation of a Covenant culture, but according to its own reality. We did prioritize five areas of action: marriage and family…..youth…..the application and spreading of Father Kentenich’s thinking in the area of pedagogy…..insertion of our original charism in the diocesan and universal Church…..and the effective collaboration in the gestation of a new social order and culture inspired by the Covenant of Love.

Conference 2014 indicated a guideline on how to fulfill the projects: the internal dynamism of the conference was centered on a movement of interaction: we brought out the best of each other, listening to the Spirit to again become enthused by that which we already had within us and which is the source of our life. Said in one phrase: together we fell in love again with our charism.

Do you think this is important?

It seems to me that this is a key for our work in the future: that we demonstrate the Covenant of Love as a response to the restlessness which the people have, as the correlation of their needs and desires. The Covenant of Love is a reality capable of changing the panorama. The world is awaiting the dynamism of a new culture: the culture of the Covenant. Mary is disposed to the change and we are also. All together. In Conference 2014, that was our commitment to Father, to his charism.

Translation: Carlos Cantú Schoenstatt Family Federation La Feria, Texas USA 031409