Next summer Lisa will return to the missions…in Germany!

A full-page article in Deutsche Tagespost about the missions of the Schoenstatt Apostolic Movement. In the near future, they will also be held in Germany

Oración Prayer Gebet
Misiones en Brasil Missions in Brazil Misiones in Brasilien Fotos Ludwig, Archiv © 2009

GERMANY, mfk. "Model of a living faith: the youth of the Schoenstatt Apostolic Movement carry out missions door to door in Spain. Lisa Ludwig, from Germany, participated in them." This was the title of an article that Deutsche Tagespost –one of the largest Catholic newspapers in Germany - published on Saturday, February 28^th, in a full page spread about Schoenstatt. It showed a face of Schoenstatt that many readers (and perhaps others as well) did not know…yet.

Clemens Mann of the Schoenstatt Boys’ Youth from the Diocese of Wurzburg is fulfilling his professional practicum at Deutschen Tagespost (he did the same in August 2008 at the Schoenstatt Press Office). One of his projects is an article about Schoenstatt’s missionary commitment. A call to his previous workplace: Whom could I ask there? The answer was clear – during his professional practicum at the Press Office, he had the daily presence of the enthusiasm of another one who was also doing her practicum at the Press Office– Xenia Schmidlin, and after an initial skepticism, the missions became more and more interesting for Clemens Mann. He quickly obtained the appropriate addresses, and he interviewed Lisa Ludwig who had been at the missions in Spain…and she has been encouraging…

"She participated in the missions in northern Spain last summer along with eighty other youth from the Schoenstatt Movement," states the article. "For Lisa, born in the district of Aschaffenburg, in Wurzburg, the mission meant living for one week in very simple conditions: giving testimony to her faith and taking her Marian spirituality with her, and her Christian convictions to the people. ‘We want to take something of parish life, to invite them to different activities and share a moment of prayer. We want to speak to the people who are interiorly away from the Church. We approach them and we try to find them wherever they are,’ Lisa affirmed. ‘We want to be examples of a living faith and in this way make the people reflect.’"

So that Europe will believe once again

The idea of the missions emerged from Latin America, where they have been an indispensable area of work for the Schoenstatt Youth, and also for the Schoenstatt families for many years. Some time ago, the missions from there came to Europe: in Portugal, Spain, and Italy; Schoenstatt –and most of all, among the youth- cannot be imagined without the missions. The article continues: "This youth, who is 22 years old, likes the idea that ‘the faith that arrived in South America from Europe through the Spanish conquest, now returns to Europe through the missions.’" The missions are also coming to Germany; Lisa Ludwig revealed in the interview of Tagespost. Next summer the first missions will be carried out in Germany. The enthusiasm of those who have participated in the missions is so great that they could not help but be creative and arrive at a concrete projection. The article ends: "This summer Lisa will return to the missions…in Germany!"

The Tagespost article explains what the missions are and the results in detail, which awakens interest. It awakens the interest to go on a mission, totally in line with Benedict XVI’s message at World Youth Day 2009, where he encourages the youth to take charge of a new evangelization that will help the younger generation to discover anew the true face of God: "If Jesus is our hope, tell others of our joy, with our spiritual, social, and apostolic commitment."

Translation: Celina Garza, San Antonio/amj, USA