The travels of the apostles: 19,405 Km. at the service of the MTA

"In your hands Father, apostles of the Blessed Mother": Missionary trips to northern Paraguay

En Yby Yaú; entrega de una peregrina In Yby Yaú: a Pilgrim MTA picture is blessed In Yby Yaú: Überreichung eines Bildes der Pilgernden Gottesmutter
Reunión con misioneros Meeting with missionaries Treffen mit Missionaren der Pilgernden Gottesmutter
Tierra del Santuario de Ciudad del Este... Soil from the Shrine in Ciudad del Este... Erde vom Heiligtum in Ciudad del Este…
Momentos de compromiso Moments of commitment Bereitschaft, Werkzeugsbewusstsein: der Gnadenstrom vom Urheiligtum erreicht Menschen im Norden Paraguays
La peregrina llegue a todos los lugares The Pilgrim Mother goes everywhere... Der Pilgernden Gottesmutter ist kein Ort zu weit weg oder zu arm… Fotos: Cardona © 2009

PARAGUAY, jcc/mkf. We almost automatically think about Saint Paul, and then, about Conference 2014; concretely one thinks about the travels of the apostle and about the missionary current that was so strongly discovered at Conference 2014 like a current that moves the Schoenstatt Family on a worldwide scale. We think about this upon reading the "Informes" that Mima and Juan Carlos Cardona have written about their trips to northern Paraguay to take the Schoenstatt message; they traveled 1,835 Km on their last trip and they have traveled 19,405 Km. since the first one.

Mima and Juan Carlos Cardona from Asunción are members of the Schoenstatt Family Work. On their visits to northern Paraguay, they do the same as Saint Paul did on his trips: to strengthen the missionaries of the Rosary Campaign and the Schoenstatt communities that already exist and they sow the Schoenstatt seeds wherever there is an open door…Let’s look at some extracts of the "missionary itinerary":

Yby Yaú

We arrived at Yby Yaú at 10:40 a.m. we went to the Home of the Vincentian Sisters

( this house is 5 KM. from the center of town, it is behind the Chapel of San Ramón), the Superior, Sister Liduvina welcomed us. On the previous trip we met Sister Juliana, who had asked for some sweets because 8 little girls, who were abandoned by their parents, live here. We fulfilled Sister Juliana’s request.

They provided lodging for us and we felt very comfortable with them. During the visit we explained our apostolate and the Rosary Campaign. They invited us to participate in the Mass on the following day.

At 2:00 p.m. Meeting at the Parish of Saint John the Baptist, in the center of the city, with six of the missionaries, plus two more who want to received the Pilgrim MTA. We carried out the evaluation in spite of the short time they have had the Pilgrim MTA. We presented a talk about the Covenant of Love…After the meeting we met with Father Augusti, who invited us to his house, he is very enthused about the Rosary Campaign…

At 6:30 p.m. Chapel of the Blessed Mother of Caacupé: We prayed the Holy Rosary, the Marian Priestly Movement from the city of Pedro Juan Caballero came exclusively to lead the Rosary. This Movement prays to strengthen the spiritual lives of the priests and they invited us to lead one mystery of the rosary as representatives of the Schoenstatt Rosary Campaign. Then we participated in the Mass, Father Augusti stressed our presence in the area and he urged that the rosary be prayed in the homes. Then Father Augusti sold a book of raffle tickets for the "Rifa Bien Hecha" (organized by the Schoenstatt Movement of Paraguay to support the pastoral work of Schoenstatt).

At 9:00 p.m. we met with Elsa, who is an assistant coordinator and Mercedes, her husband and daughters, who would receive a Pilgrim MTA the next day. We spoke about the Rosary Campaign, family unity, the visit of the MTA to the homes. The husband seemed to be very interested and he told us he would support his wife with her mission.

The next day at 8:00 a.m. we participated on the Holy Mass at the Chapel of Saint Ramón. After Mass Father Nelson blessed a Pilgrim MTA and the rosary that was then commissioned to Mercedes. The ceremony was devoutly carried out and it was very touching.

Horqueta

At 1:45 p.m. we met with the little missionaries

At 2:30 p.m. we met with the missionaries. They evaluated the activities of the year and their commitment with the Parish, the representatives from four Chapels ( Blessed Mother of Fatima, Immaculate, Saint Anthony and Las Palmas) attended the meeting.

Father Adrián strongly supports the missionaries. After the meeting we met with Father Julián Cristaldo, we gave him the Tuparenda Magazine, he thanked us for this gesture and for our presence, and at the same time he committed to continue to support the missionaries…

Concepción: holy soil of the Shrine of the Home

We distributed holy water and soil from Ciudad del Este, explaining what this "Current of Shrines" meant. On Sunday, August 24^th, Carmen and Hugo Romanach placed a little of the holy water and the soil from the Terruño at Tuparenda, it was then that we asked if they had some left, because we wanted to take some to Concepción as a sign of the current of unity between the Shrines of the Ciudad del Este, Tuparenda and the community of Concepción; we were especially thinking about the growth of Schoenstatt. Carmen and Hugo thought it was an excellent idea and they gave us the jars, the water and the soil and Mima asked them to write a letter. These symbols were kept in our Homeshrine until the day of our trip. Hugo always asked about the symbols and when we would travel.

Upon reading the letter and explaining the meaning, and as the water was poured the people began to place it on the part of their body that ached, asking for healing; we were very impressed by this spontaneous action. The wives blessed the head and chest of their husbands and the men repeated the gesture as an act of love.

The next day at 10:00 a.m., we visited the bishop, we gave him the Tuparenda Magazine and the Annual of Terruño, as well as extending the cordial greetings of Father Antonio, we briefly informed him about our activities that were developed throughout his diocese. He thanked us and he encouraged to continue with our mission.

Belén

We arrived at Belén at 11:00 a.m. we met with the missionaries, they evaluated all of their activities. Now they have a commitment with the shelter for handicapped children and they are working intensely, especially the Coordinator.

On October 19^th, the Wayside Shrine was blessed; it is located on the main street at the center of town. Father Carlos Mereles blessed the wayside shrine and he stressed the importance of the presence of the Blessed Mother. It was a very touching ceremony and it was attended by many people, especially children.

Loreto

We arrived at Loreto at 6:00 p.m. and at 7:00 p.m. we participated in the prayer of the Holy Rosary, then we attended Holy Mass. After Mass we met with the missionaries and we decorated our Wayside Shrine. It was very beautiful to see how the people moved back and for to do their best. They did not have the traditional serenade for the Blessed Mother because of the death of a close collaborator of the parish.

The next day at 8:00 a.m. we participated at the Holy Mass celebrated by Father Emiliano. The bishop could not attend because of the intense rain that fell at dawn; the other activities that were planned in honor of the Patron and of the MTA could not be carried out, so these activities were postponed until the following Sunday. It continued to rain throughout the day.

At 7:30 p.m. we met with four couples, we presented the idea of forming a group for the Family Branch, they already knew about this because Matilde and Carlos Torres, who belong to the branch of San Lorenzo, had already offered to lead such a group. We briefly explained what the branch was and we stressed the importance of the couples’ love. The couples were very impressed and they wanted to go deeper into this subject. Only a few attended because of the rain, which began at 10:00 a.m. and had not stopped. We prepared some hearts with the message: "Lord, may our lives be a page full of You", we gave them to those who attended as a souvenir.

Sunday, 8:00 a.m. Holy Mass concelebrated by the bishop and Father Emiliano. About 150 youth were confirmed and there was heavy rain. We remained at this place because Mima was a sponsor for one of the girls. After the ceremony we went to greet the bishop, who was surprised because we were still in the area and he congratulated us for our perseverance.

The procession could not be held because of the rain. The distribution of sweets was done in the church and the other part will be distributed by Father Emiliano at another time. The sweets, clothes and toys were donated by our friends from Ciudad del Este, some belong to the Movement and others do not. We want to stress that these donations were distributed at Yby Yaú, Horqueta, Belén, and Loreto.

We did an evaluation for the Year 2008 in every community, based on a questionnaire that we had prepared previously. Soon we will send the conclusions.

At each community we read our Christmas message and we gave out little cards as a souvenir.

Strongly we say: "She is the great missionary, She will work miracles". - "In your hands Father, apostles of the Blessed Mother"