Imagine the situation: you’ve been ordained a deacon; you dream of becoming a priest, and you’re getting ready to live that moment soon. But unexpectedly, you end up being unjustly imprisoned. Plans and projects are disrupted, and everything indicates that you could die at any minute without having your dream realized. This happened to a member of the Schoenstatt Movement, Blessed Father Karl Leisner.
To human eyes, a priestly ordination in prison seemed impossible. But God had other plans. Leisner went down in history as the only Catholic priest to be ordained in a Nazi concentration camp. Yesterday, December 17, 2024, we remembered 80 years of this very special moment.
This ordination expresses the need to give adversity a new color. And that’s what we’re going to learn from this holy year…
Faith and hope work miracles
We go into December 2024 with one keyword that will be part of our lives for the next 365 days: hope.
The holy doors will open from Christmas onwards, and a new time of hope will begin. Let us not ignore the pain and suffering or become anesthetized in the face of problems. That is not what hope is. To have hope means to CHOOSE to focus on the good and beautiful things that inspire us every day and, simultaneously, to believe in the good that is yet to come. And to keep fighting.
As Fr. Joseph Kentenich explains, “The Christian feels the harshness of these setbacks, but his will and his heart are reassured by the conviction that nothing happens by chance; everything comes from God’s will!” [1]. According to Kentenich, God does not command evil but allows it to happen when he knows that even better things can come from it, and in this lies our great hope.
Let us look at the world with the joyful gaze of one who knows that humanity can improve and that, to achieve this, I must contribute my grain of sand, even if it is only a drop in the ocean.
Last day of the renewal of the Covenant of Love 2024
On December 18, we will renew our Covenant of Love within the framework of the Holy Year. As we entrust ourselves to Mary, we ask her to fill our hearts with hope. From this day forward, we hope every Schoenstatter will reflect hope in the world and be an oasis of encouragement, joy, and confidence.
“Hope is not an empty word, or a vague desire of ours that things may turn out for the best; hope is a certainty, because it is founded on God’s fidelity to His promises. […] The Christian cannot be satisfied with having hope; he or she must also radiate hope, be a sower of hope. It is the most beautiful gift that the Church can give to all of humanity, especially at times in which everything seems to be dragging down the sails” [2].
[1] Father Joseph Kentenich; Dr M. A. Nailis. Everyday sanctity – vol 1.
[2] Pope Francis. General Audience. 11.12.2024
