March 19th is St. Joseph’s Day and also the day on which we remember the name day of our father and founder, Father Joseph Kentenich. Most of us know something about our father and founder’s life, but it is hoped that these small snippets from his life might help us better understand his person through the way he interacted with people during his lifetime.
SNIPPETS FROM THE LIFE OF FATHER KENTENICH
- HIS EARLY YEARS
The Church Tower Caper
One of the things that Joseph was part of was a caper at the local church: Joseph, Peter (his cousin), and the son of the sacristan decided it would make a fine adventure to climb the tower of St. Cunibertʼs Church. They noticed a little door on top of the church that would let them climb out on the copper roof. In their prank, the parish priest spotted the three daredevils. He quietly locked the door behind them and went to get the sacristan! While he was gone, the three boys realized they had been trapped and were in trouble, so they looked for another way down quickly! They found a place where they could slip into the church through an opening in the ceiling near the altar. From there, they could jump and slide down the pillars to safety. When the pastor returned with the sacristan, the boys escaped, and the good priest was left to wonder how they had escaped.
- SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR IN SCHOENSTATT
A father’s heart
The following example, told many years later by one of the boys who later became a priest, shows something of his (Father Kentenichʼs) “motherly” touch: A small, shy boy stood in the hallway with bandaged hands. He had a kind of eczema. Because of this, his classmates avoided him. Our Father and Founder observed the little boy whom he had not yet met, stopped, and asked what was on his hands. The boy answered, let Father Kentenich unbandage, and looked at his hands. Until today, the mature priest gladly and gratefully looks back on the fatherly concern shown at that time.
The Blanket
During the same years, Fr. Kentenich often had to turn his fatherly attention to the physical needs of the seminary boys. The deprivation was often extreme.
A relatively minor hardship– at first – was having to leave their well-heated school on the hill (it became a military hospital) and move into the “Old House” across from the Shrine. This old building was not well insulated against the cold, and as coal began to be rationed, the winters became a time of much suffering from cold. …. One source tells us: Things got especially harsh in the bitter winter of 1916-17– the winter when the Rhine froze over.
In this horribly cold winter, he learned that one boy was especially suffering from the bitter cold. Through one of the sodality leaders, he sent him his own blanket and requested that he return it in the spring.
(From: Brushstrokes of a Father, Vol. 2, Fr. Jonathan Niehaus)
- DACHAU
He Listened to Me
Fr. Heinz Dresbach, who was in Dachau with Father Kentenich, relates:
I had already met Fr. Kentenich before I came to Dachau. In 1940, I took part in one of his retreats for priests.
Father Kentenich was in the admissions block for seven months when he came to Dachau. In October 1942, he finally came to us in Block 26, the German priests’ block. I tried to meet with him. The easiest way to do this was to ask to go to confession with him.
I will never forget the special way he listened to me. It was the first time that I came just a little closer in personal contact with anyone. It was an unforgettable event and experience for me.
I asked myself for a long time, “Why is this so different from anything else I’ve experienced?” The way he listened almost caught me off guard inside. I tried to find ways to formulate it for myself to get a better grip on it. For instance, I said to myself that I have never had such a “listening session” in my life, where someone listened with such interest that he practically took in everything I said, causing me to reveal still more…….
Whenever he suggested something, he always did so with great respect for my freedom: “It might be a good idea if you worked especially on this in the coming time… This could help you in this way, could give you this or that advantage, etc.”
He would nudge me a little in a certain direction. The way he spoke, worded things, and stressed things was so positive that one never had the impression of being criticized on even the smallest point—quite the opposite. His interest was palpable.
(From: Brushstrokes of a Father, Vol.3)
- MILWAUKEE
Father and the Soup
The Couple, Gilbert and Joanna Schimmel, had a cabin on a beautiful lake in central Wisconsin. One time, they invited Father Kentenich to visit this special place. Another priest was along to visit the Schimmels as well. Mrs. Schimmel remembered a little episode that meant a great deal to her. She made soup for everyone to eat and served it in the cabin. But she did not feel worthy to eat with such exalted guests, so she served the priests and men and then went to the kitchen to eat alone.
At this, Fr. Kentenich told Gilbert he should get his wife, and she should eat with the guests, too. But she didn’t want to join. Finally, Father Kentenich had Gilbert relay the message: “Father is not going to start eating until you come out and join us.” So, she came out and joined the group. She greatly appreciated this sign of respect from Father.
“Receiving with one hand, giving with the other.” Story from Joanna Schimmel
Father Kentenich’s great love for giving not only impressed us but deeply touched us. On one occasion, I presented a gift to him. He accepted it so graciously with one hand. Then he reached over and gave it to another person in the room.
At first, this tendency to give was hard to understand, but gradually, I comprehended. It made me happy to know that I gave him the opportunity to be able to give a gift to someone else. This is what made him happy. Another idea came to my mind: “Father Kentenich has nothing of his own, and yet his hands are always filled so that he can give to others.”
(From: “Brushstrokes of a Father”. Vol.5)
Source: National Newsletter Schoenstatt Australia, March 18 2025 l Volume 6, Number 3
