The members of the reflection team worked hard into the night on Saturday preparing the final version of the memorandum. It would incorporate everything that the congress participants had been discussing for the past four days. Then Sunday, the feast of the Holy Trinity, began with the reading of the finalized memorandum.
“You Are Our Letter”
Father Felix Geyer presented the memorandum to the congress in the morning. The memorandum addressed these main points: Father Kentenich and his cause, Schoenstatt’s charism, and Synodality withing Schoenstatt and the Church. The memorandum was very well received. Everyone felt that it perfectly expressed and addressed everything that the congress had brought forward, and with a few suggestions for improvement, it was unanimously approved.
“Not on Tablets of Stone but on Human Hearts”
The Pentecost Congress closed with Sunday Mass, the celebration of the great feast of the Holy Trinity. Father Heinrich Walter presided, and he gave a homily reflecting on our shared experiences and mission from the Congress. These he expressed using three symbols.
First, we entered our Pentecost Cenacle out of the swirling troubles of the world, the Church, and our own Schoenstatt family. We found refuge with our founder in the Founder Chapel and drew strength from the Holy Spirit who comes to us anew in this place, as symbolized by the Pentecost window.
Second, we are called to Synodality: “dialogue at all levels,” and the “co-creation of the new epoch.” This call is from the Hoy Father, Pope Francis, but it also was a part of Father Kentenich’s plan for Schoenstatt from the very beginning. Father Kentenich was rooted in the “new shore,” and we are called to step out of the arc of certainty and follow him toward the future of the Family and the Church. This is the second symbol.
Finally, the torch of the mission was passed on from the oldest generation to the newest. This symbolic gesture truly was an entrustment: they entrusted the future of Schoenstatt to the youth, and the youth accepted the responsibility and pledged themselves for the mission. This was an outward sign of the true inter-generational cooperation within the Schoenstatt family that has been characteristic of the proceedings of the Congress, as well as for the continuation of this cooperation into the future. It is also a symbol of the mission of Schoenstatt, to carry the light of Christ into the world as Church today.
“Oh Mother, Send Us Out From Here”
After the Mass, all of the participants entered the Founder Chapel once more, mirroring the beginning of the congress. There, they prayed and each took turns signing the memorandum.
The Pentecost Congress began with the feast of Mary, Mother of the Church, ended on Holy Trinity Sunday, and now the participants are going out to tell the whole world the good news!
A fraternal letter to the international Schoenstatt Family
Inspirations from the Day
Jose Pablo Ramirez Carrasco, from the youth of Mexico, stated that he was impressed at how happy everyone was after the first read-through of the memorandum. Even though there were some questions and suggestions, it was a truly happy moment. He also remarked that Sunday Mass was in many different languages, most of the languages that people brought with them to the congress! He said that the Mass was “strange, but I liked it a lot.” He was inspired at how happy everyone was at the end of the congress/ Everyone was able to make friends, and it was incredible to be on the other side of the world with all of these people. And this was what the congress was all about; the people were from everywhere but the shared “the same spirit, the same corpus.” He remarked that this congress had a humorous Pentecost spirit: starting conversations was a leap of faith that the other person would speak one language in common with you. “Hello?” “Hola?” “Ah! Si!”
Looking to the future, Jose Pablo anticipates another congress in five years; this congress is only the second one, but after battling through the pandemic situation to make it happen, he has hope that these congresses will continue. From the congress itself, he said that every country can gain from it. Each country is different with their own struggles, but each can use the fruits of the congress in the way that they need.
