This year, the Schoenstatt Family Institute experienced a moment of deep grace when each partial community renewed the Child’s Covenant with our Father Joseph Kentenich, in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of that first bond made in 1985.
It was a simple gesture, yet one filled with spiritual depth, a return to our origins, to that current of childlike love that unites us as a family and impels us to live with creative loyalty the charism that our Father entrusted to us.
This renewal was not just a commemorative act. It was, above all, a living experience of gratitude, passion, and hope.
Gratitude for the past, for so many couples and families who, throughout these four decades, have embodied the ideal of conjugal and family holiness, reflecting God’s love in the midst of the world.
Passion for the present, for continuing to bring our Father’s charism to life in today’s challenges: in the education of our children, in our professional lives, in our ecclesial and social commitment. And hope for the future, because we know that the Covenant continues to be a source of apostolic fruitfulness and a sure path for the renewal of the Church and the world.
In times of rapid change and uncertainty, faithfully following Father Kentenich’s charism is more relevant than ever. His prophetic vision of a living, family-oriented Church, rooted in the human and open to the divine, continues to be a concrete response to the people of today. To renew the Covenant as a community is also to renew our commitment to think, love, and live like our father and founder, in intimate communion with Mary and at the service of the mission that God entrusts to us.
May this celebration inspire us to continue walking with a grateful heart, a burning gaze, and a willing spirit, confident that the future is forged in covenant.
Translation: Sr. M. Lourdes Macías
