Family

May 29, 2021 By Vanessa Franke

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

After the great Solemnity of Pentecost, when Jesus and the Father sent down the Holy Spirit upon us, the Church solemnly celebrates the Holy Trinity. What are the lessons of the Trinity for us? We can mention a few...

Fr Francisco José Lemes Gonçalves
May 29, 2021

God, three persons in one, forms a family

To reinforce this reality, God wanted his Son to be born into a family. We can say that the family is an expression of the truth of this trinity. In a family, the couple and their children, within their day-to-day life, make visible a mutual selfless love, a relationship and growth that should illuminate the truths of the family environment.

Unity in diversity

In our daily lives and our communities, the Trinity is a model of unity even in its diversity, whether those communities follow a monastic, religious or an everyday secular life. In these environments Trinitarian love gives life to the community’s charisma, like the evangelical principles of poverty, obedience and chastity; it tightens bonds to the point that others can exclaim: “Look how they love each other!”.

In ordinary everyday activities such as work, sports and other situations in which we are together, the Trinitarian presence should serve as a guide. The Father, the Son and the Spirit, united, teach us respect for others and their opinions, care for natural and material goods, solidarity not only in times of catastrophe but at all times. It should motivate us to work together, each respecting the individuality and abilities of the other.

“Renew the face of the earth!

The Holy Trinity is a truth that must permeate our whole life. In this way we will be able to fulfill what the Scriptures say: “Renew the face of the earth!

May our daughter shrines, home shrines and heart shrines be places that radiate a Trinitarian experience because our Mother is the model of this Trinitarian action in daily life. We can say that she and her husband St. Joseph learned to live the Trinity in their lives.

Like our founder, Father Joseph Kentenich, we pray: ” Glory be joyfully given to the Father through Christ with Mary, highly praised, in the Holy Spirit full of splendor from the universe now and in all eternity. Amen”*

* Heavenwards, midnight prayer of the hours of the Schoenstatt Office.

Fotos: archiv, Cathopic

May 11, 2021 By Vanessa Franke

“The Family is Sacred”, Schoenstatt’s project in 800 parishes

The initiative born in Brazil is a contribution of the Schoenstatt Movement to the Church. With a kit which includes a CD, it reached 800 parishes in Brazil, was present in the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia and Dublin, has expanded in 15 countries and is now part of the digital world, on the year of the Families Amoris Laetitia, the joy of love.

Douglas an Vivian Moser
May 11th. 2021

The project “The Family is Sacred” began as a small seed in 2011, in the city of Curitiba, Brazil, with the idea of providing formation to couples that frequented the Schoenstatt Shrine.

In 2012 the 15th Course of the Families Federation in Brazil took on the mission of bringing the project to the parishes as an answer to the priests who were looking for help to strengthen the pastoral care of couples.

As the number of requests increased, a kit was developed and given to the parishes and a parish couple would be responsible of transmitting the content to the participants. This kit consisted of a CD with 10 self-taught talks about known subjects taken from the book Faith and Married Life by Schoenstatt Father Hernan Alessandri, from the Nueva Patris Editorial, in addition to a promotional flyer and an image of the MTA.

The project worked together with the Families Ministry in Brazil, reaching more than 800 parishes, including communities in the Amazon region. It was present in the Families Tent at the 2014 jubilee where the kit was available in Spanish, English, German, Italian, and Portuguese.

It was one of the five projects selected during the jubilee to be presented in Rome at the Pontifical Council for the Family, as one of the concrete collaborations of the Schoenstatt families to the Church. It was also present at Schoenstatt’s booth at the last two World Meetings of the Families in Philadelphia and Dublin.

Much was sown during these last two years, thanks to the collaboration of countless individuals, in over 15 countries, with excellent initiatives.

And now what? Now we are moving forward in the digital world!

With Pope Francis’ inauguration of the Year of the Family Amoris Laetitia, the project “The Family is Sacred” opened an Instagram account, @family.is.sacred, with regular publications in three languages: Spanish, English, and Portuguese, to deepen the apostolic message dedicated to family love and to being witnesses of that love.

In 2021 the project will reach its 10th year of evangelization of families and our aim is for this initiative to keep our way of connecting and divulging the project up to date, without losing its essence, which will always be to collaborate so that couples “become aware of the gift and grace of the sacrament of matrimony” (AL 223-230) and be encouraged to bring the joy of being a family to other families.

Our talks are being updated with the content of Amoris Laetitia and will soon be available as online workshops. If you also believe that the family is sacred, we are waiting for you on Instagram to spread together the good news of a family, full of joy, beauty, truth, complementarity, and sacredness, according to our charisma.

Fotos: Moser, Archive, Instagram

April 24, 2021 By Sr. M. Cacilda Becker

Family love: a vocation and a path to holiness

The Diocese of Rome and the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life now present the official prayer for the 10th World Meeting of Families to be held in Rome from 22 to 26 June 2022. The official hashtag is also ready: #WMOF2022.

Dicasterium for Laity Famiy and Life
April 24, 2021

Cardinal Joseph Kevin Farrell, Prefect of the Dicastery, made the point that “praying is a way to enter into the heart of the Amoris Laetitia Year and the preparation for the event in Rome. He went on to say that “many families and communities have been waiting a long time to be able to set out on their way, at least spiritually, to Rome. Prayer will accompany them and help them to grasp the message of the gathering.”

The Vicar of Rome, Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, added that “prayer will be at the heart of the path of preparation. It will guide our work and inspire the reflections to help us, in the light of faith, to discern the new challenges that the pandemic emergency poses to the ecclesial community with regard to families”. For this reason, “I invite everyone to prepare for this event of grace that the Church of Rome has the joy of hosting, and to address this prayer to the Lord in the intimacy of their family, together with the parish and diocesan community.”

Family Love: Vocation and Path to Holiness

Heavenly Father,

We come before You to praise You

and to thank You for the great gift of the family.

We pray to You for all families

consecrated by the Sacrament of Matrimony.

May they rediscover each day

the grace they have received,

and as small domestic Churches,

may they know how to witness to Your presence

and to the love with which Christ loves the Church.

We pray to You for all families faced with difficulty and suffering

caused by illness or circumstances of which only You know.

Sustain them and make them aware

of the path to holiness upon which You call them,

so that they might experience Your infinite mercy

and find new ways to grow in love.

We pray to You for children and young people:

may they encounter You and respond joyfully

to the vocation You have in mind for them;

We pray for parents and grandparents: may they be aware

that they are signs of the fatherhood and motherhood of God

in caring for the children who, in body and spirit, You entrust to them;

and for the experience of fraternity

that the family can give to the world.

Lord, grant that each family

might live their specific vocation to holiness in the Church

as a call to become missionary disciples,

in the service of life and peace,

in communion with our priests, religious,

and all vocations in the Church.

Bless the World Meeting of Families.

Amen.

Official prayer for the X World Meeting of Families

22-26 June 2022

http://www.laityfamilylife.va

March 24, 2021 By Magdalena Rosario Lira

Inauguration of the “Amoris Laetitia Family Year”

Inauguration of the
"Amoris Laetitia Family Year"

Author: Heinrich Brehm

In Rome, on the fifth anniversary of the publication of The Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia, the inauguration of the “Amoris Laetitia Family year” took place with a message to participants in a webinar on the topic “Our Daily Love” organized by the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, the Roman Diocese, and the John Paul II Theological Institute.

Taking loving care of frailties and wounds

In his message to the webinar participants, Pope Francis reiterated the invitation to reread and reflect on his Amoris Laetitia apostolic exhortation published five years ago, and to draw conclusions. “The main intention of the document”’, said the Pope, “is to communicate, in a profoundly changed time and culture, the need for a new look at the family by today’s Church: it is not enough to affirm the value and the importance of doctrine if we do not become custodians of the beauty of the family and take care of its frailties and wounds with compassion”.

He explained that “On the one hand, we proclaim to couples, spouses and families a word that helps them grasp the authentic meaning of their union and love, the sign and image of Trinitarian love and of the covenant between Christ and the Church. It is through the ever-new Word of the Gospel that every teaching, including the teaching of families, can take form”.

“It is a demanding word”, he said, “since it seeks to free human relationships from everything that may disfigure its image and make them unstable: the dictatorship of feelings, the exaltation of the temporary which discourages lifetime commitments, the preponderance of individualism, the fear of what is to come”.

“By distinguishing the value of marriage as God’s plan and as a vocation”, he said, “the aim is to show that even a path marked by failure, downfalls and change, can lead to human fulfillment and become a leaven of fraternity and love in society”.

Logo des "Jahres der Familie Amoris Laetitia" (Grafik: laityfamilylife.va)

The Church must immerse itself in real life

“This message cannot and must not be given from above or from outside”, continued Pope Francis. “The Church is incarnated in historic reality, as was her Master. So, when it proclaims the Gospel of the family, it does so by immersing itself in real life, knowing firsthand the daily struggles of couples and parents, their problems, their suffering, all those small and large situations that weigh down and sometimes hinder their journey”.

“The Church is called to accompany the journey of families,” said the Pope. “Not only to chart the direction, but to make the journey with them. This is especially important in times of the pandemic, with its psychological, economic, and health difficulties. We have seen that the family ties have been and will be put to the test, but at the same time it has been clear that they are the strongest point of reference, the greatest support, the irreplaceable guardian of the stability of the entire human and social community”.

Father Alexandre Awi Melo, Schoenstatt father and Secretary of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life together with Dr. Gabriella Gambino, undersecretary, presented a brief video in which they encouraged the faithful all over the world to join in the celebration of the Amoris Laetitia Family Year, deepening family ties and participating in the pastoral initiatives organized by their communities, parishes, and dioceses to enhance the values and the profound richness of the family.

Source: www.schoenstatt.de

March 19, 2021 By Magdalena Rosario Lira

St. Joseph inspires us to live with joy the Holy Family’s ideal

St. Joseph inspires us
to live with joy the Holy Family’s ideal

St. Joseph has always been important in Schoenstatt. He is an example with regard to the ideal of the Holy Family; he gave up everything for Jesus and Mary. He teaches us to strive for the ideal of holiness in our family.

Sister. M. Ana Paula Ramos Hyppólito
19 March, 2021

Joseph, a just, silent and unknown man. He is so discreet that he insists on remaining in the background and letting all the light shine only for Jesus and Mary. He stays behind, in silence. But today we want his shining light to ignite us. We want to reveal a little of his brightness and contemplate the growth of his importance in our Schoenstatt Family, the importance our Father and Founder gave him.

In 1928, Father Joseph Kentenich reviewed the history of the devotion to St. Joseph in the Catholic Church: “The Church also experienced a growth in this sense, in the devotion to St. Joseph. From the theological point of view, there was still a long way to go before the veneration of St. Joseph penetrated more deeply into the whole Church. The veneration of St. Joseph came about earlier in the East than in the West. Reichenau’s martyrology dated around 1850, mentions St. Joseph for the first time. The mystics and theologians from end of the Middle Ages began to deal with his place in the history of salvation. It was not until 1479 that his feast was included in the Roman breviary”.

Father Kentenich adds: “In the history of the Church, wasn’t St. Joseph also neglected? In the fourth century paintings of him began to be made and his figure became more exposed. It wan’t until the 19th century, the century in which Mary was profoundly venerated, that the Holy Spirit intervened so that St. Joseph would be given a central standing and would be solemnly acknowledged as the protector of the Church”.

Our Father and Founder always sees St. Joseph in perfect unity with Mary. That is why he expressed in 1950 that “God speaks through situations.” Could it be that the Blessed Mother, through actual facts, wants to call our attention to St. Joseph?

From Schoenstatt’s origins

At the beginning of our Schoenstatt Family’s history we faced great difficulties, so, trust in St. Joseph’s help was naturally fostered. In 1950 the Founder spoke of the fortunate fact that “St. Joseph – since we proclaimed him as administrator of all our financial concerns – has fulfilled his task brilliantly”.

St. Joseph’s organic vision in Schoenstatt

Father Kentenich then adds: “With this, we not only put ourselves on the same level as the Church, but somehow we surpass it, above all because of the organic vision of the figure of St. Joseph and the integral way of worshipping him. We do not venerate him only in one particular sense or another, only as protector of the inner life and purity, only as builder, or only as minister of economy. This broadness gives a special character to the devotion to St. Joseph in our Family”.

The way we worship St. Joseph in Schoenstatt, as referenced by Father Kentenich, is wide-ranging. Our founder presents several characteristics of Mary’s husband. St. Joseph is the one who loved the Blessed Mother the most and was her faithful husband; he is also Jesus’s father, who protects and educates him; therefore, Joseph is a model as head of the family, a model of a father, husband, companion, with all the virtues needed to be part of the Holy Family.

Father Kentenich also expresses how God acts through “secondary causes”. In the history of salvation, Jesus is the main character and Mary is the one who gives her “yes” so that this story becomes a reality. But it’s St. Joseph, a “secondary” character in the story, who becomes the head of the family. Even in his smallness, he becomes a key figure in the salvation of humanity.

The more importance we give to spiritual and inner life, as well as the cultivation of virtues and striving for perfection and holiness, the more we ask for St. Joseph’s help and the more we are called by his holiness, his virtues, as we learn from his example.

To him we entrust everything

When the dangers to body and life are more numerous, when the worldly spirit wants to invade us and turn us away from our ideal, then we strengthen our trust in St. Joseph’s protection.

The greater the economic and financial woes become, even if they become grievous, the more we seek St. Joseph’s help in these afflictions and concerns as well.

The more we experience our limitations and shortcomings in our professional responsibilities and in the positions we occupy, the more numerous the problems that overwhelm us, the more we seek refuge in St. Joseph.

The more distressed and frightened we are because of age, sickness or the affliction of death, the more we place ourselves under St. Joseph’s protection trusting in his aid.

However, our Father and Founder gives us a warning: “It would be out of place, that is, it would be insensitive on our part if we thought: when we need him, then we’ll love him” (1928).

Yes, we can and we want to love St. Joseph. And the more we love him and make him our friend, the closer the Blessed Mother and Jesus will be to us, because the three of them form a union of hearts, they are one family, the Holy Family!

This is confirmed by our Father and Founder: “St. Thomas Aquinas once formulated it very clearly: each saint possesses a certain authority in his task – from each one we can receive a certain grace. However, from St. Joseph we can get everything. […] The time will come when St. Joseph will occupy a position of much greater strength and glory than he has had until now…. He must be included in the circle of love of our Family.”

May our love for St. Joseph grow

May our relationship with St. Joseph continue to grow, that is, may it become alive, vigorous and original again. This corresponds well with our Father and Founder, since he himself affirms: “It is very important for St. Joseph that we love him personally much more than we have loved him up to now” (1934).

Fr. Kentenich had already given us the following guidelines in 1932: “What do we want to do? To trust St. Joseph more deeply. To give more value to his images and statues. He must be included in the circle of love of our Family”.

Let our love for St. Joseph grow. Let us try to renew, deepen and enliven it. Let us not allow St. Joseph to remain in the corner, in the corner of a Shrine or a Home Shrine. Let us give him the place of honor that corresponds to him, above all, a small favorite place, a small preferred niche in our hearts.

In the same way, we trust that he will inspire many solid vocations for the holy Church and for the Schoenstatt Work, that he will take care to preserve in all consecrated persons the joy of their vocation and that he will guarantee in each one the growth in their ideal and sanctity.

That is why we want to say with confidence: St. Joseph, pray for us! We want to show St. Joseph our gratitude for all that we receive daily as material and spiritual blessings. How, then, can we repay him? How can we make him rejoice? St. Joseph, what gift do you want to receive in this, your special year? No doubt, St. Joseph’s answer will be: “Become the one I love the most! Become a little Mary! Each Schoenstatt child, each one is the greatest gift to me! Every Schoenstatt child, striving to become like Mary.

Source: santuariodeatibaia.org.br