Covenant Renewal Reflections
What the Blessed Mother was for Christ, we want to be for the Church!
In April 1929, Father Kentenich used an expression that went through the Schoenstatt Family like fire: “…in the shadow of the shrine, the destiny of the Church will be essentially codetermined.”
United We Stand, In and With Mary
I United in Mary, aware of our mission, on fire for it, we go forward. Forward in this sense, means helping the Church close the gap between the Vatican Council II and the post-Council time.
Without self-education, we cannot go forward!
Our motto stresses the unity in Mary, but also the desire to go forward with the fire of our founder’s charism. The following words from the 1950 Pedagogical Conference states what is needed to accomplish unity or for creating community. We need love and love demands self-education—the willingness to shape my character in such a way that I draw others upwards to God.
We unite in our ideal: Mary!
Formulating a year’s motto is similar to finding words for our personal ideal. We meditate on the voices of the time, but also on the wide array of Christ’s features and Mary’s glories. We find one that best captures the heart’s genuine aspirations for the here-and-now. We put it into words and then into action.
Being and Living On Fire!
If we want to learn and understand what it means to be on fire for our Schoenstatt mission, we only need to open Heavenwards and pray the morning consecration. It is filled with Schoenstatt sparks. Here and there we find expressions such as “rekindle our love,” “let us glow like brands of fire,” and so on.