By:Father Nicolás Schwizer ( He is a Swiss Schoenstatt Father who worked for many years in the Schoenstatt Movement in Paraguay)
Original article: http://schoenstattofohio.org/category/fr-nicholas-group-reflections/
It is giving witness to Christ in our married and family life. It is transmitting the love we experience in our homes. It is an experience which we cannot and should not silence. And I believe many of us feel that need: We experience something so beautiful in our families that we have to proclaim it as Good News. We should proclaim the Gospel of the family, the Good News of Christian marriage, and the profound joy of married and family communion.
That experience we are having in our homes should give us the strength to not only speak, but also to strive that the world be more of a family: that other families are happy…..that there are laws which respect the rights of the family. But these great tasks can be accomplished only if they stem from a lived ideal, from a profound experience. And that experience we have to have with Christ in the Eucharist and –as an experience of human love –in our own home.
We, married couples, should transmit the ideal of family to the world. We have to feel that mission consciousness, because that fire which burns in our homes –if we transmit it well –is a fire which can transform the world. Our families are the basis for the renewal: renewal of the Church, society, and the world.
Man possessed by his mission.
I believe it is impossible to accomplish the objectives of helping to transform the world without a strong awareness of mission consciousness. It is a very large task. The present circumstances are extremely difficult. We, human instruments, are extremely fragile. Often, the awareness of mission consciousness is not enough. We have to be possessed (captivated, thoroughly aware) of the mission because he who is not “possessed” by God –by his mission –will be incapable of overcoming difficulties he has to face in a pluralistic society.
He who does not believe he has a divine mission, will succumb, he will not risk himself for God. I think we all still lack that irresistible push to bring our mission to fruition.
Lacking is the man who knows he is chosen and sent by God and who thus lives and vibrates for his mission. It is necessary to have awareness of mission consciousness in order to intervene in the history of our Church and our country, like the great Prophets and Saints. Are we possessed by our mission?
God calls us to transform the world. If we want to make Him present, we cannot stay tranquilly in our home, living there our Heaven. We have to strive so that our land can become a colony of Heaven. It means promoting a new Christian culture, a civilization of love, a new social order.
Heroism is necessary. It is daily heroism, heroism with daily and ordinary things: to do everything with the greatest love, surrender, and generosity. It is the heroism of married and family life: but not about poor surrender –
complaining and petty –but of a magnanimous surrender, faithful and without excuses, of a constant growth in love. The question is if we really want to escape lukewarmness, mediocrity and heroically journey toward sanctity. It is only our own personal and family decision if we want to gamble with life or if we want to risk life.
The opposite to all of this are the spectators for whom the world situation, society and the Church, are only seen as a commentary –like an external situation –and not like a “battlefield” where we have to shape our complete vision…..spirits on hold –in apathy and indifference –who are not disposed and who do not have the strength to take mortal leaps.
Questions for reflection
1. What do I do so that the world can be more like a family?
2. Am I aware that God entrusted a mission to me?
3. Am I grateful for what God has given me or am I a person who complains?
Translation: Carlos Cantú, Schoenstatt Family
Federation, La Feria, Texas USA 0113 2011
http://cmsms.schoenstatt.de/en/resources/periodicals/virtual-retreat.htm
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, August 27th, 2013 at 6:58 am and is filed under News & Commentary.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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The Mission to Witness The Ideal of Family
By:Father Nicolás Schwizer ( He is a Swiss Schoenstatt Father who worked for many years in the Schoenstatt Movement in Paraguay)
Original article: http://schoenstattofohio.org/category/fr-nicholas-group-reflections/
It is giving witness to Christ in our married and family life. It is transmitting the love we experience in our homes. It is an experience which we cannot and should not silence. And I believe many of us feel that need: We experience something so beautiful in our families that we have to proclaim it as Good News. We should proclaim the Gospel of the family, the Good News of Christian marriage, and the profound joy of married and family communion.
That experience we are having in our homes should give us the strength to not only speak, but also to strive that the world be more of a family: that other families are happy…..that there are laws which respect the rights of the family. But these great tasks can be accomplished only if they stem from a lived ideal, from a profound experience. And that experience we have to have with Christ in the Eucharist and –as an experience of human love –in our own home.
We, married couples, should transmit the ideal of family to the world. We have to feel that mission consciousness, because that fire which burns in our homes –if we transmit it well –is a fire which can transform the world. Our families are the basis for the renewal: renewal of the Church, society, and the world.
Man possessed by his mission.
I believe it is impossible to accomplish the objectives of helping to transform the world without a strong awareness of mission consciousness. It is a very large task. The present circumstances are extremely difficult. We, human instruments, are extremely fragile. Often, the awareness of mission consciousness is not enough. We have to be possessed (captivated, thoroughly aware) of the mission because he who is not “possessed” by God –by his mission –will be incapable of overcoming difficulties he has to face in a pluralistic society.
He who does not believe he has a divine mission, will succumb, he will not risk himself for God. I think we all still lack that irresistible push to bring our mission to fruition.
Lacking is the man who knows he is chosen and sent by God and who thus lives and vibrates for his mission. It is necessary to have awareness of mission consciousness in order to intervene in the history of our Church and our country, like the great Prophets and Saints. Are we possessed by our mission?
God calls us to transform the world. If we want to make Him present, we cannot stay tranquilly in our home, living there our Heaven. We have to strive so that our land can become a colony of Heaven. It means promoting a new Christian culture, a civilization of love, a new social order.
Heroism is necessary. It is daily heroism, heroism with daily and ordinary things: to do everything with the greatest love, surrender, and generosity. It is the heroism of married and family life: but not about poor surrender –
complaining and petty –but of a magnanimous surrender, faithful and without excuses, of a constant growth in love. The question is if we really want to escape lukewarmness, mediocrity and heroically journey toward sanctity. It is only our own personal and family decision if we want to gamble with life or if we want to risk life.
The opposite to all of this are the spectators for whom the world situation, society and the Church, are only seen as a commentary –like an external situation –and not like a “battlefield” where we have to shape our complete vision…..spirits on hold –in apathy and indifference –who are not disposed and who do not have the strength to take mortal leaps.
Questions for reflection
1. What do I do so that the world can be more like a family?
2. Am I aware that God entrusted a mission to me?
3. Am I grateful for what God has given me or am I a person who complains?
Translation: Carlos Cantú, Schoenstatt Family
Federation, La Feria, Texas USA 0113 2011
http://cmsms.schoenstatt.de/en/resources/periodicals/virtual-retreat.htm
This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 27th, 2013 at 6:58 am and is filed under News & Commentary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.