The Pilgrim M ther Christmas 2013

Dear Missionaries of the Pilgrim MTA,

Many Christmas blessings and greetings from our International Shrine! At the throne of our Mother and Queen we rejoice over the gift of Christmas in this jubilee year! How fortunate we are to celebrate this Christmas in the jubilee atmosphere of Schoentatt’s centennial celebration! Are we aware of the privilege we have received upon becoming missionaries of the Rosary Campaign? Through our daily efforts in bringing the image of our MTA to homes and parishes, we open the way for her and her Son to come closer to so many people who need her; her presence and the presence of her Son in their hearts and homes. This is our task as missionaries in our world of today. Our homes, our families, friends and relatives, wait for God and need God just as much as humanity needed and waited for God more than 2000 years ago. Our task at present may look a little different from 2000 years ago, though. Many times, our loved ones observe how we behave in the face of difficulties in order to learn—in a quiet way—from us, how to proceed in the light of faith. This is the face of the new evangelization. It is not about new methods in order to come to know God for the first time. Rather, it is about showing that we recognize God’s workings in our daily lives, in very simple, ordinary circumstances. Our present Holy Father, Pope Francis, calls out to us, to become aware of our reality as missionaries and disciples of this new evangelization.

All the baptized, whatever their position in the Church or their level

of instruction in the faith, are agents of evangelization, and it would be insufficient to envisage a plan of evangelization to be carried out by professionals while the rest of the faithful would simply be passive recipients. The new evangelization calls for personal involvement on the part of each of the baptized. Every Christian is challenged, here and now, to be actively engaged in evangelization; indeed, anyone who has truly experienced God’s saving love does not need much time or lengthy training to go out and proclaim that love (P. Francis, Ev. Gaudium).

This task of sharing with others the blessings we ourselves have received calls for a total commitment from our side, as missionaries of the Pilgrim MTA. Our daily experience is itself the school which God uses in order to “train” us as missionaries: difficulties, trials, sickness, misunderstanding and injustices. These were the same means through which God educated our Blessed Mother during her life on earth. Believing in the divine providence of God, we approach the Christ Child in Bethlehem and offer to him our daily experiences, for a fruitful engagement in the new evangelization of those who open the doors to the MTA. Filled with faith, we dare to open the door of the new year 2014 and walk into the uncertainties of life, knowing that God takes care of all our concerns. May the joy and peace which our MTA grants from her Shrine at Christmas and throughout the year, fill your hearts and homes! Have a blessed Christmas and a grace-filled jubilee new year 2014! in our MTA,

Queridos Misioneros de la Mater Peregrina, ¡Reciban un cordial saludo en esta Navidad marcada por el jubileo del centenario de Schoenstatt, 2014! ¿Estamos conscientes de cuan privilegiados somos al ser misioneros de la Mater Peregrina en este año jubilar? Como verán en las palabras de nuestro Santo Padre, el Papa Francisco, nuestros hogares, nuestras familias, nues-tros amigos y parientes, esperan y necesitan que Dios llegue y llene sus vidas, tanto como lo necesitó la humanidad hace 2000 años. En medio de las dificultades y pro-blemas, sus familiares y amigos observan como usted se comporta y reacciona frente al plan de Dios. Así surgen las oportunidades para la nueva evangelización de la que nos habla el Papa Francisco. Nuestra tarea de compartir y evangelizar de una nueva forma, por medio de nuestro testimonio en la vida diaria, es el llamado que se nos extiende en esta Navi-dad y todos los días. Con esta fe nos acercamos al pe-sebre: con la esperanza de que nuestro apostolado será fructífero. Les deseo que la alegría y la paz que la Mater regala en su San-tuario alcance sus hogares y sus corazones. ¡Que tengan una Feliz Navidad! Les desea,

el amor

personal

de Dios que

se hizo hombre,

se entregó

por nosotros

y está vivo

ofreciendo

su salvación

y su amistad.

Person to Person

127. Today, as the Church seeks to experience a profound missionary renewal, there is a kind of preaching which falls to each of us as a daily responsibility. It has to do with bringing the Gospel to the people we meet, whether they be our neighbors or complete strangers. This is the informal preaching which takes place in the middle of a conversation, something along the lines of what a missionary does when visiting a home. Being a disciple means being constantly ready to bring the love of Jesus to others, and this can happen unexpectedly and in any place: on the street, in a city square, during work, on a journey.

128. In this preaching, which is always respectful and gentle, the first step is personal dialogue, when the other person speaks and shares his or her joys, hopes and concerns for loved ones, or so many other heartfelt needs. Only afterwards is it possible to bring up God’s word, perhaps by reading a Bible verse or relating a story, but always keeping in mind the fundamental message: the personal love of God who became man, who gave

himself up for us, who is living and who offers us his salvation and his friendship. This message has to be shared humbly as a testimony on the part of one who is always willing to learn, in the awareness that the message is so rich and so deep that it always exceeds our grasp. At times the message can be presented directly, at times by way of a personal witness or gesture, or in a way which the Holy Spirit may suggest in that particular situation. If it seems prudent and if the circumstances are right, this fraternal and missionary encounter could end with a brief prayer related to the concerns which the person may have expressed. In this way they will have an experience of being listened to and understood; they will know that their particular situation has been placed before God, and that God’s word really speaks to their lives.

Persona a persona

127. Hoy que la Iglesia quiere

vivir una profunda renovación

misionera, hay una forma de

predicación que nos compete

a todos como tarea cotidia-

na. Se trata de llevar el Evan-

gelio a las personas que cada

uno trata, tanto a los más cer-

canos como a los desconoci-

dos. Es la predicación informal

que se puede realizar en me-

dio de una conversación y

también es

la que realiza un misionero

cuando visita un hogar. Ser

discípulo es tener la disposi-

ción permanente de llevar a

otros el amor de Jesús y eso se

produce espontáneamente

en cualquier lugar: en la calle,

en la plaza, en el

trabajo, en un camino.

128. En esta predicación,

siempre respetuosa y amable,

el primer momento es un diá-

logo personal, donde la otra

persona se expresa y compar-

te sus alegrías, sus esperanzas,

las inquietudes por sus seres

queridos y tantas

cosas que llenan el corazón.

Sólo después de esta conver-

sación es posible presentarle

la Palabra, sea con la lectura

de algún versículo o de un

modo narrativo, pero siempre

recordando el anuncio funda-

mental:

What a missionary

does when visiting

a home…

Words from Pope Francis,

taken from The Joy of the Gospel

May these words inspire all of us as missionaries of our MTA!

Es el anuncio que se comparte con una actitud

humilde y testimonial de quien siempre sabe

aprender, con la conciencia de que ese mensa-

je es tan rico y tan profundo que siempre nos su-

pera. A veces se expresa de manera más direc-

ta, otras veces a través de un testimonio perso-

nal, de un relato, de un gesto o de la forma que

el mismo Espíritu Santo pueda suscitar en una

circunstancia concreta. Si parece prudente y se

dan las condiciones, es bueno que este encuen-

tro fraterno y misionero termine con una breve

oración que se conecte con las inquietudes que

la persona ha manifestado. Así, percibirá mejor

que ha sido escuchada e interpretada, que su

situación queda en la presencia de

Dios, y reconocerá que la Palabra de Dios real-

mente le habla a su propia existencia.

129. No hay que pensar que el anuncio evangé-

lico deba transmitirse siempre con determinadas

fórmulas aprendidas, o con palabras precisas

que expresen un contenido absolutamente inva-

riable. Se transmite de formas tan diversas que sería

imposible describirlas o catalogarlas, donde el Pue-

blo de Dios, con sus innumerables gestos y signos, es

sujeto colectivo. Por consiguiente, si el Evangelio se

ha encarnado en una cultura, ya no se comunica

sólo a través del anuncio persona a persona. Esto

debe hacernos pensar que, en aquellos países don-

de el cristianismo es minoría, además de alentar a

cada bautizado a anunciar el Evangelio, las Iglesias

particulares deben fomentar activamente formas, al

menos incipientes, de inculturación. Lo que debe

procurarse, en definitiva, es que la predicación del

Evangelio, expresada con categorías propias de la

cultura donde es anunciado, provoque una nueva

síntesis con esa cultura. Aunque estos procesos son

siempre lentos, a veces el miedo nos paraliza dema-

siado. Si dejamos que las dudas y temores sofoquen

toda audacia, es posible que, en lugar de ser creati-

vos, simplemente nos quedemos cómodos y no pro-

voquemos avance alguno y, en ese caso, no sere-

mos partícipes de procesos históricos con nuestra

cooperación, sino simplemente espectadores de un

estancamiento infecundo de la Iglesia.

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“Your Shrine is our Bethlehem…

There you gave virginal birth to the Lord

who chose you as his Bride and Mother…

Jubilantly place the Lord anew into my soul anew…

let me be a Christ-bearer for our times…”

P. J. Kentenich, Heavenwards

Your intentions and petitions are remembered in our International Shrine of the Father Kingdom in this, its

golden jubilee year. May our Mother and Queen grant all of you special graces from her Shrine! Tu Santuario es nuestro Belén… ¡Desde este Belén les deseamos una Feliz Navidad

y un bendedico año jubilar 2014!

Blessed Christmas

and a grace-filled

jubilee year 2014!

W284 N698 Cherry Lane

Waukesha WI 53188

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