January 24, 2019

A Family on the Move

Sr. M. Nilza P. da Silva

Living as a family and preparing for the mission

During the year they work in 14 states of Brazil: from the Amazon to Paraná. They inspire groups of families, adolescents, mothers, missionaries and coordinators of the Pilgrim Mother. Together, they serve the church and enrich it with the charisma of Father Joseph Kentenich.

But every year, from December 29 to January 15, these 40 Sisters of Mary know only one appointment: the Meeting of Dynamic Assistance in the Conference Center Schoenstatt-Tabor in Atibaia / SP.

Exchange and spirituality

Exchange of experiences, training in Schoenstatt’s spirituality, intensive community life – during meals, during rest and work, but also in times of prayer together, to talk to God and to listen to his wishes: This fills the apostolic heart with joy and deepens the charism and the mission of being Mary in the midst of the world.

For me, these meetings include many facets: the exchange of experiences with many sisters, the vivacity and deepening of the contents of our Schoenstatt spirituality, which we may already know, but which here are filled with new life and updated,” says Sr. M. Iracema Betoni. What personally helps her the most is “the sharing of experiences and opinions in working groups, the experiences of the other sisters enrich me and, I believe, my experiences enrich them too.”

Living as a family

Sr. M. Diná Batista de Souza is the assistant of this life and work community. She confirms that “the community experience these days is something very important for the realization of their apostolic mission. We work in very different places. Each of us attaches great importance to this meeting, even if there are sometimes difficulties to overcome in order to be there. We are all members of our Sisters’ family, together we want to face the challenges of our mission and share the great deeds of the Blessed Mother. This strengthens us as a dynamic assistance: we form a partnership, nobody is alone. “

Serving the Schoenstatt Work

Among the sisters who walk happily through the house is Sr. Carolina Montedori da Silva, who is attending this meeting for the first time and describing her impressions: “When we entered the Sisters’ family, we came with a vision of the apostolic Schoenstatt Movement which is a whole world in itself. I knew a little about the Campaign of the Pilgrim Mother and in the novitiate we studied the life of the Movement. But in this meeting we studied the world that each branch is in itself, because each one forms its own family group. It is wonderful and at the same time makes us realize how much power our family needs to fulfill their mission. “