Dear Schoenstatt Family and friends:

On this day of the anniversary of the death of our Founder, Fr. Kentenich, I would like to send a greeting to you all reminding us of the gift of the person of our Founder. He was a "provocative figure" who risked everything, even his life for the mission of renewal with which he was entrusted by God and our Blessed Mother. But above all he was a holy priest. In this Year for Priests and as we approach the 100th anniversary of his ordination in 2010, let us grow closer to him as we continue the legacy of Schoenstatt as memebers of our Schoenstatt Family.

I would also like to remind you that as a Movement we will have two opportunities to pray and learn about Fr. Kentenich this week. First, our special Adoration at the chapel of our Movement House at Addie Roy Rd. on Friday, September the 18th from 7 to 9 PM. This will be a lead holy hour with songs and time to mediatate. Second, our Covenant Mass on the third Sunday of the month. This month being on September the 20th. Mass is at 11 AM followed by potluck and a short movie and discussion about the life of our Founder. I secially invite you to come and join us and invite your firiends as a way to share Schoenstatt and the person of Fr. Kentenich with others.

Finally, let me invite you to say a special prayer today for Father's Canonization and so that Schoenstatt may contnue being a source of renewal and inspiration for the Church and society.

Yours in the Covenant,

Fr. Jesus

Dear Schoenstatt Family and friends:

As we prepare to begin a new school year, it is also time to resume our activities after the summer pause. This month we present our second issue of our “Schoenstatt Quarterly”, our printed Newsletter, with the idea to keep you up to date with the life of our Movement here in Central Texas as well as sharing the particular life of each of the branches and initiatives. Please, make sure you are on our mailing list to receive a copy! Just send an Email to: gardner.rachel[a]gmail.com

What is ahead of us? I would like to highlight two things:

First, the longing for the Shrine at Addie Roy. This is the place we believe the Blessed Mother has lead us through our history in Austin, to where we feel attached for many years and where we have offered so much Capital of Grace. It seems to be a real possibility today. Last June we got a first positive response from the meeting with the Home Owners Association and it is now up to us as a Movement to do something. This project is not just a matter of the Diocesan Committee or the Schoenstatt Board, but it pertains to the entire Schoenstatt Family of Central Texas. We’ve been longing for many years for the opportunity to build a Shrine and that opportunity is now closer than ever. What are we willing to do, how do we want to get involved? We have an entire year to really work for the Shrine in Austin and show our MTA by our spiritual and financial striving that we really want a Shrine here.

On behalf of the Diocesan Committee I would like to invite all branches to have a meeting to talk and decide how you want to go about this project. Then your branch leader will bring your input to the Diocesan Committee. We need different areas to be organized –such as spiritual conquering, fundraising and construction among others- with people who would like to donate time and energy to get this project going. We need to show our interest and how mature we are as a Movement to embark in a project like this. We also need to make projections to make sure there will be a sustainable long term commitment on behalf of the family to financially sustain the operations of the future Shrine at Addie Roy.

Second, the Year for Priests proclaimed by Pope Benedict is a voice of God for us in many ways. In connection to this special year, we have the 100th Anniversary of Fr. Kentenich’s ordination on July 8th, 2010. It might be a good opportunity to bring the person of our Father and Founder to the forefront in a special way this year through different initiatives and celebrations as a Family. Grow in the awareness that Austin is the only place in the US that the Family is lead mainly by the Community of the Schoenstatt Fathers. How do we give thanks for our priests and for our vocations to the priesthood. This year we are happy to announce that Mark Leatherman, of the University Men at UT, will join the next Noviciate of the Schoenstatt Fathers in South America. He will be leaving for Chile in January 2010 and will start his Noviciate in March in Paraguay. We want to take this gift as a fruit of your prayers for vocations and the work of Operation Mario, our missionaries from Chile. But we also want to give thanks for Mark’s generosity in saying yes to the call to follow in the footsteps of our Founder. Together with him there is another vocation from Milwaukee, Wi., Jeff, who will join Mark next year. Let us support and accompany Mark and Jeff as we pray for them and for vocations to the Schoenstatt Fathers.

United in the Covenant,

Fr. Jesus Ferras
Diocesan Committee

Dear Schoenstatt Family and Friends:

As we prepare to begin the new school year, this month we'd like to celebrate Covenant Mass on the fourth Sunday, August 23rd, at 11am. This will allow our University Men and Women to participate with us as as they come back to class at the end of August.

Please mark your calendar for August 23rd, 11am, for our Covenant Mass and family potluck!

Come and join us!