CHILDREN
“Let the little children come to me.”
These words of Jesus
have always been very vivid in the Movement,
where children occupy a privileged place:
they are the Gen 4 (4 to 8 years of age),
and the Gen 5 (from the smallest to 4 years of age).
They are deeply touched by the love for Jesus,
whom they encounter through the experience of Chiara Lubich
and those who live the spirituality of unity.
When they meet together, the Gen 4 experience the joy of trying to put love first. Through means most suitable for them – stories, games, audiovisuals, skits – they get to know Jesus more and strive to put the words of the Gospel into practice, sharing their experiences with each other.
Since, through the Movement, they come in contact with children and adults of different nations, cultures and religions, at an early age they already experience what it means to be all children of the One Father and are thus naturally predisposed to an open perspective.
The cube of love – One day Angelica (a Gen 4) asked Chiara this question: “How can I become like Jesus?” In answer, Chiara entrusted the “cube of love” to the Gen 4. Each of the sides of this cube bears a point of the art of loving: love all, be the first to love, see Jesus in the other, love your enemy and love one another.
This is how Marco, a Gen 4, explains it: “Every morning you toss the cube, and whatever comes out is what you have to put into practice the whole day.” The Gen 4 tell their schoolmates, friends and relatives about the “cube of love”. Now, the “cube” has been adopted by entire classes and even schools, parish groups and educational projects.
Download the cube of love! http://focolare.us/IMAGES/Gen4cube.jpg
The Gen 4’s Christmas message – By now the Gen 4 have established a tradition of making tiny figurines of the Child Jesus to sell at Christmas time. It is their way of reminding everyone of the Reason for the Season.
The “giving” race – Love leads them to give: they are very active in helping the disadvantaged; their imagination spawns a thousand ideas that are concretized in different projects which they call “handicraft shops.” In this way they come to discover that – as Chiara told them – “When we love, we are happy; when we love always, we are always happy!”
Expansion
There are several thousands of Gen 4 boys and girls all over the world, and thousands more of other children whom they involve in leading people to experience the joy of loving.
Contacts
Gen 4 International Centers
Casetta Primavera
Via Frascati, 332
00040 Rocca di Papa (Roma) IT
tel. +39-06-94791233
fax +39-06-9494136
Viale G. Dusmet, 1
00046 Grottaferrata (Roma) - Italia
tel. +39-06-94315450
fax +39-06-9412065
email: info.gen4@focolare.org
