23 Apr 2011 | Non categorizzato

Christianity is true because Jesus is risen.
So that he wouldn’t be taken from that pitiful tomb a large stone blocked the entrance and in front of that there was a guard. But the story took another direction, through which he left and opened up eternal life, even in death.
The Church exhorts, on the mouth of the empty tomb: heads of State, Kings and magistrates to understand; that which is difficult to understand; so much so that the same mistakes are endlessly repeated: they come from one dictatorship and prepare another; they take note of the second war and plan a third; they take care of people in disasters by adding to their mourning.
Through the countryside of the resurrection pass the delicate figures of women. In these love has overcome fear: and when the apostles had gone to ground hiding, the women came out and looked for the one who is Love: they discovered that He had risen. They find the confirmation of the Gospel: that the religion of Jesus is a duel against death, a victory over it; in fact its substance is love, which knows no limits. Beauty ends, honour terminates, justice stops at the margins of law, but love knows no barrier, it goes beyond the furrows of evil, the background of death. With the sacraments we can assure a continual resurrection from evil, which is the substance of death: and the sacraments, the substance of life, are produced by love, as redemption and as the Church.
Christians are not allowed to despair; they are not allowed to lose heart when faced with death. Their house can collapse, their riches scatter: they will pick themselves up, and take up the fight again: the fight against evil. Christianity lasts whilst it remains firm in the belief of the resurrection.
The resurrection of Christ, our Leader, draws us into and makes us participants in it through his life, he obliges us to never despair. He gives us the secret to lift ourselves up in every fall. He gives us the arms for the fight and the strength to conquer death. The spirit, if it is rooted in Christ, prevails. Ours is a religion of life; the only one in which death has be victoriously, and if we want it, definitively banished.
Today, we are on earth, but linking ourselves to the Christian spirit, people rise again. So, like Mary, who took her son freed from the nails of the cross and held him in her arms, the Church holds our crucified humanity in its womb and prepares it for the resurrection.
The resurrection of Christ must be the reason for us to be reborn in our faith, hope and charity: victorious in our actions against the tendency of death, each one with their neighbour reborn in a unity of affection, every nation reborn, in agreement of actions, with other nations.
St Augustine, in a talk about Easter and the process of our resurrection, couldn’t find better words than to quote the apostle of love who says: – We have passed from death to life because we love our brothers.
And therefore: let us love one another, to help each other to live. In this way we will rise again.
Igino Giorndani, published in Le Feste, Turin, 1954
20 Apr 2011 | Focolare Worldwide
Buenos Aires, 9 April 1998

Televised message by Chiara Lubich - Italian Soundtrack
Dearest people of Argentina,
Here is my wish for this splendid nation of Argentina.
I will not wish something of my own, but something which is in the air of current history.
As we know, beyond our way of seeing things there is another: the one of He who guides history, God.
Now and again He gives signs which indicate His will: the signs of the times. One of these for the present is unity.
Despite the wars which exist in the world, despite the disasters and the inequalities, many things tell us that the world is tending towards unity.
The States in the civil and political world say it, like the European, African, Asian or American countries, which are striving to unite even if in different ways and for different goals. International bodies and organizations, like the UN, say it. The religious world says it. This is the reason we speak of ecumenism and interreligious and intercultural dialogue.
It is also unity I wish for this nation. It already exists, but we can go in depth. How? With fraternal love among everyone, between families, generations, cities and provinces, respecting every identity, in order to transform this society into one big family.
If we do this, the Risen One, which Easter celebrates, will be in the midst of everyone, because He said so.
He will improve everything in every field of human endeavour. He will be Argentina’s fortune, the country’s big chance, its secure future.
Best wishes to all, great and small! My heartfelt greetings especially to those who may be suffering in any way.
Chiara Lubich
19 Apr 2011 | Non categorizzato
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| “Dearest all ,
The Good News that we are still called to live today is that Jesus is risen and is alive in our midst through our mutual love.
The evangelical message of 2,000 years ago is still relevant today and draws us all into a new commitment in life and giving witness.
The wish that I would like to reach each one of our large family everywhere is to always walk with Him, the Risen One, through the streets of the world.”
Maria Voce
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17 Apr 2011 | Focolare Worldwide
It was a special Saturday for the large Focolare family in the Domincan Republic. Seven-hundred people met in the Church’s Casa San Paolo, a small country with a dozen provinces, two-hundred by three-hundred kilometers, but rich in local beauty and “campanalism” with both its positive and negative implications.
This was brought out during the meeting between Maria Voce and Giancarlo Faletti with 150 young people who are close to the Movement in the Domican Republic. Priscilla, for example, shared how she had moved from her province, Santiago Rodriguez, which is rural and famous for its large banana cultivations, nearer to the capital, in order to study psychology. The adjustment to the new environment, the people, and the way of living wasn’t easy. But being close to the youths of the Focolare helped her to insert herself into her new surroundings, and even to become a leader among her friends.
The young audience sat in silence. It seemed strange, given the exuberant vitality of Dominican youths, who are also capable of great depth and generosity. The questions showed their desire to be radical. And so Maria Voce insisted on speaking about “vocation” and aspiring for great things: «At your age there is a love for taking risks, the spirit of adventure, doing something different. It’s precisely at your age that you have the grace to do something crazy! You can have a lunacy for God, following his call, even if you aren’t sure of it. It’s worth it. » Giancarlo Faletti undscored how «It is in the nature of young people to search, in school they do research, they search for work, sport, love, involvement. It is in these things that each person’s potential is brought into evidence, and also the capacity to listen. Not only to listen to exterior voices, but above all, to the interior voice that asks me why I’m doing what I do. I can’t hide myself in front of so many things, in front of such a busy life: I must listen to the voice that asks me where my life is going. »
The influence of egotistical urges and a lack of clarity also emerged during this meeting, the noise of the city, of temptation and sin: «Our amplifier,» Maria Voce replied, «is the presence of Jesus in our midst, who makes his voice heard, and he makes it heard loudly, even more loudly than all the other noises.» Chiara Luce Badano, the young woman of the Movement who was recently beatified, is an example for their lives, who helps them to face their difficulities even when, what is accepted as normal becomes a cause of judgement against them because of their involvement in a Christian lifestyle that goes against the current. «Well, is it more important to be concerned that your companion is happy with you, or whether God is?» asked Maria Voce. Then «But these young people should be able to feel the joy that there is among you.» It’s not a matter of becoming isolated, but of advancing the beauty of life “with Jesus” in order to share with others the beauty of doing this “together”.
One young woman named Marguerita commented on what Maria Voce said: «When Maria voce spoke to us of Jesus who cried out his abandonment on the cross, I realized that it’s not only suffering, living it doesn’t doesn’t leave us with our suffering, but it brings us the joy of living with Him and for Him.» Pablo from Santo Domingo underscored that «the simple joy that I experienced today is like a virus that I have to spread to my friends.» «You’re generous, » Maria Voce concluded, «you’ve shown me that you are. And so you’re capable of great things. Let’s carry on without any fear to give even more. »
By Michele Zanzucchi