Jan 20, 2015 | Non categorizzato
Her life was nurtured by the concept of sanctity rooted in the Gospel. Chiara Lubich had written: «We will find sanctity in Jesus, it will flourish in us because of love … If we aim to reach sanctity for its sake alone, we will never achieve it. We must Love, and nothing else. We must forego everything, even our attachment to sanctity, and aim only to love.».
The importance of this ecclesial event is underlined by the choice of the cathedral of Frascati (Rome), as the venue where Bishop Raffaello Martinelli chose to initiate the “Process of documenting the life, virtues, signs and renowned sanctity” of Chiara Lubich. The diocese of Frascati is the diocese where the International Center of the Focolare Movement is established, and where Chiara Lubich spent most of her life, and where she died. Her body lies in the Chapel of the Centre intself, in Rocca di Papa.
The opening ceremony for the “Cause of beatification and canonization,” also called the Prima Sessio or Postulation, will take place on Tuesday , 27 January, 2015; and will start at 4 p.m. with the recital of the Vespers. There will be a reading of the Introductory Decree of the Cause and the nulla osta or permission of the Holy See, the designation of the Relator by the Bishop and the appointment of the diocesan tribunal and those of the postulation commission. From this moment on Chiara Lubich may be called Servant of God.
The ceremony will be broadcasted live on the internet.
In a letter to the Focolare Movement, Maria Voce communicated the news with great joy, and wished all those who live the spirituality of unity to be «living witnesses » of what Chiara lived, announced and shared with all, in the common commitment to «become saints together.»
The procedure for the initialisation of the Cause began on 7 December 2013, the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Focolare, when President Maria Voce announced the decision to present a formal request to the Bishop of Frascati, Martinelli, through which she also stated that this was also the desire of many members of the movement, and aimed at boosting their spiritual and moral commitment for the good of mankind. In the months that followed the documents needed to carry out the canonical proceedings were gathered.
The fact that Chiara Lubich continues to be a light in these 5 years after her death is proven by the constant flow of people, to visit the places where she lived and where she has been laid to rest: more than 120,000 people from different continents and religious faiths, Cardinals, Bishops, scholars, politicians, the youth, members of associations and movements, people of non-religious cultures, children, adolescents and adults in search of hope.
We will become saints, Chiara further explained «if we put our mutual charity at the base of our sanctity (above all else, even before sanctity itself) – as the premise or principle, as the means for our sanctification and as its objective.»
Live streaming event: 27 January at 4.00pm (Italian time) : http://live.focolare.org
Press release
Chiara Lubich, Cause for beatification and canonization
Jan 20, 2015 | Non categorizzato
According to the United nations, there are 700 thousand people who are forced to leave their homes due to the violence in the northeastern states of Nigeria. Precisely during the days of the massacre in Paris, Nigeria was again in the news, with the criminal escalations in the State of Borno due to the actions of the extremist group of Boko Haram. They even spoke of kamikaze children who were made to explode in two markets of the Country. The population is defenseless, while contradicting politcal analyses are given and very few reveal the heavy economic interests linked to the exploitation of the petroleum resources of the country. There is great expectations for the presidential elections in February. In Nigeria the Focolare Movement is present with two centers, one in Onitsha (in the south of the Country) and one in Abuja, the capital: «After the first trip that we made to meet the people who were displaced by the internal warfare, we realized what the true situation is: the misery, diseases, hunger, lack of clothing, lack of shelter but especially the children with no hope for a future», George and Ruth, the persons responsible for the Movement in that African nation wrote to us. And so they organized a second trip, during the Christmas season inviting their friends, relatives, co-workers to join in: «We truly experienced the generosity of our people, in Focolare all kinds of God’s bounty arrived: money, food, clothes, medicines. We even received a car with a driver who was an expert and knew where to pass to avoid the dangerous areas». Three of us went on the trip: a focolarina who is a nurse, another person and the driver. Bearing many gifts «so as to bring the joy of Christmas to those people who more than anyone else resembled the Baby Jesus who did not even have a suitable place to be born». The situation was precarious: the medicines were not enough for their many needs: «I am a professional nurse – Imma shared – I treated hundreds and hundreds of sick people: malnutrition, anemia, malaria and various illnesses. Then we helped the bishop to distribute food to more than 5000 refugees. It is a very painful situation, and everyday other refugees arrive». «May this be the year of the Yes», Maria Voce wished for us in 2015, «a yes that is repeated an infinite number of times: yes to God who asks us for something unforseen, yes to that neighbour who needs our concrete love , yes to an unexpected suffering, yes to Jesus who is waiting to be welcomed by us in humanity, transforming suffering into joy, into life and resurrection». But what does this mean in situations of darkness, that seem to be without hope, like in Nigeria? «For us this is the everyday reality – Ruth and George continue – in the difficult circumstances in which we find ourselves in our Country. There are so many sources of Evil. In front of this situation we cannot remain indifferent. When we arrived there, where the people are suffering the most, we touched concretely that which Jesus repeats to us even today: “you did it to me”». And, on behalf of the whole Focolare community of Nigeria, they would like to convey to us their gratitude for the prayers and support that has reached them in many ways, «above all in this moment, and also before and after the presidential and legislative elections».
