Oct 28, 2016 | Non categorizzato
In jail “I had some problems with this guy and both of us ended up in jail. We were enemies and there was no room for any understanding between us. But when I learned a bit more about Jesus’s teaching on love, I thought about this ‘enemy’ of mine. How could I love him? The thought came to my mind that I could share some of the food that my family brings to me, because none of his family members ever brought food to him. We’re good friends now. Another experience regards the only food container I owned. It was stolen from me and I knew who did it. I went to that person, but he refused to give it back. I didn’t know what to do. I went back to my cell and read the Gospel which is always my point of reference now. I came across the New Commandment. There’s the answer! Right away with all my heart I decided to never think about that food container again. Loving is more important.” (D. J. – Nigeria) The Coffee Maker “We all use the coffee maker at work, but no one ever cleans it and sets it up again. They’re used to having me do that. One day one of my colleagues approached me after a cup of coffee. She asked why I was always so benevolent towards others. I told her it wasn’t so much trouble and that I was the only one who could do it for them. She answered: ‘You’re telling me something important. I always complain that my husband leaves a mess after himself and I should rather begin to do what he doesn’t.’ From then on there was a higher atmosphere at work.” (R. C. – Spain) That son we didn’t know “We were always able to talk and offer moral support to our first son. But with his brother who had a strong character it had always been difficult. Having a teenage boy who didn’t want to communicate created a bad feeling in all of us. Then, he didn’t try at school and teachers were always complaining. My husband and I looked for a common way for us to reach our son. We encouraged each other in loving him as he was, always highlighting his positive qualities even though he seemed like someone we didn’t know. Meanwhile we continued to pray and to knock on Heaven’s door so that God might guide us in the difficult task of parenting. Then came an idea: change school. It worked! Ever since then our son has changed in a positive way. He’s always willing to help out in the house. He’s doing quite well in school and has gone back to church. We’re all enjoying a breath of fresh air.” (B.S. – Switzerland)
Oct 28, 2016 | Non categorizzato, Word of
https://www.focolare.org/gb/files/2016/10/2016-11.mp3
We can learn Paul’s secret. We can do all things when we discover the constant presence of Jesus in our lives and work in partnership with him. There are moments when we feel happy, full of strength and everything seems light and easy. At other times we are afflicted by difficulties that make our days bitter. These can be the result of tiny failures in loving the people around us or our inability to share our ideal of life with others. Or we can be hit by illness, money troubles, family problems, inner doubts or trials, loss of work, the effects of war, which crush us and seem to have no let-up. What is especially burdensome in these things is feeling ourselves forced to face the trials of life alone, without support from someone who can give us the crucial help we need. Few people like Paul have experienced such intense joys and pain, successes and lack of understanding. And yet confronting all risks he managed to carry on with his mission, without giving in to discouragement. Was he a superhero? No, he felt himself weak, fragile, inadequate, but he had a secret, one he shared with his friends in Philippi: ‘I can do all things through him who strengthens me.’ In his own life he had discovered the constant presence of Jesus. Even when everyone had forsaken him, Paul did not feel alone. Jesus stayed close by. He it was who gave Paul security and urged him to go on, to face every hardship. Paul’s secret could be ours too. I can do all things when I too recognize and welcome in my pain the mysterious closeness of Jesus who almost identifies himself with my suffering, taking it upon himself. I can do all things when I live in a communion of love with others, because He comes into our midst, just as he promised (see Mt 18:20), and I am supported by the strength of unity. I can do all things when I welcome and put into practice the words of the Gospel; they make me perceive the road I am called to follow day by day, teaching me how to live and giving me confidence. I will have the strength to face not only my personal trials, or those of my family, but also those of the world around me. So appalling are the problems of society and the nations, that this could seem naïve, something utopic, and yet it is true that ‘all things’ are possible for us with the presence of the Omnipotent – ‘all things’ and only things, that are the good which He, in his merciful love, has decided for me and for others through me. And if these things do not come about immediately, we can carry on believing and hoping in God’s plan of love that spans eternity and will be fulfilled anyway. All we have to do is work in ‘partnership’, as Chiara Lubich taught: ‘“This may be a case when I can do nothing for that person who is sick or in danger, or for that complicated situation… Well then, I will do what God wants of me in this moment: study well, sweep well, pray well, take care of my children well… And God will see to the untangling of that knot, comforting the one who is suffering, sorting out that unexpected event.” It is a work in a partnership of perfect communion, which demands from us great faith in God’s love for his children and which makes it possible, through our action, for God himself to have trust in us. This mutual confidence works miracles. We will see that what we could not do, Someone else has done, and has done it far better than us.’1
Fabio Ciardi
1 Chiara Lubich, Yes Yes No No (London: New City, 1977), pp. 113-14 (translation revised). for ages 4-8 | for ages 9-14 | for ages 15-17 | MP3 Audio
