Dec 28, 2016 | Focolare Worldwide, Senza categoria
Rocco Femia, Director of the Radici cultural magazine
Fifty artists performed for free, confirming the strong sympathy is being felt for those who have suffered great loss. Artists included the OCCITANIA Chamber Music Ensemble, with music of Bach; the popular Italian song group, Incanto, which travels around the world with its musical titled ITALIANI, when we were the immigrants; The DALTIN Trio; Vicente and Rafael PRADAL from Spain; flemenco virtuoso guitarist Kiko Ruiz; the NACCARATO Jazz Trio; mandolin player Julien Martineau; the musical poems of the great Faber, performed by the Fabrizio DE ANDRÈ Band; the unforgettable music from the Italian films and the great finale and standing ovation for Cécile LIMAL who led La vita è bella… by Roberto Benigni. The music alternated with lively presentations by Rocco Femia, Director of RADICI magazine and by television journalists Marina Lorenzo and Patrick Noviello. In his thank-you speech, the director of RADICI did not want to forget anyone, conscious of the deep personal commitment of each person to the success of the event: from the technical crew to the artistic director, to the sound director, to the lights. Then there were the Deputy Mayor Francis Grass, the Italian Console to Toulouse, Fabrizio Mazza, the sponsors, benefactors, the media, and so on. Everyone “won the battle” together. And that is what I experienced as I shared a supper with the artists and technical staff after the concert. There is a strong bond among us, comprised of mutual trust, esteem, shared talent and solidarity – and a strong desire to make the world a more beautiful place. And I joyfully realized that this bond also included me and UWP. So, I wouldn’t be surprised if I discover that what I just experienced is only the beginning of a long and beneficial relationship of collaboration. In fact, when presenting the United World Project (UWP) during the concert, Rocco Femia highlighted the slogan of the RImPresa Project, to sum up what everyone seemed to be feeling: Hope vibrates; the future isn’t trembling.” Gustavo Clariá
Dec 28, 2016 | Non categorizzato, Word of
A group of primary school children in Rome tried to put this Word of Life into practice: “Yesterday evening my mother and I went out for a meal with one of my Mum’s friends. I ordered a side dish with the meal, and then I wanted something for dessert. My mother said no. I was about to be angry, but I remembered that Jesus was in my mother so I just smiled instead.” “I went home after a tiring day. While I was watching television my brother took the remote control from me. I was very angry with him, but then I calmed down and let him watch TV.” “Today I answered back angrily when my father spoke to me. I saw that he was not happy about this, so I said sorry, and he forgave me.” Although there may not have been an exact link between the experiences these children told and the Word of Life they were living at the time, the push to love is itself the fruit of the Gospel put into practice. Any Word of Life we set out to live has the same effect. It changes our lives and puts the desire to be attentive to other people’s needs into our hearts, enabling us to be at the service of our brothers and sisters. It could not be otherwise: welcoming the Word and living it gives life to Jesus in us and helps us to act like him. This is what Paul is saying in this letter to the Corinthians. What urged St Paul to announce the Gospel and dedicate himself to the unity of his communities was the deep experience he had had with Jesus. He had felt loved and saved by Jesus, who had entered into his life to the point that nothing and no one could separate him from Jesus again. It was no longer he who lived, because Jesus lived in him. The thought that the Lord had loved him to the point of giving his life astounded Paul and stirred him into action. Its irresistible power urged him to do the same thing with the same love. Does the love of Christ urge us on with the same zeal? If we have truly experienced his love, we cannot fail to love in turn and courageously enter places where there is division, conflict and hatred so as to bring agreement, peace and unity. Love enables us to bring love beyond all obstacles, so as to create real connections with people, through understanding and sharing, and to find solutions together. It is not a question of choosing this or not. Unity must be pursued at all costs, without letting ourselves be hindered by false prudence, by difficulties or by potential clashes. Such an approach is urgently needed above all in ecumenism. This Word of Life has been chosen for this month in which we celebrate the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. It can be lived together by Christians from different churches and communities so that we will all feel urged on by the love of Christ to seek each other out so as to re- establish unity. When Chiara Lubich spoke at the opening of the Second Ecumenical European Assembly at Graz, Austria on June 23, 1997, she affirmed, “An authentic Christian who wants reconciliation is someone who knows how to love others with God’s own charity, which makes us see Christ in each person, a charity that goes out towards all people (Jesus died for the whole human race). This charity always takes the initiative and enables us to love each person as ourselves, making us one with our brothers and sisters: in sufferings, joys, etc. The Churches too should love with this love.” May we too live the radicality of love with the simplicity and seriousness of those schoolchildren in Rome.
Fr. Fabio Ciardi, OMI
Each month the Focolare offers a Scripture passage as a guide and inspiration for daily living. Ever since the Focolare’s earliest years, founder Chiara Lubich (1920– 2008) wrote her own commentaries each month. Now Fr. Fabio Ciardi, OMI, theologian and close collaborator of Lubich, heads a group of scripture experts who have been entrusted with the task of writing the Word of Life commentaries, reflecting her thoughts and her spirituality of unity. This Word of Life is translated into 96 different languages and reaches several million people worldwide through the media. This monthly leaflet is also a supplement to Living City, the Focolare magazine (livingcitymagazine.com). For information and to subscribe to this leaflet or to the magazine, write to: Living City, 202 Comforter Blvd, Hyde Park, NY 12538; tel: 845-229-0496; e-mail: livingcity@livingcitymagazine.com. Visit focolare.org (international) or focolare.us (U.S.). © 2017 by Living City of the Focolare Movement, Inc. Read more: Lubich, Chiara. The Art of Loving. New City Press: Hyde Park, New York, 2010. Lubich, Chiara. “False Prudence,” Meditations. New City Press: Hyde Park, New York, 2005, p.33.
