30 May 2017 | Non categorizzato
The Jewish year is marked by various anniversaries that recall the events that followed the creation and history of the Jews. Shavuot begins at sunset on Tuesday, May 30th and – outside Israel – ends at dusk on June 1st. It is a most important feast that recalls the gift of the Torah on Mount Sinai, the greatest gift given by God to the Jewish People more than three thousand years ago. The name “Shavuot” means “weeks” and refers to the weeks spent in waiting before the Sinai experience, beginning with Passover, leaving Egypt and the Lord’s miracles to free the children of Israel. Shavuot is the less significant of the three Jewish pilgrimages – Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot/Tabernacles – but more important than Hanukkah or Purim.
29 May 2017 | Non categorizzato
“Yesterday’s breeze brushed the hair and faces of both kids and adults, a colorful slice of humanity saying yes to life and no to the merchants of death. After years of existing in isolation, many groups and organizations came together to start again, in the hope of a visible fraternity.” So read the press release the day after the peace march from its promoters – Focolare, Amnesty International, Oxfam, Fondazione Banca Etica, Opal Brescia, Rete Italiana per il Disarmo – with the support of Comboni missionary Alex Zanotelli. The campaign against arms dealing between Italy and war-torn countries began on March 7, 2017 in Sardinia. The initiative was also part of the worldwide event Run4Unity, promoted by the Young for Unity. Run4Unity takes place each year on the first Sunday of May throughout the globe, during World Unity Week. Arnaldo Scarpa, part of the Focolare Movement in Iglesias and spokesperson for the RWM Conversion Committee together with Cinzia Guaita, explains how the project began. “For many years, there has been a factory in the Domusnovas and Iglesias area whose original work was to produce explosives for nearby mines. Unfortunately the mines were decommissioned, and the factory was converted using public money to produce military equipment. This was then bought and transformed by RWM, a German multinational that produces weapons that are then exported to Saudi Arabia. “So from our country, Italy, arms go out to the ‘pieces of World War III.’ The laws of both countries, Italy and Germany, are quite clear: Law 185/90 in fact prohibits the Italian government to sell arms to countries at war or who do not respect human rights. Yet there has been a continual increase (59%) in Italian exports to North African and Middle Eastern countries in particular. In 2016, RWM’s production rose to almost 22,000, a jump of 1,466%.” At Domusnovas, like in many areas of the island, the main challenge is jobs. “We understood,” Arnaldo continues, “that even our consciences could fall asleep, confused by the general silence, having become groggy from the tragedy of unemployment. Those of us who are committed to living fraternity certainly support the workers, yet we also support the children, teens and adults in Yemen who are killed by what is produced here. Our project has required that we be more courageous than we had ever been in our lives, for many reasons, but it’s already encouraging that there are many people with us who have different backgrounds and ideas.” A positive outcome from the project has been the establishment of the RWM Conversion Committee, to keep the focus on the issue and block the extension of the factory. The area there has natural, environmental and archeological value. There is also the ethical dilemma: some have chosen to not accept work at this factory, even though they are unemployed, while others working inside experience serious crises of conscience. The next step is therefore to lay the foundations for common work on the project, to convert the factory and develop the area differently. Important contacts with entrepreneurs, architects, academics, legal experts, institutions, associations and employee representatives have begun. What is above all essential is that there be a specific political choice at all levels of government. To sign the petition for the Italian president, click here.
29 May 2017 | Non categorizzato, Word of
for ages 4-8 | for ages 9-17 | MP3 Audio | Print
In the days following Jesus’ crucifixion, his disciples stayed indoors, fearful and confused. They had followed him along the roads of Palestine, where he proclaimed God’s tender love for each person. Jesus had been sent by the Father, not only to give witness to this love, but also to open for humanity the path to God. He revealed a God who is Trinity, who is a communion of love in himself, and who wants to gather all into this embrace. During the time of his mission, many people saw, heard and experienced Jesus’ good works, his words of welcome, forgiveness and hope … But then came his condemnation and crucifixion. This is the context in St John’s Gospel, where we are told how after he rose again on the third day Jesus appeared to his disciples and sent them out to continue his mission. “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” It is as if he said, “Do you remember how I shared my life with you? How I satisfied your hunger and thirst for justice and for peace? How I healed the hearts and bodies of so many marginalized people, the outcasts of society? How I defended the dignity of the poor, widows and foreigners? Now you must continue: proclaim the Gospel you have received to everyone. Tell them that God wishes to be met and known by all. Tell them that you are all brothers and sisters.” Each person, created in the image and likeness of God who is love, longs for this encounter. All cultures and societies strive to build relationships of community. But how challenging it is, how many difficulties and obstacles there are to reaching this goal! Every day this deep aspiration runs up against our weakness, our narrowmindedness and fears, our mistrust and judgement of each other. Yet the Lord, with great trust, goes on saying to us as he did in the past: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” How can we respond to such a bold invitation? Doesn’t the mission of creating fraternity in a fractured world seem like fighting a losing battle? On our own we will never make it. That is why Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit, as a special gift who sustains our efforts to love each person, even if that person is an enemy. In a Word of Life meditation from 1994, Focolare founder Chiara Lubich wrote, “The Holy Spirit, given to us through baptism … is the spirit of love and unity, who made all believers one in the risen Lord and with one another, overcoming every difference of race, culture and social class … Our selfishness builds barriers of isolation and excludes those who are different from us … So, by listening to the Holy Spirit’s voice, let us try to grow in this fellowship … overcoming the seeds of division carried within us.” With the Holy Spirit’s help this month, every time we interact with others, no matter what it is, let us too remember and practice the words of love: welcome, listen, empathize, dialogue, encourage, include, care, forgive, appreciate someone … In this way, we accept Jesus’ invitation to continue his mission, and we will be channels of the life he gave us. This was the experience of a group of Buddhist monks visiting the international town of Loppiano, Italy, where its 800 inhabitants try to live the Gospel faithfully. They were deeply touched by experiencing Gospel love for the first time. In 1998, Chiara remembered how one of them said: “I put my dusty shoes outside the door; in the morning I found them clean. I put my dirty clothes outside the door; in the morning, I found them washed and ironed. Others knew that I was cold, because I was from Southeast Asia; they raised the temperature and brought me blankets … One day, I asked, ‘Why are you doing this?’ ‘Because we love you, because we love you very much,’ was the answer.’ This experience paved the way for genuine dialogue between Buddhists and Christians. Letizia Magri _____________________________________________ Each month the Focolare offers a Scripture passage as a guide and inspiration for daily living. Focolare’s founder, Chiara Lubich (1920–2008), wrote these commentaries for many years. Now an international commission continues this tradition, faithful to her spirituality of unity. Letizia Magri, an expert in marriage and family from the John Paul II Institute in Rome, is head of this commission and part of the Focolare’s center for the family. 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 Holy Spirit, the Unknown God,” Essential Writings, New City Press: Hyde Park, New York, 2007, pp. 143–149. Lubich, Chiara. “God is love,” The Art of Loving. New City Press: Hyde Park, New York, 2010, pp. 25–31.
28 May 2017 | Non categorizzato
“As they looked at him, He was lifted upward, and a cloud hid Him from their eyes” (Acts of the Apostles). The event known as The Ascension, that is, the Transfiguration and passage of Jesus into the kingdom of glory, concludes the visible permanence of God among men. It is a prelude to Pentecost and marks the beginning of Church history. The episode, described by the Gospels of Mark and Luke, and in the Acts of the Apostles, is a very ancient celebration documented since the 4th century. For the Catholic Church and the Protestant Churches, The Ascension is celebrated 40 days after Easter (in the Gregorian calendar, the feast fell on Thursday 25 May). In the Orthodox Church, it is one of the 12 main feasts, and this year it coincides with the Catholic feast.
28 May 2017 | Non categorizzato
Tax payments “We were expecting our third son. The little money we had saved up suddenly disappeared because of the unfavorable bank exchange rates, and the banks were beginning to stop lending. One day, out of the blue, we were informed that we had to pay a huge amount of taxes. Where would we find the money when we were barely surviving on what little money we had? We entrusted ourselves to God, to the Father who never abandons his children. Then we went to ask for help from the city hall and … surprise! We were the only ones who were given the opportunity of receiving financial assistance.” X. A.- Croatia Sales representative “I work as a book representative. At my first exhibition I didn’t sell anything. The second time was the same. The third time was even worse: there was no room in the meeting hall and I had to content myself with a bad location downstairs, far from where the people gathered during breaks. There was no lift, so I had to transport the boxes in arms, sweating because of the incredible heat. Meanwhile I caught myself saying: ‘Who’s making you do this?’ Passing a chapel, I stopped in to vent with Jesus, who seemed to say to me from the tabernacle: ‘What are you doing?’ ‘God’s will,’ was my answer. ‘Well, relax then and I’ll take care of it now.’ I had to use chairs at the exhibit because there were no tables. A priest walked by and noticed a volume of a volume from a set of encyclopedias on the Saints. He exclaimed: ‘It’s not possible! I’ve been looking for that for years!’ He bought it and, after that, I didn’t stop selling.” Marta – Italy Be like a father “My father left my mother before I was born. I suffered because of his absence and never forgave him for going away. When I was around 17 years old I went looking for him, hoping to renew a relationship that never really existed. Unfortunately I was met by indifference, and his relationship with his wife wasn’t going well either. During that period I got to know young people who were living the Gospel and, through them, I got to know God better. Later, during my university studies, I began to work on a social project that put me in contact with abandoned children. The pain I had gone through had made me more sensible to the pain of others in whom I tried to love Jesus. Little by little, I became a reference point for many of those little ones, to the point that they started calling me Papa. As for the relationship with my father, it’s still a challenge: I try to see him with new eyes every time, always taking the first step.” J. L. – Brazil
