Focolare Movement
Prevention of Abuse
Media Area
Contacts
Non categorizzato

Love at the service of others

Aug 31, 2020

In many countries, restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic have also put a stop to all forms of religious gatherings for worship and prayer. However, believers' desire to spend time with God has not diminished. What can we do? This reflection by Chiara Lubich offers an innovative solution.

In many countries, restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic have also put a stop to all forms of religious gatherings for worship and prayer. However, believers’ desire to spend time with God has not diminished. What can we do? This reflection by Chiara Lubich offers an innovative solution. “And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Mt 28:20). … Jesus said these words to the disciples … (but) he was also thinking of all of us who, day after day, are living somewhat complex lives. Given that Jesus is Love incarnate, he might have thought: I’d like to be with them always, to share all their worries and give them advice; I’d like to walk down their streets with them, enter their homes and rekindle their joy with my presence. That is why he wanted to stay with us so that we can feel his nearness, his strength and his love. … If we live out what he commands, especially his new commandment, we can experience his presence even outside the walls of our churches, in the midst of a crowd, wherever there is this living presence of his, everywhere. What is asked of us is mutual love, which is made up of service and understanding, of sharing in the sufferings, anxieties and joys of our brothers and sisters. This love endures everything, forgives everything and is typical of Christianity. Let’s live like this so that everyone may have the opportunity to meet him already on this earth.

                                                                                              Chiara Lubich

Taken from the Word of Life for May 2002

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe to Newsletter

Thought of the day

Related post

Chiara Lubich: “Do you know where we are?”

Chiara Lubich: “Do you know where we are?”

Jul 15, 2026

It is the 16th of July 1949. Chiara Lubich is in Tonadico, in the Dolomite Mountains in northern Italy, for a period of rest together with some of her first companions. They are joined there by the Honourable Igino Giordani, whom Chiara called Foco. On that day, Chiara and Foco sealed a Pact of unity, a prelude to the spiritual and mystical experience that Chiara would live between 1949 and 1951. This period is known as “Paradise ’49”, the writings from which have recently been published in a book (for now in Italian). In the introduction to the book, the theologian Piero Coda offers some insights “For a theological reading” of the text. Here is an extract, relating specifically to the Pact of the 16th of July, together with a short video of Chiara Lubich from 20 December 1999, in which she shares this experience of light with the Gen, the young people of the Focolare Movement.

Living the Gospel: from seed to fruit

Living the Gospel: from seed to fruit

Jul 8, 2026

The Word of God is like a seed which bears fruit when received with an open heart and perseverance and when with it, we manage to overcome difficulties. Jesus invites us not only to listen to it and understand it, but above all to live it concretely every day. By living His Word, we allow Christ to transform the way we think and act, making our lives and the lives of others, fruitful.