![In Cyprus, the presentation of Chiara Lubich’s writings in Greek]()
29 Nov 2014 | Non categorizzato
«Knowing how to lose» is a “shocking absurdity.” This was how Archimandrite Chrysostomos, Metropolitan of Kyrenia, defined the title of one of the first volumes of Chiara Lubich translated into Greek, and presented to the public in Nicosia, last 31 October. Shocking and perplexing because «in life we all want to win, but in effect the life of a Christian is full of paradoxes, martyrdom and testimonials. Chiara manages, with simple words to explore this mystery and help us to live it in our daily lives.» The Metropolitan of Kyrenia sponsored the soiree for the book’s presentation, during which the Catholic-Maronite Archbishop Youssef Soueif and Fr. Dimostenis, Orthodox priest, also spoke. The Italian Ambassador to Cyprus, Guido Cerboni, was one of the 80 participants.
In their speeches, the Metropolitan and the Archbishop expressed their great joy in taking this occasion to present Cypriot branch of the Focolare Movement in a more official manner,. This joy was shared by many others who had already known the Focolari for years. Retracing the historical developments of the encounter between Pope Paul and Athenagoras revived in all, a new awareness of the path undertaken by the Christian Churches towards a visible unity.
«Chiara’s message is an encouragement to the world which tends to withdraw into itself, Archbishop Youssef Soueif stressed. She calls attention to a unity which strengthens the determination to open up to one another… for us here in Cyprus, the appeal to unity is a common responsibility.» And in a personal conversation, concluded the evening saying, «Your charism brings an internal attitude of going towards the others, a dialogue which we urgently need today, here in the Middle East.» He considered this encounter a symbolic step towards communion between the two churches: «we really need events like this!»
Florence Gillet gave a much appreciated speech on the close relationship between the thoughts of Chiara Lubich and the valuable teachings of the Fathers of the Eastern Church.
A particularly touching moment occurred when Lina, a Cypriot who for many years has lead the small Focolare community on the Island, related her experience. Through the charism of unity, she rediscovered God who is love and a Father, and this pushed her to deepen her knowledge of her Greek-Orthodox Church, and return to the sacraments. “By living the Gospel I found a new relationship with the Fathers of the Church and their teachings, which I knew little about. But I found myself experiencing what St. John Chrysostom says: “When I see my brother, I see my God.”
28 Nov 2014 | Non categorizzato, Word of
In this period of Advent, our time of preparation for Christmas, the figure of John the Baptist comes into light once again. He was sent by God to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah. To those crowding around to hear him, he strongly urged a change in their lives: ‘Bear fruits worthy of repentance’ (Lk 3:8). And to those who asked: ‘What then should we do?’ (Lk 3:10), he replied:
‘Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.’
Why should I give what is mine to another? Since we were both created by God, the other person is my brother, my sister; therefore, he or she is part of me. ‘I cannot hurt you without harming myself,’ Gandhi once said. We were created as a gift for one another, in the image of God who is Love. We have the divine law of love in our blood. When he came among us, Jesus explained it very clearly in his new commandment: ‘Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another’ (Jn 13:34). It is the ‘law of heaven’, the life of the Holy Trinity brought down on earth, the heart of the Gospel. As the Father, Son and Holy Spirit live in full communion in heaven, to the point of being one (see Jn 17:11), we on earth are truly ourselves to the extent that we live the reciprocity of love. And just as the Son says to the Father: ‘All that is mine is yours, and what is yours is mine’ (Jn 17:10), so too our love reaches fulfilment when we share with one another not only spiritual goods, but also material goods.
The needs of our neighbour are the needs of all of us. Is someone unemployed? I am unemployed. Is someone’s mother sick? I help her as if she were my own. Are there others who are hungry? It’s as if I myself were hungry and I try to find food for them as I would for myself.
This is the experience of the first Christians in Jerusalem: ‘The whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common’ (Acts 4:32). This communion of goods was not obligatory, and yet they practised it intensely. As the apostle Paul explained it was not a matter of making someone go without so as to give relief to others but of ‘a fair balance’ (2 Cor 8:13).
Basil the Great says: ‘The bread you set aside belongs to the hungry; the coat you store in your chest belongs to the naked; the money you keep hidden belongs to the needy.’
And Augustine says: ‘The surplus of the rich belongs to the poor.’
‘Even the poor can help one another. One can offer legs to the other, another eyes to guide the blind, and another can visit the sick.’
‘Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.’
Today too we can live like the early Christians. The Gospel is not a never-never land. This is shown, for example, by the new ecclesial Movements. The Holy Spirit has given rise to them in the Church to help revive, in all its freshness, the passionate gospel-based drive of the early Christians and to respond to the huge challenges of present society where there is such great injustice and poverty.
I remember that in the early days of the Focolare Movement the new charism filled our hearts with an exceptionally powerful love for the poor. Whenever we came across people in poverty, we wrote down their addresses in a notebook so that we could visit them later and help them. They were Jesus: ‘You did it to me’ (Mt 25:40). After visiting them in the run-down places they lived, we invited them to share a meal with us. For them we got out our best tablecloth, our best cutlery, the tastiest food. All around the table, in that first focolare, sat a focolarina then someone poor, a focolarina then someone poor…
At one point it seemed to us that the Lord was asking us in particular to become poor so as to serve both the poor and everyone else as well. There, in the living room of that first focolare house, each one put in a pile on the floor whatever she felt was extra: an overcoat, a pair of gloves, a hat, even a fur coat… And today, in order to give to the poor, we have businesses that give employment and their profits to share out!
But there is still a great deal to do to help ‘the poor.’
‘Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.’
We might not realize it, but we have many riches that we can put into common with others. We have our sensitivity that we need to sharpen and things we need to learn so that we can help concretely, can find out how to live real fr
![In Cyprus, the presentation of Chiara Lubich’s writings in Greek]()
28 Nov 2014 | Non categorizzato
We know that Chiara Lubich had a privileged relationship with Athenagoras, former Patriarch of Constantinople. A few day before the historical trip of Pope Montini to Istanbul, Chiara had gone to visit the Patriarch. Vatican Radio interviewed her on July 18, 1967:
What are your first impressions from your recent encounter with Patriarch Athenagoras?
”As soon as I found myself in the presence of this great person of our times, I had the impression of having before me the completely open heart of a father. He was a father who loves people and even in his venerable age, he presents a youthful, fresh spirit, rich of the greatest hope and faith.
My first impression was not that of finding myself before a non-Catholic brother, but finding a soul as if we were already of the same reality.
Throughout the whole conversation he always showed the highest appreciation for the Holy Father Paul VI. I had the impression that he follows all the events of the Catholic Church with extreme attention and veneration, especially the activities of the Holy Father.
After your recent conversation with Athenagoras, what do you think of the forthcoming meeting between Pope Paul VI and the Patriarch?
Given the deep belief of Athenagoras in the charity towards Christ and towards his brothers and sisters as the core of Christianity, I think that the act of the Holy Father to anticipate the visit of the Patriarch to Rome, is the best gesture to show that the Catholic Church is the Church of love, where the Pope, the successor of Peter, is the one who loves the most.
Do you therefore also think that there will be positive prospects and expectations after this encounter?
I think that Patriarch Athenagoras will manifest his conviction that love is the way to reach unity in the truth. This is the way that the Holy Father Paul VI also indicated in a recent talk addressed to a group of Orthodox students.
They have similar viewpoints concerning the way to reach unity, so we can hope that the Holy Father and Athenagoras may find very effective solutions to start theological dialogues and I think that with this atmosphere we can hope for everything.
On the other hand the figure of this great patriarch, like a prophet standing up with his faith and love for Constantinople, cannot but have a great influence on the Orthodox world, which he himself will visit soon before reaching Rome.
Could you tell us how the vision of Patriarch Athenagoras on the ecumenical problem was expressed during your conversation?
The ecumenical vision of the Patriarch, whose humility and holiness are visible from his every attitude and word, was clear in the last part of the long conversation, when he spoke to us about his recent Easter message. “I have the habit of publishing a message every Easter,” he explained. “The last one said: ‘The first ten centuries of Christianity were for the dogmas and the organization; the next ten centuries saw misfortunes, schisms and the division. The third era – this one – is the era of love. We meet in the same chalice through this way of charity. Of course,” he continued, “we need theologians, but the differences are too small and faded by the sun of love. The differences have lost their colour thanks to the sun of charity. In the first thousand years we lived in communion; then we separated.’” Therefore, referring to the recent annulment of the reciprocal excommunications by the Catholic and Orthodox churches, he affirmed: “Now the schism is gone; why don’t we return to the same chalice? We believe that we have the same Mother, the Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, as the Pope said; we have the same baptism: the door of the Church. Tell me: why don’t we return to the same chalice?”
![In Cyprus, the presentation of Chiara Lubich’s writings in Greek]()
25 Nov 2014 | Non categorizzato
Situated just a few kilometres from Postojna, in Slovenia, a crossroads between Eastern and Western Europe, today Planina is a tourist destination with stunning scenery, but with a history behind it of the tragedy experienced in Europe with the millions of dead of the two world wars. The horror of the war is well portrayed, for example, in some of the works by the Slovenian artist Ivan Rupnik, in particular his ‘mosaics in the woods’ situated on the site of some mass graves.
With this historical consciousness as a backdrop, the three days spent together by the “Friends of Together for Europe” took on a new significance of European reconciliation, being prepared to face painful wounds some of which are still open: and this highlighted the relationship of mutual love at work between Christians of different denominations and origins.
There were 14 European countries represented, from Portugal to Russia, from Sweden to Croatia. A commitment to a reconciled Europe was the common denominator, in the belief that 500 years of separation between the Churches is ‘sufficient’ and that it is time to fulfil the dream of the founding fathers of the European Union, building ‘brotherhood’ between peoples.
The conference programme focused mainly on preparing a major event scheduled for 2016, in Munich, in Bavaria, with the desire to offer religious and civil society a powerful witness of a reconciliation that has been achieved, that is visible, the fruit of knowledge, esteem and collaboration in many common social initiatives, and which has grown over the years, starting from 2002, when the experience of Together for Europe began.
The 108 participants, from 41 movements and communities of various Churches have expressed a genuine ‘passion’ for unity and a full commitment to the project, showing a willingness to share ideas, responsibilities and organizational burdens.
“Beside the ever new surprise and joy for the progress made – writes one of the participants – which is evident in the great ability to listen and of mutual acceptance, there was a general enthusiasm and belief that, with the help of God and ‘together’ it is possible to work towards bringing about the ‘dream’ of a Europe without divisions, that has found again its roots and which could even be a model for other continents.”
![In Cyprus, the presentation of Chiara Lubich’s writings in Greek]()
24 Nov 2014 | Non categorizzato
«To create a network of women, going beyond the diversity of religion and culture; to make an in-depth study of the sacred texts so as to regain the place of the woman in today’s society; and to promote interreligious dialogue with a more human dimension»; here are some of the conclusions of the International Symposium that took place last November 12 and 13, in Rabat, the capital of Morocco.
Organized by the Centre for Women’s Studies in Islam, affiliated with the Moroccan Council of Ulama, the meeting took place within the framework of the Strategic Dialogue between Morocco and the United Staes under the patronage of King Mohammed VI.
Around a hundred experts were present coming from 25 nations, the majority of whome were Muslim, but there were also some Christians and Jews, all of them scholars and involved in the juridical field and in organizations working for women’s rights.
The meeting, entitled “Women at the heart of the monotheisms: a pluralist history”, tackled the important contribution of women in interreligious dialogue, where often their voice has remained marginilized.
The meeting started with a presentation of the role of the woman in the history of the three monotheistic religions. And therefore, the importance of starting from the sacred texts was underlined instead of the logics of the split, with the objective of finding once more the dignity of the woman, aiming for a greater equality between man and woman, both on the spiritual, as well as moral and social levels. From this point, the correct interpretation of the texts on the female person was seen as necessary since it was often conditioned by the customs of the times and by other factors: political, economical and social.
Christina Lee, co-responsible for interreligious dialogue of the Focolare Movement, presented the experience, in interreligious dialogue, of the Focolare Movement founded by a woman, Chiara Lubich. She spoke of the “feminine genius” – as John Paul II defined it – which is the ability of women to live for others, to take care of the others and to connect relationships among people. This vision was appreciated for its depth, for its spirituality and for its future prospects.
There were other important interventions on the various forms of dialogue being carried out by women of today with their difficulties, hopes and testimonies. Professor Aicha Hajjami of Morocco asked why in many Islamic nations unjust laws towards women still exist. «It is a situation that calls for a profound reflection – she added – on how to be able to modify such laws with values supported by Islam». Yolande Iliano, president of the Religions for Peace Europe, gave her testimony on how feminine sensitivity gives rise to collective interreligious involvement on a social and political level.
The presence of the youth was not lacking with their experiences and expectations, that highlighted the crucial role that the woman plays in building the unity of the human family. Just as Prof. Asma Lamrabet, diretor of the Study Center, affirmed «the symposium was already a reality and a challenge, and no longer just a dream».
