![Living the Gospel by serving]()
19 Sep 2014 | Non categorizzato
Gambling “Every time my husband gambled there was an argument in the house. Thanks to the relationships I had built with the people at the community centre where I do the cleaning, I would return home with some new strength for facing problems. One day a group was reading the Gospel and talking about loving their enemies. I thought of my husband and how I was always arguing with him, so I tried to have a different view towards him. As months went by something also changed in him. One day he found himself in a fight over the game. He was about to kill his adversary when that small change that had begun in him prevented him from doing it. Since he didn’t want to be living a double life, he also gave up gambling.” A.R.- Philippines Waiting for retirement “As I wait for my retirement letter, I’m gradually handing things over to my colleagues. I’m nearly finished and the letter hasn’t arrived and I don’t really have any specific work to do. What to do? Every day I have to invent some new job: first it’s taking care of those old papers that I never had time to look at; then there are those situatioins that were left hanging until I could speak to people in other offices. . . Then there was that colleague who had to stay home with her sick children. When she returned I helped her to catch up with her work. In other words, there’s never a lack of things to do and the time left before retirement isn’t a time of rest, but an opportunity to live every moment well. I remember the period, just after I began working, when I discovered that the words of the Gospel could not only be read and examined, but lived, and this gave meaning to everything I did. Now I feel that the same enthusiasm should accompany me in this new period of my life.” E.P.-Italy Free of charge Where we live money seems to be the most important thing in most families, often taking the place of more genuine values. But for those who believe in the Gospel and strive to live it, initiatives are born that no one would ever have imagined. For example, when our family group was asked to be involved in volunteer service, to contribute to the construction of a rehabilitatioin centre for the handicapped, the offer was enthusiastically accepted by all. We began by uprooting plants and cutting grass to prepare the terrain. The people in the area were surprised to see us working so hard and free of charge. Doing things free of charge is practically unheard of, since we have always been so accustomed to receiving.” A. C.-Democratic Republic of Congo
![Living the Gospel by serving]()
18 Sep 2014 | Non categorizzato
“Next Sunday, with God’s help I shall visit Albania. I decided to visit this country which has usffered so much due to a terrible atheist regime and which is now creating a peaceful coexistence between its various religious components (…) I ask you all to accompany me with your prayers (…)”. Pope Francis reminded the faithful of his apostolic journey on 21September during the Wednesday audience, and with these words summarised the dual purpose of the “flash visit:” remembrance and dialogue, in a country which after 50 years of a painful dictatorship is now living a fruitful season of dialogue and interreligious cooperation, albeit in serious social and economic conditions of poverty and unemployment. The Catholic and Orthodox minorities (which together constitute about 26% of the population, besides a big group of various evangelical Churches) maintain good ecumenical relationships between themselves and with the Muslim majority. Because of this the Pope wishes to help the Church and humanity reflect on this successful interreligious cooperation while terror and violence continue to rage in the Middle East. Also in Albania there is a Focolari community which is actively involved in the preparations for this visit, with great joy and expectation. There are about 200 people of all ages and vocations. There are Catholics, Orthodox and also Muslim members, many of whom, are young, and who attended the Mariapolis, the typical annual gathering of the Focolari. “Recentely the community undertook ecologic activities, an aspect which is disregarded in our country, – of the focolarine un Tirana said. We are trying to communicate a culture of respect for the environment. During the last Mariapolis held in a city by the sea, we dedicated half a day to the clearing of the beach, On another occasion we cleaned a big park in the capital and repainted the garbage bins in another green area.” 
Also the New Families Movement and the Youth for Unity supported us from afar with around 60 children with the Schoolmates campaign, which paid for the studies of a group of young boys and girls. “The Pontiff’s arrival is a historic event for our country –Nikoleta explained, – and we are infinitely grateful for having chosen usa s the first among the Balkan countries. He is coming to strengthen our faith in the Albanese Church and the message of peace which is an expression of his support, is of utmost importance for all of us. Reegjina referred that this month there has been a great preparation in the parishes and communities with meetings to help us get to go in depth in Pope Francis’ ideas, and moments of prayer and collection of financial contributions to support the event. We each gave whatever we could. Donika, a freelance journalist, affirmed that this visit is important not only for the Catholics but also for people of other religions, “or for those, like me, who do not refer to any religious faith, The values the Pope brings are universal, with no exception as to race, nation or belief. He has a big, great heart which tends to build up man rather than convert him and offers hope. This is the most important gift the Pope is offering to Albania.”
![Living the Gospel by serving]()
17 Sep 2014 | Non categorizzato
Jesús Morán Cepedano was elected co-president of the Focolare Movement on 13 September 2014, by the General Assembly convened at the Mariapolis Centre of Castel Gandolfo, Rome. He was born on 25 December 1957 in Navalperales de Pinares, Avila (Spain), of a merchant family that soon moved to Cercedilla, on the Sierra of Madrid. Shortly after beginning university he met the Gospel message brought by the Focolare Movement through the witness of some of his peers. He immediately threw himself into this new experience and the revolutionary demands that the life of the Gospel entails. He decided to give himself to God in the Focolare community in 1977. After a training period between 1979-1981 in Loppiano, Italy, he crossed the ocean to South America. From 1996 to 2004 he was the delegate of the Focolare Movement in Chile and Bolivia. He was ordained a priest there on 21 December 2002. From 2004 to 2008 he was co-responsible for the movement in Mexico and Cuba. In the General Assembly of the Focolare Movement in 2008 he was elected general councillor and given responsibility for the cultural formation of the members of the Movement. In 2009 he became part of the ” Abba School “, the Focolare Movement’s interdisciplinary study centre, for his expertise in theological anthropology and moral theology. He has a degree in philosophy from the Autonoma University of Madrid and a licence in dogmatic theology from the Pontifical Catholic University of Santiago of Chile. He is currently completing his doctorate in theology at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome. He has published various articles on Philosophical and Theological Anthropology.
![Living the Gospel by serving]()
15 Sep 2014 | Non categorizzato
“While Christ and His teaching broke into history, tearing it in two, pushing humanity towards repentance and change and putting the new self into action in a new city, that tear was also at work in the heart of Mary who stood between those two ages and two mentalities, which sometimes made it a bitter effort to understand, follow and be one with Jesus. The lesson and the suffering didn’t end there. It reached to the point during her Son’s preaching that she wasn’t able to draw near to Him, to be admitted into His presence. Mary was becoming what Simeon’s prophecy had foretold, the Mother Desolate. The term “desolate” is meant to intensify for us the solitude in which she suffered when Jesus went away to begin His public ministry, leaving her in Nazareth, a widow amongst hostile relatives; and when he later left her as His Mother, substituting Himself with the beloved disciple as her child. She was alone among all, blessed among women, mother of the human family: the New Eve. Through her suffering the sorrowful Mary participated in generating the Church; that is, the People of God that was entrusted to her in the person of John, by Christ Himself. John, the beloved disciple, was given to her as a son, the son in place of Jesus, or better, an other Jesus. And so, the prophecy of Simeon that had initiated the martyrdom of the Virgin reached its culmination on Calvary as an iron lance pierced the breast of Jesus and that same lance pierced Mary’s soul. Beneath the cross, Mary is clearly the woman of the people who stands with God. One can truthfully say that Jesus was somehow in need of her not only to be born, but also to die. Then came that moment on the cross when He felt abandoned by the people of the earth and by His Father in Heaven. He turned to His Mother who was standing at the foot of the cross, to that Mother who had not deserted Him, overcoming Her human nature so as not to cave in beneath such a trial. And when the Son was dead, the Mother continued to suffer. He was placed on her lap, more powerless now than when He was but a child. A dead God resting on the lap of a widowed mother! Now she was truly the Queen because Jesus had recapitulated humanity, past present and future, and now it could rest as it lay guarded on Mary’s lap. In that sorrowful desolation Mary is presented as the Mother and Queen of the human family as it walks its own paths of sorrow. Her greatness was equal to her anguish, the suffering of a Mother who found herself watching over humanity as it swooned beneath its exile and guilt. When the Mother of Fair Love became also the Mother of Sorrows, and the seven gifts of the Spirit turned into seven swords, the wound that was opened in her heart, along with the wound of the Son, would convey the whole of humanity to the Father and return humanity to its source. Thus she was the collaborator of the Redeemer, but it was also precisely that work which made her more truly the Mother of Fair Love. There she united with us, there she identified herself with our fate. In this way humanity was reborn, and in this way the Church was born.” From: Igino Giordani, Maria modello perfetto, (Rome: Città Nuova, 2001), pp 118-127, Our translation.
![Living the Gospel by serving]()
14 Sep 2014 | Non categorizzato
It is not possible to construct peace without the contribution of the religions. In recent there have been many appeals from high level religious and civil leaders like Shimon Peres, with his idea for a “UN of Religions” as an antidote to global terrorism and violence, or the interreligious meetings like the one recently promoted by the Community of Sant’Egidio. Another important push was offered by the 8th Conference of Religions for Peace (ACRP) that was held in Incheon, South Korea on August 25-29, 2014. There could not have been a better place for sending a message about unity and reconciliation among lands and peoples. In spite of its being the cradle of the main monotheistic religions, the container of a vast cultural diversity, Asia has been above all a theatre of war for many major conflicts. The Focolare has also offered a contribution: Christina Lee who is in charge of the Movement’s interreligious dialogue, presented a talk at a pre-assembly meeting on women. In that talk which was titled “Interreligious Prayer and Meditation,” she highlighted the role of women as builders of peace in the world and in Asia: “that we might dream as a community in dialogue, comprised of people from different cultures and relgions, who are experience suffering and poverty but desire a united Asia.” As a first step, she proposed a training itinerary for the different religious communities, to uncover the spiritual patrimony of Asia and to provide visible signs of unity and harmony. In her message, the Focolare president also expressed her wish that effort based on love, compassion, forgiveness and devotion might help in contributing to the realisation of unity and harmony in Asia and beyond. In his message, Pope Francis reiterated that dialogue and cooperation among religions remains the most secure path towards peace and “without fraternity the construction of a just society and solid peace will be impossible.” His words were both a warning and a desire for the 450 people who attended the ACRP, travelling from seventeen Asian countries, with representatives from Iraq and Kyrgystan. The title “Unity and Harmony in Asia” says a lot about the premise and expectations of the conference that has been operating for 40 years and representing the religious creed of more that two thirds of the world’s population. 
A fourth group was added to the three work commissions: educating towards peace and reconciliation; human dignity and welfare; environmental and ecological development, the unification of the Korean penninsula and peace in Northeast Asia. The fourth group, under the guidance of the Korean Conference of Religions for Peace (KCRP), formulated its own declaration in support of the process of national reunification. One member remarked: “The real work begins now in our religious communities and in civil society.” The final document, the “Incheon Declaration,” describes the tracks: the common commitment to peace; the call to work for the social cohesion of the continent; working for the unification of the Korean peninsula.
