The Lure of the Christmas Mystery

21 Dec 2013 | Non categorizzato

Christmas is that sublime mystery of God’s love, who loved us so much as to become one of us. As it is written, the mystery of the Incarnation tells of God’s excessive love. In order to envelope everyone in this love, God was born in a grotto amongst livestock and cattle, putting himself beneath his creatures where the poorest of the poor contemplated Him enveloped in their own wretchedness. Celebrating Christmas means reawakening to consciousness the love brought from Heaven to earth by Jesus, a love He shared through life and word. Nowadays there is a special need to revive – and polish – the concept of love, because the human community risks becoming sadder and sadder due to its lack of love. Love connects a person to the level of Christ. In fact, the good (or the bad) done to a neighbour is judged at the Final Judgment as done to Christ. Out of this shortage of love, incapacity to love each other, only boredom and sadness will be distilled. Returning love to our brothers and sisters today is to return joy, peace and life, and this is perhaps why Christmas resurrects a taste for innocence and simplicity. It uncovers that font of gladness which is Christ in the midst, as at the manger in the midst of Mary, Joseph and shepherds. The Lord was born so that we might be reborn. He is the life and we were – and are in the darkness. We pass from darkness to life because we love our brothers and sisters. Christian commitment requires heroism levied against mediocrity, the victory over compromise. It wants life in freedom, which is freedom from any form of evil; form: lack of physical strength, financial failure, disappointment in human relationships, and desolation in the midst of the world. The important thing is to never give up. Perhaps no one will tell you “Well done!” The medals will be pinned on other chests. Perhaps some will call you fanatical or naive. You’ll have to squeeze out of the desolation you feel, a more fervent longing for God, and this will motivate you even more. There are some profound and simple words drawn from the depths of the divine life that describe your mission. They are the words of Jesus: “You are the salt of the earth” and “You are the light of the world.” Salt flavours by hiding itself in the food. Light illuminates by silently penetrating. A Christian’s behaviour should add flavour (salt) to life (if not, you don’t know what you’re living for) and the direction to life. You cannot ignore the misery in the world that is due largely to a lack of love. Love is the life of humankind. In Jesus, it was Love who was incarnate of the Virgin Mary and took on our humanity and inserted us in the life of God. Igino Giordani in: Città Nuova, December 25, 1967 – No.23/24

Youth for a United World: Christmas of mutual welcome and peace

20 Dec 2013 | Non categorizzato

Christmas in Bethlehem! “It’s a unique opportunity to crown this year through our meeting with the Holy Land Youth for a United World”, shared Maria Guaita, Andrew Camilleri and Claudia Barrero, from the Y4UW international secretariat.

What significance does it have for you to spend Christmas in the Holy Land? We have welcomed this invitation as a proposal to all the Youth for a United World spread all over the planet – narrates Maria Guaita -. The Gospel narrates that Mary and Joseph found no inn to lodge: “the Word came to his own and his own people did not accept him.” We wish to welcome him especially in the lonely ones, the marginalized, the poor and the homeless. Therefore, we commit ourselves to transform each of our cities into a small Bethlehem that hosts the nativity crib that offers a cradle to baby Jesus.”

How have you organized this activity? “We propose to all the Youth for a United World a Christmas that is characterized by mutual welcome and peace. On daily basis, the mass media offer us images of violence and suffering, exclusion, and we want to respond to this with an even greater love: taking advantage of this Christmas Season to carry out concrete acts of love in favour of our brothers and sisters.”

We wish to get as many people as possible involved in this initiative – concludes Maria – also parishes, institutions, other associations and movements, according to each one’s creativity and possibilities – as Chiara Lubich used to say – “nothing is small that is done out of love”.”

One may post photos or short films of these initiatives on the “Youth for a United World – Holy Land” Facebook Page.

“All these fragments of fraternity – adds Claudia -, will give witness and document an important step in the fulfilment of the “United World Project”, thus paving the way to universal brotherhood.”

For more information:

Youth for a United World

The Adventure of Unity: The Beginnings /3

8 Dec 2013 | Non categorizzato

Continuation of the : The Adventure of Unity: The beginnings /2

“The young women who lived in the first focolare and the people around them who came and went noticed a qualitative leap in their life during those early months. They had the impression that Jesus was fulfilling his promise in their very midst: “Where two or more are united in my name, I am there with them” (Mt 18:20). They didn’t want to lose his presence and did everything to ensure that he would never vanish from their midst. “Later, much later,” Chiara Lubich specifies, “we would realize: ‘Look! Why, it’s a small reproduction of the house of Nazareth: a small community of virgins (and very soon of married people) with Jesus among them.” It’s the “hearth”, the “focolare” where the fire of love warms hearts and satisfies the mind.” “But to have him among us” Chiara explained to her first companions, “we need to be disposed to give our lives for each other. Jesus is spiritually and fully present among us when we are united like that. He had said: ‘may they also be one in us, so that the world may believe’ (see Jn 17:21).”

Those who gathered around Chiara and the other young women in that first focolare began to share their project of unity which seemed so new. There were all kinds of conversions. Vocations were salvaged and new ones born. Quite soon, young men also followed in their footsteps. They crowded into Massaia Hall for Saturday afternoon meetings. There Chiara would share experiences of a living Gospel and her first discoveries concerning what would later become the “spirituality of unity.”Their fervor spread and by 1945 there were some 500 people of all ages – men, women, children, people of every calling and social background – all wanting to share the ideal of those young women of the focolare. They held everything in common just as the first Christian communities had done.

They read the Gospel’s words: “give and it will be given to you” (Lk 6:38), and those words came to life daily. They gave and received. There was only one egg left in the house. They gave it away to a poor person who came to their door. On the same morning, someone left an entire package of eggs at their door. The Gospel also says: “Ask, and it will be given to you” (Mt 7:7). They prayed for their neighbours’ every need and, in the midst of a war, witnessed the arrival of sacks of flour, boxes of milk, jars of jam, bundles of wood, articles of clothing. It was common in that first focolare to find the table set with the best table cloth, and sitting around that table a focolarina and a poor person, a focolarina and a poor person . . .

The life of the young women of the “little house” astounded everyone who met them. On the feast of Christ the King, 1945, Chiara and her friends were praying at an altar after Mass. They turned towards Jesus with the simplicity of those who know what it means to be God’s children. Then they addressed this prayer to him: “You know how unity can be realized, that ut omnes unum sint (that all may be one). Well, here we are. If you want, use us.” Some words of that day’s liturgy had fascinated them: “Ask of me, and i will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession” (Ps 2:8). And so in their Gospel simplicity they asked for nothing less than the “ends of the earth”. For them, God was omnipotent.

All of this could not go unnoticed in a city of only a few thousand people, nor by the Church of Trent. Archbishop Carlo De Ferrari understood Chiara and her new adventure, and he gave his blessing. His blessing and approval stayed with the Movement until his death. From that moment, almost imperceptibly, they began to cross boarders to other regions, and were invited to Sicily, Rome and Milan. Soon communities like the one in Trent began appearing everywhere.

Natalia Dallapiccola: A Biography

21 Nov 2013 | Non categorizzato

“I set out to write this biography treading softly and with a healthy dose of holy fear.”With these words Matilde Cocchiaro begins her biography on Natalia Dallapiccola who was the first to follow Chiara Lubich. Natalia has had a special role in the history of the Focolare, so much so that Chiara had said that if she had not met a person like her, so prepared by God, perhaps she would never have been able to give a start to the life that was so revolutionary and based on the Gospel.

Because of her relentless and unchanging love towards all, Chiara had nicknamed her Anzalon which in the Italian dialect of Trent means Big Angel.

She played a determining role in the spreading of the ideal of unity among the countries of the communist bloc, beyond the Iron Curtain, as well as in the field of interreligious dialogue for which she spent energy and talent for 30 years until the last days of her life on earth.

Following her death on April 1, 2008 – eighteen days after the death of Chiara – many people had words of gratitude and appreciation for Natalia: “Between me and Natalia,” says Rabbi David Rosen of Jerusalem, “there was a very strong bond. I will forever guard as a treasure her loving and noble spirit.” In the book’s preface Nichiko Niwano, president of the Japanese Buddhist Rissho Kosei-kai Movement states: “For many long years Natalia played the role of an open window which linked us with the Focolare Movement . . . lavishly pouring out the finest qualities of her heart and mind . . . An ancient saying says: “Know the past and you will find what is new.” It means: Study history, study the tradition with care and you will obtain new wisdom. That is all I wish, therefore, and I hope that Natalia’s biography becomes a precious guide for the journey into the future.”

From India, Shantilal Somaiya, Kala Acharya and Lalita Namjoshi of the Somaiya Bharatya (Hindu): “With great reverence we remember her visit to our institute and her silent but always edifying way of drawing dialogue forward.”

From Skopje. Azir Semani, speaks directly to Natalia in the name of the Muslim Friends of the Focolare from Macedonia: “Thank you for your hand that was always reaching out!  . . . We have totally embraced your invitation: ‘that all may be one’. God’s voice through you was a call of love and trust for which we Muslims are honoured to have been able to walk together with you towards a united world. Blessed be your love!”

Cardinal Miloslav Vlk, Archbishop Emeritus of Prague, who for many years was responsible for the Bishop Friends of the Focolare Movement, offered the following testimony: “I can truthfully say that Natalia was the mother of the ideal of unity in our lands. From her life, she transpired the light she had received from the charism of Chiara, without a lot of speeches; and she transmitted this charism to us in all of its depth. In 1968 Natalia was in the mountains of Tatre,” the Cardinal continues, “about 6 hours from the Czech Republic where she helped organize the first Mariapolis. Officially it was a holiday vacation, and to avoid a police investigation they would take long hikes. Then they would stop and Natalia would tell us things . . . The life she was presenting to us was very authentic, everyone was always struck by her simplicity that was completely Marian. Her love conquered because it was so natural and supernatural at the same time.”

“Natalia never left a written narrative about herself, because she was always so accustomed to going beyond herself in giving to others” the author concludes. I have tried to reconstruct her life . . . that irreplaceable contribution of the first focolarine who together with her had lived with Chiara Lubich at the dawning of the Movement. I was also able to draw on several spiritual thoughts of Natalia, which are very precious, written by her on loose pages or sent by voice to the people who worked with her, who then wrote them down.”

(Matilde Cocchiaro, “Natalia: la prima compagna  di  Chiara  Lubich”, Città Nuova Editrice, Rome, 2013. Collana Città Nuova Per).

A trip to Cuba

15 Nov 2013 | Non categorizzato

 “Cuba is a beautiful land. It has the atmosphere of a country, which in the 1950’s was in its bloom. Aside from a few buildings and quarters that have been restored in the centre of Havana and other cities, generally there is a state of abandonment.” Agostino and Maris share something about their trip to Cuba. They are a family of the Focolare of Vicenza, Italy. After eleven years in the Dominican Republic, they now live in Italy near Rome. “We could say that we lived those days in Cuba being constantly deeply moved by the genuineness we found in people. We would even go as far as to say that the way they are forced to live in that situation is downright heroic. One family told us how with great effort they had put aside $20.00 for a pair of shoes for one of their children. One Saturday afternoon they went out to buy the shoes, but weren’t able to find anything worth buying at that price and decided to give up the idea for the time being. On their way home they met a very poor family – mother, father and child – whose shoes were destroyed. They looked at one another and decided to give a part of their money for the shoes of that family’s boy. They wouldn’t be the best shoes, but surely better than the ones he was wearing. A few days later grandmother came to visit them. She carried an envelope with some money inside that had been sent by relatives, and she thought she would share some of it with them. It was the exact amount that was lacking to buy the shoes for their own boy. We travelled some 3000 km with several means of transport; in the city we went about on foot, on bicycle, on horse and buggy and with taxi-bikes. We met with families in Cienfuegos, Santiago de Cuba, Camaguey, Florida, Holguin and Banes, also with engaged couples, to delve into the spirituality of unity and how it is lived in the family. The groups often included people who didn’t have any religious faith, but it was precisely these people who said that this spirituality was for everyone. We had lunches and dinners with many families. What a beautiful experience it was to be welcomed into their homes and share their lives! The shared many stories of concrete love. One family had gone to visit a couple who had given birth to a baby boy: they realized that the sugar was running out, which they received each month from the State, and it would be quite costly to buy more. When they returned home, they took the sugar they had for themselves and gave it to the family who had none. The couple were surprised and exclaimed: “Now what will you do?” That same evening grandma knocked at the door. She brought her portion of sugar that she was no longer able to use because of health reasons. As we shared in the joys and hardships of our new friends we seemed to understand why this spirituality had begun during war time. Chiara Lubich didn’t wait for better days to begin loving with actions and deeds, but precisely in a time of great difficulty. This confirmed for us that it was possible to live the Gospel in any situation.”