This morning, while shopping at the supermarket, I passed by a large trolley where a shop assistant was piling up boxes. I noticed two of them were on the ground.
Fearing that I had inadvertently dropped them, I apologised, picked up the boxes and placed them on the trolley.
The shop assistant thanked me and said not to worry, then called after me: ‘Kindness is rare!’. Another person who was passing by just at that moment confirmed: “That’s very true!” whereupon the shop assistant, by way of explanation, told her what had happened.
As for me, I was happy, not least because this little episode reminded me of a phrase I had heard some time ago which had struck me. It spoke about “sowing kindness”. It felt like a ‘caress’ from God.
G.S. – Italy (*)
Healing relationships
I have a brother, a Catholic Christian, who married a German woman from the Evangelical Church. When they settled in Italy, the relationship between my mother and sister-in-law was not easy, even though she was not against their children being educated in the Catholic Church. As for me, I tried to be a ‘mediator’ between her and my mother. My sister-in-law also suffered because of this misunderstanding, which was however healed shortly before our mother died. For some time now, I have been sharing the ‘Thought for the Day’ with her via Whatsapp which helps us to live Gospel-based love on a daily basis. One day the thought invited us to ‘be merciful’, with this short commentary sentence: “Mercy is a love that knows how to welcome every neighbour, especially the poorest and neediest. A love that does not measure, is abundant, universal, concrete”. Her response was immediate: ‘If I have made you feel bad in certain circumstances over the past years, please forgive me”. Astonished, I replied in turn: “I too apologise”. And she: “I don’t remember any incident for which need to apologise…’.
C. – Italy (*)
Called and sent
Someone very dear to me asked me to write something about my experience as a teacher for an acquaintance of hers from another country who was doing a project on values education.
I realised that it was an opportunity to transform into a testimony and ‘proclamation’ what, in some ways, has been my personal response to the ‘call’ to live according to the teachings of the Gospel as a teacher and as a mother.
The piece took many hours of writing, deleting, correcting, rewriting, remembering aspects that I could add, deleting others that seemed irrelevant and, above all, filtering each word with love. I tried to put myself in the place of the person I was writing for, because even though I did not know her, I could love Jesus in her.
I sent it to my friend, aware that it might not be exactly what she needed, and so was ready to change everything.
To my surprise, she replied: “I have already sent your letter. I really liked it”. No doubt it was not the writing itself that was liked, but the work that God had done in me which could be a little light for others by being shared.
And, of course, the other things I had to do in those days were easily taken care of, as there had been some changes in the rota that left me with more free time.
A few days ago, the Spanish province of Valencia experienced one of the greatest natural disasters in its history. Heavy rains, “DANA”, caused massive floods that swept through cities and towns in the region.
Currently, the toll is 214 dead and 32 people missing. An estimated 800,000 people, one-third of Valencia’s population, have been affected. Around 2,000 small businesses have been swamped with water and mud, losing everything. Cars floated through the streets, piling up like paper boats. The list of families who have lost their livelihoods has yet to be compiled. It is a major disaster made worse by the indefinite postponement of public works needed to prevent floods like these from occurring.
However, alongside this great disaster remarkable solidarity is being demonstrated. In the following days, as the waters receded, revealing a thick layer of mud covering everything, thousands of volunteers, mostly young people, began arriving in the affected area, armed with shovels and brushes, ready to help.
José Luis Guinot is a medical oncologist and president of the Viktor E. Frankl Association of Valencia, which provides emotional support for people affected by illness, suffering, death and other vital losses. The City Council asked him to help at a health and support centre set up for the occasion, where he could “listen and welcome those who need to share what they have experienced.” He said, “This has been and continues to be, an immense tragedy, far beyond anything we could have imagined. We couldn’t believe it was happening.”
He said that a few days later, while attending Sunday Mass, it saddened him to hear only prayers for the dead and those affected by the flood, without mention of any further support. He thought, “It’s not enough just to pray, even though we must pray a lot. We need to be close to people to give them hope. As Christians and as part of the Focolare Movement, we must offer that hope even in harsh experiences. Together and united, we can help each other overcome this situation.”
In one of the affected areas, a Focolare family with young children had their home flooded. Although they were unharmed, everything they owned was lost: washing machine, refrigerator, domestic appliances, furniture… Help from other families came quickly, someone washed their clothes, then another person gave them a new washing machine.
Eugenio, a member of the Focolare Movement who has a disability due to polio, was the President of the Federation of Adapted Sports in Valencia for many years. He couldn’t get around after the flood because of his mobility difficulty but by making phone calls he was able to contact local disabled associations asking for help. José Luis Guinot said, “We must offer ideas, help create solidarity and generate donations.” For example, these associations managed to obtain wheelchairs for those who had lost theirs in the flood.
“I think this is a wake-up call for all of society. Spain is going through a period of politically polarized conflict,” José Luis reflected. “But there’s another side of society, many young people who we think are always glued to social media, yet they’re out here in the mud, seeking a society of solidarity, a united world, a society where fraternity is real. Until now, politicians hadn’t taken this message seriously. But now, no one can deny it.”
Next weekend, the Focolare community will meet to think and plan together how they can continue serving after these emergency days. As José Luis said, everyone can and must be involved, because, “two or three months from now, there will be a need for emotional support, for a sense of belonging to something, to a community or a parish… It will be a challenge for us: we’ll need to be on the phone a lot, visit people, listen to them, encourage them despite their hardships, but letting them know that we are with them. Even if you can’t leave your home, if you’re elderly or have small children… you can talk to your neighbours, make phone calls or offer words of encouragement. We must transmit a sense of community… I won’t try to explain anything to those who have lost loved ones or their livelihood, I will give them a hug and say: ‘We will help you find the strength to move forward'”. .
The Focolare community and the Fundación Igino Giordani, has launched a fundraising campaign. The funds collected will be managed locally to support the victims. The material damage and losses are immense. Many survivors have lost beds, tables, refrigerators, washing machines, cars, work equipment…
Contributions can be made through: Fundación Igino Giordani CaixaBank: ES65 2100 5615 7902 0005 6937 Account Holder: Fundación Igino Giordani Purpose: Emergencia DANA España To claim a tax deduction, send your tax information toinfo@fundaciongiordani.org
Peace is the result of a project: a project of fraternity between peoples, of solidarity with the weakest, of mutual respect. This is how a fairer world is built; this is how war is set aside as a barbaric practice belonging to the dark phase of the history of humanity. Many years have passed since the first publication of this writing, which is still very relevant today, at a time when the world is torn apart by terrible conflicts. History, Giordani tells us, could teach us a lot.
War is murder on a grand scale, clothed in a kind of sacred cult, as was the sacrifice of the first-born to the god Baal: and this is because of the terror it incites, the rhetoric in which it is clothed, and the interests it implies. When humanity will have progressed spiritually, war will be catalogued alongside bloody rites, the superstitions of witchcraft and the phenomena of barbarity.
War is to humanity, like illness to health, like sin to the soul: it is destruction and devastation, it affects body and soul, individuals and the community.
According to Einstein, human beings have a need to hate and to destroy: and war would satisfy this. But it is not so: most human beings, entire peoples, do not manifest this need. At any rate they repress it. Reason and religion condemn it.
« All things crave peace, » according to St Thomas. In fact, they all crave life. Only the insane and the incurable can desire death. And death is war. It is not desired by the people; it is desired by minorities to whom physical violence serves to secure economic advantages or, even, to satisfy harmful passions. Especially today, with the cost of war, the dead and the ruins, war manifests itself as “useless slaughter”. A massacre, and a useless one at that. A victory over life, and one that is becoming a suicide of humanity.
[…] Human ingenuity, destined for quite different purposes, has today devised and introduced instruments of warfare of such power that they strike horror in the soul of any honest person, especially since they do not only affect armies, but often still overwhelm private citizens, children, women, the elderly, the sick, and at the same time, sacred buildings and the most distinguished monuments of art! Who is not horrified at the thought that from the recent conflict, new cemeteries will be added to the numerous existing ones and new smoking remains of villages and towns will accumulate more sad ruins? Who, indeed, does not tremble to think how the destruction of new riches, the inevitable consequence of war, may further aggravate that economic crisis, by which almost all peoples, and especially the humblest classes, are afflicted? » [1]. […]
The futility was reaffirmed by Pius XII in 1951: « Everyone has manifested with equal clarity their horror of war, and their conviction that it is not, and now less than ever, a proper means to settle conflicts and restore justice. This can only be achieved by freely and legally consented understandings. If it could be a question of popular wars – in the sense that such wars respond to the votes and will of the people – it would only be in the case of such a flagrant and destructive injustice of the essential goods of a people as to revolt the conscience of an entire nation. » [2].
Just as the plague serves to infect, hunger to starve, war serves to kill: moreover, it destroys the means of life. It is a funeral industry: a factory of destruction.
Only a fool can hope to derive benefit from a massacre: health from a fainting spell, energy from pneumonia. Evil produces evil, as the palm tree produces dates. And the facts show, even in this field, the practical inconsistency of the Machiavellian saying that « the end justifies the means ».
The end may be justice, freedom, honour, bread: but the means produce such destruction of bread, honour, freedom and justice, as well as of human lives, including those of women, children, the elderly, the innocent of all kinds, that they tragically annul the very end that is proposed.
In essence, war serves no purpose other than destroying lives and riches.
‘It has been an immense grace for me, a gift from God that is not only a personal gift, but i consider it a gift for the whole Focolare Movement’ with these words President Margaret Karram opens some reflections on the Synod experience and the final document of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops (2-27 October 2024) “For a Synodal Church: communion, participation, mission”.
Speaking from the stage of the Genfest 2024 in Aparecida, Edy, a Peruvian Catholic, accompanied by 13 other young people from various Christian Churches and Latin American countries, said, “Ikuméni has transformed the way we young people relate to each other, the way we look at each other and how we can have unity in diversity”.
But what is Ikuméni? It is a four-month training course in a leadership style based on the art of hospitality, cooperation and good practice. Edy continued, “A highlight was our final face-to-face meeting”. Pablo, a Salvadoran Lutheran, immediately intervened: “One thing that had a big impact on us was learning to generate cooperation initiatives together, which we call good ecumenical and interreligious practices, working alongside people from different Churches and religions, willing to serve in the challenges we face today in our cities and rural areas.”
Ikuméni offers young people various paths for implementing good practices: this is how initiatives for peacebuilding, conflict resolution, integral ecology and sustainable development, humanitarian issues and resilience have emerged, working together not only with people from different Churches, but also with civil society to care for one another.
“In my case, we started a peace-building initiative in the social sciences faculty of the university where I study,” shared Laura Camila, a Colombian who lives in Buenos Aires and is a member of a Pentecostal ecclesial community. She stressed, “We need to work together for peace, we really need it. So in collaboration with various Churches, initiatives were born to strengthen resilience by creating ecumenical and interreligious networks and workshops for dialogue and training in conflict resolution”.
The Ikuméni training itinerary is a scholarship program and therefore there is no cost for the participants who are selected to participate in the course. It requires a commitment of 4 hours per week and attendance in person at the regional Ikuméni meeting. Young people aged 18-35 years old who have completed secondary education are eligible to participate. It is organized by CREAS (Regional Ecumenical Advisory and Service Centre) with the collaboration of several organizations.
Enrolment is currently open for the 2025 program. All the information is available here: https://ikumeni.org/
Have a look at the video we filmed a few months ago in Buenos Aires during the team meeting.
