Chiara Lubich Chiara Lubich had an intuition of this in 1977 when she received the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion in London. Since then, the worldwide expansion of the Focolare spirit has contributed to opening a dialogue with all the major religions of the world. A path that even Chiara had not imagined at the beginning, but that God had revealed to her over time, through events and circumstances; it was a path to pursue towards unity. In this short excerpt, Chiara, in answering a question on the relationship with other religions, reveals the secret to building true universal fraternity: seeking what unites us in diversity. The question put to Chiara is read by Giuseppe Maria Zanghì, one of the first focolarini. (From a reply by Chiara Lubich to a meeting of Muslim friends, Castel Gandolfo, 3 November 2002)
Giuseppe Maria Zanghì: This is the question: “We’d like to ask you, Chiara, how do you feel about the relationship with other religions. What does it make you feel within your heart?”
Chiara Lubich: I’ve always felt very comfortable in my contacts with the faithful of other religions! Even though we are different from one another, we have a lot in common, a lot in common, and this unites us. Instead, diversity attracts us; it arouses our curiosity. So, I like these contacts for two reasons: because I get to know new things, I enter into the culture of others, and also because I find brothers and sisters who are like me because we have many beliefs in common. The most important of all – as I told you the last time I was here – is that famous Golden Rule, which says “Do not do to others what you wouldn’t want them to do to you.” This sentence can be found in all the most important religions, in their scriptures, in their sacred books. It’s also in the Gospel for Christians. This phrase – “Do not do to others what you wouldn’t want them to do to you” – means “treat your brothers and sisters well, have great respect for them, love them.” And so, when they discover this phrase in their scriptures and I discover the same phrase in my scriptures, I love, they love, and so we love one another, and this is the basis, the first step towards universal fraternity So the first thing is to live the “Golden Rule.” The second part of the question is about what I feel in my heart when I meet a brother or sister of another religion. I immediately feel a great desire to become friends, to build unity, to have this relationship as brothers and sisters. …
This is a continuous tension because our nature loves itself.
Often we hear news of disasters, earthquakes, hurricanes which claim victims and leave people injured and homeless. But it’s one thing to be one of those affected and another thing to be an onlooker.
Even if we are able to offer some aid to help the others, we are not them.
Tomorrow it could be the other way round: I on my deathbed (if I am given a bed!) and the others out in the sun enjoying life.
All that Christ has commanded us goes beyond our nature as it is now.
But also the gift he gave us, the one mentioned to the Samaritan woman, is not human in nature. So it is possible to share in our brother’s pain, joy or worries because we have in us charity which s of a divine nature.
With this love, that is with Christian love, our brother can be truly comforted and tomorrow I might be comforted by him.
And in this way it is possible to live, because otherwise human life would be very hard and difficult, indeed sometimes it would appear to be impossible.
The Condominio Espiritual Uirapuru (CEU) is a reality born in Fortaleza (Brazil) a few years ago, the choice of unity between charisms is the basis of community life. There are 23 realities that coexist and collaborate here for the recovery, protection and enhancement of human dignity.
In these past few days, I was watching on television some very young athletes, mostly from Eastern Europe, performing amazing routines of artistic gymnastics. It was really magnificent to see the way they repeatedly performed somersaults and spins and other movements! What perfection! What harmony and grace! They were in perfect command of their bodies, so much so that the most difficult exercises seemed to come naturally. They are the world champions.
Several times, while I was admiring them, I felt an urgent invitation within me (perhaps from the Holy Spirit). It was as if someone were telling me: “You, too, all of you have to become world champions.” Champions in what? Champions in loving God. But do you know how much training these young gymnasts have had to do? Do you know that day after day, for hours and hours, they repeat the same exercises, without ever giving up? You, too, all of you must do the same. When? In the present moment. Always, without ever stopping. And I felt a great desire welling up in my heart to work, moment by moment, so as to become perfect.
Saint Francis de Sales says that no one is so good that through repeated acts of vice they cannot acquire that vice. And so, we may say that no one is so bad that he or she cannot become virtuous through repeated acts of virtue. So, take courage! If we continue to practice, moment by moment, we will become world champions in loving God.
(…)
What is the Word that God has spoken to our Movement? We know it – “unity.” And so, we have to become champions of unity, of unity with God, with his will in each present moment, and of unity with our neighbour, with every neighbour we meet during the day.
So let’s start training, without wasting precious minutes. What awaits us is not the gold medal, but Paradise.
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