Just as Jesus had immediately inserted himself into the sub-layer of society by being born in a stable amongst the homeless, the refugees, the banished; so too, by allowing himself to be crucified and abandoned, he stood in the midst of the massive crowd of all those who suffer: the oppressed, the discouraged, the hungry and the defeated of every age. His focus on all those in misery gives humankind the measure of his love, and was nothing but the logical consequence of having completely fit himself into humanity’s brokenness. It was his way to make himself the last, the vilest of creatures, the most degraded – the way for to be at the root of all misery, a root that raises to Heaven. Infinity empties itself out of love. He had created the universe, developed and ruled it. The universe represents the production of something of boundless grandeur, somehow proportionate to the greatness of his mind, a world made of worlds, one more wondrous than the next. And humankind – tiny creatures on one small planet – after centuries of studying has only a minuscule idea of all that the universe contains: with stars that in our galaxy alone are four light-years apart and from the edges of the galaxy to its centre span a distance of 30 light-years which they can cover back and forth only 1,500 times in a billion years. In this universe that is infinitely too great for the human mind to fathom, he had also taken note of the misery of the human organisms on planet earth, and emptied himself in order to become one of them. He helped them to the point of giving them the Gospel and his very Self in the form of Food. The Redemption re-establishes the design of Creation, which includes that the existence of the stars and the atoms of the universe and the creatures of earth be in constant harmony for the realization of unity. This is why the Creator breathed into it the breath of life that is love. Health, peace and welfare flower in accordance with this precept. (Igino Giordani, L’unico amore, (Rome: Città Nuova, 1974) p. 64 and 105
“An unexpected phone call came one early morning. My elder brother’s voice at the other end of the line sounded confused. My nephew had just met an accident. He had been about to pick up my brother from work, but while driving he had dozed off, and those few seconds were enough for him to hit a motorcycle and kill two of his colleagues. They were both married men with families. It was indeed a shock for me; it was so heartbreaking. I went to look for my nephew. He was in a prison cell. I didn’t know what to say; I could only cry with him. Since it was early morning and my nephew and the other detainees had not yet had breakfast, I went to buy some food for them. Then I asked the prison guard if it was possible to clean the prison cell which was quite dirty. When my brother arrived and started crying, I stayed to comfort him. At this point, I realized that our next step had to be to ask for forgiveness from the families of the two victims. I told my brother that we should go to their wakes, face their families and ask for their forgiveness. My brother agreed, overcoming his own fear. We went to see the first family … and we went straight to the widow, who was crying. She was indeed quite angry with my brother. I felt I had to be there to absorb all her pain. Then I embraced her and said, ‘We are here to ask your forgiveness for what happened, without expecting to be forgiven.’ Then we also had to ask forgiveness from the victim’s parents. Their relatives advised us not to, because they were afraid that his mother would lose her calm and be beside herself with anger. But I strongly felt that we had to do it. I approached the mother, with my brother close behind me. Indeed, she cried aloud as I entrusted everything silently to God and embraced her tightly asking her to forgive us, also on behalf of my nephew. I assured her that if we would have found the way to take care of their family, providing for the education of the three daughters who were still in grade school. I was profoundly experiencing the pain and sorrow of t family, but at the same time, I fully experienced that peace that only God can give. Before leaving, we went to say goodbye to the widow. She did not say anything to my brother; but she did introduce me to her three daughters. This consoled me since I considered it an indication that I was able to establish some kind of a relationship with her. Some days later, with some friends from the Focolare, I attended the funeral… and also visited the family of the other victim. My nephew was released from detention three weeks later. A case was filed against him, but after several court hearings, the two families agreed to drop the case upon monetary compensation. My brothers and sisters pooled together the money that they had and we were able to offer monetary assistance to the families involved. This made our family more united, having helped one another. A year later, I thought of getting in touch with a widow of the accident victim. To my surprise she said, “I want to apologize for how I treated you and your brother when you came to the wake of my husband.” Since then we became friends… I was able to share about my faith in the love of God. Then I started sending her the daily ‘password’, a Gospel reflection to live by, which she now sends to all her friends. Two months ago, she invited me to a family gathering to celebrate her eldest daughter’s elementary school graduation. My heartbeat was galloping so fast at the party because I realized that all of them knew who I was—the aunt of the person who had caused the accident. The widow was with me the whole time, sharing with me beautiful memories of her husband. During a Mariapolis, at which she was present, she said, “You know, now I understand why God permitted everything that happened. Were it not for that accident, I would never have met you and the Focolare which has made a big change in my life.” She added that she had become closer to God. I thought this was my opportunity to ask her, “If you would meet my nephew someday, could you forgive him?” She answered, ‘I have already forgiven him. Look at my face. There are no traces of hatred for your nephew and your family.’ I felt that it was indeed an enormous grace to be a recipient of God’s mercy, and through his grace, to be also capable of offering it to one another.”
The news summary will be made available on the Collegamento CH website a few days before the Internet transmission. On the same website one can find all the previous linkups in various languages, as full editions as well as individual news video clips. Watch spot video
From 7- 17 September for Latin America, North America and Oceania
From 28 September – 8 October for Africa, Asia and the Middle East
From 15 – 23 October for Europe
Around a hundred participants will attend every session (Castel Gandolfo Mariapolis Centre, Rome), with a program partly in common and another part with various themes based on the demands and needs of each geographic area. The themes to be discussed will range from enculturation in Africa to the emergency of refugees and dialogue with Islam in Europe; other topics will focus on the challenges in Latin America, Asia, the Middle East, North America and Oceania in the social and ecclesiastic fields, from the perspectives of the family, the new generations, ecumenical and interreligious dialogue, and many other themes.
From 7- 17 September for Latin America, North America and Oceania
From 28 September – 8 October for Africa, Asia and the Middle East
From 15 – 23 October for Europe
Around a hundred participants will attend every session (Castel Gandolfo Mariapolis Centre, Rome), with a program partly in common and another part with various themes based on the demands and needs of each geographic area. The themes to be discussed will range from inculturation in Africa to the emergency of refugees and dialogue with Islam in Europe; other topics will focus on the challenges in Latin America, Asia, the Middle East, North America and Oceania in the social and ecclesiastic fields, from the perspectives of the family, the new generations, ecumenical and interreligious dialogue, and many other themes.
