Jesus and his disciples are making their way to Jerusalem. When he announces that it is the place where he will suffer, die and rise again, Peter rebels and expresses a general sense of dismay and incomprehension. The Master then takes him and James and John and he climbs ‘a high mountain’ from where he appears to the three bathed in a new and extraordinary light. Jesus’ face ‘shines like the sun’ and Moses and the prophet Elijah converse with him. The voice of the Father is heard coming from a bright cloud and invites them to listen to Jesus, his beloved Son. When Peter witnesses this extraordinary event, he does not want to leave, and exclaims:
«Lord, it is good for us to be here.».
Jesus invited his closest friends to have an unforgettable experience that they would always be able to remember.
Jesus invited his closest friends to have an unforgettable experience that they would always be able to remember. Perhaps we too have felt wonder and emotion when we were aware of the presence and work of God in our lives. We may have had a sense of joy, peace and light and have wished that such moments would never end. We often have such experiences when we are with other people or thanks to what they do. Indeed, mutual love attracts God’s presence because, as Jesus promised: ‘Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them’ (Mt 18:20). Sometimes, during these moments of intimacy with him, God makes us see ourselves and understand events as he does. It is as if we see through his eyes.
Such experiences are given to us so we will have the strength to make the effort and face the difficulties and challenges we encounter on our journey through life. They help us be sure that God has looked upon us and called us to be part of salvation history.
In fact, once the disciples have come down from the mountain, they will go together to Jerusalem where crowds of people full of hope await them but they will also meet with pitfalls, opposition, aversion and suffering. There ‘they will be scattered and sent to the ends of the earth to be witnesses that our final dwelling is the Kingdom of God.’(i)
They will be able to start building God’s house among men and women on earth because they have been ‘at home’ with Jesus on the mountain.
«Lord, it is good for us to be here.».
At the end of this mysterious experience, Jesus speaks to the apostles with the words, ‘Arise and do not be afraid’ (Mt. 17:7). He addresses the same words to us. May we face whatever awaits us with the same courage as the disciples had.
This was what Chiara Lubich did. After a holiday period so full light that it was described as ‘the paradise of 1949’ because of extraordinary contemplation of the mysteries of faith and deep awareness of God’s presence in the small community with whom she was resting, she too did not want to return to everyday life. However, she did so with a new impetus because she realised that it was precisely because of that experience of enlightenment that she had to ‘come down from the mountain’ and set to work as an instrument of Jesus in the building of his Kingdom. This meant injecting his love and light into the very situations where it was lacking and even facing hardship and suffering.
«Lord, it is good for us to be here.».
When it seems that darkness is falling around us, let us remember the times when the Lord has enlightened us. If we have already not experienced his nearness to us, let us seek it now. Let us make the effort to ‘go up the mountain’ to meet him in our neighbourhoods, to worship him in our churches, and also to contemplate him in the beauty of nature.
Perché per noi, Lui c’è sempre: basta che camminiamo con Lui e, facendo silenzio, ci mettiamo umilmente in ascolto, come Pietro, Giovanni e Giacomo (2).
Edited by Silvano Malini and the Word of Life team
THE IDEA OF THE MONTHis currently produced by the Focolare Movement’s “Centre for Dialogue with People of Non-religious Beliefs”. It is an initiative that began in 2014 in Uruguay to share the values found in the Word of Lifeis a phrase from Scripture that members of the Movement strive to put into practice in their daily lives. Currently, THE IDEA OF THE MONTH is translated into 12 languages and distributed in more than 25 countries, with adaptations of the text according to different cultural sensitivities.
“The charism of unity is one of these graces for our time, which experiences an epoch change and invokes a simple and radical spiritual and pastoral reform, to restore the Church to the ever-new and current wellspring of Jesus’ Gospel.”[1]
[1]29th January 2020, Message of the Holy Father Francis for the opening of the international conference “A charism at the service of the Church and humanity” on the occasion of the centenary of the birth of the servant of God Chiara Lubich
This sentence of Pope Francis appears on the web site of the “Mariapolis Ginetta“, the most developed of the three little towns of the Focolare in Brazil. It highlights the recent years’ focus: a journey towards organizational change to better witness to everyday fraternity and to meet the needs and questions of visitors and the surrounding environment.
This has taken shape through the initiation of an updating processand a more participatory and less centralized management of the different realities within it. Today, each part has its own council or management committee, composed of Mariapolis residents and professionals, working in synergy with the town council. “Co-responsibility” is a key word at Mariapolis Ginetta, alongside a forward-looking approach and the ongoing quest to update the town’s mission: “to welcome, educate, testify, and radiate.”
In 2022 Mariapolis Ginetta celebrated its 50th anniversary, having grown from the first group of Focolarine who came to a small house without electricity or gas, today it has a total of 454 inhabitants living on its grounds and nearby.
Over the years, tens of thousands of people have visited including families, priests, religious and occasional visitors. Many young people have spent time there learning to live fraternity in everyday life or to discern their way to follow God in the Focolare Movement.
The Mariapolis Ginetta is part of the municipality of Vargem Grande Paulista that is just an hour from the bustling megalopolis of São Paulo and the change of scene when you arrive is dramatic: greenery, houses, no skyscrapers, parks and playgrounds for children; the atmosphere of a small town, compared to a metropolis is the added value of this place. In recent years, fourteen families have moved from different cities to raise their children. A very young couple with three children say, “We moved from Sao Paulo 6 years ago to this place where people treat one another with love, where there is room to live a balanced, and person centred lifestyle”. This, together with a school for young people that started eight years ago, is signs of a renewed social vitality of the little town.
Co-responsibility and participatory management
Iris Perguer and Ronaldo Marques, co-managers of Mariapolis Ginetta explain, “Today in the little town there are many of the elements of urban coexistence, there are houses, a town centre represented by the Mariapolis Centre and the church dedicated to “Jesus Eucharist”, the publishing house “Editrice Cidade Nova”, an audio-visual centre, medical clinics, various workshops, the well-known bakery and cafeteria “Espiga Dourada”, social projects at the service of the most disadvantaged population, the “Polo Spartaco”, a commercial and manufacturing area where companies operate according to the principles of the Economy of Communion, the Brazilian section of the “Sophia ALC “University Institute (Latin America and the Caribbean)”.
Margaret Karram commented, “This new mode of participatory management that you are implementingis an extraordinary opportunity to open the little town to others who want to help build it, to learn about and to have an experience of unity. I must say that after attending the Genfest a great hope was born in my heart; I had the strong impression that in these days God has knocked again on the door of Brazil, asking for a response to and support for what began for the young people there. This little town, together with Mariapolis Gloria and Mariapolis Santa Maria, now has a new opportunity and responsibility to understand how to respond; to offer a witness of evangelical life lived in a social community.” ”.
The second generation of the “Polo Spartaco” Business Park
Mariza Preto told us that the Entrepreneurial Hub has also embarked on a courageous path of development and openness.
““In 2016, a debt accumulated over the years due to unpaid bills, clearly indicated that the economic sustainability of the Park was at risk. The entrepreneurs lacked motivation and were worried because there didn’t seem to be anyone interested in starting a new business. These have been difficult years, in which many things have been attempted, including building relationships with local entrepreneurs that has led to the common events and moments of dialogue and encounter. But the turning point came in 2019 when, during an exhibition we organised at the Park, most of the exhibitors were external to our reality. In that period “Espri”, our management company, had many vacant warehouses and a growing financial fragility. It was then that the Council decided to admit companies and entrepreneurs who were not involved in the Economy of Communion but who wanted to act according to its principles. Thus, a “rebirth” took place: every company that wishes to come today undergoes a process of induction about the business life that we live here and adheres to the lines of management of an Economy of Communion company “. ”.
Thirty years after its foundation, Polo Spartaco now consists of 9 buildings housing 10 companies with a total of 90 employees.
Jésus Morán said, “The economy of communion is alive here. In addition to the charismatic aspect, you can see that of manufacturing and a generational turnover of entrepreneurs is underway. All this tells us that we have entered a new phase in which the prophecy of Chiara Lubich is alive. We thank all the pioneers, those who started and believed in it and allowed us to reach this point”. ”.
SMFocolari
It is through the SMF, “Sociedade Movimento dos Focolari” that the little town engages in various social works in the area. SMF promotes community building, access to rights and protection guarantees, especially for children, youth and women in situations of social vulnerability. The three Social Assistance Projects, in which the inhabitants of Mariapolis Ginetta are involved, operate in the field of prevention for young people in vulnerable conditions, providing support networks for their families and welcoming homeless people. This is a drop in the ocean of the need for dignity, work and justice of many people and as Sérgio Previdi, vice president of SMF explained “It is just one piece of the cultural project based on fraternity that we want to develop in our area and in our town”.
Stefania Tanesini
[1]29th January 2020, Message of the Holy Father Francis for the opening of the international conference “A charism at the service of the Church and humanity” on the occasion of the centenary of the birth of the servant of God Chiara Lubich
‘Start Here and Now’ is the latest single from international band Gen Verde. A hymn of unity, strength, courage and joy featuring two youth music groups: Banda Unità (Brazil) and AsOne (Italy). ‘All of us, together with our diversity, are invited to go beyond borders to build a world where care, love, justice and inclusion are the answer to pain, the horror of wars and divisions,’ explains the band.
What is behind the song?
‘The new song is in itself a ‘beyond borders’ experience because of the way it was produced,’ the band continues. The vocals were recorded in three different parts of the world and the video was also shot in three different locations: Loppiano and Verona (Italy) and Recife (Brazil).
The project includes the participation of two youth music groups that share Gen Verde values. Banda Unità is a Brazilian band and AsOne is a band from Verona, Italy. These groups also want to share, through music, the values of peace, dialogue and universal brotherhood.
‘Start Here and Now’ has an intergenerational and intercultural mix,’ continues Gen Verde. “This single stands out for its highly engaging rhythm and powerful lyrics, sung in different languages, to bring out the creative process inspired by interculturality and the commitment to universal brotherhood that is emphasised in the international Genfest event”.
Gen Verde played this song for the first time in Aparecida, Brazil, together with the musical groups Banda Unità and AsOne on 20 July 2024 during Genfest, the Focolare Movement’s global youth event. This edition was entitled: ‘Juntos para Cuidar – Together to Care’.
Those who love participate in the life of God and experience their freedom and the joy of self-giving. Going out of ourselves and meeting the other through listening opens the door to communion with our brothers and sisters and gives life to reciprocity.In prison I am a prison chaplain and for me each prisoner is ‘Christ-imprisoned’ to be loved. During Lent, to prepare them for Easter, I thought of reading some Gospel passages to them, accompanied by experiences. Noticing a certain interest, I thought of introducing them to some young people involved in a church movement. Having obtained the necessary permits, before even setting foot in the prison for the first time, we prayed that our being there would be a gift for the inmates. We did not talk much. But after celebrating Mass, enlivened by the young people’s songs, I saw hardened men begin to cry and heard them say: ‘Clean, innocent faces still exist!’ Evidently they had never met any before. Since then those young people have been coming once a month to the prison to animate the mass, which is always eagerly awaited. And when an inmate was transferred to another prison to be closer to his family, he had only one regret: losing contact with them. (Don Marco – Italy) In true communion One day I had a phone call from a fellow student at the academy where I studied whom I had not heard from for some time. She wanted to know how I was, among other things about the children and in particular the latest one. Evidently the news had not reached her that the pregnancy had not come to term. At that point I started telling her how things had gone, but at the same time I felt I was communicating to her the most intimate experience of that painful event: the special union with God that I experienced thanks to the support and concrete love of family and friends. As I spoke, I could sense that my friend was really listening, and it occurred to me that in those days when we studied together we had never dared to speak of God to one another. So it came as a great surprise at the end of the phone call when she confided to me: ‘You know, deep down I have always been a believer even if I didn’t want to admit it, but now hearing you speak so serenely I feel a great desire to get to know God more deeply. Why don’t we meet to talk about it?’. (J.V. – Belgium)
Edited by Maria Grazia Berretta
(taken from Il Vangelo del Giorno, Città Nuova, year X- no.1 May-June 2024)
May 1st to 7th: the return of the United World Week, a global workshop and expo of initiatives to restore peace and fraternity between people and peoples. The United World Week (UWW) returns from the 1st to the 7th of May 2024. This year it focuses its global commitment on peace, sought and built from multiple fronts: attention to the poorest and the excluded, care for the environment, formation of consciences and education towards peace. This year’s motto is “Embrace Humanity, Spark Change”; a starting point and inspiration for many initiatives taking place in various cities around the world. UWW 2024, a worldwide Genfest The UWW will start with an international opening event on the 1st of May in Loppiano (Florence-Italy), but from the outset, other cities around the world will also be involved and will continue until the 7th of May being types of “workshops” in creating synergies, sharing ideas, good practices and creativity. The UWW 2024 takes place two months prior to the Genfest, the worldwide Festival of fraternity promoted by the young people of the Focolare Movement. The Genfest will take place in July at Aparecida, Brazil and it will showcase the “local” commitment of many Focolare communities. Networking with Organisations, Movements and Institutions, the Focolare communities are engaged in local contexts to respond to the most urgent needs and challenges of a given area. The “change” that the young people of the Focolare Movement, together with their communities, want to promote is concentrated in the areas of the world that are most devastated by war, by the environmental impact and by forced migration. Who are the protagonists of the UWWThe protagonists are the young people from all over the world: there is Giacomo, Italian, who left for Kenya thanks to the MilONGa international volunteering project, where he worked in orphanages in Nairobi. Or Daphne, from India, who recounts the adventure of Reach Out, the project set up in Goregaon, a suburb of East Mumbai, by some local young people to support about 70 families in poverty. Icaro, Sam and David, on the other hand, live in Brazil, in Fortaleza, where they are volunteering in the “Uirapuru Spiritual Condominium” (CEU), a campus where 21 associations work to care for needy children, people with AIDS and drug addicts. 1st of May, the opening of the UWW These and other stories will be presented during the opening of the UWW from Loppiano with an international event that will be streamed live and translated into 5 languages (Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, English and French). It can be followed on the UWP Youtube channel or by connecting to the UWP website (unitedworldproject.org). On this occasion, the International little town of the Focolare will host three villages, each with a different theme: inner peace, peace with others, peace in the world. In these spaces, participants will be able to attend many workshops to explore the theme of peace (Economy of Peace, There is no dialogue without listening, Conflicts in our cities, Water, a source of peace?, The Living Peace International project, Peace and art: harmony between different peoples, etc.). The common thread that will ideally unite their itinerary is the discovery of the art of dialogue. If you go to the UWP website, you can also follow some of the other events and stories of the UWW, such as Peace Got Talent which will take place on the 4th of May. There is also Run4Unity, the relay race for peace and unity, promoted by thousands of teenagers all over the world (the adults are running too!). Run4Unity will be held on the 5th of May: wherever possible, the sport events will be held in places that are symbols of peace, on the border between countries or communities in conflict, or at least in places that “speak” of inclusion.
The protagonists are the young people from all over the world: there is Giacomo, Italian, who left for Kenya thanks to the MilONGa international volunteering project, where he worked in orphanages in Nairobi. Or Daphne, from India, who recounts the adventure of Reach Out, the project set up in Goregaon, a suburb of East Mumbai, by some local young people to support about 70 families in poverty. Icaro, Sam and David, on the other hand, live in Brazil, in Fortaleza, where they are volunteering in the “Uirapuru Spiritual Condominium” (CEU), a campus where 21 associations work to care for needy children, people with AIDS and drug addicts. 1st of May, the opening of the UWW These and other stories will be presented during the opening of the UWW from Loppiano with an international event that will be streamed live and translated into 5 languages (Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, English and French). It can be followed on the