25 Jul 2022 | Non categorizzato
Kindness, mercy, and forgiveness are three characteristics of mutual love that can help us shape our social relationships. The unity brought by Christ always needs to be revived and translated into concrete social actions that are inspired entirely by mutual love. Here are some pointers about the foundations we can lay for our relationships: Kindness means wanting the good of others. It means “making ourselves one” with them, approaching them having completely set aside our own interests, ideas and the many preconceived notions that often cloud our vision. We do this so that we can take on the other person’s burdens, their needs, and their sufferings, and also share their joys. It means entering into the hearts of the people we meet to understand their mentality, culture and traditions and make these, in a certain sense, our own. In this way we can truly understand what they need and can discern the values that God has placed in each person’s heart. In a word, kindness means living for the people we are with. Mercy means welcoming others as they are, not as we would like them to be, with a different personality, with political views that match our own, with religious beliefs like ours, and without those faults and habits that irritate us. No, we need to expand our heart and make it able to welcome all people with all their differences, limitations, and problems. Forgiveness means always seeing other people with new eyes. Even in the most beautiful and peaceful environments, in the family, at school and at work, there are inevitably times of friction, disagreements and arguments. Sometimes people do not speak to each other or avoid each other, not to mention when feelings of hatred towards those who think differently take root in a person’s heart. Instead, we need to make a determined effort to try to see each brother and sister as if it were for the first time, as a completely new person, without remembering how he or she has offended us, but covering everything over with love, with a complete amnesty in our hearts, imitating God who forgives and forgets. True peace and unity can be reached when kindness, mercy and forgiveness are lived not only individually, but together, in reciprocity. Just as coals in a fireplace have to be poked every now and then to prevent them from being covered by the ashes, so too it is necessary, from time to time, to take steps to revive mutual love, and give fresh life to our relationships with everyone, so that they will not be smothered by the ashes of indifference, apathy and selfishness. These attitudes need to be translated into life, into concrete actions. Jesus showed us what love is when he healed the sick and fed the crowds, when he brought the dead back to life, and when he washed the feet of his disciples. Deeds, concrete deeds: this is what it means to love.
Chiara Lubich
(Chiara Lubich, in Parole di Vita, [Words of Life] Cittá Nuova, 2017, p. 787)
22 Jul 2022 | Non categorizzato
Answering an invitation and starting a new adventure. Josef Bambas is a focolarino – a consecrated member of the Focolare Movement. He is of Czech origin and has been living in Vienna for some years. He tells us about his choices, life in the focolare and the joy of accompanying many young people as they discover their own path in life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQXyw9w_MCo&t=18s
20 Jul 2022 | Non categorizzato
Catholic and Orthodox Church representatives gathered for a conference on the theme of integral ecology, inspired by the teachings of Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I. Istanbul, Turkey—Representatives of the Catholic and Orthodox churches, along with other members of civil society, gathered June 8–11, 2022 for the Halki Summit, a conference focused on the theme of integral ecology. Now in its fifth year, the event was organised by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in collaboration, for the first time, with Sophia University Institute. It was held over four days in which academics, theologians and leaders, alongside students and activists, debated, seeking new solutions to enact green changes in their spheres of influence. Its inspiration came from the prophetic vision of Pope Francis in his encyclical Laudato Si, and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, also known as the “Green Patriarch” precisely because of his sensitivity to ecological issues. What were the outcomes of this summit?
Laura Salerno
To learn more, watch the full video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJ6ZGgiT7YU
19 Jul 2022 | Non categorizzato
Service-learning consists of applying classroom learning and getting to learn things that one cannot always learn in class. Clayss, based in Argentina, has built networks and alliances with educational institutions world-wide. A twenty years journey in the field of education is not a short one at all. CLAYSS, the Latin American Centre for service-learning started in Buenos Aires in 2002. It started as ‘a crazy dream’ in the midst of an economic and social crisis, and it has extended its activities not only to other Latin American countries but also to countries in Europe, Asia and Africa. This wide network, built together with various educational institutions, involves all age groups, from kindergarten to university. CLAYSS is marking its first twenty years of life by 20 conferences organized in 20 different cities. We met Nieves Tapia, its founder and director, at the LUMSA University in Rome.. Professor Tapia explained: “Service-learning combines theory and practice. It gives both children and young university students the opportunity to learn by applying classroom learning while being of service to others”.. An International Service-Learning Conference will be held in Buenos Aires at the end of August, and preparations are being made for another conference, scheduled to take place in Rome in October. About a hundred Catholic universties are expected to participate. In fact, Nieves Tapia explained that, “Uniservitate is a global programme that promotes service-learning in Catholic higher education”. And she added:: “Its objective is to generate a systemic change through the institutionalisation of service-learning as a tool that enables higher education institutions achieve their mission of offering an integral education to the new generations and involving them in an active commitment to the challenges of our time”.. Uniservitate’s global network is present in 26 countries in the 5 continents through partnerships with more than 30 universities and educational institutions.
Carlos Mana
Our interview. Activate English subtitles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzFTDiOJhJQ
18 Jul 2022 | Non categorizzato
The ‘holy journey’ that Chiara Lubich proposes to us is not to be made in solitude and detached from the world. It is a journey for everyone without differentiating between age, social status, and life choices. The method is to focus on love of neighbour and mutual love that will help us ‘forget’ the world. … We are called to remain in the midst of the world and to reach God through our neighbour, which means through love for our neighbour and through reciprocal love. It is by taking the commitment to undertake this unique and evangelical journey that we will discover, as if by magic, that our soul has been enriched by all these virtues. We need to have contempt for the world and there is no better contempt for something than completely disregarding it, forgetting about it, ignoring it. If we are all focused on others, on loving our neighbours, we don’t pay any attention to the world, we forget about it and therefore, we have contempt for it – even though this doesn’t dispense us from our duty to reject its suggestions whenever they assail us. We need to grow in virtue. But it’s by loving that we achieve this. Isn’t it written: “I run the way of your commandments, for you enlarge my understanding [with love].”[1] If by loving our neighbours we run along the path of fulfilling God’s commandments, it means we are making progress. We need love for sacrifice. But loving others truly means sacrificing ourselves so as to be dedicated to the service of our neighbour. Christian love, even though it is a source of great joy, is synonymous with sacrifice. We need to be fervent in doing penance. It is in a life of love that we find the main and the best type of penance. We need self-denial. Love of others always implies self-denial. Lastly, we need to know how to bear with difficulties. Aren’t so many difficulties in the world caused by living with other people? We need to learn how to bear with everyone and love them out of love for Jesus Forsaken. By doing so we will overcome many obstacles in life. Yes, by loving our neighbour we can find an excellent way to transform our lives into a ‘holy journey.’
Chiara Lubich
(Chiara Lubich, in Conversazioni, [Telephone conversations] Città Nuova, 2019, p. 262/3) [1] Ps 119:32.
