16 Jun 2022 | Non categorizzato
On Sunday, 19th June, 2022, the new website of the Igino Giordani Centre will go online. The site is dedicated to this writer and politician, co-founder of the Focolare. Alberto Lo Presti told us that it is a completely revamped space, where you can meet “Foco” and get to the heart of his life. “Once someone said that if, by chance, all the Gospels disappeared from the earth, Christians should be such that, just by looking at their lives, the Gospel could be rewritten. Igino Giordani was that kind of Christian.” The words of Chiara Lubich, in describing the extraordinary figure of Igino Giordani (to whom she gave the name of Foco), allow us to grasp the beauty that lies behind the adventure of one who is considered a co-founder of the Focolare Movement. Hero of the last century, engaged on various fronts, from political, to social, to cultural, Giordani is still relevant today. The Igino Giordani Centre, founded by Chiara Lubich, will launch its new website on 19th June 2022 to showcase and protect his legacy. Alberto Lo Presti, at the helm of the Centre, told us about it. Prof. Lo Presti, where did the idea of creating a new site dedicated to Igino Giordani come from and what is new about it? We live in a challenging era from many points of view: peace and war, justice and inequalities, migration and welcome, work and unemployment… and since Igino Giordani has dealt with these issues with wisdom and inspiration, there are many people searching through his speeches, writings and testimonies, to find a light that might guide them in their current choices. This is why we decided to improve the website, completely renewing it, adapting it with the latest graphics and functionality. In this way we will give access, to those who are interested, to the main sources that illustrate his thought and life. How can the person of Foco make his way into the present day and be an inspiration also for the new generations? At the venerable age of 70+, Igino Giordani was considered a “myth” by many young people and teenagers who frequented the gardens of the International Centre of the Focolare Movement in Rocca di Papa (Italy), and came across him, sitting on a bench. They loved to spend time with him, to talk about serious matters or simply to share what they were living. Today, young people still need myths and heroes and often look for them in the most unlikely places (sports, cinema, video games, social media, influencers). To get to know Igino today, means getting to know the story of a real hero, who really had to go to war, who really chose peace, who really challenged the people in power to remain consistent with their ideals. Usually it is thought that youth is the time of ideals, which then with adulthood, are destined to collapse. Igino remained young to the last because, as he loved to say, “You never get old in the spirit”. Exploring his experience means listening to his teaching: living for the ideal of unity was the most exciting thing that happened to him. And alongside the improved functionality of the site and its new graphic layout, there is also a new Instagram page, already online, the first official channel entirely dedicated to Igino Giordani (Igino_giordani_official), to facilitate access to him, a citizen of the world and a real influencer of our time.
Maria Grazia Berretta
15 Jun 2022 | Non categorizzato
It’s not something you can learn from books – the art of supporting each other. But helping someone with their studies and devoting time to them can be the right opportunity to discover wonders and reap unexpected rewards, even in a place like prison. That’s what happened to Marta Veracini, giving her a new look on life. Laughing out loud while a voice in the distance whispers not to disturb; exchanging ideas and opinions, attempting to concentrate and stay in the books. This scene repeats daily in study halls of universities, between coffee breaks and on the way to a new class. All this and much more happens to Marta Veracini, a young woman from Tuscany, Italy, every time she hears the armoured doors close behind her at Dogaia, the prison in Prato (near Florence). A law graduate with a master’s degree in criminology, Marta joined the University of Florence’s organised civil service project in 2019. In it volunteers assist inmates preparing for university exams. Since then, even after the year ended, she continued her service – there in a place that anyone would have a hard time calling ‘beautiful’. Yet in surprising and unexpected ways, it has become a space dedicated to care and mutual trust, a place where relationships are a ‘welcoming home’, and where everyone, inmate or not, can finally be themselves. ‘I am always asked how it feels to bring comfort and help in a place like prison,’ says Marta. ‘The truth is that no one really understands how much you can receive, even in that context. ‘Volunteering in prison changed my life. It allowed me to break down the barriers of my shyness, my insecurities and allows me today to show off a smile that I used to hide. It is I who have to thank the people I have met for all they have done for me and continue to do. ‘I am truly free with them.’ It is a real achievement. There are so many cells that can imprison us, in fact, that can hold back our dreams, our thoughts, our hopes. Marta’s experience, together with those of the inmates she has had the good fortune to meet and help with their studies over the years, are an example of how together it is still possible to take flight, to feel that you are worth something and – why not – think about the future. ‘The university path is definitely tiring for everyone,’ Marta says, ‘but they work so hard, and it is good to see their grit and joy in passing an exam. These are great little milestones, where they face tough subjects. ‘Many, for example, are studying law, and some have already graduated. There are young people as well as adults from various regions of Italy, or foreigners. It is good to see how they set no limits, spur each other on and become examples for each other. ‘For those with long sentences, it means investing strength and time to achieve something that makes them proud, and makes their families outside proud. Those who are released have the opportunity to use what they have studied to be able to start over.’ Hers is a look of hope that embraces and allows itself to be embraced. The stories of daily life within the walls of Dogaia, captured in the book Marta wrote during the pandemic, My guardian angel has a life sentence, are a small drop in a great sea of indifference that divides the inside from the outside. Yet they are a testimony to how it is possible to break down barriers by generating beauty and putting unconditional love for one’s neighbour at the centre. ‘I have never wanted to know why each of them is in prison,’ Marta continues, ‘but one thing is certain: I have never looked at them as “monsters” – just people who, although with mistakes behind them, have the same needs, feelings and hope as others do to relate and share. ‘They are people who have dignity like everyone else, and thanks to them, I also found mine. In short, true friends.’
Maria Grazia Berretta
13 Jun 2022 | Non categorizzato
The Word of Life of June 2022, “You are my Lord, I have no good apart from you ” proposes that we recognise Jesus in all circumstances of life, especially in the most difficult moments of physical or spiritual pain. Through his abandonment, Jesus himself became our access to the Father. His part is now done. It’s up to us to take advantage of this great grace. Each one of us has to do our own small part, which requires that we approach the gate and pass through it. How? When we suffer because of a sudden disappointment, or are distressed by an unexpected misfortune or an absurd illness, we should recall that Jesus took on himself the pain of all these various trials, and a myriad of others, too. Yes, Jesus forsaken is present in everything that causes us to suffer. Every pain we experience bears his name. So let’s try to recognize Jesus forsaken in all the distressful and difficult situations of life, in all our dark times, in our personal tragedies and those of others, in the suffering of humanity that surrounds us. All these are him because he made them his own. All we have to do is to tell him, with faith, “You, Lord, are my only good.”[1] It would be enough to do something practical to lessen “his” suffering in the poor and in those who are distressed, for us to go through the gate and find beyond it a joy never experienced before, a new fullness of life.
Chiara Lubich
(Chiara Lubich, from the Word of Life of April 1999) [1] See Ps 16:2.
7 Jun 2022 | Non categorizzato
While much of the population of Latin America adheres to the Catholic Church, for many years there has been a growing sense of awareness among different churches. Often by working together on social issues, Christians from different traditions are able to experience real unity. Of particular importance is the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which in the southern hemisphere is celebrated between Ascension and Pentecost. More and more it’s the youth who are taking the lead to get things done. 
Young people have always been attracted by the unknown, by what is different from themselves, by all that something new can bring, even in the realm of religion. So youth are always more open to those from another church to their own. This is precisely the experience of Ikuméni, a workshop for young Latin American Christians belonging to different churches and Christian traditions. “From the first day, I realised it was going to be challenging for everyone present, starting with me because the people I meet on a daily basis are nearly all Catholics like myself. In this course, everything was new and every participant came from a different church”, explains Carolina Bojacá, a young Focolare member from Colombia. In this formation journey, these young Christians from different traditions become travelling companions, in what is proving to be a real innovation in the ecumenical field. Starting from their shared faith in Christ, each one is prepared to serve actively in areas like sustainable development, peace and humanitarian aid. Carolina continues, “In August 2021 I participated in the online course for young people on good practice in ecumenism and inter-religious dialogue. There was a great atmosphere among us all from the start, and we all wanted to get to know each other better and build good relationships. As we tackled each theme, we quickly realised we would not be able to make progress unless we let go of all those prejudices or preconceptions that are often nurtured within a community and which block us from opening our minds and hearts to welcome each other. It’s the only way to discover the beauty of what unites us and also the differences that make us who we are as a church or group, without them being an impediment to working together for a more fraternal world. As the months went by, we got to know each other and eventually we managed to meet face to face. It was great to feel how strong our bond had become, to be able to give each other a hug, to pray together, to dialogue and discover the diversity and richness in each one, and in myself too!” As part of the course, the young participants prepare for a program of service. As it says in “Serving a Wounded World in Interreligious Solidarity”, the 2020 joint document by the World Council of Churches and the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Christians must now recognize the urgency to get involved with people of other religions in expressions of interreligious solidarity. So Carolina and her group rolled up their sleeves, as she explains. “In December, together with another youth member of the Focolare Movement who attended the same course, we thought of taking gifts to an indigenous community who had been violently displaced from their homeland to the outskirts of Bogotá. We proposed the idea to the others on the course and got a very positive response. Many contributed gifts and prayed for us, showing how even if we belong to a different church, our motivation is love inspired by Jesus, the model for all of us. At the end of the course we all gathered in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Each of us presented the actions inspired by the program not only to our fellow Ikuméni course mates, but also to some members of other religions who were invited. They happily shared their ideas and their own practical actions. It was a special moment of openning up to interreligious dialogue”. For many it was a completely new experience, a testimony of how fraternity can be built from personal commitment and effort combined with a great desire to get to know each other and do great things all together. “So now we’ve completed the course,” said Carolina, “but it’s only the first step to respond to a personal calling. We’ll continue to strengthen our relationships, help each other in actions which open up our hearts and continue working to make a united world something real”.
Carlos Mana
6 Jun 2022 | Non categorizzato
In 1976, during the first Gen School, Chiara Lubich answered questions from many young Focolare members from all over the world. Referring to what she was living in those days she said the following I read … a writing of mine which you too may have read its short and says: “Jesus forsaken, embraced, held tightly to oneself, consumed in one with us, we consumed in one with Him, made suffering with Him… suffering: this is how you become God, Love.” Those words touched me in a special way because I wrote them during a time of great light, so I wrote things greater than I could actually live, or if I did live them, it was as a young person. The more I go ahead the more I discover their value and depth. … I liked it very much and the Holy Spirit made me focus on this point of not being two of us: me and Jesus forsaken, that is, me and the suffering I experience, me and the doubt I have, I discovering Him and little by little embracing Him, saying to Jesus… taking time., no, at once! Made suffering with Him suffering, wanting that alone, this is how you become God, how you become God! Love, Love. Then, … I had just received a card from Loppiano in which Father Mario Strada had sent me, besides his letter, a few photos of his new little church at Cappiano, I think, photos of some beautiful frescoes. One of them had this sentence written beneath it: “Nox mea (my night) obscurum non habet” (my night has no darkness). I was very happy about this, as though the Lord had sent it to me, because – as I said – this is what I want to live. As soon as a suffering arrives, I must embrace it so quickly, I must hold it tightly to myself, consume it in one, made suffering with Him suffering. This is how you become, not suffering, but Love, God. … I have seen, gen, that living this all day long, is like a tonic of the Ideal that you can’t imagine… unimaginable! Because you start in the morning. You might be a little tired, you didn’t sleep well perhaps. So, tiredness, amazing, “My night has no darkness”, this suffering does not exist because I love it. I get up, and I might hear about some problems at once. Someone says: “Chiara, I need to tell you something.” And I say within: fantastic, Jesus, here we are, I embrace you, hold you tightly, made suffering with you, at once… “My night has no darkness.” And this all day long. I believe that we can progress spiritually more in a week by living this one thing than in months and months living in other ways. And this applies to all suffering; you’re suffering because your feet hurt; you’re feeling the cold; someone spoke a bit unkindly; you suffer about something you have to do; you suffer and …at once… – This is the way! … so that we can always proclaim, when we go to bed at night: Jesus, my night had no darkness. Truly, you feel that you can say (now, God must confirm this), that it is no longer we who live, but it is Love that lives within; it is God who lives within
Chiara Lubich
(Grottaferrata, 2 June 1976, at the Gen School) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34K64nLUofk
