14 May 2021 | Non categorizzato
For Oscar, whose passion is singing and music, it was hard to accept the news that he might become deaf. But with the help of Focolare young people in Bolivia, a new adventure began that helped him overcome his challenges. In 2014 I went through a difficult time, to the point of thinking about suicide. It all started one morning when I woke up with a strong buzzing in my head. As the days went by, the buzzing became unbearable. Was I going crazy? One day when I couldn’t stand the noise anymore, and I went to the emergency room. The doctor explained that the buzzing would remain forever – in fact, that I would become deaf. This was very hard for me to take! I tried to deal with the situation decisively, but, at times, my despair seemed to win out. I asked the Focolare community for help, and I believe it was their prayers that saved me. One afternoon, I was able to accept this situation and found the strength to move forward. Continuing to fight for my wife Carminia and our six children became a worthy goal. I began to get used to the buzzing, and as I thought of the forsaken Jesus, I saw myself as similar to him, close to him. Every morning I would greet him with a “Hi, Jesus.” It was a beautiful time. It may sound strange, but it was precisely in that pain that I felt God’s presence closest! After many medical consultations and medications, my condition stabilized. The buzzing continues, however. One evening I thought, the time will come when I will no longer be able to sing or play music. It was difficult to accept, but I said another “yes” to God. I did put some conditions on it though: “I accept that I will no longer sing on this earth, but I ask to be part of your choir in heaven.” We were living in El Alto, in La Paz, the capital of Bolivia, at an altitude of 4,150 meters. The doctors advised me to move to a city that wasn’t as high. In 2015, we moved to Cochabamba (2,500 meters). The local Focolare community welcomed us with open arms. It was an opportunity to get to know the Gen – the young people in the Focolare – better. With them, a musical adventure began that I never imagined. Despite already having given up my dream of continuing to sing, I found myself amid the energy and life of the Gen, and it became music. One young man suggested that I organize a music group. I was happy, but worried about my hearing, which by then was not working as well as before. But the energy of Gen, my experience with youth music groups, as well as the instruments we had in our family (four of our children are musicians) convinced me. One day we got a drum set as a gift, and it was a big party. The young people had a lot of talent. Some sang well, others played instruments with passion, and some were computer and sound geniuses. So we played at six events organized by the Focolare. How wonderful to see the young people so happy, and the adults catching their liveliness! God, in the end, did not let himself be outdone in goodness, because I was able to keep singing. I continue to do so.
Óscar Condori, Bolivia
12 May 2021 | Non categorizzato
From the sharing of material goods to offering spiritual and emotional support, all efforts seem a drop in the ocean of the Covid-19 tragedy in India. Yet local communities continue to go ahead with faith in God and mutual trust. 
“It has been exactly one week since we tested positive. We are not looking up any information on the Internet and we are not allowing ourselves to watch the news or complain about anything. We are taking it one day at a time. Getting better. Your prayers, messages, good wishes and food full of warmth have continued to give us strength and we can feel the closeness and support of each and every one of you. We continue to offer thanks for the smallest blessings we have been given.” This WhatsApp message shared by a family from the Focolare community in Mumbai has been a ray of hope and courage in these dark times. Not a day goes by without receiving news of the death of colleagues, friends and sometimes even family members. This is in addition to the constant reminders through all the media of collapsing systems and families unable to assure dignity for their sick or deceased loved ones. With a population of 1.3 billion people, a high rate of cases was expected in India. For a whole year, until last April, the country managed to curb the spread through various measures, from strict lockdowns to contact tracing and mass vaccinations. But now the situation is worsening daily, as the virus mutates in various parts of the country and the public health system struggles to keep up with an unprecedented demand for medicines, oxygen and ventilators. During the pandemic, the Focolare community has worked tirelessly and relaunched a nationwide communion of goods to show solidarity and offer financial help to those who have lost their jobs or need funds for daily provisions. The Focolare’s Udisha project in India has been able to reach out to nearly 80 families in some of Mumbai’s low-income communities, providing them with food, medicine, school fees, books, house rent, electricity bills, etc. Amidst the raging second wave, some young people continue their work for the #DaretoCare project by serving home-cooked meals to the homeless once a fortnight. With the aim of saving lives, much of the effort and energy of the Focolare communities is now focused on health care. When an urgent request came from the Holy Family Hospital in Mumbai for oxygen concentrators for their 160-bed Covid ward, the community quickly found sponsors for two machines and is now looking for more. As the second wave continues to hammer home its full force, the Focolare families have felt the need to support each other more closely and have begun to connect daily to pray together for half an hour, finding much needed support in the pain, helplessness and even loneliness of some. As in the early days of the Movement, when the community in Trent (Italy) discovered that God is Love even in the raging of the Second World War, online prayer with the Indian community is becoming a powerful way of expressing their being one family, all equal and united in God’s love.
Annabel Dsouza from Mumbai, India
10 May 2021 | Non categorizzato
Our love needs to be continuously revived by acts of love which are always more perfect, always more sincere. Chiara Lubich compares love for neighbour to a fire that is fuelled by love, to show our commitment to God and to our neighbour. Undoubtedly, we want to focus with greater conviction on our Ideal, which is all there, in mutual love. We want to strengthen our unity and do all in our power to spread it as far as possible. … Because fire—and it is a matter of fire—does not burn unless it is continually fed with wood or straw and so on. Similarly, our love needs to be continually revived by acts of love that are ever more perfect and sincere. And this is necessary not only for people who are at the beginning of the spiritual life or half way through it. Even people who have strived to practice charity for years and years can fall into a type of “routine” charity which loses the splendour and warmth of the flames, and slowly diminishes, becoming more and more hidden beneath the ashes. This is the case, for example, when in our daily lives, we no longer spontaneously declare unity with our brothers and sisters. This is the case when we notice that our charity loses its impact, its power to irradiate decreases, we are of little use to the Kingdom of God, there are fewer fruits: we have become lukewarm. For this reason, therefore, we must remind ourselves to enkindle the fire continually, to return again and again to being alive to love. Yes, because God doesn’t like those who are lukewarm, not at all: “… You are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot. 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth. (Rev 3:15-16). This is terrible. It shows the urgency of always returning to being “hot”, to having a truly fervent charity. Let’s go ahead then: let’s ask ourselves often: have we thrown wood on the fire? Is our love shallow or ardent? Have we used every opportunity to express our fervour to God and to our neighbour? Let’s … remember only these words: not lukewarm but ardent.
Chiara Lubich
(Taken from a telephone conference call, Rocca di Papa, February 28th 1991)
7 May 2021 | Non categorizzato
For the past twenty-two years “Together for Europe” has been bringing together more than 300 Christian Communities and Movements of different Churches – including the Focolare Movement – spread throughout the continent. There will also be many initiatives this year from 7 to 9 May. 
Sunday 9 May is Europe Day, an event that aims to highlight how peace and unity are indispensable for Europe. The date marks the anniversary of the historic Schuman declaration made public in 1950 on the occasion of the speech by the French parliamentarian, one of the founding fathers of the European Union. This is the context for the “Together for Europe” initiative, a reality that for twenty-two years has been bringing together more than 300 Christian Communities and Movements of different Churches, including the Focolare Movement. “Together for Europe” aims to respond to the need for a “culture of reciprocity” where different individuals and people can welcome, get to know and reconcile with one another, and learn to value and support each other. Major European events have been staged over the years – taking place in Stuttgart (Germany) in 2004 and 2007, then simultaneously in 152 cities around the continent in 2012 with a focus on Brussels (Belgium) and in 2016 in a central square in Munich/Bavaria (Germany). From 7 to 9 May 2021, ‘Together for Europe’ will be presented as a series of events taking place in Austria, Croatia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, France, Germany, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Switzerland and Italy. Among the various initiatives is the European prayer on 9 May entitled “My Europe: 45 minutes for Europe” where young people will meet online and animate an event with music, short reflections and prayer groups (in English). Young people and adults are also coming together from different European countries to make short video clips explaining their vision of a united Europe. In the Chapel for Europe in Brussels, Belgium several Movements of “Together for Europe” are preparing for an event which will be broadcast online on 8 May 2021 from 16:00 to 17:30 on the theme of “unity and reconciliation”. Also on 8 May, the young people of the Focolare Movement, as part of United World Week, whose theme this year is “dare to care”, will hold a webinar exploring the Christian roots of “care” with Canon John McLuckie, Rector of the Scottish Episcopal Church and 14 young people from 4 different Communities and 7 European countries. In Italy there will be a rich online symposium “For the Earth and People” exploring the link between integral ecology and a fair economy in contributing to building the “common home”. Starting with Graz, the Austrian group will network with Croatia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary and Italy to get to know each other better and deepen a conversation that unites us all. At the conference in France, Jean-Dominique Giuliani, President of the Robert Schuman Foundation, will speak on the theme of “Europe: what reasons for hope? ” How did the idea of a Europe Day come about? Where is the soul of Europe? What is Europe telling us today? These are some of the questions and topics that will be discussed in a video session in the Netherlands on 9 May. Germany, the Czech Republic and Switzerland will also be joining other events celebrating Europe. The aim is to take up the important challenges facing the continent of Europe, putting to good use the charisms of the Communities and Movements for the good of humanity, through multiple initiatives in favour of reconciliation and peace, the protection of life and creation, a fair economy, solidarity with the poor and the marginalised, the family, the good of our cities and fraternity within Europe.
Lorenzo Russo
6 May 2021 | Non categorizzato
An international training course on human rights, sustainability and fraternity, consisting of lessons, practical activities, interaction and opportunities to discuss experience. Education in Global Citizenship – Solidarity of Service has already made a very positive debut and has involved 91 teachers and educators: it will be repeated this year. This course is aimed at all those who work in education and who want to learn about civic activity with a particular focus on practical solidarity of service. One of the course objectives, therefore, is to train participants to become promoters of active and global citizenship, to encourage critical thinking and to enable young people to promote learning based on solidarity. The course is organised by AMU, Action for a United World, in partnership with CLAYSS, the Latin American Centre for Service Learning and in collaboration with the Focolare’s Youth for a United World. On line lessons will begin on 8 September 2021 and finish in January 2022. Ther will be a total of 80 hours of teaching and interactive methods will be used throughout. 60 hours will be dedicated to lessons on a variety of topics (which will not be streamed but live); the other 20 hours will be used to help prepare for the final assignment. Each module will be presented using videos, texts and in-depth analysis of the subject matter. During the course, each participant will be supported by a specialist tutor who will be available for personal consultation and periodical video calls. Each module includes activities that enable students to gain skills in understanding how the contents can be applied within their own educational context. The on line platform will also include opportunities for participants to dialogue and compare experiences. The internationality of the course makes these sessions extremely helpful and interesting. Students who complete the 80 hours of teaching will be awarded a certificate by AMU at the end of the course. The feedback from those who followed the course in past has been very positive. Participants were particularly appreciative of the teaching style which succeeds in enabling both teachers and students to become active citizens. They felt the on line facility worked very well and that tutors were professional and very supportive; they were also readily available and worked with dedication and imagination. Past students also said that the internationality of their group was culturally enriching. In conclusion, this is a course, rich in content, which will enable teachers and educators to deepen their knowledge and broaden their skills in citizenship and help others to become active citizens. Further information
- AMU is an accredited body of MIUR – Italian Ministry of Education – (DM 170/2016) for the training of educational workers. It recognises Teachers’ Cards.
- – The course is already on the SOPHIA University Institute website – identification code no. 55400 for those who wish to enrol throught the Institute. However, we remind you that you must enrol also through the following link.
- – Discounts are available for those who enrol before 20 June 2021 and for groups bookings and university students. Students from developing countries may apply for grants.
To find out more, visit the AMU website at the following link.
Laura Salerno
