Renewing Reciprocal Love

8 Feb 2021 | Non categorizzato

The General Statutes of the Focolare Movement, as well as the Regulations of each of its branches, contain a “premise to every other rule” a “norm of norms”: the commitment of whoever is part of the Movement to live mutual charity according to the Commandment of Jesus. In the following text, Chiara Lubich emphasizes that this commitment must be continually renewed. [In the letter to the Romans the apostle Paul] says: “Let us cast off deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light” (Rom 13:12).The “deeds of darkness” are the consequences of vices and sin. The “armor of light” is the virtues and the practice of living the Word of God in our lives. Now, we know that the New Commandment of Jesus is the synthesis of all His commands, of all His Words. Therefore, we will put on the “armor of light” by refocusing our lives on this commandment. The result—we know—is that the Risen Lord will be resplendent in the midst of our community. […] So then, the “armor of light.” The New Commandment practiced with new commitment. […] This is an invitation that I extend to all of you. And so that we can begin right away, let’s take a moment to look at our reciprocal love: let’s consider the measure of love (keeping in mind that it must be the same measure with which Jesus loves us: therefore to be ready to give our lives); let’s look at where our generosity is lacking, at our limitations in loving, so that we can overcome them; let’s see if our reci­procal love may rest too heavily on a human plane, and need therefore to be raised to a supernatural level…. If we do so, if we improve our reciprocal love in this way, Jesus, the Saint, will be among us and will make this present year the holiest of our lives.[…]

Chiara Lubich

 (From a telephone conference call, Rocca di Papa, 13 November, 1986)  

International day of prayer against human trafficking

6 Feb 2021 | Non categorizzato

On 8 February, a prayer marathon for an economy which cares for and values the human person and nature, which includes and does not exploit the most vulnerable. The International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking is observed on 8 February 2021, the feast day of St Josephine Bakhita. It invites us to reflect deeply on this issue and to make the  connection between our contemporary world economy and human trafficking. The Focolare Movement is closely associated with a worldwide network of concerned associations and partners, including the Dicastery for Consecrated Life, the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples, the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Caritas International, and many more. It’s a joint call for an economy not underpinned by illegal trafficking or exploitation, but which promotes the life and dignity of every person and dignified work for all. Human trafficking exists because it generates huge sums of ‘easy-money’ for the traffickers. But actually, we all profit from trafficiking, in some sense, when we obtain too-low cost goods or services. We must change direction and say no to everything that destroys life. The International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking 2021 turns the spotlight on one of the main causes of human trafficking: our current dominant economic model, with limits and contradictions which have been accentuated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Human trafficking is an integral part of this economy. The victims of trafficking like “goods” are trapped within the chains of a globalization governed by financial speculation and low cost competition. What’s needed is a structural and global vision of trafficking to demolish all the perverse mechanisms which feed the demand for persons to be exploited. Because the whole economy is diseased to its very core. Oscar Wilde is credited with defining a cynic as someone who ‘knows the price of everything and the value of nothing’. Well, this our economy seems to be dominated by cynicism. Referring to goods, services and people, the market not only determines the price, but, even more drammatically, it’s the price that determines the value. A business falls victim to this logic by being increasingly valued by the financial markets according to the share price and not from the added value of its human capital. So trafficking is just the tip of the iceberg. It’s the magnified expression of a malaise caused by prevalent neoliberalism based on a (false) idea of economic liberty in which every ethical, social and political consideration is deemed superfluous and an obstacle. On the other hand, an economy without human trafficking is an economy which cares for and values the human person and nature, which includes and does not exploit the most vulnerable. How can we participate in the World Day of Prayer? On 8 February you can follow the prayer marathon on the special Youtube channel over seven hours, in five languages, highlighting stories of different ways of combatting human trafficking around the world. More information from: www.preghieracontrotratta.org

 Lorenzo Russo

Final document: work in progress

5 Feb 2021 | Non categorizzato

General Assembly – Diary12, February 5, 2021 A very intensive day of work has come to an end for the General Assembly participants. Between yesterday and today they analysed and voted on a number of motions about the future life of the Movement. A first draft of the final document has also been written. This summarises the orientations and the plan of action on the topics discussed in the various working groups. It needs to be said that time constraint and the technical conditions imposed by the telematic mode posed a challenge for the Assembly’s work. Nonetheless, every effort has been made to enable everyone to contribute, to experience unity in diversity, and to plan together a final document to be handed over to the new Government. Roughly, it has been calculated that 13 to 15 hours of work were put into each topic and a total of 3,500 working hours were invested in the first draft alone. All this work has been achieved through the help of several specialised platforms and three professional facilitators. An extraordinary appointment for tomorrow morning: Pope Francis will receive the General Assembly in a private audience at the Paul VI Hall. Some participants will actually participate in person, while most of them will follow via streaming. The outgoing president, Maria Voce, will introduce the newly elected Margaret Karram to the Holy Father. The new president will address Pope Francis, who will then speak to those present and to the Assembly participants who will follow through the link-up. Detailed information about the live broadcast, that all may follow, is available on the following link: https://www.focolare.org/en/news/2021/02/05/pope-francis-gives-audience-to-the-general-assembly-of-the-focolare-movement/

Focolare Communication Office

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Meet the participants: Guy Constant

5 Feb 2021 | Non categorizzato

How to watch English subtitles, click here https://youtu.be/oZ8kaSgOizA

Election of the Councilors: A world team

4 Feb 2021 | Non categorizzato

Diary No.11 of the General Assembly 4^th February Between yesterday and today the 22 new general councilors of the Focolare have been elected. They come from 16 countries and 4 continents, their ages range from 52 -70 and they truly represent the multiculturality that is a characteristic of the Focolare Movement. Many of them have lived in various geographical areas besides their country of origin, an important factor for getting to know in depth, the characteristics, needs and challenges of the many countries in which those who identify themselves in the Focolare’s message of unity, are living. At the opening of the voting for the councilors Margaret Karram said: ”Let us ask for the Holy Spirit so that we can be guided only by him”; in fact this is only the first step towards the composition of the new “Center of the Movement”. Shortly, the newly elected President will distribute their specific tasks to each one. The intense work of today was concluded with a session dedicated to the presentation and approval of various proposals. Tomorrow the work will continue in plenary with sessions of dialogue on the plans and directions for the next 6 years. In the meantime, let’s get to know the names of the newly elected councilors and where they come from.

Women Councilors Cuneo Chiara (Italy) Escandell Silvia (Argentina) Gomez Margarita (Spain) Kempt Donna Lynn (USA) Kobayashi Renata (Japan) Koller Friederike (Germany) Moussallem Rita (Lebanon) Ngabo Bernadette (Dem. Rep. Congo) Sanze Genevieve (Central African Republic) Simon Renata (Germany) Zanolin Clara (Italy)

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