An Easter of hope but above all, an Easter to be lived together. In this year 2025, which marks 1,700 years since the Council of Nicaea, Christian Churches will celebrate Easter on the same day: Sunday, 20th April.
This is a wonderful coincidence that calls all Christians to take a decisive step toward unity—a call to rediscover ourselves as united in plurality.
In an age marked by divisions on every front and especially at this time that brings us closer to the mystery of the Resurrection, we would like to share what Chiara Lubich said in Palermo in 1998 about “A Spirituality for Dialogues”, specifically an “ecumenical spirituality.”
It is a direct invitation to respond to the call of mutual love, not as individuals, but together. It is an opportunity to look upon the Jesus Forsaken on the cross as a light which, even in the ultimate sacrifice, not only leads us but becomes the sure pathway along which we can take our steps.
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With what eyes do we look at the world and our fellow travellers in the adventure of life? It is a question of vital importance, in an era like ours marked by polarisation and disagreements, loneliness and distances between the haves and the have-nots, without forgetting the increasingly pervasive presence of artificial intelligence. Yet, at the same time, the thirst for harmony and truth grows.
Chiara Lubich used to say that everything depends on which “eyes” we look at people with. If we look with the eyes of the heart, which are the eyes of Love, we will not stop at appearances, we will instead grasp the deeper reality that is hidden in every human being. And from the gaze of the heart proceeds action, the quality of the relationship, becoming close, being near to the other person. (1)
In 1961 Chiara wrote:
If you enter the Gospel … you’ll immediately find yourself on the mountain ridge. Therefore, already at the top, already in God, even though looking over the side you’ll see that the mountain is not one mountain but a mountain chain and that for you, life is to walk along the crest up to the end.
Every Word of God contains both the minimum and the maximum that he can ask of you, so when you read, “Love your neighbour as yourself” (Mt 19:19), you have the law of fraternal love at its highest degree.
Your neighbour is another you, and you must love him or her bearing that in mind. When neighbours cry, you must cry with them, and when they laugh, laugh with them. If they lack knowledge, be ignorant with them. If they have lost a parent, make their suffering your own. …
What has value for you is God who is both their Father and yours. Don’t make excuses for love. Your neighbours are those who pass next to you, be they rich or poor, beautiful or ugly, brilliant or uneducated, holy or sinful, a fellow citizen or a foreigner, a priest or a layperson, whoever.
Try to love whoever passes next to you in the present moment of your life. You will discover within yourself a new energy and strength you did not know you had. They will add flavour to your life, and you will find answers to your thousand whys. (2)
Chiara Lubich
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Our translation of the Italian text found in: See Vicinanza, lo stile di Dio nella vita e nel pensiero di Chiara Lubich, A cura di Povilus J. e Ciccarelli L., Città Nuova Editrice, Roma 2024, p. 5.
Chiara Lubich, founder of the Focolare Movement, repeatedly spoke in her speeches about closeness as God’s way of being near to humanity. As reflected in the title of this book, Closeness is the style of God which, through His life, Jesus revealed to us. It is also the main way to bring God to men and women today. To gain a deeper understanding of the book’s content, we interviewed the authors: Judith Povilus and Lida Ciccarelli.
Lida, Judith, what is the book about?
Lida: “It is a collection of Chiara Lubich’s ideas on the theme of love for others from the perspective of proximity. This is a topic dear to Pope Francis, who has often urged people to take care of the world around them and to be close to our brothers and sisters in the style of God: closeness.”
Judith: “For the English edition, we wondered how to translate the title. The solution could be the answer to your question: Learning Closeness from God—learning from God how to be close, recognizing how He has drawn near to us, so that we, in turn, may be close to those around us.”
Judith Povilus, PhD in Fundamental Theology, is Emeritus Professor of Logic and Foundations of Mathematics at Sophia University Institute (Loppiano, Florence). She is the author of: The Presence of Jesus Among His Own in Today’s Theology (1977); Jesus in Our Midst in the Writings of Chiara Lubich (1981); Numbers and Light: On the Sapiential Meaning of Mathematics (2013); and co-editor of Unity: A Glimpse from Chiara Lubich’s ‘Paradise ’49’ (2021). (2021).
How can we bring God into today’s world, where there is so much loneliness, indifference, war, and division?
Lida: “If we look around us, there are reasons to be pessimistic. Yet, as Christians, we are always called to witness God’s love. For me, the way forward is the path of Jesus: society back then was no better than today’s, yet Jesus always brought the life of heaven. We must do the same, where there is no love, let us bring love; where there is loneliness, let us become companions in life; where there is division, let us be instruments of reconciliation and unity.”
Who is the ‘neighbour’ to whom we bring God?
Judith: “The encyclical Fratelli tutti recalls the Parable of the Good Samaritan, where the Scribe asks Jesus, ‘Who is my neighbour?’ Jesus turns the question around, showing that everyone is a candidate to be my neighbour. There are no limits—it is up to me to draw near to others. Being a neighbour is a transformative act. Your question is beautiful: finding God is what every human being most deeply longs for, even if they are unaware of it. Let us allow God to live in us, so that through our love, He may touch hearts.”
Cultural, social, and political differences often lead to fragmentation and polarization, increasing fear of others. Chiara Lubich’s ideal of unity challenges this trend.
Lida: “That’s absolutely true. Chiara was countercultural. She embedded in us a simple yet revolutionary idea: we are all brothers and sisters because we are all children of the Father in heaven. It is a simple idea, yet it makes us free and breaks down walls of division. If we put it into practice, it changes our lives. The other person, whether young or old, whether they share my views or not, whether rich or poor, a foreigner or someone from my own country, should be seen with new eyes. Everyone is a child of the Father and everyone, absolutely everyone, is loved by the Father just as I am.”
Lida Ciccarelli, with degrees in Philosophy and Moral Theology, is a professor of Church History and Spiritual Theology at the Mystici Corporis International Institute (Loppiano, Italy). A former member of the Spirituality Commission at the General Secretariat of the Synod, she is currently a Postulator at the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints.
Proximity is a key concept both in Christian Churches and in other religious traditions. Is it the path to universal fraternity?
Lida: “That’s exactly what we experienced recently with a group of young Shiite Muslims, students of Dr. Mohammad Ali Shomali, Director of the International Institute for Islamic Studies in Qum, Iran. They came to Sophia University, in the little town of Loppiano, for a short course on Christianity. We did not so much speak about fraternity—we lived it.”
Judith “I was responsible for several lessons on the spirituality of unity. While speaking about God as Love, I told them the Parable of the Prodigal Son. I asked: ‘Is anyone here a father? Can you understand the depth of this mercy-filled love?’ Seven of them were young fathers. During a break, they joyfully and emotionally showed me photos of their children. In this atmosphere, their spontaneous questions about spirituality allowed them to understand the charism of unity more deeply. With joy, we discovered common ground or clarified aspects of Christianity that had previously been unclear. I realized that closeness, with all its human nuances and the willingness to share in the life of others, is truly the path to sharing the gift of the charism, which is for everyone, non-Christians too. Together, we can be builders of a more fraternal world.”
What advice would you give to readers? How should they view others?
Lida: “If the reader is already familiar with Chiara’s writings, I would suggest approaching them as if for the first time. Then, pause whenever something strikes you and listen to Wisdom knocking at the door of your heart.”
Judith: “Yes, indeed, Chiara’s writings in the anthology section are profound, diverse in genre and content. They cannot be read all at once. Personally, every time I meditate on one writing or another, I discover new insights or new steps to take.”
Lida: “So, in conclusion, how should we view other people? As Jesus looked at the rich young man: ‘He looked at him and loved him.’ What must that gaze have been like? A gaze of love, freely given, that reaches deep within and says: You are important to me, I love you just as you are.”
On the 24th of January 1944, Chiara Lubich discovered what would become a key point in the spirituality of unity: Jesus who experienced the abandonment of the Father on the cross, the utmost expression of suffering, the greatest expression of love.
Jesus Forsaken was precisely the focus of an artistic moment during Genfest 2024, the international appointment of the young people of the Focolare Movement. Here, we offer you a few extracts of it.
…We must be convinced that for the civilization of love to become a reality, we have to storm the world with a current of love. Otherwise, everything will remain like a dream, destined to die. … Love! Teaching to love! The person who truly knows how to love, is the person who knows that he or she is sincerely loved. This is a human observation, but it is no less valid in the supernatural field. To know that we are loved! By whom? By the One who is Love. We must open the eyes of as many brothers and sisters as possible so that they might see and discover the treasure they possess, often without realizing it. They are not alone on this earth. There is Love. They have a Father who does not abandon his sons and daughters to their own destiny. He wants to accompany them, watch over them, help them. He is a Father who does not load burdens that are too heavy onto others’ shoulders. He is the first to carry them. In our case, he does not leave the renewal of society only to human initiative. But He is the first to be concerned with it. People should know this and turn to him, aware of the fact that nothing is impossible for him. We must believe, therefore, that we are loved by God so that we can throw ourselves with greater faith into the adventure of love, and work together with him for a New Humanity. Then we must focus our interests on the human person and share with them misfortunes and successes, spiritual goods and material goods. And, to love well, we must not see the difficulties, corruption and sufferings of the world merely as social evils to be resolved. Rather, we must recognize in these the countenance of Christ, who did not disdain to hide himself beneath all human poverty. Because of him – especially for those of us who are Christian – our greatest energies are channeled for the good of others. But since the love we are talking about is certainly not only philanthropy, or friendship or purely human solidarity, but is primarily a gift from Above, we must place ourselves in the best possible attitude to receive it, by nourishing ourselves on and living on the Word of God. … Every person in their large or small world of daily activities – in the family, office, factory, trade union, immersed as they may be in local and general problems, in public institutions, all the way to the United Nations – can truly be a builder of peace, a witness to love, an instrument of unity.
