8 Aug 2014 | Focolare Worldwide
Summertime is the season when students are searching for a job, but the Summerjob project is not exactly the same thing. It took place on June 29, 2014 – July 6, 2014 with 139 young people from throughout the Czech Repbulic. The week-long project, which has been taking place every year for five years, by the young people of the Focolare Movement, takes place on the city’s peripheries and rurul provinces. During the winter months they research the local site and work with mayors, bishops, pastors and residents to identify the best way to help those who are in need. The 2014 Summerjob called Where The Work Takes On A New Dimension, was held near Brumov, in the northwest region of the country where the young people gave a hand to 90 families in six villages. The tasks varied: chopping and piling wood for the winter, cutting grass, painting windows, cleaning stables, barns and barn lofts, helping farmers in the fields and gardens and strengthening relationships throughout the community. But Summerjob is not only work. In the daytime the town hall was transformed into a canteen for the young people who were then offered temporary lodging at a school building; in the evening it was transformed into a meeting hall. There were sporting and cultural events, theatrical performances, concerts and an evening on the 1960s and more. The spiritual dimension was never missing. The local Summerjob sites had several abandoned churches that were transformed into “cathedrals” with daily Mass animated by the young people and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in the evenings involving also the local residents. In order to maintain the contact that has begun the event will continue to be held in the same region for three years, then it will move on to other regions. The impressions shared by the young people were all very meaningful: “This is my first time here,” Pavel recounts, “and I admit that I was a bit perplexed at the large number of workers and the work itself. The big surprise for me was that this kind of work can be enriching, even though there is no salary, especially because of the relationships among the young people and the local residents.” Kristina states: “I came here to learn something new and to receive a kind of training in the art of loving everyone. I wanted to try to help someone else. In the end you’re the one who receives. You learn to give.” Martin, who has taken part in all five editions of Summerjob says that he came to “take a break from the office. This rest is better than being at the seashore: I know a lot of young people and help a lot of people.” Summerjob has also caught the attention of the media: Czech national television did a brief report on the daily news and a photo gallery on its website, and a few articles were published in some daily newspapers.
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7 Aug 2014 | Focolare Worldwide
Choreographies of hip hop, jazz, contemporary dance and aerial dancing using strips of cloth: all these were part of the program presented on July 14 entitled “The eyes of those who believe in us”. There were two hundred spectators, in a venue that was truly special: Bethlehem. It was the realization of a dream: to bring the Harmony Project’s message of peace in Palestine, a land where it seems impossible even just to stay together to get to know each other. In March the Custodian of the Holy Land, Fr Ibrahim Faltas OFM, invited the association DanceLab Harmony to hold their Campus 2014 precisely there. And so, housed as guests at the John Paul II Foundation of Bethlehem and in collaboration with the Association “Children Without Borders”, ballet dancers and teachers, from July 1 to 16, held a Campus of dance and figurative with Palestinian children and teens. An event with an extraordinary flavour of of of great emotional intensity, which they hope could become an annual event. The mayor of Bethlehem, Vera Baboun, satisfied with the initiative, thanked Fr Ibrahim Faltas and the directress of DanceLab Harmony Antonella Lombardo for «this great idea that brings hope and happiness to the children in these difficult days of war». In the internatinal campus of high-level dance instruction (the association DanceLab Harmony has 5 active projects) teens of different countries are involved, and they discover together how art can help to break down the barriers of culture and of religion: the teens work together rediscovering the same dreams and the same needs, thus creating at atmosphere of true fraternity. 
This year the focus of the project was the 5th Art Campus that involved fifty Palestinian children and teens from 5 to 16 years old, Muslim and Christian who, through the study of dance and painting, they were able to live moments of peace and harmony. 
At the end of the program, there were many parents who came to express their gratitude: “It was a great and emotional moment that will surely remain fixed in the hearts of our children – a father affirmed – but I would like to thank you above all for each day in which you gave them true happiness. They would come home satisfied at having experienced something great and beautiful. You have brought a breath of fresh air, of something new in this land. You have given our children the possibility to open their minds to new horizons.” “Despite the war, the Palestinians have shown, through their will power and in their work, that they are free,” declared Antonella Lombardo upon her re-entry from the Holy Land. The Campus also received words of encouragement from Pope Francis who, through a letter, sent his blessing “as a guarantee of peace and prosperity” encouraging them to “persevere so as to as to create a sense of wellbeing among the people”.
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6 Aug 2014 | Focolare Worldwide
Amidst almost total silence from the media a step has been taken towards a resolution of the political and military crisis in Central African Republic. On July 24, 2014, with the last-minute signing of a hostility-ending agreement, the Forum for national reconciliation and dialogue concluded its work on July 21st in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo. The agreement, which calls for the immediate end to fighting throughout the entire Central African Republic, was signed by forty Central African and foreign members. Begun in December 2012, the fighting has led to thousands of deaths and more than 4.5 million internally displaced persons and refugees, despite the deployment of French Sangaris forces and African MISCA troops to halt the fighting. In recent months the situation has improved, although there remains division between northeastern areas with a Muslim majority and southwestern areas with a Christian and Animist majority. Consequently the Muslim population that has remained in the southwest areas often lives in refugee camps and is discriminated against, as is the Christian population in the northeast. In early July the church of Bambari was attacked causing the death of many Christian refugees. Therefore this Brazzaville agreement was welcomed with hope, but its practical consequences still remain to be seen. 
The Focolare community has responded with much imagination to the many necessities of the people and, thanks to the communion among many people, many forms of help have been provided,” explains Monica from Bangui. In March, for example, with the Youth For A United World from Bangui, “we asked each other what we could do concretely to help bring peace in our country. With our ideal of brotherhood in mind, we saw that if the art of loving were lived on a large scale it would help provide a solution to many difficult situations that people are going through. Another question we had was where to find the people at this moment. The answer was: in the refugee camps” (thirty of them in the capital alone). We began at the Major Seminary which shelters more than 4,500 people. On Sunday, March 24th, with music and testimonies, the young people launched a powerful message of peace, not only to the refugees but also many others who joined in. Unfortunately, the situation has worsened with new clashes in several areas. In recent months a “crisis cell” composed of Focolare members was begun to respond to the needs of many Bangui. 
A variety of activities have been carried out: from distributing semolina to children in a kindergarten and elementary school without access to adequate nutrition, to distributing school supplies to children whose schooling had been interupted when the military offensive began. This led to the founding of a teachers association that is dedicated to carrying out educational activities that teach peace. School supplies were distributed in exchange for toy weapons that were handed over by the children. Also economic assistance was provided to young students in exchange for work in the community, as well as economic assistance to cover child and senior health care and rent costs. Radio shows were presented on Notre Dame Radio that promoted peace, with testimonies of people living out the Word of Life, and other aspects of the Focolare’s spirituality of unity.
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5 Aug 2014 | Focolare Worldwide
See video about the project Photo Gallery 
Small village at 3200 metres above sea level, in an inaccessible reagion of the Andes Mountains. Bolivar, one of the poorest provinces of Peru, in the extreme northeast of La Libertad, has only one public school, which is unequipped to welcome the large number of school-age children who wish to enroll, some of them travelling on foot for long hours from distant mountain villages. In 2011 the San Francesco d’Assisi Scholastic Instutute was begun thanks to the efforts of parish priest Father Emeterio. This school was not meant to compete with the state school, but to complimennt it by welcoming some 80 children from the most remote and disadvantaged villages, providing them with one hot meal a day. The State openly recognised the importance of this work and provided salaries for the teachers. Now the institute has to move to a larger building so that all the children of Bolivar can attend classes. This is why AMU has launched a project called A School on the Andes to support the construction of the new building. The building will house eleven classrooms, a computer lab and secretariat. It will provide education at the primary and secondary levels, teaching materials and nutritional assistance. There will also be teacher training for teachers. The school will welcome 220 students each year, 12 teachers, 2 teacher assistants and a director. All of this will be brought ahead in collaboration with local partners, the Catholic Diocese of Huamachuco and the parish of San Salvador in Bolivar. 
Two 3-level teacher training courses are given for teachers: teaching content; educational techniques; accompanying learning, as well as civic and moral education. Competent and motivated teachers will be able to offer quality instruction with more efficient methods and more support in the learning process of children and teenagers. The school will also offer computer literacy training and access to internet. There are no other on-site locations where young people can learn modern systems of communication. Finally, adult education courses will be offered for adults who have never had access to instruction. Schedule: the new eduational facility will be ready by the end of 2014; in March 2015 all operations will be transferred to the new campus. Now the challenge is to raise 630 thousand euros for the completion of the project, which will be partly covered by local partners, by the Peruvian Ministry of Education, and by AMU. The costs spreading over three years, will include the amount for the construction of the school building, the purchase of teaching materials, the teacher training and hot meals for the students. Contributions in any amount can be deposited to the following bank account: • cc bank account 120434 at Banca Popolare Etica – Filiale di Roma IBAN code: IT16 G050 1803 2000 0000 0120 434 SWIFT/BIC code: CCRTIT2184D Attn: Associazione “Azione per un Mondo Unito – Onlus” Via Frascati, 342 00040 Rocca di Papa (Rome, Italy), Specify in the subject: “PERÙ – UNA SCUOLA SULLE ANDE”
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4 Aug 2014 | Focolare Worldwide
Dad’s bread
The separation from my husband had left me with very little self-confidence, in addition to giving me a serious feeling of guilt. I had lost all my points of reference. Then, with the help of my family and friends, I found again a little strength to live. I learned how to detach myself from my own ideas, to respect my husband in his life choices, and not to judge him. It wasn’t always easy, in fact the opposite is true … In addition, these steps are not made once and for all, we must begin again each day. But I was able to make some painful choices in peace: for example, to stay on living in the house that reminded me of my life as a couple. Speaking with my three oldest children, I realized it was better that way in order to enable them to continue living in their own environment. On the day of my youngest son Gael’s confirmation, my husband came and started to make some bread. I tried to make everyone feel at home: forgiveness prevailed. It was a wonderful day that reached its climax when we shared together the bread that Dad had made. B.G. – Mauritius The guitar
Judy and Tom, a couple who lived on the edge of the abyss between drugs and alcohol. As a result of our friendship, Judy decided to stop taking drugs, while Tom remained hostile. One evening we went to visit them, and seeing a guitar in the corner, I asked Tom to play something. He did and slowly began to open up: a first step towards the big decision to return to work and leave the drugs. With other friends we helped him in every way. On the tenth anniversary of their wedding, Judy expressed the desire to renew their wedding vows, “now that God has entered our lives.” So we organized a big party for them. G.L.O. – USA A Pact I was having big problems in my relationship with my father, so I was thinking of leaving home, even though I was only 16. After talking it over with friends from the parish, I understand that I had to try to love him better, without expecting anything from him. A few days after this decision, I stayed at home to work with him. Hours of silence. When we had finished working, he confided in me: he had noticed that for some time I interacted with him in a different way from my brothers. “I understand that you may have wanted a more affectionate father, but I ask you to accept me as I am.” For me it was as if we had made a pact. M.T. – Belgium Source: The Gospel of the day (Supplement to no. 11/2014 of the magazine Citta’ Nuova)
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2 Aug 2014 | Focolare Worldwide
«The youth of today will be the leaders of the tomorrow. From the questions and often impetuous desires of young people, from their opinions and sometimes impatient and exaggerated demands, we can understand something of what is going on in the minds of people in any given epoch. Those who are very much in contact with today’s young people, come up against two tendencies which seem to be contradictory: on one hand young people want closeness, equality and spontaneity, so that whoever is distant or too high is neither accepted nor understood. They want people who have something to say, not to be too different from them but to have an inside-knowledge of their situation. In short, they don’t want these people to feel that they are above everyone else in some way, with their answers come down from somewhere on high. At the same time, however – and this is the other tendency – we discover in young people a great thirst for originality, the need for a model they can hold up in front of them, an Ideal they can follow which is convincing and a way of life. Young people want to draw their lives from depths they themselves are not able to reach, from a source they feel cut off from. They are looking for someone who is very close to them and at the same time someone “who comes from the land of distant waters” to make them drink. They are looking for someone who is both like them and at the same time completely different. They are looking for someone who is small and at the same time someone who possesses a greatness without which life is dull, frivolous and empty. In a sense broader than that of a specifically religious or Christian context, we could say: young people, indeed, humanity today, is attracted both by: action and a mystical dimension, nearness and authority, brotherhood and mandate. Couldn’t this be nostalgia for Jesus Christ? For the Son of God who comes to us as the Son of Mary, for the Messiah who belongs to the carpenter’s family? Yes. And this nostalgia for Jesus Christ is also a nostalgia for the priest: for that priest, whose message becomes credible by means of his personal life, and who gives witness to this message through his own experience, by what he says and what he brings, even though his ultimate authority comes from Jesus Christ Himself. The priest in himself is a man like any other; he must never elevate himself as if he were somehow higher or better. But it is also true that Jesus Christ has imprinted Himself upon the priest. Jesus chose the priest and sent him out to bring His presence near to men and women, to witness to Him and transmit His life, and message. There is something different in the priest, but this difference can be justified only because of Jesus Christ and for Him. Thus, courage is needed, courage to differentiate oneself and courage to be near; courage to live in contemplation and courage to serve with simplicity and humility; courage to climb Mt Tabor and courage to wash the feet of one’s neighbour: this is the figure of the priest today. And this figure meets the desire of our times, the nostalgia for Jesus Christ who comes from the Father in Heaven and at the same time, lives the everyday life of ordinary people. To live Christ, to live his mission, to live his authority close to Mary, the Handmaid of the Lord – this is what it means to be priests today. In a word: the priest, the response of God to our times; the priest – the man of our times […]». (To be continued) Klaus Hemmerle: The Priest Today (1) Forthcoming event
19 August 2014 – 22 August 2014
A meeting promoted by the Focolare Movement for young priests, deacons, seminarians and young people attracted to the priesthood.
