![Klaus Hemmerle. The Priest Today (4)]()
Aug 17, 2014 | Focolare Worldwide
“A writing of Chiara Lubich (1) speaks to me of the Church and makes me understand the priest as part of the living reality of the Church. Actually, Chiara Lubich’s meditation speaks of the individual Christian, but it also speaks, indeed even more so, of the Church. Today, perhaps as never before, the credibility of the priestly service depends on how much the individual priest is rooted in a vital unity, in a form of life in which priestly service becomes a common witness by having the Lord Himself, the One Priest, in our midst. If a priest must specialize in something it must be in communio, unity. The spirituality and lifestyle of the priest is unity. Living in communion with Jesus among the members of His Church and being a concrete expression of God reaching out to humanity: this is his task. And the accomplishment of this depends decisively on the measure to which Jesus’ Testament, contained in His Priestly Prayer, is fulfilled: That all may be one (cf Jn 17:21). For Jesus Christ is present in the Church and this can be experienced wherever believers are united in His name, whenever they love one another as He loved us (see Jn 13:34). The world will believe when it sees the Church living unity through mutual love. We said before that today’s world is seeking a mystical dimension and concrete commitment. Very well, to live together with our gaze fixed on Jesus in our midst, in a constant commitment to have Him in our midst and thus to bring Him near and far: this is what it means to be a priest today. The priest today? Is that not saying too little? Perhaps it would be better to say: priests today, united to one another, with Jesus in their midst.” (1) Chiara Lubich, Essential Writings, New City Press, New York and New City, London (English translation), 2007. See also: Klaus Hemmerle: The Priest Today (1) (2) (3) Forthcoming event “Networking” 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.
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Aug 9, 2014 | Focolare Worldwide
“If it is true that only by comparing him to Christ that a priest can be understood both in his greatness and in his smallness, in his mandate and in his frailty, if it is true that the priest relives in space and time the deprivation that Christ filled in Himself, then no words can better express the priestly life than those of St. Paul: “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” (Gal 2:20). These words hold true for every Christian just as the text of Chiara Lubich we quoted applies to all Christians. For in Baptism, the decisive ontological event that regards our person has already taken place. There is no longer the “I” that asserts itself against God and which must consequently die. Rather, it is the “I” which, having died with Jesus Christ in God makes room for Him, for God Himself, for Jesus Christ within us. I belong to Jesus Christ. Dying again and again in each moment in Him, so that He may live in me, this is the true way to find ourselves, to reach self-fulfilment. To say “you” to Jesus each time I say “I”: this is the way of sanctification which has its origins in Baptism. It is in this way that I can remain in continual contemplation, in continual union with God; and it is also under this condition that God-Love, who in Christ gives Himself to humanity, can give Himself to our times and communicate Himself to the men and women of today. There is no truer model for accomplishing this than Mary. She looks at God alone and at His will and receives Him completely within herself. Thus she gives Him to the others, gives Him to the world. The gratia plena is also the Theotokos, the God Bearer and Mother of God. Now, if a priest is a person who is mandated to àgere in persona Christi, this mandate cannot be limited to merely carrying out sacramental acts for which, in the strict sense, this mandate was given. The sacramental acts, the carrying out of priestly ministry will become a witness in the measure that the priest corresponds with his entire life to those acts. Therefore, the more deeply the priest lives out his Christianity, his Baptism – the more Marian he is in the sense explained above – all the more will Christ the Priest shine forth in him. Being priests by being totally Christian! Living Christ the Priest totally, by living Mary totally – her self-giving, her serving! The priest must give himself to God completely. Nothing else should fill his life, not possessions, demands or things he can be left to dispose of. That part of the human heart which could be kept apart for the most beautiful, noble and sacred human sentiments must be kept free for Jesus Christ alone. His hands must be empty and hold nothing other than Christ, thus enabling the priest to give Jesus Himself to others. He must be united with Jesus alone, and thus to have greater freedom.” (to be continued) See also: Klaus Hemmerle: The Priest Today (1) (2) Forthcoming event “Networking” 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.
Aug 8, 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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Aug 7, 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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Aug 6, 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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Aug 5, 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”
