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2 May 2014 | Focolare Worldwide
A renewed commitment emerged from this second seminar which took place at Mariapolis Ginetta, Brazil on April 12-13, 2014. It was attended by 70 representatives from these agencies, as well as other Focolare agencies involved in social action: New Humanity, Youth for a United World and New Families. Ninety people represented the Economy of Communion, who had met in the days leading up to the seminar. The seminar strengthened ties at a continental level and came up with a “charter of intent”. It also laid the foundations for the construction of a network linking projects, oranisations and social movements who have in their DNA evangelical brotherhood as a means for the transformation of society. This objective was also in harmony with the Aparecida Document of the Latin American Bishops Conference, which calls “the preferential option for the poor and excluded” the compass for guiding the Christian community in Latin America and the Caribbean. That is not an exclusive or excluding option but one that sets the priority for the action and the style of Christian life. One significant moment was an open discussion in which Maria Voce and Giancarlo Faletti, president and co-president of the Focolare Movement took part. 
Conquests as well as sufferings surfaced during the discussion, and a sense of isolation. The solutions, illuminated from the perspective of Jesus’ testament, that all may be one (Jn 17:21), opened a new horizon, not only for the social organisations but for the entire Focolare Movement. Maria Voce remarked: “You are totally immersed in the charism, in its roots:” what you are doing is exactly what Chiara Lubich and her companions did when they first began in Trent, Italy. They went out to the poor. They kept notebooks in which they wrote down the names and addresses of the needy. Then they came together to find out what each one needed and to pool their resources. It was a network of mutual assistance like yours. Exactly what you are doing here!” 
Then Maria Voce added: “Every social project should serve for the renewal of society, for turning it into a community where you live for a shared goal, where you put in common both your needs and your talents. You give more complete visibility to this action of the charism [of unity], which is not merely spiritual but social. You show it.” Giancarlo invited everyone to “be mindful of the fact that we are accompanied on this path by many others, from many different fields.” Maria Voce concluded saying: “Everyone has the same goal: the transformation of society, although in different ways. We need to rejoice that in the house of God there are so many callings and such treasure of responses. Each of us is like one tile in a huge mosaic from which we can feel the greatness and the strength.”
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30 Apr 2014 | Focolare Worldwide
The worldwide link-up will start from Nairobi (http://live.focolare.org/y4uw/) when on the 1° of May, at 1 o’clock Italian time, youth from five continents will be linked together to launch the United World Week 2014 (UWW): “Bridging cultures”, a galaxy of activities and actions of the Youth for a United World (YFUW) in the five continents, centered on reciprocal sharing. Other link-ups are foreseen with Japan, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Algeria, Portugal, Brazil. In Nairobi (Kenya) about a hundred young people have arrived: half of them represent the African peoples of the sub-Saharan area and half from the other continents.
“Sharing with Africa”. This is the motto to express the reciprocity that the 2014 edition of the UWW would like to realize with the African continent, emblem of colours, culture and challenges, to deepen some pillars of the African culture, in a reciprocal sharing of treasures.
Loppiano (Italy), just like every year, will be transformed into a big plaza (#Spiazzaci) to give visibility to an different Italy with the initiatives that are going on regarding legality, interrelogious dialogue and immigration.
If you want to know more, go to:www.facebook.com/y4uw.international?fref=ts
Maria Voce, president of the Focolare Movement, expressed to the youth her gratitude for the “committment” and the “stubborn courage” they have in “pursuing the objectives of the United World, immersed in the complex situations and in the diversified realities of the world today”. It is “a huge construction site” she added, but we are dealing with God’s dream, as Chiara Lubich loved to call it.” Assuring all those who “ identify themselves with the ideals of the Focolare Movement” of her support, she recalled the wish that John Paul II directed at the YFUW: “Only those who look to the future will make history”, concluding, “It is history, as leaven in thedough, that we are building here and now” with many others.
The 1° of May, aside from the above, will launch the Atlas of fraternity, a first report on 800 fragments of fraternity, courageous actions that propagate in the cities, that build bridges between people, groups and cultures, that open roads of dialogue and indicate new pathways for the communities. An ideal journey among the meridians and the parallels of the Globe that demonstarte how fraternity in action can cover the world. It makes up the first document of the United World Project (UWP) after the Genfest 2012 in Budapest, it can be found on www.unitedworldproject.org.
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28 Apr 2014 | Focolare Worldwide, Senza categoria
“With some friends of the Focolare of Bangkok – Luigi Butori, one of the protagonists of the event shared – we have for some time now been bringing concrete help to some families of refugees from Myanmar belonging to the Karen ethnic group, who have settled in the north of Thailand. We shared this experience with some of our Italian friends who were helping us from afar and to who we would periodically send some updates and pictures.
In particular, after the visit of one of us in Italy in October 2013, a special relationship was created with the children of the kindergarten of I.C.G.Giuliano in Latina, who immediately showed a great desire to do something for their peers who were so far away, but who they now felt to be close to them.
Their help was directed in particular to an orphanage in Mae Sot, in the northern part of Thailand.
It was truly a touching experience for us to reach this place knowing that we were the messengers of children who were 10 thousand kilometers away, who did all they could to be able to send their humble help.
The faces of the children brightened up while they were opening the big boxes, and we also added some chocolates, milk and other good things, fruit of the sharing of our Buddhist, Christian and Muslim friends. It was a celebration for the children to see the toys: mini-motorcycles, fireturcks and small gadgets that we ourselves didn’t know how to use: the “Karen” children, in a matter of seconds, were already experts! We were able to distribute help also to other children in the refugee camp and in other “villages” (in reality, they are just huts grouped together near a factory, or maybe in the rice fields).
Yes the gifts are important but each time we experience that it is more important to look at the person in the eyes, to extend our hand, “to touch the other”, to make him or her feel that we are there for them. In the beginning, they were very suspicious; but then, gradually their faces lit up with joy, with hope and – even if we didn’t understand their language – it seemd as if they told us: “Thank you, today you made me happy… All these things are given free of charge? When will you come back?”. “Look I am here for you and I live for you… Don’t be afraid”.
This experience has gone ahead also this year and once more the customs office of Thailand did not ask us to pay any fees, as they admired the original and funny designs that the little ones of Latina put on the 30 big boxes that they sent.
We brought these things among the ricefields and canals of Mae Sot, where those without documents strive to survive as much as they can.
But we were also touched by how this experience is changing the life of the families of the children of Latina. A fatehr said: “The life of our children and also our life has changed from the moment we started to do something for the Karen people, whom we never knew existed before”. And a mother: “Thank you for having given us this chance to do something for the others; many of us have always wanted to do something concrete, but we didn’t know what and how. The television gives us a lot of bad news, instead this is a breath of joy and of hope”. Then a teacher: “The children are electrified by the idea that their toys arrived to the other part of the world by travelling on a big ship to reach children who have nothing. A little girl couldn’t contan herself when she saw her doll in the arms of a child in the orphanage of Mae Sot”.
The eyes never lie and those of the parents are sincere. We will continue to work so that this dream, this miracle of love that unites Latina and a forsaken place, in the midst of the mountains, in the northeast of Thailand, can still continue”.
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25 Apr 2014 | Focolare Worldwide
“Giorgio and I were married after being engaged for three years. As our relationship grew we thought of having a family.
A few years later we had a wonderful daughter with a slight malformation of the heart. I was happy. I felt that her birth had united us even more. But a year later while in hospital for a regular check-up, she died suddenly. It was horrible. I was overcome with darkness and angry with God for having taken away what was most dear to me. My husband supported me, without his love I would never have made it.
A year later Sofia was born and we were happy again. Later we adopted a boy. As the years went by, I noticed that Giorgio wasn’t at peace, he wasn’t involved with the children. Even though he loved them very much, he left decisions about their lives to me. One day he decided to leave his job and begin some new activities. So we began to spend time with other people, most of them single who enjoyed travelling the world and keeping late hours.
At first I tried out of love to follow my husband in this lifestyle, but then I realized that I didn’t have anything in common with these people and so, little by little, our lives began to follow different paths. I knew that my husband loved me and the children, but he was troubled and searching for something. I thought we could use some help as a couple, but he wouldn’t hear of it. He said there were no problems. Meanwhile his business deals were failing, also because he was surrounded by people who had no scruples.
One day he decided to leave us because he “didn’t feel like being a father anymore,” even though he still loved us, he needed to find himself. I couldn’t believe after so many years together it was all going to end like this.
I wasn’t able to think, I felt desperate. What hurt the most was the sense of failure, and I felt like it was my fault. It was a difficult period: during the day I tried to be strong for the children who were 11 and 14 years old, but in the evening all the suffering would come pouring out along with a thousand questions. What will I do now? Will I be able to raise my children at this delicate age of their life? I tried to make them feel that I was near and that their Dad loved them, even though he was rarely around.
I didn’t go out with my friends anymore, they all had families and I was alone. The only thing that kept me going was the love for my children, our relationship deepened and grew. My family was also close to me, even though after a while they began to tell me that I was still young and could begin a new life. But for me matrimony was still a sacrament, even if my husband was no longer there.
Then someone invited me to a Focolare event for couples experiencing separation. Surrounded by so many people who were experiencing the same pain, I felt loved and accepted, and our friendship united to journey of faith that we were sharing together helped me to overcome my sense of failure. I experienced for myself that love is greater than suffering, I realized that I was still a sacramental sign and, whenever I received the Eucharist I felt that Jesus was saying to me: ‘I will never abandon you!’ This gives me strength each day to stay faithful to the yes that I said on our wedding day, even though civilly we are separated. I know I’m not alone because God is with me and helps me to look at my life the way He sees it: with all his love and mercy.”
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24 Apr 2014 | Focolare Worldwide
Focolare president Maria Voce and co-president Giancarlo Faletti have concluded their visit to Brazil. 
During the 55-year presence of the Movement in this South American country the spirituality of unity has penetrated several areas of society through numerous social projects; the Economy of Communion (EoC) which began in Brazil; the Movement for Unity in Politics (MUP); the ecclesial world, ecumenism; interreligious dialogue and dialogue with contemporary culture.
Klaus Bruschke, Director of Cidade Nova Press states: “Brazil is going through a moment of speedy transformations not devoid of contradictions. It is the world’s eighth economy, yet the twelfth on the list of countries with the most inequality, although in recent years 40 million Brazilians have emerged from a level of misery. Chiara Lubich pointed to the priority of working for social justice in this land through love for the most underprivileged, in harmony with the Latin American Church and now Pope Francis.” Bruschke went on to say: “In Recife, the Island of Santa Teresinha is one of the poorest quarters in Brazil where the Movement has been carrying out social projects from the moment it arrived. As she stood in front of the wall that separates this slum from the shopping centre on the other side, Maria Voce remarked that the wealth didn’t lie on the other side of that wall, in the shopping centre, but on this side among the community on the island, because the [real] wealth is communion.” In Mariapolis Ginetta Calliari, near Sao Paulo, Maria Voce and Giancarlo Faletti linked up with numerous Focolare communities around the world via internet, and shared about their visit to Brazil.
What is your impression as you leave Brazil? If you had to give a title to your experience, what would it be? “Brazil has enchanted me, and if I had to give a title to this trip, I would use one of Chiara’s own phrases: “embroidered in gold”, because all the wonderful fruits that have been brought about by Chiara here in Brazil are woven into my heart. I think of the many social projects that are carried out mostly by young people, the Economy of Communion businesses. . . . but also of all the new communities, ecclesial movements and people who took their inspiration from Chiara’s charism, who live the Word of Life, who love Jesus forsaken, or who answer to Chiara’s plea: “Give me everyone who is lonely”. They’ve brought about beautiful works, which we had the opportunity of seeing during this visit. We admired in them the abundant fruits of the spirituality of unity whose root lies in the Focolare Movement, in the spiritual family of Chiara. But the root is glad for the fruits that were born beyond it, and it offers thanks to God. And the fruits are grateful to the root, because they feel the nourishment that comes from there and they want to continue to be nourished. Therefore, it’s a great act of mutual love that shows up these embroideries of light that are spread throughout Brazil.”
The establishment of the Chiara Lubich Chair in Recife shows that many are able to share in the spirituality of unity . . .
Giancarlo Faletti: “During this Easter season in which we hear the words of Jesus’ testament resounding: ‘that all may be one’ (Jn 15:17), I have the strong feeling that through the charism of unity, the paradigm of universal brotherhood is being applied to many academic disciplines, even in large universities. Therefore, it has been a very dynamic experience that is linked to the testament of Jesus.”
During this visit you’ve listened to many stories, known and shared in the life of many local communities. Where would you go from here?
Maria Voce: “I really think we should continue to embroider these embroideries of light that I mentioned earlier. We should do it within the humility of the present moment, carrying out whatever God may indicate to us, moment by moment, never losing sight of the final design which is universal brotherhood, the design of a united world. Therefore I feel that each of these beautiful projects that I’ve seen are part of this universal design and that together they could offer a model to the world, an example of a unity that is born from the variety of God’s gifts in Brazil and in the world, so as to never lose sight of God’s dream: to make all peoples into one family.”
Klaus Bruschke’s final comment: “These days have given us a strong push to convey this message of unity that overcomes inequalities and embraces diversity – a richness that expresses the very richness of God.”
Follow the journey on the Mariapolis Journal– Login required
Website: www.focolares.org.br/sitenacional
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23 Apr 2014 | Focolare Worldwide, Senza categoria
We have still impressed on our minds the tragic pictures of the Haiyan or Yolanda (‘the bird of storms’) Typhoon that was unleashed on several Pacific countries, especially the Philippines, in November 2013. It was one of the most powerful cyclones ever recorded and from all over the world countries and organizations reacted in solidarity sending help to the victims of the disaster. 
Focolare communities, especially in the surrounding countries, also gave their contribution. An example of this comes from the immense archipelago that makes up Indonesia (245 million inhabitants), a country that is not exactly swimming in richness. In the city of Yogyakarta, on the island of Java, young people and adults of the Focolare got organized to do something. They didn’t have any money, but – they said to each other- “there is always something to give.” And so they organized a collection of superfluous things from their own homes, to set up a ‘Bazaar’. “We set up a committee to coordinate the work,” they tell us, “The Focolare Centre became the collection point for all the donations, so there was a constant coming and going of people sorting the items and putting them into different categories, all done with great joy and enthusiasm.”
The Bazaar was fixed for the 3rd and 4th of March, in a Parish Hall 20 km from Yogyakarta. But in the meantime the Sinabung and Kelud volcanoes erupted, “and the victims were our fellow nationals,” Tegar recalls, “We asked ourselves if anyone would still support our initiative for victims who were further away in the Philippines.” They didn’t give up, and though not ignoring the new emergency, they went ahead with the intention of helping those brothers and sisters who were even more needy. “I was chosen to coordinate the event,” Endang tells us, “I myself was the victim of an earlier earthquake and I knew what that meant and how much sadness you experience. So I took on this responsibility, and even though I didn’t have any money, I could give my time and energy. A few days before the Bazaar took place, I was at a meeting and understood the meaning of the phrase that you often hear in the Focolare Movement – when we meet in the name of Jesus, he is present among us. We experienced, in fact, that if we get together and work in his name, he optimizes our work.”
Also for William “it was an incredible experience. I really threw myself into this project. We aimed above all at the people of the village who came to mass on Saturday or Sunday. There were about twenty of us helping out. Someone directed the visitors, others served the ‘clients’ as little by little they came to look and to buy. There was even someone who organized our tea break! It was a beautiful experience: to experience that when you love the others God gives you back happiness in the depth of your heart.” Altogether 5,115,700 Rupiah (452 US$) were collected, a significant sum considering that about half the population lives on 2 dollars a day. “Everyone was happy not just because we managed to collect a good sum of money,” William is keen to point out, “But for the love and the contribution that each one gave to help the victims of Hurricane Haiyan.”
“I think that through this Bazaar”, Wulan concludes, “We managed to give a little happiness not only to the people who will receive the money but also to those who contributed with their ‘purchases’. I am sure that this love will not stop here but will expand to many other places as well.”
