Renata Borlone: bearing witness to joy

10 Mar 2014 | Focolare Worldwide, Senza categoria

This year too, the anniversary of the Servant of God Renata Borlone (Civitavecchia 30/5/1930 – Loppiano 27/2/1990) was a moment of reflection on the life of a Christian and the enthusiasm for bringing the peace and joy of Christ everywhere.

The main appointment, the Holy Mass celebrated in the Sanctuary of Maria Theotókos, in Loppiano (Italy).

“The joy of the Gospel – as Pope Francis affrimed in the Evangelii gaudium – fills the heart and the entire life of those who meet Jesus”, and this was the experience of Renata.

A joy that springs forth from a soul who since adolescence had searched for God and for the beauty of His creation and who, having come to know the  Focolare Movement, didn’t spare her energies and enthusiasm in bearing witness daily to love and in contributing to build that unity of the human family that Jesus had asked the Father in his prayer before the passion.

“The joy – Renata wrote in her diary – coincides with God… to possess it always means to possess God”; and still: “Joy in living for the others”, a joy that “cannot be conditioned by anything, by anyone” because “God loves me, even if I am incapable, even if I have made a mess in my life and I continue to do so”, but also that joy which, paradoxically, is “squeezed from suffering” and “drawn out from pain”.

In the twenty three years that she was co-responsible of the Little City of Loppiano that now bears her name, Renata Borlone bore witness with coherence and humility, in front of thousands of people who spent time there for their formation or even for just short periods, of the joy of the life of the Gospel, giving her essential contribution to the new sociality that the Little City is committed to generating, by being always at the service of others and living with exceptional faith the serious illness that would lead to her death. “I am happy, too happy – she would repeat in the final instances of her earthly existence. I would like to bear witness that death is Life”.

And continuing to intertwine the words of the Pope and Renata, one is impressed by how much joy can be not only a fruit but may also cause change in the world and in overcoming difficulties. Pope Francis recently said in a homily at Saint Martha: “You cannot walk without joy, even in the midst of problems, even in difficulties, even in one’s own mistakes and sins there is the joy of Jesus who always forgives and helps”

And Renata wrote: “If I had to say something, I would emphasize that the joy that there is in Loppiano is born from the decision that each one makes to want to die to him or herself. I would say that also in this way the unity of peoples is already done, because the the oil that comes from squeezed olives is oil, and you can no longer distinguish one olive from another…”

Suffering and joy, therefore, challenge and conquest always to be renewed and never closed up within oneself: “May the others be happy, so that our Heaven here on earth may bring joy to the others”, “I did not give myself to Jesus so as to be happy, but so that my giving would find its meaning in the joy, in the happiness of others, of all those whom God will put beside me”.

Francesco Châtel

Chiara Lubich And Religions. Traditional Religions

9 Mar 2014 | Focolare Worldwide, Senza categoria

In 1966 some doctors and nurses from the Focolare entered into contact with the Bangwa tribe of “Fontem, a village immersed in the vast palm tree forests of west Cameroon. The aim was humanitarian: to help a population that was stricken with malaria and other tropical diseases with a mortality rate of 90%. Together with the Bangwa and many others, a hospital, school, church and a number of houses were constructed and the first Focolare town in Africa was begun. Chiara Lubich visited Fontem in 1966. Many years later she would recall that visit while speaking to 8,000 members of the Movement who had gathered in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in April of 1998:«I was in Fontem when the little town didn’t exist yet; now it’s very big – I don’t know how many houses there are… At that time, there wasn’t anything, there was the bush where this tribe lived. Well, I can still see this tribe in front of me on a large clearing of land celebrating my presence. … Of course, they celebrated in their own typical way; also present were the many wives of the Fon, the king, who performed a number of dances for me, and so on. There in that valley, with all those people who had come to celebrate my presence because I had sent the first focolarini doctors, I had the impression that God was embracing this large crowd of people, who were not Christians – the great majority were Animists. I thought: “Here, God is embracing everyone, he’s embracing everyone. It reminds me of what happened in the Cova da Iria in Portugal[the miracle of Fatima], the time that the sun came down and embraced everyone. God is here and is embracing everyone». Upon returning from the first trip, Chiara responded in this way to the focolarini at the school of formation in Loppiano, Italy: “We westerners are completely backward and unable live in today’s times if we don’t strip ourselves of the western mentality, because it’s half a mentality, a third or fourth a mentality with respect to the rest of the world. In Africa, for example, there is such a unique culture, so splendid and deep! We have to reach and encounter of cultures. We won’t be complete unless we “are humankind”. We will be humankind if “we have all the cultures inside.” During another visit to Africa in 1992, talking about inculturation Chiara stated: “First of all, the most powerful weapon is “making yourself one”. This means approaching people being completely empty of ourselves, in order to enter into their cultures and understand them and allow them to be expressed, so that you can embrace them within you, and have them within you. And once you have embraced them, then you can begin a dialogue with someone and maybe even pass on the Gospel message, through the riches he already possesses. Making yourself one demands inculturation, entering into the soul and the culture, into the mentality, the traditions, the customs of others – to understand them and allow the seeds of the Word to emerge.” Another moment that marked an important step for the Movement in its push towards dialogue with people of other belief systems was in 1977 when Chiara was awarded the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion: “We were in the Guildhall of London … I was speaking … in that large hall, and present there were people of many different religions…. I had the same impression there; it was as if God was embracing everyone”. 2000 Chiara visited Fontem for the last time. She was enthroned by the people, through the Fon, as Mafua Ndem (Queen in the Name of God). It was the first time that a foreigner, woman and white ever became part of the Bangwa tribe in such a way. At her death in 2008, she was given a royal funeral in Fontem. During the course on traditional religions, which preceded the funeral celebration and organized by the first Bangwa focolarino, the focolarini were admitted to the “sacred forest” (Lefem”), which is a strong sign of belonging to this people. During that week, Focolare president Maria Voce was also recognized as “successor to the throne”.  In Africa courses on inculturation continue to promote deeper understanding of different cultures. In Latin America at Escuela Aurora, in north Argentina, an effort to educate and recuperate traditional cultural and religious traditions of the people of the Andes, in the Calchaqui Valleys:In Bolivia and Peru at the Mariapolises with the Aymara people, and in Ecuador with the Afro people of Esmeralda. In New Zealand, with the Maori people. On March 20, 2014, there will be an event at the Urbania University of Rome, dedicated to Chiara Lubich and Religions: Together for the Unity of the Human Family. The gathering will highlight her efforts for interreligious dialogue, six years after her death. The event also coincides with the 50^th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council’s declaration on the relation of the Church to non-Christian religions, Nostra Aetate.

Brazil. A Focolare In Morro

7 Mar 2014 | Focolare Worldwide, Senza categoria

The focolarini from Florianopolis write: “Last February 23, 2014 a simple ceremony was held in the presence of Archbishop Wilson Tadeu Jönck and members of the local Focolare community, during which we officially transferred the men’s focolare to the slum in Morro, favela Monte Serrat on the outskirts of the city.”

“For us who live the charism of unity,” says Lucival Silva, “we feel the importance of being there to offer our contribution, along with those from the local Church who are already working in Morro, seeking to build bridges that unite the people of the city who are often separated by walls of indifference among the middle class, the rich and the poor.”

There was joy in the eyes of the focolarini involved in this adventure, and in the local community of the Movement. It was like reliving a piece of the history of the Focolare when Chiara Lubich and the first group in Trent began by serving the poor, which led them to realise that “every person is a candidate for unity.”

Father Vilson Groh, a priest volunteer from the Movement has been living and working on a network of projects in Morro for many years: public administration and the business world; projects that open young people to new opportunities in life. One of the focolarini named Francisco Sebok works with him in a project that helps young teenagers and young adults to get out of drug trafficking, in one city quarter that is dominated by drug traffickers. Fabrizio Lucisano has already been working for some time as a doctor at the health unity in Morro; and Keles Lima has begun to teach at a school for children. The team also includes Lucival Silva, Miguel Becker and Arion Goes both married focolarini who live with their families.

The house they are renting blends in with the surrounding dwellings and has that touch of harmony which is a characteristic of focolares. “Everyone liked it,” says Francisco; “indeed, with just a few things we tried to arrange it with good taste. It has two rooms, a lounge, a kitchen and bathroom. The owners are building a second floor. In a few months it will also be rented so we can have a more reserved space for our small community and leave the downstairs for the use of the locals.”

Archbishop Wilson Tadeu Jönck blessed the new focolare and celebrated Mass in the local community chapel with Fr Vilson..  The archbishop expressed his hope that “the life of the focolarini would continue to give witness to holiness because God is holy.”

Everyone felt the joy of walking with the Church today, which through Pope Francis “continues to invite us to go out and meet humanity,” Keles added, “close to the people especially those who are most poor and in need.”

“We are well aware that we will never resolve Brazil’s social problem, not even of one city,” Lucival explained, “not even of this favela; but this experience can be a sign from our Movement to the Church and to society, to say that we want to walk with everyone, rich and poor, in order to contribute to the realization of Jesus’ testament: “that all may be one”.

Fabrizio recalled: “In 1993, Chiara Lubich had named the men’s focolare in Florianopolis “Emmaus” and she wrote: ‘Where Jesus was among the disciples. . . . Emmaus is the symbol of Jesus in the midst who illumined the scriptures. . .’ We’ve placed these words of Chiara at the entrance of our focolare so that we will always remember this.”