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Aug 27, 2013 | Focolare Worldwide
On the 17th Day for Peace, 70 Christians and Jews met for two days of dialogue and study at the Focolare’s permanent Mariapolis in Argentina (August 8, 2013 – August 19, 2013).
This year’s theme: “Love of neighbour in the Jewish and Christian traditions.” The programme opened with the testimonies of 6 Jews and 3 Christians who had attended an interreligious gathering organized by the Focolare at Castelgandolfo, Italy, last May. Their experiences highlighted the important steps being taken towards greater mutual understanding.
What is the secret of the success and continuity of this Day for Peace? The participants answer: “It offers a space for sincere sharing that is governed by fraternal affection and mutual respect, in which you are certain of the trust, listening and acceptance by the others.”
There were many salient moments. The first everyone remembers was the encounter with Pope Francis that aroused great emotion.
Focolarina theologian Lidia Erbetta, and Rabbi Silvina Chemen from the Beth El community, then presented a study on chapter 4 of the Book of Genesis. This chapter presents the well-known story of Cain and Abel and that fateful question: “Where is your brother?” Erbetta and Chemen proposed a group dynamic along the lines of the hevruta; that is, a study among equals, according to the tradition of the Talmud for the examination of Biblical texts. But this hevruta was not between only two people but six members of a communion and study group, and was followed by reflections from the presenters.
The same scheme was followed on the second day, this time with Francesco Canzani from the Focolare, and Rabbi Ernesto Yattah, who examined the Gospel text of Mark 12:29-33: the Gospel text in which Jesus recalls that what counts most is to love God and neighbour.
The Day of Peace concluded with a blessing at the olive tree that had been brought from Nazareth 15 years ago by Jewish friend, Ignazio Salzberg. This tree has become a symbol of Jewish-Christian dialogue at Mariapolis Lia.
This year again many spoke of the enthusiasm created by the meeting, the fruit of mutual and respectful dialogue, and the desire to go on living it in each individual’s daily social context.
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Aug 26, 2013 | Focolare Worldwide
Africa, the Middle East was the cradle of great civilizations and 3 monotheistic religions. For thousands of years these lands held a very noticeable influence on Asia Minor and the European Mediterranean. Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Hittites, Phoenicians, Persians, Greeks, Arabs and Turks have let an indelible mark through their culture, art and religions. Judaism, Christianity and Islam were begun in this region, and it was here in Jerusalem that their holy city is found.
November 27, 1999 in Jordan is a day that will forever remain an unforgettable day for the members of the Focolare in these lands. Founder Chiara Lubich visited the Middle East and met some thousand members of the Focolare in Amman. They came from more than 20 countries (from the Middle East and beyond), some travelling over 20 hours by bus, others in airplanes, and overcoming impossible obstacles. A thousand people representing the more than 25,000 people who belong to the Movement in those lands. On that occasion, Chiara said to the crowd: “It’s wonderful to be with you. We are many peoples, but in this hall we are one.”
Two days later, on November 29, during the 7th Assembly of the World Conference of Religions for Peace (WCRP), which was held in Amman, during her speech, Chiara Lubich presented the “Art of Loving” including the aspect of loving everyone without distinction, taking the initiative in loving, putting yourself in the other person’s shoes and remembering that every human being has made in the image and likeness o God. She offered as an effective way of building peace among individuals and peoples.
On August 28, 2013, the current president and co-president of the Focolare, Maria Voce and Giancarlo Faletti, are expected to meet with the Focolare community in Jordan. Their visit will last through September 1, 2013 and is seen as an important and delicate encounter, considering the latest painful events in that region, especially in Egypt.
At the WCRP Assembly in 1999, Chiara Lubich had stated: “We are here today because we believe that in spite of everything,, peace is still possible. In fact it is the only path for a future that is worthy of the highest human values.” Perhaps these words are the key or understanding the upcoming visit of the Focolare president in Jordan.
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Aug 25, 2013 | Focolare Worldwide, Senza categoria
“We are pleased and grateful for this honour,” commented Gerhard Pross, spokesperson of the German project committee. “For us this provides a further boost that the spirit of “Together for Europe” – communion and Christian values – might shine more in society and in the Churches.” Past award winners have included ex-German Chancellor Helmut Kohl; Polish Archbishop Emeritus Alfons Nossol; and the Community of St. Egidio. 
“Together for Europe” began in Ottmaring, Germany on the day of the signing of the historic “Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification” (October 31, 1999). On that same day several Catholic and Evangelical Movements and New Communities were gathered at the Ecumenical Centre of Ottmaring to begin living the Gospel together. Gradually, “Together for Europe” emerged as “a free encounter between Christian movements – Catholics, Evangelicals, members of the Reformed Church, Anglicans and Orthodox. While remaining autonomous they act together on set occasions, offering the contribution of their particular charism and spirituality.” Their principle objective is to work together at “incrementing Europe’s Christian soul”. The St Ulrich Award was instituted in 1993 by the European St. Ulrich Foundation in Dillingen, the birthplace of the saint, on the thousandth anniversary of his beatification. There is a strong push in this city and the surrounding region to work for peace and for the building of a Europe founded on Christian values. The award is conferred every two years on individuals, projects or institutions involved in the political, religious, cultural, scientific, economic or social sphere for the unity of Europe in accordance with the spirit of St Ulrich. In the reasons set out for the 2014 Award it is stated that: “the Together for Europe network is committed to the promotion of a culture of communion and to a supportive community in Europe founded upon Christian values. It favours the development of freedom and humanitarian efforts which have been undermined by the financial and economic crises in Europe”. Endowed with 10,000 Euro, the Award will be given to the “Together for Europe” International Guidance Committee in May 2014 in Dillingen.
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Aug 22, 2013 | Focolare Worldwide
Mumbai is the economic heart of India and one of the largest and most densely populated cities in the country. But many of its 20 million inhabitants live on the streets or in slums found all over in the city. In one of these, about forty minutes by train from the centre of the city in the north west, live about 400 thousand people in conditions of extreme poverty.
It is here that in 1997 several families in the slum decided to set up a social project in collaboration with ‘Support at a Distance’, a project run by New Families. In 2001, during her first visit to India, Chiara Lubich encouraged them to develop what they had begun as ‘a practical response to the poverty around us.’
From then on the project has grown. Today it cares for 115 young people from 4 to 22 years old. Its activities aim at supporting students in their schooling, nutrition and health, in order to raise the standard of life for them and their families. In 2004 the project took the name ‘Udisha’ which means ‘the sun ray that announces the new dawn’. Today Udisha participates in the Schoolmates project, a Teens for Unity project, which seeks to build up a network among school classes and groups of young people in various countries and to support projects that promote solidarity.
Main activities:
Schooling and education. In India the schools have 70-80 students per class. This makes it difficult to give individual tuition and, to pass their exams, the young people have to attend expensive private support lessons. The poorest among them, since they cannot afford this, are forced to give up their studies. Udisha, therefore, offers free support lessons in several subjects. In addition it tries to raise funds to pay for further schooling, educational equipment and school uniforms. Occasionally extra-curricular cultural and recreational activities are organized.
Intercultural awareness. There are various religions present at Udisha: Christian, Hindu and Muslim. One of the project’s objectives is to contribute to creating constructive integration, culturally, religiously, linguistically and also between the generations. It encourages exchanges of experience and activities, working together especially with the Shanti Ashram of Coimbatore.
Medical treatment. Many of the young people suffer from malnutrition. They are at risk from the seasonal epidemics that come with the rains or floods. For this reason during the year there are group medical visits involving both doctors in the area and other organizations. Help is also given to improve domestic diet with proteins and vitamins through the distribution of food stuffs and dietary supplements. For some time a counselling service for young people and parents has also been on offer.
Training in parenting. Meetings to raise understanding and to share good practice among families are organized periodically for parents. These are occasions for a rich exchange of experiences, advice and points of view.
Microcredit. A year ago Udisha began an small venture into microcredit which involves seventy of the young people’s mothers. Split into three groups that meet monthly, these mothers have been trained in microcredit in the kind of atmosphere of mutual trust absolutely necessary for such a venture to work. This year they will start to offer loans.
Source: Schoolmates website
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Aug 19, 2013 | Focolare Worldwide, Senza categoria
I come from a small city near El Paso, Texas, where there is not much recreational fun. It offered me, though, something more valuable. The educational principles of the day-care center I attended as a child were based on the Art of Loving. So I have been trying to put them into practice for more than 70% of my life. Later we started our own youth group in our city called “
Teens for Unity” following the same principles. This small group has remained small, but our impact on the city can be seen. We decided to name our first project “
Colouring our city”. Like many other teens around the world, we didn’t literally color the city with crayons and colored pencils, but in order to color the city, we brought joy and fresh energy to it. One project was planting trees at local bus stations. These trees not only provide more oxygen for the environment, but also shade for local citizens who wait for the bus to arrive. Other projects have been: gathering school supplies for children in Mexico, sending support letters to victims of the Haiti earthquake, and most recently visiting the senior citizens center to provide them with companionship. Luckily, we received support from our mayor who gave us permission for our projects showing how he too wants to see a positive change in the city. A huge activity our youth group got into was the broadcast from a local radio station called
Chicos Por la Unidad (Young for Unity), 1110 AM Radio Guadalupana. Even though El Paso has been named the safest city in America for the last three years, because of its location on the border people are continually exposed to violence, injustice and poverty. We wanted to find some way to give the values of peace, brotherhood and love to the young people of El Paso and Ciudad Juarez, our “sister city” right across the border and one of the most dangerous towns in Mexico. It took three months to get the approval, but in the end we created an hour-long program called “Teens for Unity — where only love can change the world.” For more than a year, we crossed the border into Mexico each week to go on air. We shared our initiatives and our personal experiences on how we tried to practice the Art of Loving in our daily lives. At first the program was dedicated to teens, but as the months went by, we decided to open our message to everyone. We would get feedback from listeners who called in or sent messages on the radio station website. Once we actually hosted a live event. Our youth group went to a restaurant in El Paso, where the radio station was broadcasting live. They gave us an hour of the program. The night consisted of fun games, sharing the word of God and sharing our experiences on how we loved our neighbors. All of these activities may seem like a lot of fun and you might think, “Wow, I would certainly take my family members or friends”. But it wasn’t always that easy. There was a time when there were basically two friends and my siblings in the group. It was disappointing because we did not get members quickly, but we would not stop. Even though our group became smaller, we still kept the principle of loving one another alive. Eventually, after about half a year we received more members and our events began to grow again! Our most recent project is called “Teens Got Talent Show”. We thought, why not host a local event, not for monetary gain, but for promoting love, unity and service? We invite young people to share their God-given talents with the community. We have hosted the event three times, twice at a local library, and once in a day care center for the elderly. The young people who perform have amazing talents. We continue to host these events where the performers expect no money, only the applause from the happy crowd.
By Jose Castro Source:
www.livingcitymagazine.com
Related video on YouTube: “Colour My City”
Making our cities a better place to live. Based on a talk given by Chiara Lubich in 1970.
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Aug 18, 2013 | Focolare Worldwide
Many cities were united with one another by a network of Mariapolises that were held around the world this year, from Sicily, in Italy to Bolivia, from Macedonia to the United States. Each Mariapolis had its own personality, but all of them shared the same spirit, based on universal brotherhood and the building of a better and more just society. In Chicago, USA, our Muslim friends travelled without food or water because of Ramadan, so that they could take part in the Mariapolis for one day that was dedicated to interreligious dialogue. Experiences on love of neighbor were shared by families, including a Muslim couple and a Jewish and Catholic husband and wife. Diversity of religions and nations was also evident in Macedonia where the theme of the Mariapolis was “The other another me”. The choice of this title immediately heightened the communion among all, between young people and adults, among Muslims, Orthodox and Catholics, between Macedonians and Albanians and also with those who arrived from Kosovo. The splendid natural surroundings, the hiking trails and sport activities provided opportunities to be open to one another and enter into the life stories of others. 
The motto of the Mariapolis in Lithuania was “Being bridges.” One bridge was built with Syria by inviting everyone to pray the time out for peace each day and collecting money for areas ravaged by war. Nearly 459 euros were collected. Many other bridges were built among people of different languages and cultures: there were Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians. The language barrier was overcome by speaking Russian, which is a common language among adults, while the young people spoke English among themselves. Language was never a barrier on the other side of the world in Indonesia where Indonesian, Chinese and English were the languages used by the 125 participants of the Mariapolis in Yogyakarta. And so a bit of the world has lived an extraordinary experience, the same experience that is repeated when evangelical love lies at the basis of every relationship. In Argentina the motto of the Mariapolis was “An experience of society renewed” to underscore that it is possible to transform society if we begin from ourselves, from our surroundings, remaining faithful in small things. From children to elderly, everyone experienced the various expressions of love: tangible, joyful, true, concrete love.
