Our Christmas

Dec 8, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide

For the ancients the Christ was a king. But Christ is a king outside the accepted schemes. He was born  to a daughter of peasants, in a stable amongst cattle and shepherds. While other sovereigns loomed from above and looked down from their thrones dominate and rule, he came from below, from the bottom layer, to serve: under all, the universal servant. And in this service did his kingship consist. It’s all so charming and lovely this romance about the birth of a baby boy in the heart of a windy night – in the heart of the mists of time – a child who has been sent for safety. Because the world was in need of being saved. It was full of evil, infused by a sickness, a fever in which humanity just fell apart. Jesus brought health, restored life and defeated death. When the Saviour appeared a great light lit up the night. The night was still there, but so was the light. It is forever Christmas in Christianity. You never yield to death; you begin again. And Christmas amid her tears, brings joy even today. God comes down among us and we ascend to God. He is humanized and we are divinised. His Heart is the meeting point. From his birth a new people was born, as the angel had proclaimed to astonished shepherds: Do not be frightened. Behold I bring you great tidings of great joy that shall be to the entire population. The entire population, joy: no one is excluded – no one of any class, race, language or colour – for wherever discrimination takes place, there death has its impact. The Church is there for Christ because just as he was born for everyone during that night in Bethlehem, every day he is reborn for everyone anew. And he asks that we do not refuse him but open to him the hospitality of our hearts even though they may be squallid as stables. He will take care of transforming them into temples filled with angels.

Istanbul. The Church of Rome and the Church of Constantinople celebrate together

Dec 5, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide

The 30^th of November was a day of feasting in at Patriarchal Basilica of the Phanar in Istanbul, the celebration of the Solemnity of St. Andrew the Apostle, Patron of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. “The exchange of Delegations between the Church of Rome and the Church of Constantinople [. . .] testifies in a concrete way to the close bond of fraternity that unites us. This is a real and profound communion, though still imperfect, which is not based on human courtesy and co-existence, but on the common faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.” These are the words that were written by Benedict XVI in his message to His Holiness Bartholomew I, underscoring how the full communion is a gift from God and assuring the Patriarch of his unity of prayer as well as that of all the Catholic faithful. The president of the Pontifical Counsel for the Promotion of the Unity of Christians, Cardinal Kurt Koch, had guided this year’s delegation of the Holy See. In his address the Patriarch highlighted the importance of moving as brothers towards Christ as he delineated today’s ecumenical journey. His message was neither simplistic nor did it limit itself to being optimistic. It was an invitation to seek the path that must be taken in the present moment with a realistic reading of the past, and a desire to sincerely find the ways for drawing closer to each other. In this undertaking he indicated dialogue as the means par excellence for dispersing fear, suspicion and prejudice, dialogue which has as its goal “the Eucharistic Communion to which we all aspire.” [It is] a dialogue that facilitates mutual understanding in order to “arrive at the fullness of truth” (Jn. 16:13). There was also an appeal for “Good Samaritans” to be neighbours for humanity that suffers today in various ways due to many “crises”. [It was] an appeal that we should be neighbours “together” so that we can be united in proclaiming the Lord’s power and mercy. After he emotionally recalled his attendance at the 50^th anniversary celebrations of Vatican II that had opened new paths, and the upcoming anniversary of the 1700 years of the Edict of Milan, he joyfully announced that the work that is underway for the Pan-Orthodox Council is coming to a close. On Saturday morning (1 December 2012), Cardinal Koch and Metropolitan Gennadios from Sassima met with some representatives of the local Catholic community, talking informally about the ecumenical journey between the two sister Churches, tracing the challenges and the prospects in the process towards full unity since 50 years after the Second Vatican Council. In the dialogue that followed Metropolitan Gennadios noted how the social priorities that are the consequence of the crisis, had given secondary importance to the ecumenical dialogue. His twenty-year experience at the mixed theological commission leads him to foresee a renewed impulse for finding solutions together and, in this way, giving a common life witness. Cardinal Koch referred to a painting that portrays the embrace between the Apostles Peter and Andrew that hangs in the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity. He underscored that the embrace between the two of them is a sign of His presence. He concluded by asking everyone to pray for unity, recalling that Jesus had not commanded it but asked it of the Father as His gift to us.

Cameroon: honesty versus corruption

Dec 1, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide

“I work in the Customs Authority and I’m coming close to the end of my career. A long journey of 29 years! There were joys and sorrows, but especially difficult choices. Since the beginning of my career, as a woman and even moreso as a Christian, I had scruples of conscience. How could I listen to the voice of God and follow it in an environment of easy money and comprimise that seemed inevitable? The answer was given to me in 1984. That year I met the Focolare Movement, and I was struck by these simple and happy people. They possessed a freedom and joy that I had never experienced. I wanted to know more. The secret turned out to be love for God and for others.

This encounter has transformed my life. I began to realize that the most important thing in life is to love. You profession doesn’t matter much. The task you’ve been given is a great opportunity to love God and your brothers and sisters. This changed everything! My colleagues and clients were no longer barriers, but they became partners with whom I could build unity.

The continual effort to go beyond my own limits and those of others, in order to go against the current, has always been accompanied by the joy that you experience after rendering some service. It is a feeling of freedom each time, that I was able to renounce my own interests as well as the easy money.

In 1999 I was awarded the Excellence Award by the Cameroon Women Customs Officers Association. The Word of Life for that month was: “Let you light shine before others, so taht they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in the heavens” (Mt. 5:14-16).

With this award I felt like I was being called upon in person: “Hang in there, don’t give into your doubts and discouragement, improve each day.”

At the end of my career, I experienced that no profession is the antechamber of hell! I saw that our specific roll in society as Christians is to do everything we do with a new spirit, with complete adhesion to God’s will. He has always accompanied us with His grace.”

(Jeanne – Cameroon)

Gen Rosso: When communication becomes listening

Nov 30, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide

For an entire week they learnt to dance hip-hop, ventured into acting and song, and learnt the secrets of stage lighting and sound – all without the aid of verbal communication. All they had was sign language, sound vibrations and a profound and personal relationship with those who were giving this unique workshop on the musical “Streetlight”. This workshop which is very unique both as a musical and human experience took place on 5-12 November 2012. It involved Gen Rosso and 155 teenagers from the LVR-Gerricus-Schule and the Hauptschule Montessori. Many of the students were hearing impaired and some had learning and behavioral problems. What they managed to create among them was new and unexpected: they said they had created a “space for mutual exchange”. On the one side there was the opportunity to learn the art of listening, learning to ‘spend a small stretch of our life’ alongside hearing impaired youth from several social and faith backgrounds. On the other side it provided an opportunity to dress up the musical in new forms of artistic expression: short light shows, acting and song using sign language. At the end of the week there were many expressions of gratitude both for the work that had been done and for the indispensable supplement of love that everyone had put into it. As a motto for the week they chose the title of one of the songs from Streetlight: “Count me in!” This song is sung by one of the characters during the show, who sings it to tell of his desire to join the others in living for the ideal of peace and fraternity. “I’m so proud of my students,” said the director of LVR-Gerricus-Schule at the end of the show, “because performing a musical in spite of their hearing problems is quite a challenge, but it was possible thanks to Caritas Verband Colonia, the Starkmacher Association and Gen Rosso” .

Family: common pathways for Muslims and Christians

Nov 27, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide

Nadia and Kadija are women from two cities in Northern Italy. You can see their ethnic, religious and cultural differences just by looking at them. Nadia is Italian and Christian and Kadija is Tunisian and Muslim. Their experience of social cohesion began in school and has had unexpected results. Among these was Nadia’s degree dissertation in Political Science about Muslim women, which looked in particular at the question of wearing the veil. Theirs was only one of the experiences recounted on 25 November in Brescia, where about 1300 Christians and Muslims met for a day with the title Common Pathways for Christian and Muslim Families, organized by the Focolare Movement and various Islamic associations and communities. It was a development of what had taken place in the little town of Loppiano in October 2010, when 600 Muslims and Christians from all over Italy met for a moment’s reflection upon the common pathways followed by people of different faiths and traditions. The ‘Workshop Brescia 2012’ affirmed that the journey to universal fraternity among people of different religions, promoted by Chiara Lubich a decade ago, has taken a decisive step ahead. Indeed, it seems that there are already many experiences of fostering social cohesion and preparing the next generation for dialogue. During a round table discussion, which included two Imams, Kamel Layachi from Treviso and Youssef Sbai from Massa, there was talk about the daily problems that families of both traditions have to face. Maria Voce, in France for a Social Studies Event, was present through a message where she promised her prayers to ‘God the almighty and merciful’ that he would bless ‘these “common pathways” so that they may reveal the huge contributions that communities of believers … can give to the fabric of society wherever they may be.’ She went on to say that ‘that they are like first shoots generating a sense of family and creating harmonious relations among people, which respect their rights and duties, beyond any cultural and religious differences.’ It was an event that also saw moments of meditation upon the value of the family according to Muslim and Christian tradition. Real experiences of everyday life from where people lived were told and there were also moments of artistic beauty. One of the most moving of these was led by Harif Abdelghani from Morocco. He sang a folk song and all joined in with him. And then the hall was filled with a party atmosphere as 130 children and young people presented dances and songs they had learned in the morning. There were also moments of intense community prayer, held separately by Christians and Muslims. They spoke, furthermore, about some problems relating to immigration, bearing in mind both, on the one hand, those who face the trauma of travel, the worry about finding somewhere to live, a resident’s permit, work, of having to learn a new language, and often suffering discrimination, fear, doubt, suspicion and, on the other hand, those who see people arriving who have new ways of talking, dressing, eating, behaving, and who must face up to the arrival of an unknown culture. They also considered issues ‘in the light of God’. God’s presence in the lives of individuals and families can truly change things. This goes for personal relations within the family group as well as for those with the world outside, one’s neighbours, work colleagues and companions at school or college. Above all, God’s presence can lead to important shared choices: ‘We are leaving here,’ Imam Layachi said at the conclusion, ‘with the promise that Christians and Muslims can act together in front of God: to be servants of the common good in our neighbourhoods, our cites and our countries.’ Sources: Città Nuova online Servizio Informazioni Focolari Italia