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31 Oct 2011 | Focolare Worldwide
More than two months of continuous rain, more by far to what is forseen every year, are beating Thailand and around eight million persons. The worst hit provinces are those of Ayutthaya, Pathum Thani, and Nakhon Sawan, where the level of the water has gone beyond four metres high. Some members of the Focolari, who live in Bangkok, write to us: “ The consequences of what has happened are before the eyes of all: whole villages evacuated, industrial zones invaded by the water with the loss of tens of thousands of places of work, schools closed for an undetermined period. Years will be required to recover what we have lost.” But even in the midst of this situation, there are facts taking place that speak of still possible hope, of the desire for new birth stronger than sorrow. Thus, they continue to write from Bangkok: “What nobody expected, at least under these dimensions, is concrete love, the help that very many people are giving to who is suffering. A reporter from CNN has defined as “an incredible social effect” what is happening in Thailand. And it is so. All help each other, all try to do something for for those who have been hit; thousands of volonteers have worked 24 hours on 24 to prepare 1,200,000 sand bags to mend or raise the banks of some important canals in the zones of the floods.Those working are in the majority young people, who wanted to contribute to save what can be saved.” The work of the Focolari to bring material, spiritual, and moral help, forms part of this common work that involves the whole country, encouraging fraternal experiences that make every hope credible. Amongst the many testimonies that are reaching our editorial office, we have chosen that of S.C., university teacher, who thus relates: “I have tried to understand together with my students what to do for the victims of the floods. The youths consulted each other and decided to gather money approaching the people on the street, going up on the trains. It required a bit of courage, and yet…Around twenty of them agreed to meet each other in front of the big shops, equipped with large posters, a box and two guitars. They are all young buddists convinced of the importance of doing good to others. I encouraged them to first of all live in fraternity amongst themselves, offering difficulties and weariness for the good of the country. The collection went beyond what was expected, 17,700 bath, a large sum for our economy. But most of all, it contributed to widening the hearts of the youths on the needs of others. This commitment of theirs continues to give fruit.”
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27 Oct 2011 | Focolare Worldwide
Video of the trip "In the Footsteps of Jesus"
Watch video of the trip on Vimeo
![Thailand: hope amidst the floods]()
25 Oct 2011 | Focolare Worldwide
“It was an inspiration,” Maria Voce, president of the Focolare told the Roman Observer newspaper, “an inspiration that will certainly mark a new acceleration and depth in living one’s personal religious convictions in the service of peace. This is especially urgent today when the absurd fear of religion is spreading. Religion, which by its very nature is a vital source of peace, is being blamed as the primary cause of many conflicts, tensions, phobias, intolerance and religious persecutions that are teeming around the world.” The numerous and high profile delegation will leave from Rome by train on the morning of 27 October with the Pope. Maria Voce will also be on the train with leaders of all the major religions of the world. She will represent the Focolare Movement which is founded on the charism of unity of Chiara Lubich and has always been deeply and naturally involved in dialogue. The Movement includes members from 350 Christian Churches and Ecclesial Communities. Because of the universal expansion of the Movement, there is now an open dialogue with the major world religions, and not only with individual followers or religious leaders but with leaders and followers of vast movements: like the Buddhist movement of the Rissho Kosei-kai, which has six million adherents in Japan; with the Afro-American Muslims in the United States and with various Gandhian movements in South India. Thousands of followers of other religions live, inasmuch as possible, the spirit of the Focolare Movement and actively collaborate in working for its goals. Dialogue also began with persons of no religious faith like the agnostics, the indifferent and the atheists. This dialogue develops between believers and people who not have a religious faith but who share the common desire to work together for the brotherhood of the human family. From this point of view, it is quite emblematic that Benedict XVI wished to invite a group of non-believers to the Assisi event, who “though not professing to be religious, they feel that they are on the seeking path for the truth and they feel a common responsibility for the cause of justice and peace in our world.” Four invitees have accepted the invitation of Benedict XVI. They include philosophers, historians and professors from various countries in the world. Among them is Walter Baier: Austrian economist, General Coordinator of “Transform! Network,” a European research group that includes magazines and leftist think tanks. He is a member of the Austrian Communist Party, but also a collaborator with the Focolare’s international center for dialogue with persons of non-religious convictions. “A world-city truly appears on the horizon, shining with hope.” This is what the upcoming event in Assisi 2011 foreshadows. “Today,” says Maria Voce, “dialogue between religions cannot be limited to the leaders, researchers and specialists. It should be a dialogue of the people, and this will be more and more essential for peaceful coexistence in our cities and countries as we find ourselves elbow to elbow with Muslims and Buddhists, Hindus and Sikhs. It is a chronicle that will have to be discovered and perhaps invented, without allowing ourselves to be discouraged by the rumors of violence and intolerance. It’s the daily testimony that opens the way.”
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20 Oct 2011 | Focolare Worldwide
It tells two stories, the story of the Focolare and that of the United States. In an air-raid shelter in the city of Trent (1944), Chiara Lubich and some other young women rediscovered the words of the Gospel: “that all be one” (Jn 17:21). A hundred-fifty years earlier the founding fathers of the United States wrote on their flag: “E pluribus unum,” of the many, one. Both phrases reveal a fundamental tendency: to aspire for unity in diversity. 
In the introduction of the book, “Focolare: living a Spirituality of Unity in the United States,” Thomas Masters and Amy Uelmen (New City Press, NY), begin with the stories of young people who practice the spirituality. Like Rebecca from Ohio, who was helped by the spirituality of unity to carry through with her decision to volunteer in Sierra Leone. Or Nick, who grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, who completed a Master in International Affairs and found himself face-to-face with his choice of relationship and dialogue in an environment that was strongly competitive. Elizabeth is a championship swimmer. She met the Focolare at a swimming competition in her hometown in Indiana: “When these girls who knew the Focolare came to my school, I was struck by the way they interacted with each other. The cultural mix – for someone from rural Indiana like me – made a strong impression. I felt like the whole world was in my backyard.” “It wasn’t easy for me to explain to my friends who all these Europeans were, where I went and what we did,” recounts Keith, who grew up in a black neighborhood of New York. “But it was special with them, I felt drawn. We did the same things that I did at home with my friends: sport, games, but the atmosphere was different, we tried to love one another.” The Focolare town of Mariapolis Luminosa in Hyde Park, New York, offers summer programs for teenagers. Naomi, a sixteen year-old from Chicago recounts: “Before leaving for Mariapolis Luminosa, I was a typical teenager: school, friends, shopping, enjoyment. It was hard for me to think of others. Well, this has all changed. When I returned home, I began to give away my things; I make my bed every morning; I try to prepare at least one of the meals each day; I listen to my eight year-old brother; I try to socialize with everyone at school. I don’t go shopping in the stores where a sweater costs a hundred dollars. I try to do everything for God, to make him smile. My mother is still wondering what happened to me.” Finally, David from New York, who came to know the Focolare during WYD 2002 in Toronto. For him it has meant not becoming rigid in ‘devotional’ practices, but placing God’s love and love of neighbor at the centre of things: “As I rediscovered my faith in this way, I felt called by the Holy Spirit to become a priest, and now I’m in the seminary.” These six experiences suggest that it is easier to understand the spirituality of the Focolare through the experiences of those who put it into practice. Beginning with the life of Chiara Lubich and those who joined her on this path, followed by the example of Americans young and old, families and clergy – this book tells the story of a shared experience of people whose lives have been transformed in an individual way, but also in a quite similar way by the light of God’s Love.
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18 Oct 2011 | Focolare Worldwide
This is the invitation that was launched by the Youth for a United World (YUW) in Japan on Sunday, 9 October during a “Power of the Smile” concert in Tokyo, as they remembered the fatal tsunami that hit the northern coast of their country. “They idea for the concert,” they tell us, “came to us when we realized how much the quake had shaken and frightened people. With the “Power of the Smile” we wanted to offer our friends a few moments of serenity, which they could then bring to others.” Their message was launched with the musical refrain from the final song: “With the power of my smile, I will believe that I can love this land.” “During the past months,” they continued, “many YUW groups have gone out of their way, finding a million ways to help us with their solidarity. And their projects and efforts have encouraged us to do something concrete ourselves. As soon as we heard of the disaster on 11 march, we began a collection of funds in the metro area of Tokyo, an unusual thing in our culture, but it awakened a strong spirit of solidarity and altruism in many people on the street. Subsequently, some of us went to the district of Fukushima for a few days, offering the refugees some warm coffee and loivng and listening ear.” Finally, with four musical groups alternating on stage, the concert took place. “Before going on stage we met in a circle and promised each other that even though we felt there were still a lot of holes in our original plans for the concert, what we most wanted to leave with the audience was the light of our unity.” “Little by little the concert went on,” recalls one of the presenters, “I saw the faces in front of me change!” This concert by the YUW of Tokyo was very unlike most traditional concerts. It was a coffee-concert, with groups on stage continually interacting with the audience and the possibility for anyone to go on stage, to meet and know each other over a cup of coffee and piece of cake. When the concert was over, some of those who had attended wrote: “I wanted to go and volunteer in Fukushima, but I couldn’t. What a joy to have discovered that simply by offering my smile to everyone, I can do something concrete to make our society a bit happier!” “I didn’t expect so many smiles! They filled me with love!” “Giving a smile is a power that conqers all!” “You too, me too. . . altogether let’s believe in the possibility that we can love this land!”
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18 Oct 2011 | Focolare Worldwide
“The inauguration of a fourth academic year at Sophia University Institute, is certainly an appropriate occasion to pause briefly and consider the progress that has already been made and to derive motivation for what lies ahead. The academic performance of our students is an encouraging sign, particularly the theses that have already been completed by several students. In fact, they appear to be the result not only of an effort that has been carried out with intellectual and academic rigor, but within the context of an experience that is also quite unique. The charism of unity that animates this Institute combines intellectual life with real life, the development of relationships that are nourished and re-built each day within the heart of the academic community. All of this allows us to look ahead with real optimism, that is, with the gaze of one who, aware of the inevitable difficulties that will be met along the way, follows a design of light that is manifested and can already be seen unfolding. And so that this design that is contained in Sophia might be more fully realized, I would like to focus your attention on one of the fundamental points around which the experience of Sophia develops: the life of the Word. I would like to invite you to allow yourselves to be profoundly permeated by the Word, that is, by Jesus’ way of thinking, wanting and loving. Live the Word. Allow yourselves to be lived by the Word. This is what Chiara Lubich exhorted us to do, knowing that this is the indispensable condition for entering into a new way of life and a new way of knowing. Indeed, it is only a person who has been transformed by the Word who can attain a true conversion of the mind. Such a person will be a credible transmitter of the truth not only in words but living. Such a person can have an efficacious influence on diverse social and cultural contexts in which she or he works, by injecting a fruitful seed of the life of the Gospel. And thanks to all of you, may Sophia be an ever more authentic witness of this. This is my heartfelt wish, which I offer to you today.” Maria Voce
