3 Aug 2017 | Focolare Worldwide
A book for the exam “I study architecture. I had a very important exam to take, but I was missing a fundamental book. Since I was from Spain, it cost four times the normal price. It was the last day to sign up for that exam and I was desperate. I left the university and ran to a nearby church, where I asked Jesus for help, praying for him to get me that book ‘by midday.’ Shortly after, back at the department, I heard someone calling me: it was a colleague I had not seen for some time. Hearing of my problem, he insisted coming with me to a another student’s house – someone I hardly knew. She had that book, and was even happy to lend it to me. It was midday. Some days later, seeing that there were typographic errors and important pages missing, I wrote to the publishing house via email. To thank me, a week later the publisher couriered me a free copy. How could I not see the love of God in all this?” (S. G., Argentina) Stepping in my husband’s shoes “After work my husband often lays down on the sofa to watch a movie. This creates tension and anger inside me, since I expect a bit of help after a day of being busy with the children and everything else that happens. One day, urged on by advice I received from some friends to start loving him first without expecting anything, I tried to put myself in his shoes. I thought about his work committments and his need to find tenderness and understanding at home. Setting aside everything I was doing, I sat down next to him to watch a film, and we shared our ideas about it.” (G. G., Siberia) Mutual help “My neighbor’s husband was hospitalized. His 70-year-old brother was left alone at home, and he doesn’t cook at all. Despite the fact that during that time my own husband and mother had the flu, I offered to look after him. For 15 days, as I took care of my sick family, I also cooked for him, and on Sunday I invited him to lunch at our house. He responded in turn by bringing some foodstuffs that he had. He became one of the family.” (C., Italy) Asking forgiveness “Since I have a tough, authoritarian and independent character, I typically judge people. This way of being made it difficult to relate to others, especially my husband. Some time ago I found myself participating in a meeting that was about going deeper into the words of the Gospel. There my certainties were shaken. I decided to start living those words at work, where I direct personnel in a large warehouse with more than 30 employees. I had a strong aversion to one employee in particular. When it was his turn to get paid, I used to throw the envelope with the money on his desk. This time? I tried to see him differently, as if I had put on new glasses. Making an effort, I approached him and in front of everyone asked him to forgive me. It was one of the greatest joys I had ever experienced.” (D., Brazil)
1 Aug 2017 | Focolare Worldwide
The term “system” is perhaps among the most used in our language. Almost without realising, it always seems to crop up, whether we’re talking about elections, football pools, stars, units of measure, politics, irrigation, the kids’ algebra homework, security, transportation, medicines or mountain chains. Simple or complex, nerves or finances, a “system” (from the Greek systema, to combine) is always on our lips. In 1937, and more “systematically” in 1945, an Austrian biologist named Ludwig von Bertalanffy (b. Vienna, 1901–d. Buffalo, New York, 1972) was the first to announce General Systems Theory, a method for reading into and interpreting the world as it exists. “Every organism is a dynamic order of processes that reciprocally act on each other.” Jordi Marjanedas, from Catalonia, class of 1940, has scrupulously dedicated himself this theory in his recent volume entitled, Today’s Challenges in the Light of General Systems Theory, published by Città Nuova. The text stretches from biology to the life of the universe, from ecology to anthropology, from history to ethics, to social sciences and religion, searching every field of knowledge for elements of integration and cohesion, according to a unified vision of humanity and creation. Why is systems theory so important? The development of modern science brought about a proliferation of knowledge that is partial, fragmented and hyper-specialized. To the point that, ironically, to the writer G. K. Chesterton it seemed that “eventually they end up knowing everything about nothing.” In medicine, for example, a human being is not just liver or limbs, but a harmonious and unified togetherness of spirit – soul and body. In philosophy, there have been numerous theories and closed systems that claimed to explain all reality with a single meaning (totalitarianism is one example). Aristotle himself admitted that “the whole is more than the sum of its parts.”
A priest presents the Pope with the book
31 Jul 2017 | Focolare Worldwide
Ever since I began my experience in the focolare in Thailand in 1984 I’ve been in ongoing contact with the poor. In 1985, when we took our first trip to Burma – now Myanmar – I was able to touch the extreme poverty with my own hands; up until then I would never have had the opportunity to see it in person. Then, because the civil war in 1988, refugees began arriving from Thailand, especially in the border regions. Their condition? Illness, lonliness, desperation, exploitation and a great longing for a real life. For us focolarini, they represented a face of Jesus crucified and forsaken who we tried to lift up and love. Over these 32 years our help has surely been insufficient, as one can see from the recent humanitariann distaster that isn’t receiving a lot of reporting. No one is ever prepared for the pain of seeing people die. We’ve taken over a projejct begun by Father Justine, Burmese, who died after a long illness. He provided care for the children of migrants who were being left alone at home all day, and so we gave the last monies we had to be able to provide them hospitality. Now the school is called “Drop By Drop, the Latina Bridge Mae Sot.” It’s a collaborative effort between our children in Mae Sot that are originally Birmian and Karen and her friends from a school in Latina, Italy where several Focolare members work. It’s a bridge of solidarity which connects the two cities that are 10,000 km apart, and it has now involved some hundred poeple from many other places. A multi-national transport company helps us to take the containers of collected goods, paying all the customs and clearance fees (€ 1000) to their destination in Mae Sot on the mountains of Thailand. 
Currently, through Father Joachim from Myanmar, we are helping 200 people who are outside official refugee camps, undocumented and often without food. As Pope Francis puts it, we are experiencing what it means to “touch the flesh of Christ,” one of the many faces of Jesus Forsaken. Besides food, there is great need of love, warmth and affectioin… Chiara Lubich and our spirituality urge us to ‘make ourselves one’ with everyone. One of them said to us: ‘Thank you for everything you get for us,, but especially for making us feel loved. This gives us hope to live.’ There’s an association made up of some friends from Poschiavo in Switzerland, which has been recognized by the government and finances projects that are underway in Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. Six years later it seems like a real miracle! 
The projects in Vietnam are located in the southern zone, towards the Mekong Delta, in a parish. We build and repair small houses, wells with potable water; and we build bridges that are very useful for communication among the small islands.The so-called monkey bridges, constructed with bamboo stems are substituted with bridges made for humans with iron and cement. Now we’ve begun to work in the mountains too, in central Vietnam, in the zone of Gia Lai, which was known for the battles during the war. The Church is very involved in that zone and the poverty level has really reached levels of high concern in the mountain villages, especially among ethnic populations. In Laos we provide assistance for children through priests who have spent time at the priest school in Taygayta, Philippines. The help is sustained by genuine friendship, much creativity and a willingness to work. Love is like a bridge that joins everyone in a common dream: to live universal brotherhood concretely. Our budget? Free donations from many ordinary and also poor people. We feel that if God wants this project to carry on, he’ll provide for it. Luigi Butori Website: www.gocciadopogoccia.ch Facebook page
28 Jul 2017 | Focolare Worldwide
When the international group Gen Verde passed through the city and school where Tiziana teaches, there were positive effects in her relationships with students. In particular, when she heard at the end of the course that one of them had declared themselves an atheist, she decided to write to him. The student’s response was unexpected. “Dear Luca, at this point we are at the end of your school journey. I wanted to write you a note because I didn’t get the chance to chat. So I’m doing so for no particular reason, only because I like having exchanges like this. I would have also liked to ask you about your atheism, as (Italian comic) Checco Zalone would say, but didn’t get the time. I’m convinced that there are no real atheists, only different sorts of believers. The longing for the infinite that consumes our souls is too strong. In my life, I made a fundamental discovery that changed me radically: that God loves me, and each of us, like crazy. Perhaps I would have also been an atheist if I had not gotten to know this God. Love touches all of us, and we madly thirst for it. If you, like me, believe in love, both of us are believers in a way. If your atheism brings you to not believe in a cruel, judging, cold, indifferent prime mover, grand architect, supreme being etc., etc. – then I too am an atheist with you! I can only believe in a God who was flesh and bones, who out of love was born, became man, died and rose. “Bye Luca, I just wanted to say thank you for these past years that we spent together!” “Dear Prof, it gives me the greatest pleasure to know that even beyond the school environment you still wanted to stay in touch (not that I didn’t already know, but this confirmed it). I too would have liked to discuss with you a number of wider topics, from politics to religion. I have always admired your availability and open mindedness, your ability to dialogue, listen, understand and take in others’ opinions, even if they were completely different from your own. I have always considered your perspective very important. Among other things, you taught me that changing my point of view is fundamental to understanding others, and above all ourselves. This year, together with some schoolmates of mine, I attended PULSE, the May 1 celebration at the little city of Loppiano. During our stay, we were hosted by the Sophia University Institute, where young people from all over the world continue their studies after having graduated. It was there that, for me, I experienced firsthand what equality and fraternity mean. This was thanks to the way we were generously welcomed by the institute’s students and teachers, who treated us as if we had known each other for a lifetime. What struck me most happened during the evening of the second day, when we ate together with our hosts. They had prepared the meal with passion, just for us, using everything they had in the kitchen. In that moment, despite being more than 1,000km from my city, I felt at home. I found myself at table talking about this and that with two from Lebanon and others from Germany, Cuba, Argentina, Colombia, and Bologna, sharing a plate of meat, spinach, potatoes and onions. After that we stayed up late talking about our experiences, plans, playing guitar, singing songs and sourcing a bit of wine from the German black forest. In that moment PULSE, at least for me, had achieved its goal. Thanks Prof, till next time!”
25 Jul 2017 | Focolare Worldwide, Senza categoria
22 Jul 2017 | Focolare Worldwide, Senza categoria
Augustine provides us with one of the most valuable intuitions on prayer: “God’s ear hears the heart’s voice” (Comment on Psalm 148). Letting God’s ear rest on our heart, opening our heart to God’s ear: this is what it takes, this is the art of praying, an art, by the way, that’s for everyone. Actually, it’s not ours, but of the Spirit that God gives to us, the Spirit who prays in us, for we don’t know how or for what we should pray (cf Rm 8:26). […] Prayer is elevating the heart to God. But are we capable of that? Isn’t the range of our understanding too limited for our heart to be able to elevate itself to God? Isn’t the impulse of our heart too weak? Don’t burdens attach themselves to our heart and weigh on it, paralyze it and bring it down? What gives us the courage to claim: Our heart is turned to the Lord? His ear. He has lowered it to us. The Father listens to the Son. And the Son came down among us, into our flesh, into our heart. Within the heart of the Son, the Father listens to every beat of our heart, in the heart of the Son he finds our heart. In Him in whom we were made, loved, supported, gathered – the Father hears us. To elevate our heart means to leave it where it is and discover that where it is, with us, is the heart of God in the heart of his Son. Abandon yourself in Him and he will hold you. In Him, God’s ear is upon your heart; in Him your heart is at God’s ear. […] The opposite is just as true: God keeps his heart against your ear. He revealed, conveyed, gave, not something of Himself, but His Self. If you believe in him, if you adhere to Him, if you stick to Him, then you don’t hear a novelty, a directive, a command: you hear his heart. Stay near to Him until you discover this heart of yours. He’s in need of your patient listening in order to open your heart; actually, only patience comprehends love and learns love. He will reveal Himself to anyone who loves Him, and He makes His dwelling with that person (cf Jn 14:21-23). […] God has your heart at his ear, so that through your ear his heart penetrating your heart, might become your heart. The ear of God on your heart – the heart of God at your ear – like the alternating found in prayer. Only the pray-er knows God. Only the pray-er knows the human person. From Klaus Hemmerle, Con l’anima in ascolto, Guida alla preghiera,(Rome: Città Nuova Ed.,1989), 9-11.
