Nov 26, 2020 | Non categorizzato
At the school of Jesus, we can learn to be witnesses and instruments of the Father’s tender and creative love for each other. It is the birth of a new world, which heals human coexistence from the root and attracts God’s presence among men, an inexhaustible source of consolation to dry every tear. An unusual idea My husband and I were traveling on the highway when I noticed a couple in the car behind us. The man behind the wheel seemed very agitated, and his driving was dangerous. When we got to a toll booth, I had an idea: why not pay the toll for them too? While my husband was paying ours, I gave the clerk the amount for those behind us, with the following message: “Good day and happy vacation from the couple in the Massachusetts car”. And I explained to my husband, who didn’t understand, that perhaps this small gesture would have reminded the man that someone loved him. Who knows, it could give a different tone to their trip! Looking back, I saw that the tollbooth employee was talking to that couple, pointing in our direction. After a while, resuming the route, their car approached ours. The man was smiling, while she showed off a piece of paper with big letters: “Your kindness worked! Thank you, Massachusetts!” A., U.S.A. Peace in the family For years our relationship with our daughter Grazia and son-in-law has been painful. He became jealous of us to the point that Grazia could no longer visit us. For my part, I could not forgive her such passivity. Then there was a phone call with my son-in-law: an hour and a half of accusing each other. That night I was unable to sleep. I decided to write them both a letter, in which I apologized and assured them that they always had a place in our hearts. I did not expect anything from that letter, but he called me, evidently moved, and said that Grazia would come over the next day. Not long after there was a phone call from our son-in-law’s parents, whom we hadn’t heard from for years. They confirmed that the situation had completely changed: in fact they invited us to spend a few days with them. Never had there been so much affection shown to us, and we spent peaceful days together that we will not easily forget. Returning home, my husband and I thanked God, because with a simple letter he had given us the immense gift of peace in the family. R., Italy The missing amount It seemed to my wife and me that the time had come to buy a house. Having gone through our accounts, committed all our savings and the advance from a sale, we were still missing an amount to be able to make a 10-year mortgage. During that time, at work we made a big purchase. The supplier took me aside and informed me that when I wanted to, I would get “mine” if I stopped by. I understood what he meant by “mine”: a certain amount that I could pocket. In other words, if not a form of corruption, it was certainly unethical, which frequently happens in buying and selling. On the one hand, that amount would have been convenient, and the temptation to accept it was no small thing. But the freedom to be “pure of heart”, as the Gospel says, is priceless. The certainty that God will provide, as he has abundantly provided so far, made us reject the offer and, in addition, gave us the urge to donate our second car to a person who surely needs it more than we do. A., Italy
compiled by Stefania Tanesini
(from Il Vangelo del Giorno, Città Nuova, year VI, n.6, November–December 2020)
Nov 24, 2020 | Non categorizzato
On the 50th anniversary of Religions for Peace, we take a look at what progress has been made and visions for the future with Azza Karram, recently elected Secretary General. Azza Karram was elected Secretary General of Religions for Peace in August 2019. Born in Egypt, a Dutch citizen, professor of religious studies and diplomacy, former UN official, her soul has a universal dimension, and she now leads a movement made up of more than 900 religious leaders from 90 different countries, committed with her to making peace a place of encounter and a journey to be travelled together as a community. Religions for Peace held its first assembly in 1970 between 16 and 21 August. It was led by the great Japanese visionary Nikkyo Niwano, founder of the Rissho Kosei-kai. In the 1990s he also involved Chiara Lubich in this world assembly. He saw in her a unique spiritual and pragmatic consonance. This year Religions for Peace celebrates its 50th anniversary. We got in touch with Azza Karram in New York to ask her what progress has been made and to share her vision for the future. It’s been 50 years since Religions for Peace was founded, what do you see as the movement’s mission and what message is the movement giving today? After 50 years of life, we have seen how necessary it is for religions to work together, regardless of institutional, geographical or doctrinal differences. This is the message we give even if we have not yet realized it perfectly because we know that there is a process of continuous learning and the fatigue of working together. Covid has further emphasized the need to work together. Religious communities and NGOs inspired by religious values are already doing so because they were the first to respond to this humanitarian crisis. It is true that health institutions have also intervened but they would not have been able to do so properly without the religious institutions which have not only offered a medical, financial and psychological response to the crisis but have also been able to see the spiritual needs of a community and are responding fully on all fronts. And yet, how many of these religious institutions, while responding to the needs of the one same community, are working together? Very few and not for lack of exigencies, expertise or knowledge. Sometimes I suspect that we are really trying to save our institutions, and working together in this complex time requires even more effort and commitment because it is easier to be concerned about the sanctity and cohesion of our groups than be open to a universal commitment. Instead, Covid is forcing us to act differently. We wanted to launch a multi-religious humanitarian fund precisely to show that responding to a need together means having the intention and will to build a common future which does and will bring about abundant fruits: we know this from our history and we want to continue to show how fruitful inter-religious collaboration is. What challenges does Religions for Peace face? I think the challenges Religions for Peace faces are the same as those faced by all institutions, not just religious, but political, institutional, judicial and financial in terms of trust, efficiency, legitimacy and competences. In my opinion religious institutions have been suffering from these crises for a long time and will continue to suffer from them longer than civil institutions. Back again to the pandemic. Blocks and closures have created an institutional breakdown in our communities. We all understand what it is like not to be able to meet together anymore which is one of the basic and fundamental functions of our experiences. Instead, these functions are under threat for churches, temples, mosques and synagogues that used to welcome hundreds or thousands of people but are now restricted to 50 or a few dozen. Not being able to meet together in person has meant having to restructure our religious services which we have done but how much is this affecting religious practice? Not only the members of these communities but also those who lead them are having to redefine their role and how they carry it out in the world. So, if I am already struggling to survive as an institution, how can I work with others who are experiencing the same difficulties in other parts of the world? All of us are challenged to think differently – the United Nations, governments and we too as religions. And then the very existence of faiths is threatened in countries and societies where authoritarianism does not allow the practice of faith and where the regimes feel their intrinsic fragility to be threatened by the voices that speak out for human rights, justice and multilateralism. To respond to these challenges we need to work together more closely, we need financial resources and dare I say we also need greater political awareness of the social role that multi-religious collaborations play which should also be supported economically because they provide spaces of service, meeting and unique resources for the growth of a society. Instead, I see that faiths are often on the margins and if they do work together they are generally the last to be considered in governments’ plans. You cited collaboration as a fundamental pillar of inter-religious experience. We know that Religions for Peace has been collaborating with the Focolare movement for a long time. How do you see this work continuing and how can it be implemented? It has been a long-standing collaboration that began in 1982 and saw Chiara Lubich elected as one of the honorary presidents of Religions for Peace in 1994 and now Maria Voce has been one of our co-presidents since 2013. When I started my term of office, I promised myself that I would honor all those who have gone before me and who have allowed Religions for Peace to be what it is and so this also includes Chiara. I really need to find a space, also on our website, to talk about this friendship. The thing that strikes me most about our bond, both in the past and now, is that it has always been a vital, living collaboration formed by the people. The fact that someone from the Focolare is still responsible for communications at Religions for Peace is a fruit of this inheritance, and over the years, members of the focolare have served our movement in the most varied ways as has the Rissho Kosei-kai. These inter-religious collaborations where human resources are shared, images of the living divine that honor the sacred space of dialogue with their presence, are for me a sign of reciprocity towards God because through working together in inter-religious dialogue we are serving Him and showing everyone the beauty of having created us of so many religions. How do you see the future for Religions for Peace? I imagine it under the banner of multilateralism. Just as the United Nations is the multilateralism of governments, I see our movement as the multilateralism of religions. We are, after all, committed as human beings at a micro and macro level to preserving the diversity willed by the Creator and saving it for all, including the institutions. I imagine the benefits that institutions might derive from this vision and from our work, and if we work together we will all flourish. If political institutions are only interested in saving themselves and if religious bodies are only interested in saving themselves, this will not only lead to the destruction of our groups but of the whole planet. Instead, the Pope himself, first with the Laudate Si and now with his new encyclical, which was the result of a document he wrote with the highest Sunni leader, is calling us, is a call to all of us to safeguard the earth, but above all a call for the inclusive, human fraternity of all religions. We support this encyclical and this call to fraternity excludes no one, not even those without faith, and we will fight to really make it the patrimony of all religions.
Edited by Maddalena Maltese
Nov 23, 2020 | Non categorizzato
Suffering teaches wisdom. This is the belief expressed by Chiara Lubich in the following reflection. We should approach those who suffer not only with compassion, but with an attitude of reverence and listening. Why is that some people, although unlettered, even in religious fields, have become saints by reading only one book, that of the crucified Christ? It is because they did not stop at contemplating him, or at venerating him or at kissing his wounds, but they wanted to relive him in themselves. And those who suffer, and are in darkness, see farther than those who do not suffer, precisely because the sun must set before we can see the stars. Suffering teaches what you cannot learn by any other means. It teaches with the greatest authority. It is the teacher of wisdom, and blessed is the one who has found wisdom (see Proverbs 3:13). “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” (Mt 5:4). Blessed not only with the reward of heaven, but also with the contemplation of heavenly things while here on earth. We have to approach with reverence those who suffer, reverence like that once accorded the elderly when their wisdom was sought.
Chiara Lubich
Taken from “The sun must set” in Chiara Lubich: Essential Writings, New City Press, Hyde Park, New York 2007, p 92.
Nov 20, 2020 | Non categorizzato
Jesus is not indifferent to our tribulations and sufferings: he wants our hearts to be healed from the bitterness of selfishness. He wants to fill our loneliness and give us strength in all we do. A marriage saved One of our daughters was going through an extremely difficult moment in her marriage. When I spoke to her on the phone she was in tears and confided in me that she had lost all hope of saving her marriage and that the only solution was to divorce. My husband and I have always been struck by the promise Jesus made to the disciples: “If two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven.” With this faith, I promised our daughter that we and her five other siblings would pray for reconciliation. Not long afterwards, she called me up. She sounded elated and almost incredulous. After much reflection, her husband agreed to talk to people who could help them solve their problems, and they did manage to save their marriage. A few years later, our son-in-law shared with her his desire to become a Catholic and asked her to come with him to see a priest so that they could start the process. (G. B. – Usa) A new beginning I was really looking forward to teaching at a Church of England secondary school in West London but my enthusiasm soon began to wane. Not being welcomed by the students as I would have wished and in being constant conflict with them, I started to assert my authority. However, when I shared the situation with friends, I realised I had to try a different tactic. Even though I felt I was in the right, it wasn’t what Jesus would have done. The following day I apologized to the class saying that I had probably made a lot of mistakes that a more experienced teacher would not have made. As the pupils listened in total silence, I said I would try to see them all with new eyes and I hoped they would do the same with me. One of the main troublemakers publicly accepted my apology, and apologised in turn for his own behaviour and that of the rest of the class. Several students nodded at these words. I saw some of them smiling. Something almost unheard of had just happened: a teacher had apologised in front of the whole class. It was a new beginning for everyone. (G.P. – England) The boy at the crossroads Every morning, before I start work as a traffic policeman, I go to Mass and ask Jesus to help me to love everyone I meet during the day. One day, at a busy crossroads, I saw a young lad speeding by on his motorbike. After a while he came back again at very high speed, and this carried on several times. I told him to stop, hoping in my heart that he won’t cause trouble, but to no avail. Finally he did stop, just to say to me: “I have so many problems and I just want them to end with my life”. I listened to him for a long time whilst carrying on with my work. I offered him my willingness to help and decided not to give him a ticket. He left much more at peace. One day a few years later while I was on duty in another place, a young man came up to me with a big smile on his face and hugged me warmly. I said to him: “Look, you must have got the wrong person ” to which he replied, “No, I’m the guy at the crossroads; now I’m happily married and happy with life. I came all the way back here from the town where I now live because I wanted to thank you”. In my heart all I could do was thank God. (S.A. – Italy)
edited by Stefania Tanesini
(taken from Il Vangelo del Giorno, year VI, no.6, November-December 2020)
Nov 18, 2020 | Non categorizzato
Originally planned as part of the centenary year of Chiara Lubich’s birth, this event was postponed due to the pandemic, and the funds raised distributed to people in need. It’s now being launched on social media by the Focolare Movement in Brazil, with the original content but communicated in a completely new way. The physical exhibition was originally scheduled for August 2020, then shifted to November and finally arrived at its destination on the web. Dedicated to Chiara Lubich to mark the centenary year of her birth, the exhibition is now accessible through Focolare Brazil @focolaresbrasil (Facebook, Instagram e Youtube). Photos, videos and articles will be published daily throughout the month of November 2020. It’s even better than originally planned, because it’s open to a wider public online and it’s been enriched by the contributions of an intergenerational team. We spoke with Josè Portella, one of the exhibition curators. How did you decide to replace the physical show with a virtual one? Who is part of the team and tell us something of how you’ve worked together? There are 16 of us in the team, young and older, all members of the Focolare Movement in different vocations: youth, Volunteers of God and Focolarini. We’ve been working together since early 2019 to curate a version for Brazil of the original Chiara Lubich centenary exhibition launched in the Gallerie in Trento, Italy. When Covid-19 took hold, we realized that the most important way for us to “celebrate” Chiara’s centenary was to help those suffering from the effects of the pandemic. So, in agreement with the benefactors who had already donated money to fund the exhibition, we distributed all we had received to those in immediate need. After we had decided to do this, we learned that the Trento exhibition was planning to make some of its resources available online. We understood that in order to engage deeply with the reality of Brazil, it was not enough simply to translate the material from Italian into Portuguese. We asked ourselves, why don’t we create something online specifically designed for our own country? Working with experts from the younger generations who joined our team, we split into three groups to adapt the original Trento material, prepare videos and assess the financial implications. It was an experience of unity among generations. The main challenge was to maintain faithfulness to the narrative of the Trento exhibition while incorporating a Brazilian approach and the language of social media. What can online visitors expect from this exhibition? Firstly, four promotional videos and a launch video of the exhibition. Then, we meet Chiara Lubich and her charism through three main themes: being – the story of Chiara Lubich; influence – testimonies of people who know and live the spirituality of unity; action – the many and varied realities born through the charism. What do you think is Chiara Lubich’s message for Brazil today, in the context of the global pandemic we are living through? When she visited Brazil in 1991, Chiara Lubich seeing the inequalities present in our society, had an intuition of an Economy of Communion. She foresaw that the Movement in Brazil was called to engage in a communion of goods on a global level. Today, in the context of the pandemic, living this charism in practice means taking care of each other, not only sharing material goods but dedicating our lives in service of others, not asking ourselves ‘who is my neighbour?’ but rather ‘who am I a neighbour to?’. As Pope Francis has written in his Encyclical “Fratelli tutti”, we are called as a people to act in fraternity, following the example of the Good Samaritan. Only in this way will “new men and women” (of the Gospel) emerge to build a more inclusive and fraternal society.
by Anna Lisa Innocenti
Nov 16, 2020 | Non categorizzato
In the spirituality of unity a person not only seeks God in the depths of their own soul, but discovers His presence in the space that opens up when two or more people love one another in the spirit of the Gospel. The image that Chiara Lubich uses to describe this reality is that of a castle: not an interior castle, but an exterior one. For those who follow the way of unity, the presence of Jesus in the midst of their brothers and sisters is essential. Despite our personal inadequacy, we must always keep this presence alive. It is precisely this that characterizes the charism of unity. Just as two poles of electricity, even when there is a current, do not produce light until they are joined together, likewise two persons cannot experience the light of this charism until they are united in Christ through charity. In this way of unity, everything — in our work, study, prayer, striving toward sanctity or the spreading of Christian life — takes on meaning and value, as long as we keep, with our brothers and sisters, the presence of Jesus in our midst, for that is the norm of norms for this way of life. In this spirituality we reach sanctity if we walk toward God in unity. … St. Teresa of Avila, a doctor of the church, speaks of an “interior castle”. It is the soul with the divine majesty dwelling at its centre, revealing and shedding light on everything throughout life, allowing it to overcome every sort of trial. Even though St. Teresa drew all her daughters into this experience, it is a height of sanctity that is primarily personal. But then came the moment at least so it seemed to us, of discovery, of shedding light upon and building not just the “interior castle” but “the exterior castle.” But if we consider that this new spirituality God is giving the Church today has reached leaders in Church and society, then we see that this charism … tends to make an exterior castle also in the whole body of the Church and of society. Pope John Paul II, speaking recently to some seventy bishops, friends of the Movement, said: “The Lord Jesus … did not call his followers to individual discipleship but to a discipleship that is both personal and communitarian. And if that is true for all the baptized, it is true in a special way … for the apostles and for their successors the bishops.” 1 So this spirituality, like all charisms, is for the whole people of God whose vocation is to become ever more united and ever more holy.
Chiara Lubich
Taken from: “A Spirituality of Communion” in Chiara Lubich: Essential Writings, New City Press, Hyde Park, New York 2007, pp. 31-32. 1) Insegnamenti di Giovanni Paolo II, XVIII [Teachings of John Paul II] (1995) 1, Città del Vaticano 1997, p.382.
