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.
Nov 14, 2020 | Non categorizzato
Open to all, a Webinar promoted by the Pontifical Commission for Latin America to reflect and analyse the impact and consequences of COVID-19. The social, economic and political implications along with the thought of Pope Francis. The virtual seminar entitled Latin America: Church, Pope Francis and the pandemic scenario will take place on November 19th and 20th 2020 and will be open to all those interested in this part of the world, which is also heavily affected by the virus; a situation already problematic due to many areas of poverty and marginalisation. The event aims to reflect on and analyse the pandemic situation on the Latin American continent, its consequences and, above all, the proposals of action and of aid from governments and from the Church. It is organised by the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences and by the Latin American Episcopal Conference (CELAM), The Pope will contribute with a video-message. Contributions will also be made by Card. Marc Ouellet, President of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, Mgr Miguel Cabrejos Vidarte, President of CELAM, Carlos Afonso Nobre, Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2007, the economist Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director of the entre for Sustainable Development at Columbia University and Gustavo Beliz, Secretary for Strategic Affairs of the Argentinean Presidency. The introductory note to the seminar explains that to date, on the Latin American continent, as in the rest of the world, it is impossible to calculate the damage of the pandemic: “In many cases, the negative effects of border closures and the consequent social and economic repercussions were only the beginning of a spiral of damage not yet quantified, and even less a medium-term solution”. For this reason, the seminar will be an opportunity for the missionary and pastoral work of the Catholic Church and the contribution of various specialists from the world of economics and politics to meet and dialogue in order to strengthen a cultural and operational network and thus ensure a better future for the continent. Pope Francis will also participate at the presentation of the Task Force against Covid-19, established by him and represented at the seminar by its head who will present the work of the Task Force. In times of uncertainty and lack of future, the Church looks to the “continent of hope” and seeks shared instruments that can transform the crisis into opportunities or at least find a way out. For the programme of the event sign in here
Stefania Tanesini
Nov 13, 2020 | Non categorizzato
The Global Compact on Education, suggested by Pope Francis, invites all people to adhere to a Pact. This was discussed this with Silvia Cataldi, a sociologist and professor, who lectures at La Sapienza University, Rome. The protagonists are the ones who hope in a world of more justice, solidarity and peace. The Global Compact on Education, suggested by Pope Francis, speaks of youth as being, at the same time, both beneficiaries and agents in the field of education. Together with their “families, communities, schools, universities, institutions, religions and government” they are called “to subscribe to a global pact on education” and to commit themselves to a more fraternal and peaceful humanity. This was discussed during the meeting entitled “Together to look beyond”, held at the Pontifical Lateran University, in Rome on October 15. In a video message, the Holy Father urged all people of good will to adhere to the Pact. Silvia Cataldi, sociologist and professor at La Sapienza University in Rome commented on the Pope’s words In recent years we have noticed the youth’s sturdy protagonism where important current affairs are concerned. The educational model that sees them as passive subjects seems to be obsolete… “Often, educational models limit themselves to think of culture as a concept. The pedagogist Paulo Freire speaks of the “banking model of education”, where knowledge can be poured or deposited as if in a container. However, this knowledge has two risks: that of remaining abstract and detached from life, and that of assuming a hierarchical vision of knowledge. With respect to this, the Pact strikes me as an educator, because it invites us to listen to the cry of the younger generations, to let ourselves be questioned by their questions. We must realize that education is a participatory path, and not a unidirectional one”. So, what does to educate mean? “The term culture stems from colere and it means to cultivate, a verb which indicates that one needs to dedicate time and space, by starting from questions and not from providing answers. But it also means to take care, to love. This is why I am so impressed by the Pact, because it strongly affirms that “education is above all a matter of love”. When we speak of love we think of the heart, of feelings. But love has an eminently practical dimension, it requires hands. So, we educators do our work only if we manage to understand that education is care. Daily care is revolutionary because it is an element of criticism and of transformation of the world. Hannah Arendt explains this well when she says that “Education decides whether we love the world enough because it leads to its transformation”. How can we make sure that the Pact does not remain just an appeal? The call to universal brotherhood – the core of the Pact – has important implications, but to have a transforming power it must promote a change of perspective that leads one to welcome diversity and heal inequalities. The French sociologist Alain Caillé says that “fraternity is plural”, and this means that if in the past brotherhood was only among peers, relatives, in a class or in a group, today it requires recognition of “the specificity, beauty, and uniqueness” of each one. Moreover, if we are all brothers, then our way of conceiving reality changes, because we look at it from a specific perspective, which is that of the least ones, and we are pushed to act, as for example, to protect the fundamental rights of children, women, the elderly, the disabled and the oppressed”.
Claudia Di Lorenzi
