Nov 9, 2020 | Non categorizzato
A communitarian spirituality also involves a communitarian “purification”, as Chiara Lubich explains in the following text. Just as loving our neighbour according to the Gospel brings great joy, so too a lack of relationships and of unity with others can cause suffering and pain. Since communitarian life must be fully personal as well, it is our general experience when we are alone that, after loving our brothers and sisters, we become aware of our union with God. … So it can be said that when we go to our brothers and sisters … by loving as the gospel teaches, we become more Christ, more truly human. And, since we try to be united with our brothers and sisters, in addition to silence we have a special love for the word, as a means of communication. We speak in order to become one with others. We speak, in the Movement, in order to share our experiences of living the Word of Life, or of our own spiritual life, aware that the fire that does not grow is extinguished and that this communion of soul has great spiritual value. Saint Lawrence Giustiniani said: “Nothing in the world gives more praise to God and reveals him as worthy of praise than the humble and fraternal exchange of spiritual gifts….”[1] When we do not speak, we write: we write letters, articles, books, diaries to advance the kingdom of God in our hearts. We use all the modern means of communication. … In the Movement we also practice those mortifications that are indispensable for every Christian life. We do penance, especially as recommended by the Church, but we have special regard for those penances that a life of unity with others entails. That is not easy, for the “old self,” as Paul[2], calls it, is always ready to find its way back into us. Fraternal unity is not established once for all; it must be renewed continually. When there is unity and through it Jesus is in our midst, we experience great joy, as promised by Jesus in his prayer for unity. When unity is compromised, the shadows and confusion return and we live in a kind of purgatory. That is the kind of penance we must be ready to practice. Here is where our love for Jesus crucified and forsaken, the key to unity, comes in. We must first resolve all our differences out of love for him, and make every effort to restore unity.
Chiara Lubich
Taken from: “A Spirituality of Communion” in Chiara Lubich: Essential Writings, New City Press, Hyde Park, New York 2007, pp. 30-31. [1] S. Lorenzo Giustiniani, Discipline and perfection in monastic life, Roma 1967, p.4. [2] The old self: in the Pauline meaning of a person imprisoned by their selfishness, cf. Eph: 4:22.
Nov 7, 2020 | Non categorizzato
Economist Luigino Bruni, one of the experts Pope Francis called to be part of the Vatican Covid-19 Commission is convinced that the lesson of the pandemic will help us rediscover the profound truth connected with the expression “common good”. 
Healthcare, education, security – these are the linchpins of any nation which should not be subject to making a profit. Economist Luigino Bruni, one of the experts Pope Francis called to be part of the Vatican Covid-19 Commission (the “Covid-19: Building a Healthier Future” has been created in collaboration with the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development), is convinced that the lesson of the pandemic will help us rediscover the profound truth connected with the expression “common good”. This is so because, as he believes, everything is fundamentally a common good: politics in its true sense, the economy which looks to humanity before seeking to make a profit. In this new global vision that can be born after the pandemic, the Church, he states, must make itself a “guarantor” of this collective patrimony, in so far as it is lies outside the logic of commerce. Bruni’s hope is that this experience, conditioned by a virus that has no boundaries, will help us not forget “the importance of human cooperation and global solidarity”. You are part of the Vatican COVID 19 Commission, Pope Francis’ response mechanism to an unprecedented virus. What do you personally hope to learn from this experience? In what way do you think society as a whole can be inspired by the work of the Commission? The most important thing I have learned from this experience is the importance of the principle of precaution for the common good. Absent for the most part in the initial phase of the epidemic, the principle of precaution, one of the pillars of the Church’s social doctrine, tells us something extremely important. The principle of precaution is lived obsessively on the individual level (it’s enough to think of the insurance companies which seem to be taking over the world), but is completely absent on the collective level, and thus makes 21st century society extremely vulnerable. This is why those countries which have preserved a bit of a welfare state have demonstrated themselves a lot stronger than those governed entirely by the market And then the common good: since a common evil has revealed to us what the common good is, so has the pandemic forced us to see that the common good requires community, and not only the market. Health, safety, and education cannot be left to the game of profit. Pope Francis asked the COVID 19 Commission to prepare the future instead of prepare for it. What should be the role of the Catholic Church as an institution in this endeavor? The Catholic Church is one of the few (if not the only) institution that guarantees and safeguards the global common good. Having no private interests, it can pursue the good of all. It is because of this that she has a vast hearing. For the same reason, she has a responsibility to exercise it on a global scale. What personal lessons (if any) have you derived from the experience of the pandemic? What concrete changes do you hope to see after this crisis both personally and globally? The first lesson is the value of relational goods. Not being able to exchange hugs in these months, I have rediscovered the value of an embrace and of contact. Secondly, we can and must have many online meetings and working remotely, but for important decisions and for decisive meetings, the internet does not suffice. Physical presence is necessary. So, the virtual boom is making us discover the importance of flesh and blood contact and the intelligence of the human body. I hope that we do not forget the lessons learned in these months (because people forget very quickly), in particular the importance of politics as we have rediscovered in these months (as the art of the common good against a common evil), and that we do not forget the importance of human cooperation and global solidarity. Preparing for the post-Covid world includes forming future generations, who will be forced to make decisions that forge new paths. In this sense, can education be considered only as a “cost” to reduce, even in times of crisis? Education, above all that of children and young people, is much more than an “expense”… It is a collective investment with the highest rate of social return. I hope that in those countries where schools are still closed, a national holiday will be designated when they are reopened. Democracy begins at the school desk and there it is born again in each generation. The first heritage (patres munus) that we pass on through the generations is that of education. Tens of millions of children around the world do not have access to education. Can article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights be ignored, which affirms that everyone has the right to free and mandatory education, at least regarding elementary education? Clearly this must not be ignored, but we cannot ask that the cost of education be entirely sustained by countries without sufficient resources. We must quickly give life to a new international cooperation under the slogan: “educating children and adolescents is a global common good”, where countries with more resources help those will fewer resources so that the right to free education becomes real. This pandemic has shown us that the world is a large community. We must transform this common evil into new common, global goods. Educational budgets have undergone sometimes drastic cuts even in rich countries. Could there really be a desire not to invest in future generations? If economic logic takes over, reasoning such as this will increase: “Why should I do something for future generations? What have they done for me?” If do ut des ‘(I’ll give something only if I get something out of it), the commercial mantra, becomes the new logic of nations, we will always invest less in education, and we will always create more debt which today’s children will pay off. We must become generous once again and cultivate non-economic virtues such as compassion, meekness, and generosity. Though it finds itself in economic difficulty, the Catholic Church is on the front lines offering education to the poorest. As we’ve seen during this pandemic, lockdowns have had a considerable impact on Catholic schools. But the Church continues to welcome everyone, without distinctions based on creed, making space for encounter and dialogue. How important is this aspect? The Church has always been an institution for the common good. Luke’s parable does not tells us about the faith of the half-dead man who the Good Samaritan assisted. It is precisely during the gravest crises that the Church rediscovers her vocation as Mater et magister (Mother and teacher), that the esteem of non-Christians grows toward her, that the sea that gathers everything in, then gives everything to everyone, above all to the poorest. The Church has always known, after all, that the indicator of every common good is the condition of the poorest. What contribution can education about religion and religions offer young people, especially in a world increasingly driven by divisions and which fosters the engagement of fear and tension? That depends on how they are taught. The ethical dimension which exists in every religion is not enough. The main teaching that religions can offer today regards the interior life and spirituality, because our generation, in the space of just a few decades, has squandered a thousand-year-old heritage which contained ancient wisdom and popular piety. The world’s religions must help the young and everyone else to rewrite a new “grammar” of the interior life. If they do not do that, depression will become the plague of the 21st century.
Source: Vatican News
Click here to see the interview
Nov 5, 2020 | Non categorizzato
In recent months the communion of goods has developed even more among the Focolare communities around the world, responding to many requests for help. The extraordinary communion of goods for the Covid-19 emergency is once again helping us to experience the reality of “always being family” which knows no boundaries or differences but builds universal brotherhood as endorsed by Pope Francis in his latest encyclical “Fratelli tutti”. This communion is developed through very real “fioretti” (“little flowers”) or acts of love and reminds us of the experience of the first Christians: knowing they were of one heart and one soul, they put all their goods in common, bearing witness to God’s superabundant love and bringing hope. During these months of pandemic, the communion of goods has grown even stronger between various communities of the Focolare Movement around the world, in response to many requests for help. 
In Asia, Taiwan and Japan, the Gen who are the young people of the Focolare started a fundraiser to help the community in the city of Torreón, Mexico. Ròisìn, a Gen from Taiwan immediately felt the urge to act when she heard how the Mexican Gen were helping poor families affected by the virus. Together with other Gen in her city she launched an appeal to the entire Focolare community in Taiwan who immediately joined the initiative by raising funds for their friends in Mexico. Subsequently, the Gen of Japan also joined the initiative. In Tanzania, one of the families in the community was without light because the battery of the small solar system had stopped working. “Some time before,” the local community wrote, “one of us had received a grant of 50 Euros, about 120,000 Tanzanian shellini, for a family in difficulty. We talked about it together and decided to give the money which covered about 60% of the cost. The family was able to buy a new battery with the money and get light back into the house. After a few days, a donation of 1,000,000,000 Tanzanian shellini arrived for the needs of the focolare: almost 10 times as much…the hundredfold!!!”. In Portugal, after hearing about the global situation from the International Focolare Centre, the local community decided to broaden its horizons beyond its borders. “The money we have collected so far – they write to us – is the result of small sacrifices as well as larger sums of money that we had not expected to receive. We see that there is a growing awareness of communion in everyone’s daily life: together we can try to not only overcome the difficulties caused by the pandemic but also create a way of life”. In Ecuador, J.V. managed to involve lots of people in the culture of giving. It all started with “a phone call to a colleague to hear how he was,” he says, “and to share his concerns about his family and the people in his village who had no food. He opened a Facebook page and started sending e-mails to publicize the precarious situation in this village. This prompted an incredibly generous response not only from the inhabitants of his neighbourhood but also from further afield. The colleague’s friends and family can now buy food and even help others whose needs are even greater than theirs. In Egypt everything is closed because of the lockdown, including the work of the “United World” foundation which transmits the culture of “universal brotherhood” through development projects supporting people living in fragile social situations. They asked themselves what they could do and where they could help. And so, in spite of the lockdown and “through the communities of various churches, mosques and other social organizations, we have been able to help an even larger number of people: families from the poorest districts of Cairo, widows, orphans, people on their own and elderly people, refugees from Ethiopia, Eritrea, North and South Sudan. At the moment we are able to prepare 700 packages of essential foodstuffs. Our goal is to reach 1,000 packages”. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Gen of Kinshasa started a communion of goods which consisted of setting up a fund to help those most in need. Nine families have received soap, sugar, rice and face masks. These experiences are about more than just providing financial help. As Ròisìn from Taiwan said, “even the darkest times can be enlightened by love and solidarity, and even if we are isolated from one another, we are closer to achieving a united world”.
Lorenzo Russo
If you want to make your contribution to help those suffering from the effects of the global Covid crisis, go to this link
Nov 4, 2020 | Non categorizzato
Taking care of others builds community. Following is the experience of Teresa Osswald, who supports a small group of children in Porto, Portugal. Pay attention to what is happening around us. Devote time and energy to those in need. Put yourselves in each other’s shoes and share their joys and labours. Often, loving those around us means stepping into the shoes of everyday life and being close to them. This is the experience of Teresa Osswald, who works with a small group of children in the city of Porto, Portugal. Like every year, when the school closes for summer vacation, the children enjoy some rest in the open air: some by the sea, some in the mountains, some in the city. There are some, however, who do not have the chance because their families are experiencing financial difficulties or do not have family or friends who can take care of them while their parents are at work. So they are socially isolated, partly because they come from distant countries, with different cultures, traditions and religions. This is the story of three Portuguese children whose parents are originally from the islands of São Tomé and Principe off the west coast of Africa. They generally spend their vacations at home, alone and not doing much. This year would have been the same if Teresa hadn’t taken in their discomfort. She did the same for other children and other families in the same conditions. “I had a great desire to have an answer for all these situations,” she says. “At least we managed for one family: at the end of July I had spoken to a friend about these three children who would spend the month of August alone at home. The next day she gave me some information about the summer camps in our town.” But places were few, their request arrived late, and it was not clear if the children could participate. Teresa entrusted everything to God. “Thy will be done.” They find places, and the cost of the camp is covered by the Focolare community there in that city. Those who donate then experience a “return” elsewhere. Teresa considers it Gospel fulfilled: “Give and it will be given to you” (Lk 6:38). Then the children need to be brought to camp in the morning and home in the evening. It is not easy to find time between daily commitments, but Teresa offers herself all the same. “I see three happy children running towards my car. All that’s left to do is to tighten the laces on the little girl’s shoes, and everything is fine.” After a week, a phone call arrives. It is a friend who comes to help her and offers to take the children to her place. “And so it was that, with a small contribution from many,” she explains, “these children had the opportunity to swim, dance, socialize, instead of being locked in the house. Above all, they had the opportunity to infect teachers and other children with their joy and great generosity.” And it was also nice to see the joy of their mother, who was moved and grateful. “There were words so strong that they shook me,” confides Teresa. “To be interested in everything that happens near us and taking care of others has helped us build a little piece of the united world in our community.
Claudia Di Lorenzi
Nov 3, 2020 | Non categorizzato
Insights by Sherin, a focolarina of the Coptic Orthodox Church, drawing from her daily experience of how unity among Christians from different Churches is possible. The Church of tomorrow will follow “the example of the Most Holy Trinity, where there will be unity in one truth, and variety in all traditions; they will be different aspects of the same truth”. This is how Chiara Lubich described the ecumenical journey towards unity among Christian Churches in her book Una spiritualità per l’unità dei cristiani. Pensieri scelti (A Spirituality for the Unity of Christians. A selection of writings), edited by Città Nuova. Focolarina Sherin, a member of the Coptic Orthodox Church living in Cairo, Egypt, agrees with Chiara, adding that it’s possible to experience unity among Christians of different Churches in our daily lives. What was it about the spirituality of unity that struck you when you met Chiara and the Focolare Movement? “I discovered that the Gospel, lived by a people with a new lifestyle, language and culture, is leaven for a new humanity. I learned universal fraternity and our own lives are not in separate compartments. And one can live one’s faith 24 hours a day, allowing Jesus to transform us, to become another Him, so He Himself can live among His people, as He promised in the Gospel”. You are a member of the Coptic Orthodox Church. Has joining the Focolare Movement, founded by a Catholic woman and largely Catholic in its membership, created a sense of distance from your own Church? “Certainly not! Maybe God prepares us. I went to a school run by Catholic nuns where there was such respect and love that I never felt any conflict in belonging to another Church. When I met the Movement, the experience was even deeper, and my heart opened up to the whole Church. It prompted me to go deeper in my understanding of my own Coptic Church, to discover similarities in it with the life I found in the Focolare. I discovered, for example, that St Anthony the Great invites all Christians, as brothers and sisters “to become one soul with one will and one shared faith”. So as time passed, I felt I wanted to commit myself to live for the unity of the human family. I feel such gratitude to Chiara”. You live your daily life in community with other Focolarine who are Catholic. What does building unity with them mean for you? “It means never being afraid to face up to any differences, because they are always an opportunity to love, believing that this actually builds unity and allows us to experience the presence of Jesus among us. It’s the same for people with different ethnic backgrounds, social provenance, politic beliefs, and so on. If we think we’re all children of God the Father, then every other person is a brother or sister to love”. For the Coptic Orthodox Pope, His Holiness Tawadros II, the journey towards communion among the Churches is centred on Christ. The “ways” leading to Him are dialogue, study, prayer, relationship. In practical terms, what does it mean to seek unity in these areas? “In the Focolare Movement ecumenical dialogue is understood as a “dialogue of life”, in which we try to love one another reciprocally in our daily life as Jesus did. Then through dialogue we can discuss themes of faith, focussing on finding what unites us. The Coptic Orthodox Church gives great importance to prayer and fasting. So we pray together because unity is a gift only God can give. And we practice fasting for the soul to transcend the material level and so get spiritually closer to God. Within the Movement there is also a group of academics who together look into many different subjects, each one from the perspective of their own Church. Their approach is one of mutual love, listening, welcome and respect. They pray to perceive and discern how God may view things”.
Claudia Di Lorenzi
Nov 2, 2020 | Non categorizzato
The insecurity arising from worldwide challenges such as globalization, climate change and the coronavirus pandemic seems to awaken in many people a new need for a spiritual life. But, as Chiara Lubich says in the following text, spirituality for today is characterized by a strong community dimension. One of the more original characteristics of this spirituality of unity is its communitarian dimension. In the two thousand years since the time of Christ, the Church has experienced the flowering of the most beautiful and fruitful spiritualities one after the other. Sometimes they occurred in the same period, adorning the Spouse of Christ with many saints, like precious pearls and diamonds. But in all this splendor one factor has always remained constant; spirituality was focused primarily on the advance of the individual toward God. … But times have changed. Now the Holy Spirit is inspiring people to walk together, in fact, to be of one heart and soul with all who share their convictions. The Holy Spirit has motivated our Movement from the beginning to make this outreach toward others. In the spirituality of unity one advances toward God by going through one’s neighbor. “I—my brother—God,” we say. You go to God with other people, your brothers and sisters, or rather, you go to God through others. In our era the reality of communion is coming to the forefront; the kingdom of God is sought not just in individual persons but in the midst of the people. Spiritualities characterized as individual usually make precise demands on those involved, such as: Solitude and flight from the world to reach mystical communion with God within. The silence that solitude requires. Separation from others by a veil, a cloister as well as a particular habit. The practice of all kinds of penances, sometimes very difficult ones like fasts and vigils, in imitation of the passion of Christ. In the way of unity we do seek solitude and silence in response to Jesus’ invitation to go to your room to pray, and do avoid others if they lead us to sin, but generally we welcome our brothers and sisters, we love Christ in our neighbors, in every neighbor, as Christ is living in them or can be revived in them through the help we offer. We seek to be united with our brothers and sisters in the name of Jesus, who guarantees his presence in our midst (see Mt 18:20). In the individual spiritualities it is like being in a magnificent garden (the Church), looking with admiration at a single flower, the presence of God within. In a collective spirituality we love and admire all the flowers in the garden, every presence of Christ in others. And we love him in others as we love him within ourselves. …
Chiara Lubich
From: Chiara Lubich: Essential Writings – spirituality, dialogue, culture New City Press, Hyde Park NY, 2007, pp. 27-30.
