Sep 13, 2020 | Non categorizzato
With three days of video-conferencing involving Focolare delegates in different areas of the world and the General Council, a further preparatory phase has begun towards the Focolare General Assembly to be held in January 2021. The meeting of Focolare Delegates from around the world, held this year in video-conference, ended on September 12th; a date which, under normal conditions, would also have marked the last day of Maria Voce’s (current President) term of office. However, these times – which are anything but normal – have meant an extension of the President’s term of office because, due to Covid, the General Assembly, which also has the task of electing all the governing bodies of the Focolare Movement, has been postponed from the beginning of September 2020 to January 24th – February 7th 2021. How, then, can this time of waiting be transformed into a time of grace? This is the question that initiated and guided the conference of delegates and to which Maria Voce answered in a profound and concise way: “We are called to bear witness to the possibility of Trinitarian relations! This simply means: each one does everything so that the other person may emerge”. The sessions dedicated to sharing the life of the Focolare communities in the different geographical areas of the world highlighted the global commitment to face the challenge and the new “off-spring” due to the Coronavirus pandemic: the impossibility of attending meetings in person has led to an increase in digital conferences that often reach more people and break down territorial or participatory structures which in the current situation have been identified as constraints. The economic difficulties, then, require new reflections in search of solutions for a moderate and sustainable lifestyle and in favour of suitable activities and structures. In addition, the climate of growing personal and community insecurity urgently requires a new evangelical life choice in view of a more united world. The third day of the conference marked the beginning of a further preparation for the Movement towards the 2021 General Assembly. The extra time gained will serve to encourage a more participatory and widespread preparation, a synodal journey. The members of the Movement will have until October 24th, the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of the themes gathered so far in order to identify people’s preferences which will then be included in a working document. Before Christmas, the participants in the Assembly will have the opportunity to meet possible candidates for President and Co-President. And in a series of Webinars the main themes will be deepened with the help of external experts. The preparation will then be concluded in the first weeks of January with group work among the participants.
Joachim Schwind
Sep 12, 2020 | Non categorizzato
Emmanuel and Annick from the Focolare Movement dedicate their free time to the French Red Cross. Since the beginning of the health crisis caused by the coronavirus, operations have been launched throughout France to support people in need. This married couple has helped in two of them. The first operation consisted in organising the delivery of medicines or food to people who were unable to do their own shopping. Emmanuel, an engineer at the University of Strasbourg, worked almost full time as a volunteer coordinating the operation for the entire Bas-Rhin province (area around the city of Strasbourg). “Organising the teams and facilitating the flow of information,” he says, “was an immense logistical job. Even if sometimes I couldn’t get out of the house for three days, I didn’t feel alone. On the contrary I was rather frustrated given that I was working hard without hardly ever seeing the beneficiaries of my work”. During that period, demand rocketed, especially for food. In fact, many social welfare associations had to close because most of their volunteers were forced to stay at home because of their age. The other operation was launched from April 29th to July 31st 2020 by the European Parliament in Strasbourg. It decided to reopen its kitchens to prepare 500 meals a day. The Prefecture was responsible for finding the beneficiaries of the meals at a local level and the French Red Cross for the delivery. Annick, who continued her work as a nurse also volunteered. She says: “We saw people were happy to receive something. Although some were surprised and incredulous – imagining the background checking that was done – people were anxious to have those meals”. “The institutions invested enormously at the heart of the crisis,” Emmanuel notes. What does this commitment mean for Emmanuel and Annick? “I am nourished by the spirituality of the Focolare Movement, but our life is lived out in society, it is in giving (and giving of ourselves) concretely in the world,” answers Annick. Emmanuel adds: “It is important not to remain in our corner, among Focolare people, but to act in the world. In addition, the seven principles of the Red Cross which are humanity, unity, universality, neutrality, independence, impartiality and voluntary service are very much in harmony with the “art of loving” and “The Golden Rule”. “The crisis was a time of great tension and the quality of human relations between volunteers and beneficiaries in the field and in the organisation has been important. For example, I mediated between the volunteers when tensions arose. The Focolare’s charism of unity has been of great help to me in understanding situations, losing my idea, living the present moment well”, Emmanuel shares. “This crisis has brought out the good or the bad in us,” Annick notes. Her husband is pleased to see that it has generated new ideas for action, particularly in relation to the digital divide or relational poverty. “The great lesson of the pandemic for many is the awareness that we cannot live without each other,” she says. ” Interdependence was Chiara Lubich’s great battle at the end of her life … My optimism leads me to believe that more people will be involved in associations and develop their sense of volunteering”.
Émilie Tévané
Source: Nouvelle Cité, N°604, July-August 2020, p. 41.
Sep 10, 2020 | Non categorizzato
The Focolare Movement’s annual conference for international delegates and members of the General Council will take place by video-conference, 10 – 12 September. We report the President, Maria Voce’s thoughts. “We should avoid thinking about ourselves and – as a Movement – be more willing to accept the sufferings of the world.” President Maria Voce’s strong appeal has given a clear direction to the participants of the Focolare’s international leadership conference that will begin this Thursday, 10 September, by video-conference. In a talk during a recent meeting with the Focolare General Council, Maria Voce spoke of her dismay at the extent of suffering that is reported each day by the media, especially during this time of pandemic. She spoke to her closest collaborators about a question she has often asked herself recently: “Who can absorb all this suffering and pain? I think God is asking us to be closer to this suffering in the world, more willing to welcome it, to love it, to pray … but also to do something more.” Her answer is a programme of both spiritual and practical action. The programme for the video conference (10 – 12 September) will be characterized by time for the participants to speak extensively about local challenges, specific to their geographical area. These challenges are often shared by others and are often linked to this particular period of pandemic which has given rise to enormous suffering but also new potential. The dialogue and sharing will provide a means of identify the specific contribution that the Focolare can make to during this time of change both now and in the future. It will certainly not be possible to exhaust this theme during this three day meeting: it will remain on the agenda in view of the next General Assembly of the Movement. This was initially scheduled for the first half of September 2020, but due to the Covid-19 emergency has been postponed until the beginning of next year: from 24 January to 7 February 2021. During the coming meeting, the delegates will also learn about the proposals drawn up by the Preparatory Commission of the General Assembly in order to make use of the time “gained” with a view to increasing involvement of all the members of the Movement in the preparation of the Assembly.
Joachim Schwind
Sep 9, 2020 | Non categorizzato
For months, every day, a priest has been travelling miles by bicycle or pickup to be close to his community. This experience, lived together with a team of parishioners, is uniting and broadening horizons, while leaving also its post-pandemic effects. If lockdown and social distancing rules oblige us to keep away as much as possible from assembly places, such as the parish church, why can’t the priest bridge the gap between us all? This is what Father Clint Ressler, a Catholic priest at the St. Mary of the Miraculous Medal Parish in Texas City, USA, is doing. Since the beginning of the pandemic, he has been travelling every day, far and wide all over the territory of his parish to visit his parishioners . Father Clint, how has life changed in your parish during this pandemic? It’s true that the pandemic dramatically changed how all of us maintain and grow our relationships. I have a greater sense of how God calls us to co-responsibility. As a pastor, I feel lifted up and surrounded by a strong and dedicated team. Perhaps because we are more focused on the essentials of our mission there is a corresponding experience of joy and gratitude in seeing these efforts and their fruits. Prior to the pandemic my days were filled with people. Sometimes I would be too focused on projects or getting to my next meeting or ministry to truly notice, greet and be present to each person. Now, also because we all need and thirst for communion, authentic relationships, I am feeling more like a human ‘being’ and not a human ‘doing’. Many parish groups and ministries are connecting to one another more personally, whether by phone, social media and brief personal visits. I have the sense that our God-given need for communion finds its own ways around the difficulties. What have you been doing to maintain a close relationship with your parishioners? Perhaps because there are fewer meetings and a greater focus on the essential mission of the parish I have not felt as rushed as before the pandemic. I have also heard God inviting me to ‘slow down’, to trust Him and to be patient. Early in the pandemic I was visiting many parishioners on a bicycle or a pick-up. During those early months I would see sometimes as many as a dozen homes in a day. Now, I am going at a slower pace, so to speak, fewer visits but staying longer. Can you share something with us about the most beautiful moment and the most difficult one you have lived during these visits? It is difficult to choose just one moment. One family had lost their home to a fire just a few days before I happened to visit them. The little children had lost their home but also all their toys. Their neighbor next door welcomed the family into their home. It was both the saddest but also the most uplifting visit. It continually strikes how this experience has suddenly changed Pope Francis’ call to be ‘missionary disciples’ from beautiful words to something that could and needed desperately to be live. Would this experience leave a positive impact on the life of your parish community, even when the pandemic is over? The pandemic brought many people to become more familiar with ‘faith online’. Parishioners have become more ‘tech savvy’ in general but also as regards to nourishing their faith. I have been personally edified by witnessing how our parishioners have cared for one another. I believe that after the pandemic we will see the fruits of this greater connectedness and concrete expressions of mutual concern. The pandemic has brought about a greater sense of solidarity, not only with the neighbors who live close but also a greater awareness and concern for the whole world. There is a universal sense that ‘we are all in this together’ and I hope that endures in the hearts and actions of everyone after the pandemic subsides. You met the Focolare spirituality and you live it. How does it influence your life as a priest and a pastor, especially now during this pandemic? Leading a parish can seem overwhelming and complex, requiring discernment and tough decisions. However, if I just try to refocus on concrete love it doesn’t seem so overwhelming. Of course, it all starts with union with God As a priest, especially as a pastor, I have been entrusted with a position of great influence and authority. At times, being the leader of others, I can fall into a ‘business approach’ that values efficiency, avoiding risks and valuing measurable ‘achievements’. The spirituality of the Focolare, and of the witness of Jesus, calls me back to service, humility and faithful patience. I have understood that the fundamental starting point for discovering God’s will is for us to live with Jesus in our midst. In other words, we have to be ‘Church’, the mystical body of Christ. As we live and grow in these mutual relationships with God’s grace, we can hear the little voice of the Holy Spirit. I think my life in the Focolare, ingrained in me over the years, a desire to bring this kind of discernment into the parish, with the parish staff, with the pastoral council, with every group and committee.
Anna Lisa Innocenti
Sep 7, 2020 | Non categorizzato
We’re all connected like members of one body. If one member is weaker, the other takes over. This is the simple, but striking gospel logic that Chiara Lubich presents to us in the following text, which is more relevant today than ever In a hospital ward I once saw a man with a plaster cast. His chest and right arm were immobilized. With his left hand he tried to do everything… as best he could. The cast was extremely uncomfortable, but his left arm, although it was more tired than usual by the end of the day, grew stronger by doing twice its normal work. We are members of one another and mutual service is our duty. Jesus did not merely advise us to serve one another, he commanded us to do so. When we help someone out of charity, let us not believe we are saints. If our neighbour is powerless, we must help them and do so as they would help themself if they could. Otherwise, what kind of Christians are we? If, in future, when our turn has come and we need our neighbour’s charity, let us not feel humiliated. At the last judgement we shall hear Jesus repeat the words: ‘I was sick and you visited me … I was in prison…, I was naked…, I was hungry…[1]”. Jesus likes to hide precisely in those who are suffering and needy. Therefore at those times too, we should be conscious of our dignity, and with our whole heart thank the person who is helping us. But let us reserve our deepest gratitude for God who created the human heart to be charitable, and for Christ who, by proclaiming with his blood the Good News, and especially ‘his’ commandment, has spurred on countless hearts to help one another.
Chiara Lubich
Based on “I was sick”, in Meditations, by Chiara Lubich, New City London-Dublin 2005, p. 54 [1] Matt. 25:36
Sep 5, 2020 | Non categorizzato
At work, with the family, in every situation, for Omar and Lina, who are Muslims, the values of dialogue and encounter even between different faiths are central. By Stefania Tanesini and Dalma Tímár. https://vimeo.com/430370744
