5 Feb 2020 | Non categorizzato
An ongoing collaboration between young performers from Montecatini (Florence) and Bethelehem. In places torn apart by armed conflict propelled by economic and military pressures, the peoples afflicted can be victims of mutual prejudice as much as everything else. These prejudices foster hostilities among the civil populations, but they can also be dissolved by meeting on “neutral territory”, on a cultural and social, as well as geographic level. There is territory where the human spirit can open up to authentic connections to experience freedom from hatred and fears, and find new approaches to reconciliation. This is the space occupied by the “Harmony among Peoples” project promoted by the Armonia Dancelab Cultural Association (*), using dance as a meeting place for peace. It is the social outreach of the Laboratorio Accademico Danza, based in Montecatini Terme, near Florence, Italy, founded by its artistic director, Antonella Lombardo. We asked her how the Association came about. 
“After teaching dance for 20 years, I realised that young people seem to approach this discipline solely as a means to obtain personal success. I wanted to allow them to experience how dance can give meaning to life, independent of how “successful” or not their careers may be, how dance can contribute to improving other people’s lives and can actually sow seeds of peace. This desire led to the idea of international “campus” events first at at Montecatini, then in Bethlehem in the Holy Land.” Tell us how it happened. “We began by inviting young dance students from different parts of the world to stay with us in Italy, in order to share with them a vision of art which embraces the capacity to unite people from different social, political, ethnic and religious backgrounds, because it speaks a universal language. Inviting Palestinian and Israeli youngsters, we came into contact with the Custodia Terrae Sanctae and the John Paul II Foundation, who six years ago invited us to Bethlehem and Jerusalem to run an ‘arts campus’ for children living in refugee camps in the Palestinian territories.” What happens in a “campus”? “In our campus the young people have to work hard! They start at 9:00 in the morning right through to 18:00 in the evening, experiencing various styles of dance. Sharing a house together with the Italian students, they prepare the evening meals together and enjoy celebrating together. They all work on a choreography called Peace Dance which shows how, for example, Israeli and Palestinian youth, who live in a daily context of conflict, are able to create a climate of harmony in their personal relationships and onstage. This is true for participants from all countries, who bring their own artistic sensitivities and culture to the campus.” How was your experience in Bethlehem? “When we arrived, we found children with almost no knowledge of art. Some of them had never even seen a felt-tipped pen before. Our two week campus represented for them – prisoners in the open air – a space of freedom, a way to travel in their minds beyond the terrible wall separating them from the Israelis. Our teachers are Palestinian and Israeli young people who have attended our campus in Italy. The experience of the past six years has proved so fruitful that the Custodia Terrae Sanctae has asked us to open a permanent school in Bethlehem, which we hope will be possible next year.” When is the next Italian campus and how can someone take part? “It will take place in Montecatini from 27 August to 5 September 2020. Young people will attend from different parts of the world, including Jordan, Egypt, Palestine and Israel. It’s designed for young people who are hoping to become professional artists and who share the idea that art can be a universal instrument of harmony among peoples. In that way, we hope each one of them can promote this change of mentality wherever they go on to work, in theatres, schools, art centres etc. Those interested can contact info@dancelab.it.” These campus events are part of a broader project, the Festival of Harmony among Peoples, promoted by the Association … “The Festival has been running for 15 years. This year it takes place in Tuscany, supported by the entire Val di Nievole region and cities including Florence, Assisi and Palermo. It involves a series of linked events, launching on 14 March in the imposing “Salone dei 500” in Florence’s famous Palazzo Vecchio. The date marks the anniversary of the death of Focolare foundress Chiara Lubich and the program will acknowledge her contribution to bringing harmony in the world. It also commemorates 20 years since she was awarded honorary citizenship of Florence, and the 100th anniversary of her birth.” Other forthcoming events? “Throughout the year we’re running programs in schools to develop a piece of work on the theme of disarmament. Our hope is to enable the voice of young people to reach the heads of state of countries involved in the production and trade of arms, to try to put a dent in them. Another program which is proving very popular with youth uses music as a moment of reflection the theme of ‘encounter’. Other cultural gatherings and inter-cultural meals are planned for Montecatini and Palermo.” The Festival and the campus are all offered free to participants. This is surely a big challenge… “From the start I wanted to keep this experience distinct from the usual dance programs delivered by schools for profit. The children come to us not only to study dance but because they have chosen to live for peace and to be bridge-builders of peace.”
Claudia Di Lorenzi
(*)https://www.festivalarmonia.org/
3 Feb 2020 | Non categorizzato
We are often immersed in a culture than regards aggression as the key to success. This aggression can be expressed in a variety of ways. In contrast, the Gospel presents us with a paradox. We can look on our weaknesses, our limits and our fragility as the starting point in relating to God and in participating with him in the greatest of challenges – the unity of the entire human family. Recession Because of the economic crisis in our country, work was decreasing and our income was growing smaller and smaller. Our customers were no longer sending orders. At home, we reduced our expenses and tried to live on less. I began to spend more time with the children so that the situation would not affect them too much and I even learned to fall asleep at night in spite of knowing we were in debt. I began to pray again and to believe very firmly in the words of the Gospel that say, “Give and it will be given to you.” We experienced the truth of this almost every day. We did everything we could to increase our income – we collected newspapers, cartons, cans and glass bottles to sell. Even the children went to sell bags of sweets. Many people came to us to ask for food and we often gave away the only thing we had left. One day my wife gave a kilo of rice to someone and the very same evening, we received two kilos of lentils. A neighbour of ours left a car outside the front door and said, “Use it for now and pay me for it when you can.” This meant that we could take our third daughter who has Down’s syndrome for the treatment she needed. (M.T. – Chile) Growing as parents We had noticed that our son was changing and behaving in a different way. One day, I very delicately asked him if anything was wrong. He confided in me that he was using drugs. I told my husband and neither of us slept a wink that night. We felt helpless and thought we had failed as parents. Joao sometimes brought friends home and their behaviour made us suffer too. My husband and I realised that we had to make a choice and we decided to love and serve those boys. To support our son, we cancelled our holiday so that he would not be alone. At the same time, the certainty that love would win began to grow in us. One day Joao told us that he wanted to continue living in our family home and asked if we could help his friends too. A new life began. Although we had no formation or training other than living the Gospel, we founded a support group in our city for the families of drug addicts. It is called Families Anonymous. This group has helped many young people recover from drug addiction. (O.P. – Portugal) Refugees We heard that a young Albanian refugee was looking for accommodation and so we helped him in his search and, temporarily, let him stay in our house. Our relatives did not agree with what we were doing and created lots of problems. They even said that we were being naïve. Maybe because the relationship with them was so strained, we found a very deep unity and strength as a couple and this helped us to persevere. After a short time, we found a suitable flat to rent and a local craftsman we know decided to hire an Albanian worker. We went to the refugee detention centre together to fill out the necessary documentation. The centre made a big impact on us all – hundreds of people were waiting for accommodation. We felt powerless but eventually our craftsman friend decided to hire not one but three Albanians. One of them was a minor so he personally provided foster care. It only took a few months for the three young people to find permanent work and become integrated into the community where we have tried to involve as many people as possible to make them feel part of a big family. (H.E. – Italy) Confirmation My fiancée, Giorgia, wants to get married in a church. To do so, we both need a confirmation certificate. I don’t have one so I have joined a confirmation preparation class. At first, it all seemed simple but when I found myself listening to catechism lessons with boys a lot younger than me, it seemed too much and I wanted to give up. Giorgia, however, didn’t change her mind, she’s convinced of the value of the sacrament of marriage. There seemed to be a block in our relationship and we postponed the date of the wedding. There were months of hard work and questions to face. I’m trained to see the Church as an outdated institution and there I was, begging for a certificate. What made me angry was that for Giorgia this was not a formality but a way of setting up the family. Our relationship began to break down but, just at that point, my mother was involved in an accident and was left paralyzed. Giorgia went to visit her every day and my mother found that she was not only a friend but that her presence helped her to calmly face her situation. I understood that Giorgia has deep motives to make her act that way. Every doubt in me disappeared: no matter what it costs, she is the woman with whom I want to share my life. (M.A. – Italy)
Edited by Stefania Tanesini (taken from Il Vangelo del Giorno, Città Nuova, anno VI, n.1, gennaio-febbraio 2020)
29 Jan 2020 | Non categorizzato
Since 2014, there has been a community of focolarini living in the “Morro della Croce”. They share the simple and poor life of this teeming favela in Florianópolis. Vilson Groh, who has been living there for over 30 years, says: “This is an expression of Chiara’s desire to have focolares also on the peripheries of the world. https://vimeo.com/378511750
27 Jan 2020 | Non categorizzato
“We give no greater glory to God than when we make an effort to accept our neighbour, because it is then that we lay the foundations for communion, and nothing gives so much glory to God as true unity between people. Unity attracts the presence of Jesus in our midst, and his presence transforms everything.” (Chiara Lubich) At boarding school At the boarding school where I lived at Prague, I would often see the cleaning lady. Having been polite with her, I noticed that she cleaned the room I was sharing with a Bulgarian more often and frequently waxed the floor. I didn’t know how to thank her and, having a expresso machine, one time I thought of offering a good coffee to her. She didn’t say a thing, but later she confessed that for her, being used to Turkish coffee, it was too strong. We began a dialogue about the habits of different cultures, and we ended up talking about faith as well. She told me that as a child she had gone to church, but then, during the Communist period, she had stayed away. In the days that followed, if I was at school, she stopped by after she finished cleaning, usually with a lot of questions about Christian life. One day she confided, “This work has always been humiliating for me, but since I got to know about this other perspective, I feel like I’ve found my lost childhood and understood the meaning of life.” T. M., Slovakia With new eyes My wife and I had come to a crossroads: I only saw her defects and she only saw mine. The arguments had become more intense, and it seemed that anything that happened, even things with the kids, kept feeding this war. One day, as I brought my youngest daughter to school, I heard: “You know Daddy, the religion teacher explained to us that forgiveness is like a pair of eyeglasses that lets us see with new eyes.” This phrase from a child left me uneasy. I thought about it all day. In the evening, coming back home, I had the idea to go to the florist and buy as many roses as years we had been married. My wife initially reacted badly (yet another blunder?), but then seeing how happy our children were, especially the youngest, she changed her attitude. That evening, after long silences, something changed. It was the beginning of a new way. It really seemed to me that I had new eyes, and I saw my wife and our children as I never had before. J. B., Spain Business temptation We found ourselves in great need of a huge sum of money to cover a certain debt. That morning a client came by, aiming to buy six machines. After our business was done, he proposed that we glue a famous brand sticker on the product. Taken by surprise, although we knew that this was common practice in our market, we were caught between a rock and a hard place: we risked losing that huge deal, but I didn’t feel like we should accept the offer. After talking to my husband about it, we understood clearly that we could not give in and betray our conscience as Christians. The client looked at us, surprised. When he asked if we were Catholic, we said yes. His face relaxed. “Today I learned what it means to be loyal to one’s faith. Don’t worry, I’ll still buy from you. You have taught me something really important. I was Christian too, but seeing how everyone else does in business, I let myself be taken by temptation. From now on, I’ll never do it again.” G. A., Nigeria Work for two During a course for vendors of sandwiches and drinks on trains, I asked if the unsold goods could be distributed to the homeless. This did not fit with the image of the company, so I was not hired. Disappointed, but certain that God would meet me halfway, I found work in a restaurant kitchen. I got to know about dramatic situations of hunger, misery, loneliness. One day the boss announced that the kitchen only needed one labourer. There was only me and a Muslim man who I was friends with. When I answered that I wanted him to stay, because he had a family, the boss replied that he had chosen me. Although I was grateful, I repeated what I thought. He said: “For the first time, I feel urged by a young man like you to review my decision.” The next day, looking again at the business’s finances, he decided that we could both keep working. D., England Not just guests For an entire year we had a girl from Brazil in our home who had come to Italy as part of a cultural exchange. Julia, however, was not able to settle in our family, and we, thinking she was just a guest, did not do much to help. When we realised and started treating her as one of our daughters, things changed: she felt loved, and little by little she bonded with us like a daughter with her sisters. Julia became one of us, to the point that, feeling the need to go deeper into the beauty of the Christian family, she asked us to prepare for the sacraments of baptism, confirmation and communion, which she hadn’t received in her country, despite being 17 years old. Her parents came from Brazil for the occasion, and we had a great party that included the entire community. Today the connection with Julia continues. We continue to be “Mom” and “Dad” every time we see each other online or we write. A., Italy
Edited by Stefania Tanesini (taken from Il Vangelo del Giorno, Città Nuova, anno VI, n.1, gennaio-febbraio 2020)
25 Jan 2020 | Non categorizzato
“One can be very strong even though one is meek and open to others’ good reasons “, or rather, “only in this way can one be truly strong”: this is the teaching of Chiara Lubich in the words of Mattarella, who takes up Maria Voce’s invitation to “dialogue to the extreme”.
© Domenico Salmaso – CSC Audiovisivi
© Domenico Salmaso – CSC Audiovisivi
© Domenico Salmaso – CSC Audiovisivi
24 Jan 2020 | Non categorizzato
Directed by Giacomo Campiotti, shooting will begin next spring and will take place in Rome and in Trento, her hometown. “The strength of a someone like Chiara today is to make us look at the other person as a possibility, a gift, a bearer of a seed of truth to be valued and loved, however distant the other person may be. Universal fraternity as a premise for dialogue and peace”. We read in the press release in which Luca Barbareschi, producer for Eliseo Fiction, and Rai Fiction say they are “proud” to announce that a TV movie about Chiara Lubich will be made for Italian television. Directed by Giacomo Campiotti, shooting will start next spring and will take place in Rome and in Trento, her hometown. The press release goes on to explain that “Chiara is very young when, in the years of the Second World War, she feels called to build a better world, a more united world. From that time on she set sherself the goal of building bridges between people , whatever their race, nation or religious faith. The strength of a someone like Chiara today is to make us look at the other person as a possibility, a gift, a bearer of a seed of truth to be valued and loved, however distant the other person may be. Universal fraternity as a premise for dialogue and peace. Chiara’s message does not belong only to the Catholic world, she has contributed to raising the profile of women and their role even , and above all , outside the ecclesiastical institution.
By the editorial staff of focolare.org
