21 Jul 2019 | Non categorizzato
Chiara wrote in 2006 «Throughout the Gospel Jesus invites to give. To give to the poor, to whoever asks, to whoever needs a loan. To give food to the hungry, a coat to the one who asks for a cloak, to give freely….He himself was the first to give: health to the sick, forgiveness to sinners, life to all of us. He encourages generosity to combat the selfish instinct to hoard, to focus on the other so as to overcome the focus on our own needs; to give so as to combat the culture of having”. The wedding One of my daughters was getting married and given our limited family economy it was difficult for us to cover all the expenses. With ten days to go I still did not have a suitable outfit for the day. Furthermore it was not easy to borrow from someone given my size. Just at that time a container arrived from Florence with clothes and household goods. It had been prepared and sent by some families in Italy for our community. A friend decided to look through the many things to see if she could find something for me. She was delighted to find a beautiful piece of material and even thought of the style of dress to make with it. On the wedding day whenever I was complemented on my outfit I replied that God’s providence made use of friends near and far. (M.A. – Paraguay) On Dialysis For three years now I have to have dialysis three times a week as I wait for a transplant. It’s not easy at the clinic and I try to build a relationship with each patient. If someone likes talking about food, I talk about food. If someone is interested in sport, we talk about sport. However one day I was particularly tired of fighting and my spirits were low. I hadn’t the energy to smile nor to greet people. A nurse who knew me well said “ You too, Aracelis?” Immediately the anguish and discouragement disappeared and I began to think of the others and not about myself. (Araceli J. – Brasil) Adopted I was always ashamed not to know my biological parents even though the family which adopted me did everything to fill the gaps. When I fell in love and then married K my problems, which seemed to have disappeared, surfaced again. In fact when it came to educating our children we had opposite opinions. I left her without giving any explanation. For those who have had a family it is difficult to understand someone who feels existentially alone. Now, after a long time, trying to draw out love from a dry heart is helping me to recover. (T.A.F. – Hungary) The challenge One day a colleague offers me a sheet of paper explaining that it is a phrase from the Gospel with a commentary to help live it. I read: “Love your enemies”. I reflected and the next day I am ready to take up the challenge. I found my mother in the kitchen. We haven’t spoken for two months. I sit down and have a coffee with her. “Did you sleep well?” I ask her. In the afternoon my brother comes to my room and asks me if he can borrow a jumper. “Open the cupboard and choose the one you want” I reply. These are small deeds but I already feel different. (A.F. – Italy)
by Chiara Favotti
20 Jul 2019 | Non categorizzato
The event will be held from 26thto 28thMarch. Present among others: Yunus, Frey, Meloto, Petrini, Raworth, Sachs, Sen, Shiva and Zamagni Registration is underway for the three days commissioned by Pope Francis for young economists, entrepreneursand change-makersfrom around the world. From 26th to 28th March, Assisi will host the international event The Economy of Francis: young people, a commitment, the future. The invitation to participate comes directly from the Holy Father and is addressed to young people up to the age of 35. You can submit your application by 30 September via the website www.francescoeconomy.org. The Economy of Francesco event will consist of workshops, artistic and plenary events with the best-known economists, experts in sustainable development and business people who are engaged today worldwide in a different economy and will reflect and work together with young people. Nobel laureates Muhammad Yunus and Amarthya Sen have already confirmed they will attend. Other participants include Bruno Frey, Tony Meloto, Carlo Petrini, Kate Raworth, Jeffrey Sachs,Vandana Shiva and Stefano Zamagni. It is not a traditional conference but an experience where theory and practice engage to build new ideas and new ways of working together. A programme where time slows down to leave room for reflection and silence, for stories and meetings, for art and spirituality, so that the thought and economic action of young people will emerge. The meeting is aimed at young people under 35 involved in research: students and scholars in Economics and other related disciplines (master’s students, doctoral research programmes, young researchers); and in business: entrepreneurs and managers. Participation is also open to change-makers andpromoters of activities at the service of the common good and of a just, sustainable and inclusive economy. The proposal is to make a commitment with the young people, beyond differences of beliefs and nationalities, to change the current economy and give a soul to that of tomorrow so that it is more just, sustainable and with active engagement by those who at present are excluded. 500 young people will be chosen from among all the candidates to attend apre-event scheduled for 24th and 25thMarch: it will be an opportunity for work and study that will continue during the days of the event (26-27-28) together with all the other participants.
(source: press release)
18 Jul 2019 | Non categorizzato
The first European Mariapolis, sponsored by the Focolare Movement at Tonadico, in the Dolomites, has begun and runs through August 8. Within the historical and political context of a Europe divided and in conflict, this event aims to show that the dream of brotherhood among peoples is not some faraway utopia. The original intuition that Focolare’s founder, Chiara Lubich, had last century during the 1940s and 1950s has carried through to various fields of knowledge, and to the heart of relationships between individuals and peoples. We discussed it with Fabio Ciardi, who is responsible for the movement’s interdisciplinary study centre, the Abbà School. What is the link between Chiara Lubich’s mystical experiences in 1949 and 1950 during and after the first Mariapolises, and the birth of the Abbà School? “The Abbà School began in order to go deeper into what had happened during those years. Chiara had the opportunity to write her experience little by little as it happened, aware that within it was a teaching – values so profound and rich that they could nourish not just the movement but the Church as well. Later she felt the need to take up those pages yet again, so she began to call on people with a certain amount of culture to go more deeply into her experience and help the doctrine that was already within it flow.” Among the fields represented in the Abbà School are history and political science. Can the group’s reflections in these areas help us understand the reasons that the European Union was founded? “The experience that Chiara had in 1949 gave her a vision from on high of God’s designs for humanity and history. So you can find values there that are at the foundations of Europe. The Abbà School hopes to bring them to light and show how current they are. Today the Mariapolis helps us discover those designs and understand what God’s plan for our history is and who we are.” In the early days Chiara had an intuition that Europe was called to be united at its core. Igino Giordani, one of the movement’s co-founders, hoped for a “United States of Europe” that would present itself as a federal entity of peoples in the global context. Today, however, we are far off from that vision, and nationalism and populism run through Europe. How can we find that passion again and make it contagious? “It seems to me that the initial experience of 1949 has all the elements to expand our hearts; to grow that sense of fraternity, hospitality and sharing; and to promote a way forward together. At the beginning Chiara’s reflections were focused on Italy, and she spoke of Saint Catherine and Saint Francis as its patron saints. Yet soon her horizons expanded when people from other European countries and continents joined the movement. She saw the charism of unity resonate for all of them, and each found their deepest values there. She saw all of humanity moving towards unity. I think this could be a fundamental ideal that can be realised today as well. We need to reflect culturally in a way that combines God’s great plan for humanity with the current political, economic, and historical situation.” What message does the experience at the European Mariapolis send to the citizens of Europe? “The idea that European unity is not uniformity or an obligation, but it is a richness that comes from having great diversity – not only from the historical European peoples but the new ones who arrive as well. Europe is something we build; it has been in continual construction since its origins. It needs to know how to combine these two elements: promote fraternity, sharing, communion and unity; and at the same time, value the great cultural diversity and the particular history of each people. I think that the Mariapolis could be the new melting pot in which we learn to respect and love each other, and live together.” So the Mariapolis is a “lab” of unity for Europe. Someone might object that this is outlook is simply utopian… “Utopias are located in imaginary places where you dream up a reality that does not in fact exist. A Mariapolis, instead, is a different place that is not utopian but real. I think we need to put forward experiences like this one once again – meaningful, despite small, which show how the world could be if we truly lived the laws of fraternity, love and unity.”
Claudia Di Lorenzi
15 Jul 2019 | Non categorizzato
Seventy years ago it was Chiara Lubich herself who defined as “Paradise ‘49” the mystical experience through which God conveyed to her and, through her, to the Movement during its early times, the full understanding of the charism of unity and of the Work that would be born of it. This experience has been studied for years by the “Abba School”, the cultural centre of the Focolare which is currently engaged in a study seminar on “Paradise ’49” together with other scholars. Jesús Moràn, co-President of the Focolare Movement, is also taking part and we asked him to explain its relevance and vision. https://vimeo.com/348249423 “What we in the Focolare Movement, and I think others too, know as ‘Paradise ’49’ is a mystical experience that was in some way unprecedented and unique, because God never repeats himself. It was new and unique in both form and content. It all started with a pact of unity between Chiara Lubich and Igino Giordani: a woman and a man; a girl to whom a charism had been given by God and a politician actively engaged in society; a virgin and a married man. That already says much. Furthermore, the context preceding the event must be kept in mind and is very important. The background to this experience was a very deep life of the Word – the human logos united to the divine logos; Jesus crucified and forsaken who unites heaven and earth and therefore fills every void; Eucharistic communion as a symbol of universal fraternity, of universal communion and fellowship. Those who study this experience tell us that everything started there; everything arose out of that context. It is understandable that, if that is how things were, what came of it was a wide-ranging ecclesial and social movement, with a methodology based on a 360° dialogue: dialogue within the Catholic Church, ecumenical dialogue, interreligious dialogue and dialogue with culture. It is a movement that, in turn, was able to initiate important social movements such as the Economy of Communion and the Movement for Politics and Policies for Unity and also important cultural realities such as the Città Nuova publishing house or the Sophia University Institute. What we are celebrating today is this particular event that occurred in a marvellous context where nature blends with culture, where the divine shines out in what is human and the human shines out in the divine and in social relationships. Certainly, in a world like this, which is so fragmented and marked by extreme polarization, I believe this experience is extremely relevant and can make a significant contribution to humanity’s journey today.”
Immagine: © Fabio Bertagnin – CSC Audiovisivi
15 Jul 2019 | Non categorizzato
From the special pact that Chiara Lubich and Igino Giordani made on 16th July 1949 emerged a new kind of mystical experience, one open to humanity and able to transform the history of communities and peoples. —- All these pages are worth nothing if the soul who reads them does not love, is not in God. They have value if it is God who reads them in that soul. Now what I want to leave to whoever will follow my Ideal is this certainty: all you need is the Holy Spirit (and faithfulness to the one who began it) to carry on the Work. … As an aid, then, I can leave what I have written – but it has value only if it is taken as “an aid.” Even Jesus, although he was God and had everything in himself, did not come to destroy and begin all over again, but to complete. In this way, whoever comes after me will be able to complete what I have done. I do not want to love those who follow on after me less than myself, and therefore I want them to have the Holy Spirit welling up in them just as God gave him to me. They will not have him directly; they will have him through an intermediary person but they will have him, living, from the living lips of the one who will convey him by living what he is teaching through me. Thus it is good to remove decisively any concern other than that of doing the divine will made manifest moment by moment, but without suggesting anything to God. (Chiara Lubich, Paradise ’49) What are “these pages” that Chiara Lubich was referring to? They are contained in a text known as Paradise ’49, written by Chiara 70 years ago, in the summer of 1949. They were written under the influence of a spiritual light that then continued for many more months. In the part quoted here, Chiara was addressing herself to those who, in our day, do not want merely to remember what happened then, but to graft ourselves on to the mystical experience that she and some members of the Focolare community had at its beginnings. The beautiful words, meaningful metaphors and breadth of concepts expressed in those pages can indulge a reader’s aesthetic sense, and help him or her to savour the religious atmosphere that was breathed at the time, but that is all. Only those who love are able to enter within the deep meaning of the mysticism of Paradise ’49. This meaning arises from the understanding of human reality and of all beings directly inspired by the contemplation of God and in God. The fruits of this experience are visible to all: the broad vision of the spirituality of communion, the doctrine arising from the charism of unity, the mission of the Focolare Movement and the actions and works that have sprung from its social engagement. It is not by chance that the path into this mystical experience was opened by a special spiritual pact that Chiara made with Igino Giordani. He was married and a father, a member of parliament and a well-known author. Mysticism is not usually within the reach of those who are immersed in daily challenges of family, work, unavoidable commitments and complex challenges. The fact that Paradise ‘49 opened up through the unity between Chiara and Igino means that Chiara Lubich’s spirituality is not reserved to, nor is it dedicated to those who live in some kind of special religious state. It is for all humanity and is called to sustain the march towards unity of all people, men and women, communities and groups, peoples and nations, in all circumstances and conditions. Today, Chiara asks us to continue her work.
Alberto Lo Presti
14 Jul 2019 | Non categorizzato
Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and Christians, members of Chiara’s family, got together for the first time and spent a week together. Liridona is a Sunni Muslim from the North of Macedonia. She was asked to share her experience during an interreligious meeting for youth when Pope Francis recently visited her country. She spoke about her experience with other Christian and Muslim Focolare youth, and at the end she asked the Pope: “Am I dreaming too much?”(1) Liridona, who was at Castelgandolfo from 17 to 23 June, discovered that others shared her dream. She was there with a group of forty people who follow 5 different religions and come from 15 different countries. A team of people, responsible for interreligious dialogue at the Centre of the Focolare Movement, welcomed these members of Chiara’s family, and the first item on their programme was a visit to the chapel where Chiara Lubich is laid to rest. (2) There, Vinu Aram, the Indian leader of the Shanti Ashram Movement, sang a song through which she expressed the love of all of them, a love that binds them to the “source” that has changed their lives. 
And Dr. Amer, a Muslim, professor of comparative theology shared: “I come from Jordan, where the Jordan river flows and reminds me that our journey starts with the purification of the soul. Very often I wonder why radical extremism incites people to kill others and themselves. I ask God for the courage needed to give our life for what is Good, to be witnesses of this love among us and to all”. 
One fourth of the participants were younger than 35 years. Among them, there were Kyoko, a Buddhist from Japan; Nadjib and Rassim, Muslims from Algeria; Israa and Shahnaze, Shiite from USA and Vijay, a Hindu from Coimbatore. They lived days of “prophecy” while they delved deeply into the mystical experience of summer 1949. Shubhada Joshi, a Hindu, related: “The first time that I heard someone speak of “Jesus Forsaken” I was going through great suffering and I could not manage to understand. I started to look at him as the other side of the coin of love. Now I understand my tradition in a better way”. On the fourth day, another hundred people joined the first group who were participating in this “workshop”. These were mainly Christians involved in the Movement’s journey of fraternity The message delivered by Msgr. Ayuso Guixot, the new President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue expressed a sign of profound “harmony” with Pope Francis’ work. When Rita Moussallem and Roberto Catalano spoke about this dialogue in the teachings of the last Popes, they highlighted the openness and prophetic spirit of Vatican II.
Although each participant arrived for this meeting with a bagful of one’s own experiences, they discovered that sharing with brothers and sisters of various faiths is “the best school”; they experienced a “presence of God”. They realized that this goes beyond dialogue and that they can look ahead together. Hence the need of training and change.
After all, Pope Francis told Liridona that we need to “become expert carvers of our own dreams (….) with concentration and effort, and especially with a great desire to see how that stone, which no one thought was worth anything, can become a work of art” .(3)
Gianna Sibelli
(1) www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-05/pope-francis-travels-north-macedonia–meeting-young-people.html (2) In the chapel, at the Focolare Movement Centre at Rocca di Papa, one finds Chiara Lubich’s tomb and those of the two co-founders of the Work of Mary: Igino Giordani and Fr. Pasquale Foresi (3) www.vatican.va, apostolic journey in North Macedonia, Discorso di Papa Francesco all’incontro ecumenico e interreligioso con i giovani, Skopje, 7 maggio 2019.
