The Prayer for Unity
Archival photo: Pasquale Foresi with the young people of the Focolare Movement.
Living the Gospel: Being free and guided by the Holy Spirit
The joy of service When our son died after the treatment he received was ineffective, my wife began to suffer from depression. She found visits from other children unbearable and, gradually, we became very isolated to the extent that life didn’t have meaning anymore. One day we got to know a community that tried to put the words of the Gospel into practice. There was one Gospel sentence that made a big impact on her and changed her life. It was, “There is more joy in giving than receiving.” After reflecting for a while, she went back to work as an assistant in a centre for children suffering from cancer. From then onwards, she recovered very quickly. One day she told me about the joy she had found in serving other children. R.A. France The shoe rack Poor health forced me to stay at home for a few weeks. I wanted to do something and so I decided to make a shoe rack but I made such a bad job of – it had so many defects – that I was quite depressed with the result. My wife and children, however, kept saying that it was wonderful and praising me. That made me think that maybe it wasn’t as terrible as it seemed to me and so I began to make other things that would be useful around the house. When I returned to work, I was really happy to see my colleagues again. I think love made me well. S.V. Czech Republic The new car Our old car wasn’t worth repairing but we couldn’t afford another one. We have a daughter who suffers from autism and can’t use public transport or walk very far. With great faith we prayed for a solution believing that God had already answered us. Soon afterwards, some friends in the parish told us about a car they had found: it was second hand but in perfect condition. Once again, God helped us. R.C. Great Britain No keys On account of poverty and unemployment, many people on our island resort to stealing and burglary. One evening, Nanou wanted to go to a meeting in the parish while her parents were out. She didn’t have keys to lock the door and so she pushed it shut with a brick and asked Jesus to keep the house safe. When she was coming back she met her parents who were also making their way home. Her father was furious when he found the door unlocked but he couldn’t match her faith and trust in Jesus. What’s more, nothing had happened. D.R. Madagascar I am free to love I didn’t take much notice of the early symptoms. My voice sounded lower, I had backache, difficulty in swallowing, I had poor balance and fell over, I had problems with my nose. Then, on June 13 2016, in Bologna, I received the diagnosis: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis – ALS. There were just the initials written on a tiny piece of paper. For several days, the words of Saint Paul kept coming into my mind; “We are afflicted in every way but not crushed, perplexed but not driven to despair.” I kept looking at that piece of paper. The initials reminded me of the Italian words which say “I am free to love.” When my muscles won’t work, when I can’t smell anything, when my senses of touch and taste have disappeared, I can still love. If you can transform suffering into a gift of love, then life smiles back at you. We are not made for defeat. F.S. Italy
If we’re united, Jesus is among us
If we are united, Jesus is among us. And this has value. It is worth more than any other treasure that our heart may possess; more than mother, father, brothers, sisters and children. It is worth more than our house, our work, or our property; more than the works of art in a great city like Rome; more than our business deals; more than nature which surrounds us with flowers and fields, the sea and the stars; more than our own soul. It is He who, inspiring his saints with his eternal truths, leaves his mark upon every age. This too is His hour. Not so much the hour of a saint but of Him, of Him among us, of Him living in us as we build up — in the unity of love — his Mystical Body and the Christian community. But we must expand Christ, make him grow in other members, become bearers of Fire like Him, (that dissolves the human side of us into the divine which is Charity lived out). Make one of all and in all the One. It is then that we live the life that He gives us, moment by moment, in charity. The basic commandment is brotherly love (see 1Pt 4:8). Everything is of value if it expresses sincere fraternal charity. Nothing we do is of value if there is no feeling of love for our brothers and sisters in it. For God is a Father and in his heart he has always and only his children. Source: Centro Chiara Lubich
GenVerde Tour
Dates: Plymouth:
6-7-8 November: Workshop with young people 9: Concert 10: Feedback with young people
Welwyn Garden City:
16-17-18 November: workshop with young people
Birmingham: 20, 21 and 22 November: workshop with young people November 23rd: concert November 24rd: Feedback GenVerde Tours
GenVerde Tour
Rome: Partecipation in the event “Quando la Carità ti chiama”, (When Charity calls you), promoted by the Vincentian Family as part of the “Finding Vince 400” (FV400), International Film Festival. Auditorium Conciliazione. GenVerde Tours
An unusual invitation to dinner
Conversations in different languages could be heard amid the tastefully and simply set tables. For three evenings, the young people of the Focolare acted as hosts in a hall, close to where the works of the Synod will carry on up to 28 October. After a warm welcome, the three dinners revealed to be the right occasions for the exchange of ideas, informal sharing and mutual interaction. During dessert, there was a presentation of the recent international Genfest held in Manila and some experiences, and stories of commitment and coherence to boost closer contact with the synodal Fathers, in line with a meeting held a day earlier, where they express queries, uncertainties, choices, in the hope that the Synod would propose some answers. In the second soiree, František from Czechia took the floor. His words highlighted a genuine passion for politics and concrete commitment in view of the next European Parliament elections emerged with the request, “Please support me with your prayers, so that I may always be faithful to the choice of serving my people, without any personal interest.” A similar story came from Nicola. She is 33 and a pediatric therapist in a university hospital. “I engage in rare pathologies and pediatric insurgence, and therefore I am always in contact with situations often at the brink of death. The difficulty at times lies in communicating to the relatives, the prognosis and life expectancies of the child. In these moments, I entrust myself to God, so that he may help me find the right words and attitude. Cynical detachment is a due form of survival, but we mustn’t lose the human dimension. Every day for me is like a gym in which to love and serve God.” Then it was Nicola’s turn. “Practicing this profession – he explained – means living at the limit between faith and reason; in these years I have learned what suffering is, and what it means to live immobile on a bed, attached to the mechanical lung for breathing. At times my faith is harshly put to the test, but then I have no time to reflect, being ’forced’ to see to the people I have before me, and loving them. This is really a countenance of Jesus Forsaken. If I manage to welcome him poor and miserable as he is, this fills up the void. I have to face many situations. 
The families of the eastern countries are at times the most desperate since they do not have adequate healthcare systems, both from the economic and clinical standpoints that can help them. This is why they undertake hope journeys to our hospitals in search of treatments, which in some cases imply great expenses, given that these are issued only to Italian citizens. These situations lead us to reflect that at times, being born in one part of the world is just a matter of luck. It is in these cases that God reveals his grandeur and asks you to do the impossible. We certainly must not break the laws but we can try to help in other ways, for example, proposing strategies to limit at best the deformity of the joints, or trying to stand by and be of help.” Time had flown. It seemed like the guests did not wish to leave. The challenge of a deep and reciprocal listening between generations, the reason for the Synod itself, had also taken the form and consistency even in a dinner. And the dinner ended with the words of the song dedicated to Mary, the silent response of utmost love. By Chiara Favotti and Gustavo Clariá