27 Jul 2018 | Non categorizzato
“The woman of Nazareth, as a homemaker, offers an enormous challenge for us, urging us to set aside a spirituality based on a fascination for the extraordinary in order to find mysticism in our daily routines. From theoretical fantasies to a tangible reality in the simplicity of the everyday… that is where God walks. Ermes Ronchi, Le domande nude del Vangelo (The bare questions of the Gospel), p. 176. “We truly need a home. A home is extremely important… It needs to be kept as most holy Mary kept hers, which hosted no less than Jesus, so she needed to do something in harmony with he who was the Word of God. “It was the beauty of God, it was brilliant, it was glorious, for glory means God’s brilliance. I don’t know if you can imagine, as a way of saying, God as a sun that is setting. Its rays that shine forth are the Word. The Word of God that became flesh is Jesus. So he is truly the glory, the height of beauty, splendor. “And so Mary… in her home… she knew how to keep it well, in a way that hosted Jesus well… Our calling, if it is a Marian calling, is making a home. You can’t understand Mary if you don’t understand a mother at home, beyond being the seat of wisdom, someone who knew how to keep a home.” Chiara Lubich on May 30, 1996, at the inauguration of the Gen house in Loppiano, Italy “A mother is more about intuitions of the heart than speculations of the intellect, more poetry than philosophy. She is quite magnificent and grounded, close to the human heart. “Thus it is so with Mary, mother of mothers, who is the sum of all affection, goodness and mercy, to which all the world’s mothers cannot compare. Mary is peaceful like nature, pure, serene, clear, moderate, beautiful… She is gifted, spirited, tidy, steadfast, rich with hope. “She is too close to us and unpretentious to be contemplated… She brings the divine to earth, like a heavenly plane that gently slopes from a dizzying height of the heavens down to the infinite smallness of creatures.” Chiara Lubich, Disegni di luce (Designs of light), p. 84–85.
26 Jul 2018 | Non categorizzato
“Fifty years after being published, Paul VI’s encyclical Humanae vitae appears entirely different to modern eyes. In 1968 it was a brave document – and as a result controversial– that went against the climate of the time. This was the era of the sexual revolution, which needed certainty of contraception and the possibility of abortion in order to happen. It was also a time when economists spoke of a ‘human bomb’ – the danger of overpopulation that threatened rich countries, which could have decreased their prosperity.” So writes Lucetta Scaraffia in Avvenire, although she concludes that today the world has changed and that the encyclical should be read again with a different perspective: as a “prophetic event.” It was published on July 25, 1968, in the sixth year of Paul VI’s pontificate, and caused a number of conflicting responses.
24 Jul 2018 | Non categorizzato
Well aware of the environmental and social crises that our planet faces, hundreds of people around the world have been steadily moving to find creative solutions to these grave problems, putting them in motion in their everyday lives through actions large and small. However, these actions often begin, grow and die totally in isolation. “Together we can do much more” is one of the mottos proposed by Prophetic Economy, a project that aims to create collaborative networks among all those who, in their own context, work to promote human development, independent of age, nationality or beliefs. The main event for Prophetic Economy will land at Castel Gandolfo in Rome from November 2–4. Experts from many fields will be involved, such as Jeffrey Sachs, North American economist and one of the world’s top minds when it comes to economic and sustainability questions; or Luigino Bruni, Italian economist and international coordinator of the Economy of Communion. “The experience is open to all people, organizations and businesses,” says Florencia Locascio, Prophetic Economy’s general coordinator. “All those who propose sustainable and creative solutions to the problem of poverty, inequality and the social and environmental crises that we are living through. We want to identify the changemakers, the innovators, and give them more visibility.” During the event, in addition to workshops, collective activities, networking and panels with renowned international experts, the first-ever Prophetic Practices Award 2018 will be awarded. The competition awards, spotlights and connects existing experiences of a prophetic economy, the many best practices that are already up and running that contribute to the common good. “Teens and the new generations have something important to say, and they already contribute enthusiastically, offering practical examples that are exciting,” explains Paolo Matterazzo, who directs communications for the Community of Nomadelfia. The first three to win the competition will receive a monetary prize and be invited to present their projects during the November event. The top ten will also have the chance to present their best practices. Deadline for the competition is August 1. For more information, see propheticeconomy.org. Source: United World Project
24 Jul 2018 | Non categorizzato
22 Jul 2018 | Non categorizzato
Eating alone One of my colleagues never joined us for lunch in the staff canteen. No-one really liked him because he was always so bad tempered. One lunchtime I made an effort to approach him, and as we talked, he confided how much he was suffering over one of his sons who had become a drug addict. I listened with an open heart. Then the two of us went into the canteen together. The other staff noticed with surprise how well we were getting on, and after that they began treating him with respect. O.F. – Slovak Republic An honest gift I offered to help a colleague in my office organize the collection for a staff member who was retiring. When the time came to buy the gift, my colleague advised me that we only had to spend half the money collected, dividing the rest between the two of us! I protested that this was not right, but she insisted this was how it was always done. I looked at her in silence, conveying my disapproval. A short while later she came over to apologize to me, and from that day we become friends. F.M. – Italy A rose and a promise For a while now I have committed myself to opening up our parish hall so that our young people have somewhere to go after school. It’s not easy, and there is quite a lot of challenging behaviour. Once, while I was trying to break up a fight, I received a punch aimed at one of them. Shocked at what they’d done, they both fled. But a short while later, the one who had inadvertently hit me came back to give me a single rose and a promise to behave better in future. F.B. – Switzerland The intern During my internship in a hospital, one of the patients with diabetes had already lost a toe and part of his foot, and due to complications was about to have his whole leg amputated. I took his situation to heart, and went to talk to him about the impending operation. He was desperate, and I tried to console him. «Look – I said – I have a present for you, but it’s not a material gift». We read the Word of Life together. The next day, as they were taking him to the operating theatre, he saw me and said: «I have faith. Let’s believe together!». C. – Argentina My sister My sister and I were always arguing. Again and again, I wanted to make things better with her, but I lacked the courage and so never made the first move. The morning after a particularly hurtful argument, I met her in the kitchen and muttered a quick “Ciao”, but so quietly that she didn’t hear it. I knew I should repeat it with more conviction, but I worried it was below my dignity. Then I almost amazed myself as I turned to her and said a loud and heartfelt “Ciao!”. She was amazed too and we both smiled. D.B. – Italy
20 Jul 2018 | Non categorizzato
″You need to be young to follow Jesus, or else become young. He even asks that one becomes a child – every day and in every moment, freeing oneself from the sickness of spiritual senility. Because, if the spirit ages, it is held down and it can never soar. Therefore, one always needs to be reborn, begin again, become new: Jesus. It is often said that the youth of today are skeptical, perhaps cynical… if that’s true, it might be a case of posture or style beneath which lies the sense of amazement in front of a generation that was born in the midst of an inhumane waste of energy in the production of death. It is materialism that scares, deludes and arrests today’s youth who, by nature, react to a standard of living made up only of economic calculations and sensorial entertainment, of a singular battle for the stomach … This is the divine lesson behind this human crisis on which we pour so much makeup, tears and Coca-Cola: you can’t live without an absolute. Jesus walks by and the young people see him if the sight of him is not impeded by surgance of proud human beings, that is, people who feel that they are more than others because of their money or political power… Young people can immediately pick out the pure and divine countenance of Jesus, they leave father and mother, fiance and wealth, flattery and comfort – first on the path of the aposotolate and then Calvary. They want Christ and Christ Crucified. Christ in his entirety, all in all: only ideal. And they want his spirit, which is love: this divine blood that conquers death; which is intelligence and wisdom and bond of unity.″ Igino Giordani
