Chiara Lubich: “Do you know where we are?”
“Here is a summary of the event (of the 16th of July) that Chiara offers us, restoring its enchanting Gospel-based inspiration. When Igino Giordani (Foco) suggested (to Chiara Lubich) that they ‘bind themselves closely’ to each other in order to follow Jesus more closely – as Saint Catherine did with her followers – Chiara felt prompted to respond by inviting him to make a ‘pact’, in faithfulness to the Gospel principles to which she had learned to conform her life [1]:
“You know my life: I am nothing. I want to live, indeed, like Jesus Forsaken, who annihilated himself completely. You too are nothing because you live in the same way. So then, we will go to church tomorrow and I will say to Jesus-Eucharist who will come into my heart, as into an empty chalice: ‘On the nothingness of me may you seal a pact of unity with Jesus-Eucharist in Foco’s heart. And, Jesus, bring about between us the bond which is known to you.’ … ‘And you, Foco, do the same.’” (Translation of the Italian – verses 24 and 25 of the text of Chiara Lubich published in “Paradise ‘49”, Città Nuova, Rome 2026).
The narrative is concise and extremely simple. The event that then came as a gift, once the pact had been made and had borne witness, exceeds all human expectations. And in this form, it is also unprecedented in the history of Christian experience.
We could try to discern its meaning from what Chiara first of all tells Foco, in order to “explain to him” – as she wrote – what had happened. “Do you know where we are?” She begins with this question, inviting him to join her in opening the eyes of his soul to the scene that has unfolded through the pact. It is clear from this that the pact prepared the conditions for God’s grace to be made manifest: the mystical perception of the presence of Jesus in Chiara and Foco (and immediately afterwards in those to whom the pact is extended) becoming “one” – brought about in Jesus and by Jesus, through the lived Word and through the Eucharist. And it is so in each of them. Certainly, the lived and perceived identification of Chiara with Jesus, expresses the extraordinary grace common to all authentic mystical experiences attested to throughout the history of the Church. But what comes to light in the experience described here, is that this takes place for Chiara in the unity in and through Jesus, that she lived with Foco, and then gradually with the other people to whom the experience is communicated. To such an extent that they too are drawn into it.
Piero Coda
(Translation of the Italian text taken from Paradiso ’49 [Paradise ‘49], Works of Chiara Lubich, edited by Piero Coda – Alba Sgariglia, Città Nuova, Rome 2026)
Photo: Baita Paradiso. A cottage in Tonadico, Italy, where Chiara Lubich and some of her first companions
stayed during the period known as ‘Paradiso ’49’. © Jesús María Zamora
[1] Here we have a specific description of the Christian experience brought about by the charism of unity: the “pact”. Whatever its origin in Chiara’s thought and practice, it is clear that the dynamic of “sealing a pact”, implies sharing with those involved in it, the fundamental focus of one’s existence in God and the decision to carry out his will together. In this way, the pact, among those who live it, becomes an expression of the pact with which God himself established a covenant with his people in the Old Testament, and as “once and for all” renewed it eschatologically in Jesus. Therefore, we see this as a “fundamental” aspect of the experience of Revelation. “Before then,” Chiara recalls in a footnote, “we had lived other pacts, such as the pact of mutual love. This had brought about a qualitative leap in our life, making us experience the presence of Jesus in our midst with the gifts of the Spirit he brings with him: peace, joy, light, strength. Then the pact of mercy (as we called the pact by which we focolarine took the commitment to see each other new every day, without remembering each other’s defects, as if we were meeting each other for the first time) helped us in perfecting our love for one another” (footnote 30). The pact of unity, inspired by Foco’s request and lived out according to the method described by Chiara, brings about a further and decisive “qualitative leap” – in keeping with the unfolding of the charism of unity as a gift from God – namely, that of the identification given and experienced with Jesus, and of finding oneself in the Bosom of the Father.
60th anniversary of the Focolare Movement in Asia and Oceania
The year 2026 will mark the 60th anniversary of the arrival of the Focolare in Asia and Oceania. It was 22 February 1966 when Chiara Lubich – the founder of the Focolare Movement – assigned five focolarini and focolarine to Manila in response to a request from the then Archbishop of Manila, Cardinal Rufino Santos. Giovanna Vernuccio, Silvio Daneo, Guido Mirti, Ednara Tabosa and Magdalena Brandao were the first pioneers of the Focolare Movement’s adventure in Asia, and beyond. From Manila, they went on to travel to Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, Pakistan, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and finally Australia.
The Focolare Movement thus spread across the Asian continent, bringing to all those it encountered the spirit of unity that characterises it, despite the enormous diversity of cultures, religions and languages. This journey has paved the way for ecumenical and interreligious dialogue right up to the present day.
The programme focused on the origins of the Movement in Asia and its spread across the continent through personal testimonies; a workshop was held on the Movement’s engagement with the realities of the world; and a solemn prayer for peace took place. On the final day, during the celebration of Holy Mass at the Cittadella Pace, there were around 700 participants, some of them came all the way from other countries. A joyful and family-like atmosphere pervaded the entire event, accompanied by a profound gratitude for the pioneers. The current Metropolitan Archbishop of Manila, Cardinal Jose Fuerte Advincula; the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Charles John Brown; Bishops Roberto Mallari, Mel Rey Uy, Reynaldo Evangelista, Guillermo Afable and Gerardo Alminaza, the Italian Ambassador to the Philippines, Davide Giglio, and Bishop Joel Polares of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (Independent National Christian Church), as well as around 30 priests, took part in the event, alongside various friends from other Churches and different faiths, and a strong presence of young people. The Italian Ambassador said he felt completely recharged by the celebration, suggesting celebrating it every year.
Among the impressions: “For me, the 60th anniversary was a celebration of every person who has made a clear choice for God,” says Suzette, “by following Chiara Lubich with their lives.
Each one’s yes have generated countless Yeses where I find myself today.
And Kreng adds: “With deep gratitude to God and to all of them I go forward more convinced, more ablaze with that passion to make “that all may be one be everyone’s reality!
“The celebration was like a drop of the divine in a world so full of itself, a wisp of fresh air at a time when lives are suffocated by isolation and division, it was the tender closeness of God. The 60th anniversary celebration was truly memorable, moving and meaningful. It also marked a new commitment and a new hope”.
Lorenzo Russo
Gen Movement: 60 years of life
“Young people of the world, unite”: this is the invitation that Chiara Lubich extended to the younger generations 60 years ago, so that each one could answer God’s call to live for unity in a practical way. Today, this mission remains as relevant as ever and, in these extremely troubled times, continues to be a way ahead that often goes against the current. It refuses to let hatred and division have the last word. It means to journey as a family with hope and action, with a constant desire to live for a united world.
Chiara Lubich: Unity
… Unity. What is unity? Is it possible to achieve unity?
Unity is what God wants from us.
Unity is the fulfilment of Jesus’ prayer: ‘That they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us’ (Jn 17:21).
But unity cannot be achieved only through our own efforts. It can be accomplished only through a special grace which the Father grants if he finds us prepared, in accordance with a precise and necessary pre-requisite.
That is mutual love lived out as Jesus commanded.
We must love one another as he wants, which is not – as we know – simply a spiritual friendship, agreement or just understanding one another.
It means that we should love one another as he loved us, that is, to the point of the abandonment: to the point of complete material and spiritual detachment from things and persons, so that we can make ourselves one reciprocally and perfectly.
By doing so, we will have done our part and we will be in a position to receive the grace of unity, which will not be lacking, which should not be lacking.
How thankful we should be at the thought of being called to this; what an incentive to do all we can in order to obtain this gift which is lacking wherever this is not lived.
We must remember that there is an added grace in our communitarian spirituality; that heaven can be opened to us in every moment; and if we do what it asks of us, filled with this grace, we can do much, very much for the kingdom of God.
Undoubtedly, it is this grace that explains the great expansion of our Movement and many wonderful achievements linked to it.
This is why, in the beginning, conscious of this extraordinary privilege, we expressed ourselves in this way:
‘Keep one idea fixed in your head. Was alway It s one single idea that made great Saints. And our idea is this: Unity’.
‘Let everything else crumble – Unity, never! … Always have this Fire burning among you. And don’t be afraid if it means dying. You’ve already experienced that Unity demands the death of everyone, to give life to the One! … Do this as your sacred duty, even though it will bring you immense joy! Jesus promised the fullness of joy to those who live Unity! …’
During the next month, let us make every effort to obtain this gift always.
And let us not seek it solely for our own happiness, but in order to be prepared for our typical form of evangelisation. You know it: ‘That they may be one … so that the world may believe’ (Jn 17:21).
The world has a great need of faith, it needs to believe! And we are all called to evangelise. One day, St Francis said to one of the brothers: ‘Let’s go out to preach.’ Then, tucking their hands inside the sleeves of their cloaks and with their eyes cast down they walked through the city preaching through their very being, mortification and total poverty.
Let us also go out to the world and launch our way of preaching. If someone observes two or more of us united (in the focolares, in the nuclei, in the units, in our meetings, or because we happen to be together) may they be struck by a ray of our faith and believe.
May they believe in love because they have seen it.
Let’s get down to work. This is what the Lord wants from us. He wants it through our charism which has been engraved in our Statutes: unity is the premise that comes before every other will of God.
Then we can also speak in order to spread the Gospel… but afterwards.
Chiara Lubich
(Convesazioni, Città Nuova, Roma 2019, pp 522/4
Photo: © JGH – CSC Audiovisivi
The Neighbour behind the screen
Some time ago, thanks to modern technology, after many years of not seeing each other my former school classmates reunited: we created a group on WhatsApp. Between anecdotes and old photos, we managed to identify a companion that no one had heard from anymore and we added him to the group.
He told us that he lived on the street. A series of health problems, a battle with cancer, losing his job and family break up had left him with nothing. At first, some of us contributed some money, but faced with a second call for help, the response was silence or rejection.
Even though we hadn’t been close friends at school, I felt couldn’t just look on. I thought that since he had reappeared in my life through that WhatsApp group, I should do something. I couldn’t simply ignore him
I decided to meet him. I wanted to see for myself how he was doing and listen to him. He had spent a few days in a hostel, but had soon ended up back on the street. I didn’t have the means to solve his housing problem or offer him a home, but I felt the need to discern what God wanted from me in that situation.
We met and talked for a long time. I was deeply moved by the decline in his physical health, so I offered to help him with a natural medicine that I could provide so that, at least, he might regain a bit of peace and well-being. But beyond his physical state, I remembered that he had once felt a strong religious vocation and that he had even been on the verge of entering the seminary. I asked him about his faith.
He told me that he had distanced himself from everything; he had not set foot in a church or approached the sacraments for years. With complete sincerity, I advised him that since his illness was progressing and he felt in danger, he should seek refuge in God.
I suggested that he go to Mass, talk to a priest and, if he felt up to it, go to confession. The next day he called me overcome with emotion. He had gone to church, gone to confession and received communion. He thanked me from the bottom of his heart because he realized that, having lost all material things, his relationship with God was the only thing he really had left.
We’re still in touch today. He managed to get a pension and is feeling a little better. I continue to help him with this natural medicine complementary to his treatment and, every now and then, we meet for coffee or I bring him something he needs, like a pair of trainers. But over time I have come to understand that the most important thing was neither medicine nor shoes: it was the fact that someone stopped to talk to him.
Sometimes, a “neighbour” appears in a WhatsApp group and we run the risk of leaving them trapped in virtuality, where no one assumes any responsibility. My friend taught me that being attentive to another person’s needs, even if we cannot provide a definitive solution, is already a lot. If we could all make even a small gesture, how different things would be for other people! Let’s not allow others to be just a message on a screen, let’s make our help concrete, human and, above all, present.
Pablo Furlán (Argentina)
Illustrative photo: © Pexels-tkirkgoz