4 Jun 2018 | Non categorizzato
The cake Family life is not always straight forward. An argument can break out when you least expect it. Last weekend we were in the car on our way to visit friends. My wife had spent a whole day in the kitchen preparing a really special cake. Just as we were about to arrive I realised I had missed the turning to their road and I put my foot down hard on the brakes. As the car came to a sudden halt, the cake propelled forward onto the floor. A heated “discussion” ensued. I wanted to make the point that the cake had been left in the wrong place where it could fall, as in fact it had done. However, I managed to stop myself and instead I apologised. Eventually the tension eased, and when we arrived at our friends’ house, bearing no gift and with our clothes covered in cake, we were nevertheless in harmony with each other. Enrique – Spain Someone less fortunate I had just got off the train when a youth pushed passed me, chased by three men shouting «Stop thief!». They caught up with him and started to beat him. On seeing this I rushed in and tried to shield him. He was just a young boy, he looked about 16 years old. Curled up on the ground he tried to say in broken Italian that he had stolen food because he hadn’t had anything to eat for days. When the police arrived, he explained that he was a refugee from Congo, where all the members of his family had been killed. I asked to be allowed to accompany him to Accident and Emergency. “You have saved my life,” he said along the road, “you are my Italian mother!” He was diagnosed with cranial trauma and three broken ribs, and admitted into hospital. As he didn’t have the clothing he needed, I went to buy some for him. On my return, someone asked me why I was going to so much effort for a stranger, and for a thief at that! I replied without hesitation, «I’m a Christian and it’s my duty to help a neighbour who is less fortunate than myself». Anna Maria – Italy A bessing denied G.’s life ended in the most shameful and miserable way, following a night of alcohol and prostitutes. At that was not all. The night before he died, he had taken his fifteen year old son into this dark world to, as he said, teach him how to “be a man”. When I was called to bless his dead body, I immediately responded that he did not deserve the Church’s blessing. I felt I was doing the right thing in the name of justice and in order to give a good example. However, afterwards I didn’t feel at peace in myself. I thought of the man’s widow and children. Was I right to deny them this small comfort? Didn’t I only know the man’s story superficially? And yet I had set myself up as his judge, in the place of God. After a sleepless night, I made a decision. I went to visit the man’s family, to ask their forgiveness and to make arrangements for a Mass for the repose of the soul of their loved one. Maybe this gesture brought a little peace to them. E. P. – Italy Aquiline nose Among my group of friends, we always talk about things like fashion and make up and so on. One day, one of the girls started mocking me, saying I had an “aquiline” nose. This made everyone laugh. I rushed away, feeling humiliated and I stayed in a bad mood for days. My family saw the state I was in, but nothing they could do could make me feel better. Then one evening my sister invited me to go with her to a meeting of people who base their actions on the Gospel. I agreed and when I got there, I felt as if I had entered another world, one in which important things really had value and not just banalities like the shape of a nose or of a dress. Since then, I have experienced profound peace within me. I now feel truly myself. C. K. – Poland
1 Jun 2018 | Non categorizzato
DATES
From July 1st to 5th: Workshop with young people
From July 6th to 8th: GenFest
GenVerde Tours
31 May 2018 | Non categorizzato
On the eve of the feast of Pentecost, 19th May, the Diocese of Stockholm hosted a meeting of movements within the Catholic Church, including the Focolare Movement, the Charismatic Renewal and the Neocatechumenal Way. Over one hundred people attended. Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation “Gaudete et exsultate” was presented, provoking an enriching exchange among those present. During the celebratory Mass, Cardinal Anders Arborelius of Stockholm expressed how precious he considers the presence of ecclesial movements in the local Church. The Focolare community responded: “We all felt co-responsible for the meeting, and by the end of the day we were all so joyful and grateful. We think this was a sign of the tangible presence of Jesus guiding his ‘little flock’. Every year, this meeting is becoming more and more enthusiastically received, and we feel the communion among us all is truly growing”.
29 May 2018 | Non categorizzato
Beatriz Sarkis
Photo credit © Albin Hillert/WCC
Photo credit © Albin Hillert/WCC
28 May 2018 | Non categorizzato
“You, Chiara, are the one who helped us understand what marriage truly is: openness and the fulfilment of the plan of God on us. We will use all our strength for the family and the world to become what they should be”. Maria da Conceição, known to all as São, wrote this to Chiara Lubich at the start of our joint adventure – recalls Zé Maia. We got married in Braga in 1981 and from our union six children were born. Then the grandchildren started arriving, nine so far. Chiara Lubich had proposed to São a particular phrase of the Gospel to guide her life: “He must increase and I must decrease. (John 3:30)’. How many times São repeated this to me over the years!” In 2002 Zé and São, both Portughese, moved with their children to the nascent Focolare town “Arco Iris”, 50 km from Lisbon, to help in its foundation. In November 2016, São went to the Mariapolis Centre of Castelgandolfo near Rome, to participate in the “Together for Europe” event. “Before she left for Rome, she said to me, Zé recounts, ‘I’m happy to be part of this meeting; I believe this is the way we should follow”. It was to be her last act of love, joyfully living her life for others. Completely unexpectedly, on 11th November, she had a heart attack and God called her to himself.” Today, what I am going through is living her, whom I find within me, as “one flesh” but now between heaven and earth. Her last words remain fresh in my mind, when she challenged us to “go ahead together, courageously”. So I start again every day, with the encouragement and help of the Focolare life. At home with my family, we’re discovering a “new us”, and experiencing how all we’ve built with love remains. It continues because eternity is perfect love. I’m constantly seeking how to become both father and mother. I’m living as if São was here with me, welcoming other people to our home, or out doing the shopping. Together with her I go to get flowers, or cook a nice lunch for the children or prepare those special treats the grandchildren love. Together with her I’ll speak to someone to correct them if need be, or support them or encourage them. It’s a constant dialogue between earth and heaven. Since São’s death, I’ve made a new discovery of Jesus in the Eucharist, as the moment in which we meet. Certainly, I feel so sad at times, but I find those moments are helping me to open up my heart towards my neighbours. I do feel the dark shadow of loneliness. But I realise I need to turn away from this and follow the light. At the end of each day I can find gratitude in my heart in the moments I lift up my gaze towards the invisible. Yet fear can still creep up on me like a thief, poised to steal away my peace of mind. And at times it’s as though my soul yearns to fly away to somewhere else. But in those moments I allow that ray of light to speak to me, it greets and welcomes me». “Sometimes I write to my children to tell them what I’m living with their mother. ‘Each day, through the kaleidoscope of the soul, I see her with a new kind of beauty, like a blue sky in which I can contemplate the mystery of he’. Life goes on in the family and in communion with others around me. I most assuredly miss her, I miss her company, I miss her companionship and I miss sharing everything with her. No-one can ever be ready to lose their spouse, to be left alone without the beloved voice and loving glances. The loss is felt at all levels, emotional, psychological and relational, as well as practically with the children, with the family as a whole and at work.” In 1967 Chiara Lubich addressed this issue. “The sacrament of marriage makes of two persons one, spiritually as well as physically”, she said. So when one of a couple “departs” for heaven “the marriage is ‘broken’, in the Will of God. It is a divine something – if you can say this – like a small Trinity that breaks”. So it is a real purification which can be best approached by setting oneself to love the people around. This year I seem to have discovered the meaning of God as Love. Love, more than being “of” God, is God himself. Only love remains. We found a short prayer São had written: “Help us to become the family you want us to be. Give me the grace to overcome all difficulties with wit, wisdom, intelligence and goodness. Help us to see everything in your own light”». Gustavo Clariá
