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Gen Rosso Music and Arts Village

Gen Rosso Music and Arts Village

11 Apr 2018 | Non categorizzato

The GEN ROSSO (INTERNATIONAL PERFORMING ARTS GROUP) is presenting the 1st edition of the Gen Rosso Music and Arts Village, a residential in-depth artistic experience with the sharing of values in the light of the charism of unity. The project addresses young professionals and students preferably from 18 to 30 years of age, in disciplines such as music, dance, singing and theatre. The didactic method is designed and handled by Gen Rosso tutors having the qualified artistic capacities and experience. The program will include the study of specific themes. Exchange of experiences, dialogue sessions and practical labs will be exhibited in a final performance. The evening sessions will be enriched with interesting artistic contributions. The first edition of the Village will take place from 25 March (arrivals in the afternoon) to 1 April 2018. A participation certificate will be issued at the conclusion. Gen Rosso, through the Village secretariat, is at everyone’s disposal for further information and all the documentation needed for enrolment.  (limited number).   Contacts Secreteriat VILLAGE: +39 0558339821 (9.00-13.00, Italian time) Franco Gallelli cell +39 3806592166 Email secretariat VILLAGE:  village@genrosso.com

Holiness, a path for all

Holiness, a path for all

10 Apr 2018 | Non categorizzato

The third Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Francis on the call to sanctity in the contemporary world, “Gaudete et Exsultate” (Rejoice and be glad) was published on 9 April. Five Chapters, 44 pages: not a treatise on holiness, but an invitation to all, especially the young people, to “let the call to sanctity echo once again” indicating its risks, challenges, its opportunities.” Francis remarked – “Holiness is the nicest countenance of the Church. Also in the most varied environments outside the Catholic Church, the Spirit arouses signs of his presence that even help the disciples of Christ.” To become saints – the Pope sustained – we don’t have to copy lifestyles that may seem unreachable: “What counts is that each of the faithful discerns his own path and lets the best of himself emerge, that is, all the very personal things God has endowed him with and which does not lie in imitating something which was not conceived for him.” How can we answer this call? It’s done by tracing the path of the evangelical Beatitudes, a positive model “in the light of the Master” and a major road “against the current” with respect to the direction of the world everyone pursues. Gaudete et Exsultate

Wars are never good.

Wars are never good.

9 Apr 2018 | Non categorizzato

“Horrible news of bombardments continues to arrive from Syria, with dozens of victims including women and children. News of many wounded by the effects of chemical substances contained in bombs. Let us pray for the deceased, the wounded and the families that are experiencing pain and suffering. There’s no such thing as a good war and a bad war and nothing, nothing can justify the use of such tools of extermination against individuals and whole populations. Let us pray that responsible politicians and military leaders choose the other path, that of negotiation, the only way that can lead to a peace that isn’t the result of death and destruction.” These words were spoken by Pope Francis on Sunday, April 8, 2018. We join in his appeal, praying that negotiated solutions will be found to the terrible conflict that is bloodying Syria in recent days and many other places that receive little coverage in the news, which continue to produce victims in many places in the world. And we continue to work at all level promoting peace through dialogue.

Chiara Lubich: “Divine Mercy”

Chiara Lubich: “Divine Mercy”

7 Apr 2018 | Non categorizzato

“The Return of the Prodigal Son” by Rembrandt

[…] God is Love: it is the fundamental discovery, the inspiring spark that is at the origin of the gift of the charism of unity which Chiara Lubich received from the Holy Spirit in our times. The discovery that God is Love was for her and for her first companions, right from the beginning of the Movement, something so totally new that it produced a kind of inner conversion. Chiara therefore discovered not a distant God, who is inaccessible and unknown, but God as a Father and consequently that relationship between heaven and earth that unites us as children to the Father and brothers and sisters among us. God therefore close to us as Father, a Father who watches over the life of each one of us and the life of the whole of humanity. Everything that happens is therefore seen as the realization of his plan of love for each one, as a tangible proof of his watchful gaze, of his near presence. “Even the hairs of your head are numbered” (Mt 10:30). It is a paternal love that provides for all our needs, even the smallest, to fill the gaps left by our imperfections, our shortcomings, our sins. It is the face of a merciful Father who – through the incarnate Son – manifests himself, who fully reveals his love through mercy. A classic example is the parable of the Prodigal Son (Lk 15: 11-32). In June 1999, Chiara was able to give this parable as an example to a large meeting of young people gathered in Paderborn Cathedral in Germany). […] “The father of the prodigal son had much to do: he had to administer the farm, the workers, and to look after the family; but he lived totally in expectation of his son’s return. He would climb into the tower of his house and looked out into the distance. This is how, young people, we can imagine the Heavenly Father: whilst the divine and dynamic Trinitarian life belongs to him, whilst he sustains creation and assigns places to those who go to Heaven, yet he gives priority to one thing: he waits. Who? We, me, you, especially if we have distanced ourselves from Him. One fine day, the parable recounts, that son whom the earthly father loved so much, squandered everything and came back. His father rushes to embrace him, he endows him with precious garments, puts the ring on his finger, prepares the fat calf for the party. What does this say to us? That he wishes to see his son new, and not what he had become. Not only does he want to forgive him, but he even goes so far as to forget his past. This shows his love for him expressed in the parable. This is the love of the Father for us throughout our life: he forgives and forgets”. Chiara continues: “I recently saw a documentary […] which presented and examined in detail a famous painting by Rembrandt which depicts the Father of the Gospel narrative welcoming the prodigal son. It is beautiful in all its details. But what is most striking is way the hands of the Father are placed on the shoulders of the son kneeling in front of him: one depicts a strong hand, like that of a man, while the other is finer, like that of a woman. Through this image the artist wanted to convey the love of the Father as being both paternal and maternal. And this is how we must think of  it too. ” Source: Alba Sgariglia, Chiara Lubich Centre, Rome, 14 May 2016.