3 Mar 2018 | Non categorizzato
https://vimeo.com/258422297 The President of the Focolare Movement shared a few points from her talk, explaining that – as Chiara Lubich herself said – Mary, the Mother of God, is the form and model of social action in the Movement. Maria Voce: I see Chiara always at my side, not with my eyes of course, but I feel she is always with me. Often people ask, do you draw inspiration from what Chiara said? Actually, I say no. I don’t draw inspiration from what Chiara said, I draw inspiration from her and ask myself: what would Chiara say now? What would Chiara do now? What answer would she invent for this problem that has come up? I try to listen to the Holy Spirit, seeking to do so with the same attention and depth as she did, and then I act. Chiara told us that she understood Mary in a very special way when she discovered her greatness as the mother of God. She discovered a Mary whom she herself said she had never known before: not the little child or the pure young girl from Nazareth, nor the simple housewife, but a Mary so great that God had chosen her to be the mother of his son, of the Word of God made flesh, so of God himself. This Mary, who was pleasing to God because of her humility, can give him glory through what he works in her. In her he works the great things that God wants to do: equality among all the brothers and sisters in the human family; a just distribution of goods in the world; that all people should be able to use the goods that God created for everyone; that all should recognise one another as brothers and sisters. Mary knows how to do this because she is a mother. I believe the characteristics of the social works arising from Chiara’s charism have, precisely, the characteristic of having been done by a mother who loves her children and who wants their greatest good. Above all, she wants them to be united among themselves, bound together by mutual love and that this love should underpin their relationships in society. Therefore, a new society animated by Gospel love, with a mother who is Mary.
3 Mar 2018 | Non categorizzato
“This is the great attraction of modern times: to penetrate to the highest contemplation while mingling with everyone, one person alongside others. I would say even more: to lose oneself in the crowd in order to fill it with the divine, like a piece of bread dipped in wine. I would say even more: made sharers in God’s plans for humanity, to embroider patterns of light on the crowd, and at the same time to share with our neighbor shame, hunger, troubles, brief joys. Because the attraction of our times, as of all times, is the highest conceivable expression of the human and the divine, Jesus and Mary: the Word of God, a carpenter’s son; the Seat of Wisdom, a mother at home.” Published in “Chiara Lubich: Essential Writings”, New City Press, Hyde Park, New York, 2002, p 169.
2 Mar 2018 | Non categorizzato
Starting Again From Zero When I was still quite small my father left us. My mother fell into a deep depression and began to drink. I was raised by my maternal grandmother. When my mother died, I was in my adolescence and I was harbouring inside of me a desire for revenge. Then, I met a girl who introduced me into her parish community. Through those people, little by little, I discovered God, inner peace and balance. When we got married, I was able to say that that community was my family. One day, at work, a man came and introduced himself as my father. I was desolate and feared my reaction. Despite the surprise, I welcomed him warmly and told him about the daughter that had been born, and invited him home. A week later he came over with his partner. My wife and I gave them a warm and festive welcome. More than grandparents, they felt like adopted children. Since then, family life changed and so did theirs. It was as if the past no longer existed; only the desire to start from zero existed. P.P. – Serbia The Caricature A classmate had drawn a caricature of me, photocopied it and spread it around the school. I felt like beating him up! But then I decided to approach him and speak to him calmly. In fact, I invited him to my house, to do homework and go to see a film. When he asked me why I responded like that, I told him that I had learned to see Jesus in every neighbour, knowing that we all can make mistakes. Surprised, he wanted to know more. Now he’s also trying to put the words of the Gospel into practice. Daniel – Brazil The Humanity of Jesus The first signs of my multiple-sclerosis go back to when my wife, Susi, was expecting our daughter, Tecla. I, who was always used to working and playing sport, now found myself realizing that it was more and more difficult to move, until I was completely immobile. And yet, from the onset of the illness, I felt the reawakening of a desire for values that were true. Many years have gone by since then. Being sick, seeing my legs no longer able to respond anymore, depending on others for everything, feeling pain, knowing humiliation, feeling different: I experienced all that. But my suffering helped me to understand the “humanity” of Jesus much more than before. Renato – Italy The Florist It was a very cold night. An old flower-seller was trying to sell her flowers. She was wearing an old blanket and seemed resigned to watch the people go by with haste and indifference. I thought, if I were in her position, I’d enjoy something warm. But there was no coffee shop in sight. So I found a boy selling homemade sweets. I bought one for her. When she took it and thanked me, she didn’t say many words, but her eyes showed how moved she was. I went on my way with the feeling of her gaze still upon me. Szidi – Romania
28 Feb 2018 | Non categorizzato
The new website expresses Sophia University Institute’s calling to become more and more global, not only because of its multidisciplinary approach to study and its cosmopolitan community of students and faculty, but also because of its openness and the soon to be opened training centres that will be added to the university of Loppiano near Florence, Italy. For ten years, Sophia has made dialogue and interaction among the different fields of knowledge an innovative method for overcoming the fragmenation, abstraction and isolation among the disciplines, with the goal of providing an open vision of the disciplines and the opportunity of comparing and combining their content, methods and results. Up until now Sophia has welcomed 450 students and faculty members from 50 countries and 4 continents. Visit the site
