Oct 12, 2017 | Non categorizzato
The crisis that has triggered around North Korea’s ballistic experiments and the reaction of the United States Administration have generated fears of the concrete possibility of a nuclear conflict. The old Latin adage to keep the peace prepare war is senseless today. The consequences of a conflict, furthermore with nuclear weapons, would have devastating consequences for the entire planet. Peace must be reached at all costs wherever it is strained and maintained, and wherever it has been achieved. The members of the Focolare Movement feel a growing awareness of the role each of us can play as individuals and as a community, in this process. Besides prayers, they have undertaken different types of common endeavours, often inspired by the initiatives of other organisations or movements with which the Focolare collaborates. In this sense we have to recall what the spiritual friendship between Chiara Lubich and Nikkyo Niwano, founder of the Japanese Buddhist movement, Rissho Kosei kai, has done to contribute to the cause of peace and to educate the new generations about this. “Despite the difficulties, our cooperation will make us hope that we can work for peace together,” Niwano wrote to Chiara. On the occasion of the Focolare’s 50th anniversary, the founder of the Buddhist movement and his son, Nichico, repeated this common commitment to “make our human family more united.” The Rissho Kosei kai also made itself heard over the last days with an official communication of the President-elect, Rev. Madame Kosho Niwano, to the world’s political and spiritual leaders, to renew the commitment of her movement and to ask them to leave no stone unturned in preserving peace in the Korean peninsula. The appeal draws inspiration from the ideas of the founder, Niwano, who on the occasion of his speech before the United Nations Assembly in 1978 right in the midst of the Cold War, had addressed the leaders of the USA and USSR. “Instead of risking with arms, please take the risk of peace and disarmament,” he said. Niwano, like many religious leaders of his time, among which were Paul VI, John Paul II, and Chiara Lubich, had realised the responsibility of religions in contributing to the creation and maintenance of world peace. The message Mme. Niwano also sent to Maria Voce, President of the Focolare Movement, is that of a daughter of a people that had suffered in an indescribable manner in the last world conflict that had set the political leaders of the world before the danger of the effects of sanctions that could cause unpredictable reactions. Also in the West there is a growing awareness of the danger of a nuclear escalation. On the occasion of the remembrance of the Day of Prayer for peace, established by John Paul II in 1986, the Committee for a Civilisation of Love prepared a meditation entitled Project for peace in the Korean region for the convention to be held at the convention in the Sacred Convent of Assisi (Italy) next 28 October. Read the original message
Oct 10, 2017 | Non categorizzato
The event was divided in two parts. A forum in English will be held at 9:00 in the Great Hall of Sophia University Institute, titled Perspectives on Global Transformations. The will mark the official opening of the Sophia Global Studies Centre. At 17:00 the official inauguration of the Academic Year will be held in the Auditorium of Loppiano and include a moment of reflection on the new challenges facing Sophia. Program
![Thanking those who dream of a united world]()
Oct 10, 2017 | Non categorizzato
30th September 2017
Dear all, During our international meeting at Castel Gandolfo, we have been able to see all that the charism of unity is doing in the world and deepen our identity as the Work of Mary. At the end of the meeting, we felt a great desire to reach out to each one of you who, in various ways, have adhered to and live the Ideal and who, in the most varied situations, make your own contribution to building up fragments of fraternity wherever you are. We realised there are so many people to whom we owe gratitude and recognition, since you have loved, suffered and given your life to build up this reality. From the depths of our hearts, we want to say a huge thank you to everyone, without forgetting those who, while not considering themselves an active part of the Movement today, continue to live their daily lives motivated by Chiara’s same Ideal. We are certain that Mary, Mother of the Movement and of us all, will help us go forward together on the journey towards the unity of the human family, as witnesses to her love, wherever we are. Considering all of us, in all we are doing and living, as little knots in a great net, we embrace you all.
Emmaus and everyone
Oct 9, 2017 | Non categorizzato
Don’t let the unpronounceable acronym scare you: with the help of a simple, straightforward and brightly coloured graphic design, it is proving to be very useful to the international community of EdC entrepreneurs who wish to share their own talents and experience to boost the growth of new enterprises. The portal addresses business companies, cooperatives, small enterprises, associations with positive social impact, and also people who want to conduct their own companies in conformity with the principles of ethics, social and environmental responsibility and inclusion. The platform offers various services like start-ups, but is likewise a bridge with the entire international community which all can become a part of. It is not difficult to do so, and thanks to the portal, every new entrepreneur driven by a spirit of cooperation and reciprocity, can benefit from distance tutoring or personal mentoring to develop his/her own project. The offer goes through the network of national Hubs. These are “access points,” network “junctions” currently present in 13 countries (Africa, Central America, South America and Europe). The online launch of the platform came about a year after the opening of the first Hub. In this span of time, the Hubs have multiplied, promoting local courses and technical-professional training workshops and in-depth studies on the values that imbue the EoC project, giving personalized and systematic support to the execution of new business projects. If up to now the action of Hubs could only address people in a limited territorial field, these same opportunities are offered today, also to those who are not physically close to a local Hub, thanks to the platform (in Spanish, Portuguese, German, Italian, French and English). Roylán, a telecommunications and electronics engineer of the Spanish Hub, explained: “Transmitting the basic notions of entrepreneurial language and adequately and concretely encouraging the new entrepreneurs who are undergoing moments of uncertainty and doubts is an enriching challenge. Upon coordinating the appointments and tasks of the people who voluntarily cooperate with the start-ups, I was able to appreciate the contributions of each one: there are huge potentials when we work together, driven by the common call to the Economy of Communion.” Each Hub has its own story to tell. The Hub of Mexico, for example, was born from the encounter between some economic activities of the territory that wanted to develop at small-enterprise levels and the EoC incubation programme. Enrique, producer of homemade jams, participated in the first incubation workshop in Mexico City. ”The incubation session helped me to grow in a short time and transform my activity into a real business. But at the same time it enhanced my personality and the deep growth in the EoC culture. The biggest change for me was to start generating communions starting from my business, and helping vulnerable people. When the business grows, we will be able to offer jobs to needy, disabled people or those who couldn’t find jobs elsewhere. Technically speaking, it helped me to improve the production and conservation processes of the products, improving quality. We are now formalising all the licenses necessary to enter more decisively into the market.” Within the platform there is a “reserved area” for entrepreneurs who wish to join the EoC community. There are three different environments: “Networking,” to present one’s own projects, and meet other entrepreneurs and exchange experiences; “Wiki Toolkit,” to share articles and videos, and “Digital Incubation,” addressing those who have projects that have no possibility of being implemented locally. See the EoC-IIN site Source: EoC online
Oct 8, 2017 | Non categorizzato
For some time, the church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Trent, Italy, has been wanting to install a commemorative plaque to show visitors from around the world that Chiara Lubich was baptized there. The request from the parish priest was received favourably by Focolare’s president, Maria Voce, and so a commemorative plaque (stele) was created near the baptismal font. It is a simple, meaningful sign that, along with a photo of the young Chiara Lubich, there is also one of her inspirational sayings that sums up the charism she received: “One thing is clear in our hearts: God wants unity from us. We live to be one with God, with each other and with everyone. This splendid calling connects us to heaven and immerses us in a universal brotherhood.”
Oct 7, 2017 | Non categorizzato
“The rosary is the drama of the Redemption seen through the eyes of Mary, virgin and Mother: the joys of Nazareth, the light of Bethlehem, the actions of Joseph, then the tragedy of the cross, and finally the heavenly glory. These are made family patrimony, they belong to us. They are our story, our life.” (Igino Giordani, Una stella accesa nella notte, (A star shining in the night) Città nuova, Roma, 2004, p. 81). 1922-1925. “If it is not possible in the pure stillness of vespers in our grandparents’ house, with a great blaze in the hearth, to gather in prayer with forefathers, grandchildren, children, and relatives: let us pray the Rosary in trams, in steamships, in the rumble of a tunnel and in the agitation of a locomotive: our effort to escape in an impetus of spirituality from the rampage of mechanized matter will be more commendable. A quarter of an hour in church will not be a sleepy habit and our prayer will be a fountain of respite in the gruelling heat of the civilization forced upon us.” (Igino Giordani, Diario di fuoco, (Diary of Fire) Città Nuova, Roma, 2005 [1980] p.19). 1933. “The Mother…There is an especially appreciative prayer to her, which represents a series of the mysteries of the life of Jesus cited with titles in her honour: the Rosary. It leads to serenity in the tired and sombre evening hours, in the arduous hours of life, and gives strength to hope in tomorrow and begin again: that coarse chain of cheap pearls transmits currents of celestial life into the poor bones exhausted by effort, lighting once again the only light in souls bombarded by social injustices or multiple misfortunes. It also gives to whoever lives, the hope of reaching the Father, of death with immortality, of the finite with Eternity.” (Igino Giordani, Diario di fuoco, cit. p.28) 1 October 1945. “Why does Mary mean so much to us? Because for us, those who truly follow the Gospel feel and act as children, for whom their mother is everything, and fills their every need. She is sought after because she leads them to God. They take her hand, they hold onto her skirts, because she leads them to the Father. There is no more reassuring, more loving or more beautiful way to present oneself to Him. Furthermore, in our Mother’s company, everything in life is more beautiful: Nature laughs, men themselves no longer seem savage.” (Igino Giordani, Diario di fuoco, cit. p.68) 9 October 1965. “I have only to see an image of Mary, so that the most beautiful things in my life come to mind. I then see that the joy of existence is called Mary for me; my glory is She, my strength is Her motherhood; the beauty that fascinates me is Her virginity; the acceptance of sorrow is the participation in Her trials as the Desolate. I see no positive aspect of my existence in which She does not enter: my life is Mary. And Mary is the Mother of Jesus: it is She who gives me God, weds the soul with the Holy Spirit, bringing it closer to the paternity of the Eternal. Who will thank you, Mama?” (Igino Giordani, Diario di fuoco, cit. p.180).
