Aug 20, 2017 | Non categorizzato
The World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation (September 1) was instituted by the Orthodox Church in 1989. Since then, many other Christian Churches have joined the celebration, including the Catholic Church in the wake of Pope Francis’ Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’ on the care of our common home. The protection and safeguarding of the environment, the care and attention given to all people and to the environment which they inhabit, with particular regard to the poor and marginalized members of society, will be the central theme of the various initiatives and joint prayer meetings that will take place in different countries.
Aug 19, 2017 | Non categorizzato
Praying does not consist specifically in dedicating time to meditation during the day, or in reading some passages of the Holy Scriptures or the writings of saints, and in trying to think of God or of ourselves for our own interior renewal. This is not the essence of prayer. Neither is it only the recitation of the rosary or morning and evening prayers. These are certainly expressions that help us to come in contact with God and express this intimate reality, which however never coincides completely with it. At most, a person can do all this during the day and may not have even prayed for an instant. In fact, there’s a substantial difference between prayer and prayers, which I shall try to explain, starting from the prayer that is mostly unconscious, but not less essential because of this. When, at night, we look up to watch the starry sky, we see a universe of unending beauty which enchants and amazes us in its silent obedience to a law: the law of life and harmony which from the beginning created it and sustains it in every moment: This law alone testifies to the Creator. The same goes for the stars in the sky, and the plants and flowers that “know” when it is time to blossom, when to bear fruit and die. A profound rapport thus binds all living creatures to God, a relation that – I dare say – is also a profound prayer because, with their beings and their sole existence, they unconsciously recognise and follow that law, “narrating the glory.” (Psalm 18.2). But this hidden prayer finds its highest expression – because it is free and conscious – also in man. It is that prayer which arises when man, even before entering into a dialogue with God, acknowledges him as the Father who created and sustains his being, on par with the entire universe. The relationship with God therefore stands out in its reality as the vital and together healing fundament all in one. And so, a relationship which man is called to establish daily with him, or to request from him, as some masters of the spirit do, in an original interpretation of the Our Father: “Give us today our daily bread,” is the request. Prayer, in order to be such, firstly demands a relationship with Jesus: to go with him, in spirit beyond our human condition, our worries, our prayers, though beautiful and necessary, and establish this intimate relationship with him. […] Let us now see some other ways through which this relationship can develop. I shall start from a type of prayer which apparently may not seem to such, and this is the prayer of offering. This is experienced by those who, prostrated by physical or spiritual sufferings, are unable to do anything, even to speak, and who offer to God, even if for the span of just an instant, all their existence. This type of prayer may thus be considered as the deepest type, since it embeds the soul in that point where our contact with God is immediate and direct. But also work can assume the type of a prayer of offering. I am thinking particularly of those who, during the day, are overcome by physical fatigue, and are almost unable to gather the necessary energy to dedicate themselves to prayer. Well, also they, if in the morning place an intention to offer their day to God, will feel that they are living in a continual dialogue with him, and in the evening, in the silence of even a brief moment of reflection will find union with him. And in the end, this is what humanity today is particularly sensitive to, the fact that the entire universe and all that it does, can be transformed into an immense, unceasing prayer that lifts up to God. Pasquale Foresi, from “Luce che si incarna” ( “Incarnated Light ”)– Ed.Città Nuova, Rome 2014, p. 31-32-33.
Aug 15, 2017 | Non categorizzato
“The very thought of talking about Mary makes my soul tremble and my heart patter. This is a topic that lies beyond our faculties and silence would be more appropriate than words. Mary! The most extraordinary among all created beings, exalted to the point of being clothed with the title and reality Mother of God and therefore Immaculate, Assumed into Heaven, Queen and Mother of the Church. Mary is closer to God than to human creatures, and yet she’s a creature just like us, and that’s how she stands in front of the Creator. This is why it’s possible for her to be like an inclined plane for us, which touches heaven and earth. And so, even in her extraordinary state, she can be: a girl, young woman, fiance, mother, spouse, widow… just like us who at any age or in any condition in life can find a connection with her and therefore a model. […] As for having a true devotion to her – while recognizing the many devotions that have blossomed down through the ages to provide the Christian people with the sense of her maternal love, bearing in mind all the large and small woes in life – I would advise a way that brings to life in our hearts a love for Mary that’s like the kind Jesus has for her. While Mary has all those magnificent and extraordinary qualities that you know about, she’s also ‘the perfect Christian’. And, as you can see from the Gospel, she doesn’t live her own life but lets God’s law live in her. She’s the one who can say better than any other: ‘It is no longer I who live, but Christ living in me” (Gal 2:20). Mary is the living Word of God. If you really want to love her, ‘imitate her’. You be living Word of God! Imitating her makes you similar to her and leads you to love her because, as the saying goes, ‘Love either finds or makes equals,’ and it’s also true that equals love each other. […] So let’s imitate Mary, let’s become like her and love for her will suddenly blossom in our own hearts.” Chiara Lubich “Dialogo aperto”. Pubblicato in Città Nuova, 1976, n. 9, p. 33. See Centro Chiara Lubich
Aug 13, 2017 | Non categorizzato
Igino Giordani treated young people with the love that emerges from the unity among generations. He was a brother to everyone, child or grown-up, because fraternity gathers us into one in the sight of the one Father: “Jesus used very vivid words to express his close kinship with people. One can only imagine how he loved his mother and cousins, childhood friends and the confidants of his youth. Yet, one time, when their arrival was announced to him as he was teaching, he responded: ‘Who is my mother and who are my brothers and sisters?’ And extending his hand towards his disciples, he said: ‘There is my mother, there are my brothers: whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, sister and mother’ (see Mt 12:48-50). The meaning of his answer is obvious: whoever accepts God’s fatherhood, becomes brother, sister and mother of Jesus. Christianity relates us to Christ and, through Him, to God, with the first degree of kinship which is brotherhood” [Igino Giordani, Il messaggio sociale del cristianesimo, 2001, p. 87]. Giordani compared the unity among generations to driving a car: youth is like the engine; old age like a prudent guide; both of them are required for arriving at the goal! From among his many letters, in 1979, a year before his death, there is one from a nine year old boy nicknamed Sandokan, who establishes a profound relationship with Igino, whom he calls ‘Little Grandpa with the heart of a Gen.” “Dear Grandpa, ever since I heard that you were sick, I’ve been trying to pray more for you. Today Mom, Dad and I asked the priest to remember you at Mass. And I asked Jesus in my heart to help and be close to you in this moment. I remember that in one letter I told you I’d visit you at home, but I couldn’t – but the important thing is to have you in my heart and [for me to be] in yours. When you’ve left us all, would you say hi to Jesus for us? You know, I’m sad that you’re going because I love you very much – but I’m glad that you’re going to be able to see Jesus who was everything for you. A big kiss from your Sandokan.” “Dearest Sandokan, also known as Fernando, I remember you very well. You and I are sons of the same Father, Jesus. And I spend my days alongside you, without a care for the fact that we live far from one another. Dad told you well: I’m a grandpa with the heart of a Gen. So that means we’re the same age as brothers. Just remember me to your little brothers who are also Jesus’s sons; and love them as you love Mom and Dad and as you love Jesus… A kiss on the nose from your Grandpa.” On the benches of the Mariapolis Centre, during the congresses that were offered to them by the Focolare Movement, the young people crowded around him, singing, dancing and discussing their lives with him. Each of them felt loved and made pacts with him to follow and live the Ideal of unity that Chiara Lubich had proposed. Giordani made a note of one of those joyful encounters in his diary: “Even though I’m without voice today, they asked me to say something at the school for the Gen boys and girls – three hundred people. I improvised, talking about different things, but focusing them on the mystery of love that is contained in the God-Brother-Me triad. There was an explosion of enthusiasm among the Gen boys and girls that was enhanced by songs and demonstrations of joy and unity among all” [from: Diario di fuoco, April 25, 1979].
Aug 11, 2017 | Non categorizzato
The first event in Mary’s life mentioned in the New Testament is the Annunciation (cf. Lk 1:25ff). Mary had been chosen by God from eternity, but something very special happened to her at the Annunciation. The angel appeared to her with a message from God, and Mary accepted it. Because of her yes, a new reality was immediately born within her: the incarnation of Jesus in her womb. If we try to understand the lives of some saints, we can see that something analogous to what took place in Mary happens spiritually in them as well, when, for example, they come across a charism that God has given for the good of the Church. We know the story of Saint Clare of Assisi, the most perfect disciple of Saint Francis. It sometimes happens that, while visiting the Church of Saint Damian in Assisi, where she lived, the tour guide describes that sacred place by saying, “Here is where Christ was incarnated in the heart of Clare.” And these are not just words; they reveal a profound truth. Even though Clare of Assisi had, we may assume, lived in a state of grace, her meeting with Francis brought about something new in her. Francis was the personification of a word of God addressed to the world anew — the word “poverty.” Meeting him caused Christ to develop and grow in Clare, to the extent that she became one of the greatest saints of the universal Church. And is it not indeed the thought of popes, saints and Church Fathers, that the Word generates Christ in souls? Likewise, when at a certain point in our lives we come to know the charism of unity, through another person, a publication or a meeting, and we feel God’s call to make it our own, if we say our yes, something similar to that which happened to Mary and the saints happens to us. Christ can truly begin to develop and grow spiritually in our hearts, as though by an actualization of our baptism. I read that Clare of Assisi before dying said these marvellous words, “I thank you, Lord, for having created me,” meaning, by creating me you have acquired your own glory. Hers was a death of love. If only heaven would wish something like this for us! If we remain faithful, our own death too will not be simply a physical death, but a death of love. We too will rise up to meet our mother, our saint, our model, the one who on this earth was our head, our queen, and our mother. And we will see the glory of Mary, queen of heaven and of earth. Above all, we will see her surrounded by those who loved her in a special way. From Chiara Lubich, “Mary – Transparency of God”, New City, London, 2003 – pp. 52-53, 67.
Aug 5, 2017 | Non categorizzato
“Contemplating the immensity of the universe, the extraordinary beauty and power of nature, my mind rose spontaneously to the Creator of it all, to a new sort of understanding of the immensity of God. It made a new and strong impression on me; I felt like falling on my knees to adore, praise, and glorify God. I felt a great need of this, as if it were my actual vocation. It was as if my eyes had been opened, to understand as never before who it is that we have chosen as our ideal; or rather, who has chosen us. I saw that he is so great, so great, so great, that it seemed impossible that he thinks of us. This impression of God’s immensity stayed in my heart for several days. Now, saying, “Hallowed be thy name,” or “Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,” is different for me: it has become a need of the heart. (Rocca di Papa, 22.1.87) “… Contemplating perhaps an endless stretch of sea, a high mountain range, an impressive glacier or the night sky dotted with stars. What majesty! The immen¬sity of it! And through the dazzling splendour of nature, we would find our way to its author: God, the King of the universe, the Lord of the galaxies, the Infinite. … He is everywhere: beneath the sparkle of a glittering stream, within the blossoming of a flower, in a bright dawn or a red sunset, on a snow-covered peak. Nature is rarely preserved in our concrete cities, built by human hands in the midst of the noise of the world. Yet, if we want, a glimpse of blue sky between the skyscrap¬er peaks is enough to remind us of God; a ray of sunlight, which does not fail to pierce even through the bars of a prison, is enough; a flower is enough, a meadow, a child’s face. … This will help us go back into the midst of humanity, which is where we belong, strengthened, as Jesus certainly was when having prayed all night to the Father on the mountainside under the starry sky, he went back among people to do good. (Mollens, 22.9.88) From Chiara Lubich – “Cercando le cose di lassù” [Seeking the things that are above]– Città Nuova Editrice, Roma 1992, pagg. 5 – 111,112.
