12 Sep 2017 | Non categorizzato
Thousands of young people are preparing for the Genfest by seizing opportunities to promote universal brotherhood across the globe. Not as noisy as the wars and bombings, less worth it for the crime channels, but factual and quite effective when it comes to building a world without barbed wire borders, hatred and indifference. It’s the MILONGA Project, not a place for dancing the tango, but an international volunteer programme that does have some similarities with the Latin American dance style known as tango: with its fast pace, its warmth and generous spirit. This communication network connects thousands of social projects around the world. It’s known as the MILONGA Project. MILONGA is an acronym formed by the Italian words for: a thousand non-governmental organizations in action (www.milongaproject.org) that are all inspired by the Focolare’s charism of unity. The young men and women who belong to the project not only volunteer, but also expand their hearts as they open themselves to the rich cultures of other countries. Promoted by the International New Humanity Association and by Youth for a United world, the MILONGA Project went through a pilot phase in Latin America (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Mexico, Paraguay, Venezuela and Uruguay). Now, it is also active in Italy, Croatia Jordan, Philippines, Kenya and Tanzania. 
On August 5th, representatives from the Focolare’s permanent Mariapolises around the world, and representatives from various NGOs, met for one week at the Mariapolis in Brazil to discuss strategies for further network development, examining strategic and management aspects of the program, selection and accompaniment, monitoring and reception of participants into the project; and also to offer a quality formation process that will have a positive impact on both the individual volunteers and on the host communities. Sixty young people who participated in the pilot projects will now have the opportunity to fulfil their dream of volunteering beyond their own borders. MILONGA provides training in preparation for the arrival in the host country, with an indvidualized training program for each volunteer, as well as for the host entity in the other country. It provides a trainer that accompanies the young person through every phase of the experience – training, stay and return to one’s own country. It also ensures that the young person will be welcomed by the local Mariapolis and Focolare community and have a direct experience of the local environment. Each participant has an opportunity to interact with peers on an international level by linking up with the United World Project. 
MILONGA’s method emerges from an experience that has matured over years, and from the impact that the volunteer experience is having in a variety of settings. It is a rather unique style of social action, in which the fraternal bond among the different actors is the main key. Fraternity is also the key in motivating the encounter of the different communities in vulnerable situations, to bring about an experience of communion with the volunteers, and experience of dialogue and real intercultural exchange, in order to discover together solutions that do not come from above, but are as much as possible shared in a reciprocal way. “It’s not so easy to put into a few words what I experienced for a month at the Casa de los Niños (Children’s Home) in Cochabamba,” says an Uruguayan volunteer at an NGO in Bolivia. “After New Year’s I was headed for an adventure that I had been thinking about for some time, saving money and getting my heart ready. I wanted to go with an NGO that had the Focolare spirit, and I was surprised by the brotherhood I experienced throughout every moment.” “I got to know a social reality that is very different from the one we live,” says a young Spanish volunteer, “a very powerful reality that helped me, not so much to be aware of certain problems, because perhaps I already had some knowledge of them, but to recognize and accept the fact that beyond where we come from, how much money we have, where we live – we’re all equal and the same.”
11 Sep 2017 | Non categorizzato
9 Sep 2017 | Non categorizzato
Mary’s children interpret her in many ways, all of them beautiful, but her most sumptuous beauty can be found in the singular position she holds among women. Hers is a name that we will never finish saying, a name that will continue to fill us with happiness every time we hear it. In the Angelic Salutation that has flown through history as a source of gladness, millions upon millions have greeted her in the same manner. With every Hail Mary all of us go back to that familiar salute, in the hope of obtaining her intercession in this human experiment called life, which culminates in death, the threshold of the everlasting life. “Mary!” Just saying her name makes our heart jump for joy, like the child in Elizabeth’s womb – “and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.” “Mary!” This is what shepherds and carpenters said as they came to the door of that semblance of a stall, which was the home of the Holy Family on the Nazareth hillside. “Mary” they called her, as they went on to ask a favour, because she was always willing to serve anyone and full of possibilities for everyone. And if they didn’t have favours to ask, they would show up simply because of the pleasure it gave them to greet her with that name, which was filled with beauty and wonder because it summarized all the mysteries of love. “Mary”, the feminine word for Love… Like Archangel Gabriel, Joseph, the saints, and many sinners, we continue centuries later to call her by that same name, fifty, a hundred, or more times a day. We never pin on to it noble titles, high-sounding appellatives, primacy or rank. We prefer – as she prefers – to draw her closer to us and to never draw far from her, so that we can draw near to the Spouse who shares a singular unity with her. The rush of the crowds, whirlwind of the passions and traces of the Spirit that vein human history are filled with that name, through which love travels from the depths of the earth to heights of Heaven. Humility draws closer, and love unites: this is the great tribute. We feel at home in Christ’s Church, we feel at home in the Communion of Saints in the orbit of the Trinity: because Mary is there. The Mother is there, and so the children can come in. Wherever there is Mary, there is love. Wherever there is love, there is God. Just to say the name of Mary in whatever place or circumstance, is to step into a divine atmosphere in a single breath, to light a star in the middle of the night, to unlock the healing flow of poetry in the midst of a technological plague, to make a swamp blossom with lilies. To say Mary is to restore the warmth of a family to a world that seems to have become a forced labour camp. Mary loves and hides herself in love: Real love is contemplation of the beloved. Also in this, by imitating the young woman from Nazareth, we can be contemplatives in the midst of the world, in the hovel of a country farm house or in the apartment of a city dwelling. The love in Mary was so great that she provided God to us – God who is Love. She all but ripped him from Heaven in order to give him to earth. She made the Holy One one of us, a man at the service of all. Truly, love means making yourself one with the Beloved. Mary became so one with God that he gave himself over to her so that, through her, he would give himself to all people. Ultimately, you are in the world, in a different time and place, but, being there like Mary, you are always and everywhere preparing the place for Jesus to stay. (Igino Giordani, Maria modello perfetto, (Rome: Città Nuova, 2012), 17-20.
8 Sep 2017 | Non categorizzato
Gen Verde’s contribution to the historical celebration.
We were truly delighted to receive an invitation to perform at the Jubilee of the Reformation celebration in Stadthagen. Here we come with our concert On the Other Side!
It also has given us the opportunity to return to Germany after many years. In the month of September we will be in Boppard with our Upfront and Unplugged acoustic concert. And in Dortmund, Duderstadt and Mannheim with our Start Now Project. These are all opportunities to meet many people and to invite them to be protagonists all together in showing how we can look at the world from “the Other Side”: the side of those who believe in and live for unity. And to all the others: follow us at http://www.genverde.it/tours/
7 Sep 2017 | Non categorizzato
The multi-religious marathon, “Rome Half Marathon Via Pacis,” will start off on Sunday 17 September from St. Peter’s Square to promote peace, integration and inclusion. Promoted by the Rome Capital and the Pontifical Council for Culture, Ministry of the Holy See, in partnership with FIDAL (Italian Track and Field Federation) and with the sponsorship of the CONI and CIP, the event is open to all, to say “stop violence, racism, and discrimination of any type and origin.” There will be two race routes (21 and 5 km), with five legs (St. Peter’s Basilica, Synagogue, Mosque, Valdes Church and Orthodox Church) to underline the participation of various confessions and religious communities. Also Sportmeet, the world network of sportsmen and women, operators and professionals of the Focolare Movement’s sports world will be attending as a sole team: “Sportmeet for a United World.” Those who wish to participate with Sportmeet may write to: info@sportmeet.org (also for the possible stay in Rome).
5 Sep 2017 | Non categorizzato
“I’ll be coming as a pilgrim of hope and of peace, to celebrate our faith in the Lord with you, and also to learn from your charity and perseverance in the search for peace and harmony.” This is how addressed the “dear people of Colombia” in a video message just a few hours before his departure for Bogotà. Speaking in Spanish, he cited the motto of his journey, recalling that “we always need to take a first step in any project and activity.” This “urges us also to be the first to love, to build bridges and construct brotherhood. This “urges us to be the first to love, to build bridges, to spread brotherhood. It encourages us to go out to meet the other, to offer our hand and share the sign of peace.” The Pope went on to say that Colombia is a “land rich in history, culture,, faith, men and women that have worked with determination and perseverance to make it a place where brotherhood and harmony reign, a place where the Gospel is known and loved, where saying brother or sister doesn’t sound strange, but a real and proper treasure to protect and defend.” 
The Focolare community is preparing joyfully for the Pope’s arrival. Yolima Martínez reports from Bogotà: “We members of the Focolare will welcome him with great enthusiasm, so that his message may fill our land with hope. Colombia, she explains, is in a transitional phase, a phase of deep social divisions that continue to persist. “But we know, as Chiara Lubich taught us, that all of us are candidates for unity, so we believe that the words of the Holy Father will be a call to peace for everyone, to reconciliation and tolerance, regardless of anyone’s creed or way of thinking.” There great expectation in the air, especially among Christians. “The young people, summoned by the local Church, are preparing for this visit, preparing not only the logistical aspects, but also their own souls in view of this encounter. 
Escuela Sol Naciente in Tocancipà, north of Bogotà where the Mariapolis Centre is located, is geared toward children and teenagers between the ages of 13 and 15, to give them a global formation as individuals that are sensitive to the values of solidarity, peace and ecology. Fifteen of their students and two of their teachers will take part in the Eucharist presided by the Pope. One of them is Milena: “I’m happy to be meeting Pope Francis, because he’s one of the closest persons to the young people. He understands us and invites us to follow God and build a better society.” Laura: “The Pope’s visit inspires us to be better and to help everyone, not only the Christians, but also the people that think differently.” Andrés: “The Pope is an important figure in today’s culture, so it will be an opportunity for us to profit from his wisdom.” Yolima continues: “All the Focolare members will be at the different Eucharistic celebrations, especially in Bogotá e Medellín. Among them, Lucia and her husband, Pedro, who will approach the Pope. They will extend the greetings from the whole Focolare community in Colombia. Lucia: “We’ll have a chance to approach him for a few minutes. Our wish is to go as children of Chiara, to thank him in the name of the Movement and to assure him of our prayers.” It will be a pause in the frenzy of daily life, an invitation to stop. “In the days that Pope Francis will be visiting our country,” Yolima concludes, “we’ll be presented with the possibility of a personal encounter: the encounter with Jesus.”
