May 2, 2017 | Non categorizzato
Photo: Roger Anis
The second invitation was offered by President Al-Sisi when he visited the Vatican in 2014. He’s trying to bring ahead a culture of peace, not without difficulty. But the pope went beyond the politics, in depth. The third invitation came from the Grand Imam of al-Azhar in 2016. On that occasion the pope gave the Encyclical Laudato sii in a gesture of seeking what unites us. In my opinion it was quite courageous of the Grand Imam to offer this invitation, given the precedents. The pope’s speech at al-Azhar University was important, perhaps a beginning. Now I think time will be needed and courage to face the more delicate questions and in order to delve more deeply into the history as well . . . Now it’s up to us Egyptians to get working and moving forward.” 
Besides these important events Pope Francis also met with Catholic men and women Religious, priests and seminarians. “He spoke to them about how a pastor should act. The Catholic community in Egypt is a minority (less than 1%), yet it’s an important reference point when it comes to interreligious dialogue, often because of the Religious: with their lifestyle, their openness to dialogue. Then it is our specific with the ‘dialogue of life’ and the help of the spirituality of unity. The week before the pope arrived, the parents of Blessed Chiara Luce Badano were here. Chiara Luce was a young person from the Focolare Movement who died at the age of 19 because of a tumor. The Catholic Church has held her up as an example of holiness for young people. Her parents travelled around the country presenting the life of their daughter who is now a Blessed. Their visit concluded with a meeting of 1500 young people who were preparing the Mass with the Holy Father. The most powerful moment of the night was getting to know the life of Chiara Luce.” In your opinion, what can change because of this brief but intense visit? I think new inroads were opened for us to follow, especially in interreligious and ecumenical dialogue. Now there’s more faith in the pope and in the Church. So I think it will be easier to move forward. We need to remain open, even though, I think, we’ll need time to ‘digest’ and understand deeply what the pope said in his various speeches. During the mass, in the homily on the disciples of Emmaus, the pope himself underscored how they spent in understanding the Risen Lord event. After this event we also feel like those disciples whose ‘hearts were burning’ because of their great joy.”
Apr 30, 2017 | Non categorizzato
“My dear young people … God calls in different ways: he calls many persons and gives them special tasks and missions to accomplish. For example, he calls young men to the sublime vocation of the priesthood, to be other Christs. He calls men and women to the families of Religious Orders, which are like multicolored flowerbeds in the garden of the Church, constantly adorning the Bride of Christ with the most splendid virtues. He calls men and women to the modern ecclesial movements, to give themselves to God individually and in community, or to form model families that are like many little churches. Remember: God’s calling can come at any age. He calls adolescents and children too; he calls people all over the world. How can we recognize our vocation? It is my experience that generally we need to have a particular attitude. Since God’s call is an act of love on his part, if he finds love in people he is freer to call them. What should we do in order to hear God’s voice? We need to love with an authentic love. By doing that, we make God’s task easier and if we already know what our vocation is, then it is by loving that we find the best way to fulfill it. As I said, we need authentic love. Authentic love is so important that if you live it, you start a revolution in the world, which is the Christian revolution. Authentic love has four qualities: it loves everyone, because Jesus died for everyone; Mary is the mother of everyone. Therefore, someone who has an authentic love doesn’t look at whether people are pleasant or unpleasant, whether they are young or old, white or black, German or Italian, a member of one religion or another, if they are friends or enemies. Authentic love is directed toward everyone. Try to live it. Try to live it. Usually, we love our friends, our parents and relatives, and this is wonderful. But do we have love for all in our hearts? Try it, try it. It is a revolution. Because people do not understand and after a while, they ask, “Why are you doing this for me? Why do you love me? Why did you give me that pen? Why did you help me with my homework? Why?” “Why? Because I want to love everyone,” and this opens a dialogue with other Catholics, with people of other Churches or of other religions. A dialogue begins because we start taking an interest in other people. Therefore, especially you young people remember that the first point of authentic love is to love everyone. The second point: be the first to love. When Jesus came on earth we weren’t loving him, we were all sinners. He loved us first. We must be ready to make the first move, not expecting to be loved. Do we love because we are loved? No! we must take the initiative in loving. The Holy Spirit has poured this love into our hearts. It is the same love as in the Holy Trinity and in which we share; but we must put it into practice. Then we need to see Jesus in everyone, because he said that at the final judgment we would be examined on this: you did it to me. This means whatever good we do and, unfortunately, whatever evil we do. So three qualities: love everyone, be the first to love, see Jesus in every neighbor. But this love should not be idealistic or sentimental; it should be a concrete love and to be concrete, as St Paul says, we should make ourselves all things to all people. We need to make ourselves one with those who suffer, make ourselves one with those who are happy, and to share joys, sufferings and needs. We must share. So love everyone, be the first to love, see Jesus, and love concretely. This is what we can do, putting authentic love in our hearts. The calling is his part, it is his task.… Dear young people, God never stops calling especially if we love. It’s up to us to respond and during our life we’ll weave the divine, wonderful design that God has for each one of us for the good of all. Do you know what it means to put God in the first place in your life? Whether he calls you to consecrate yourself to him or to form a beautiful family, putting God in the first place in life means finding happiness already here on earth. This is what I wish for all of you! Aim high, young people, we have only one life, there won’t be another, it’s worthwhile spending it well.”
Apr 28, 2017 | Non categorizzato
On April 24, 2017, Dr Benjamin Barber passed away at the age of 77, following a brief illness in New York. He leaves behind his wife Leah and daughter Cornelia. A political philosopher, author of several books, including the best-seller Jihad Vs. McWorld, Barber dedicated his entire life to the ideas of citizenship and democracy. He was convinced that the great challenges of interdependance could be resolved in a constructive way if citizens made an effort to live civic virtues and become actively involved in politics. He was sceptical of the ability of the nation-states to give sufficient answers to the contemporary global challenges (from climate change to terrorism; from immigration to poverty). In his last years, Barber emphasized the indispensible involvement of cities. In his book, If Mayors Rule the World, he demonstrated how cities respond in a more efficacious way than states to the problems of our interdependant world. Therefore, in his last years with the tenacity and passion that had always distinguished him, Barber gave life to the Global Parliament of Mayors, which 49 mayors joined, including the Italians Leouca Orlando amd Virginio Merola. I met Barber in the aftermath of September 11th at the New York home of Italian journalist, Antonio Monda. We were at a dinner together along with Leoluca Orlando, and Barber told us about a new project of his: to launch a World Interdependence Day that would be celebrated every September 12th, the day after the anniversary of the Twin Towers and Pentagon attacks. In fact, for Barber, the response to those attacks couldn’t be military, but had to rise from a common commitment to find sustainable solutions to all the great global challenges that could never be faced in an isolated way. Remembering that the United States had been born with the Declaration of Independance, Barber emphasized the need for a new declaration of interdependance. I worked closely with Barber to set up the first Interdependance Day that was symbolically celebrated in Philadelphia. With him, we thought up and put together the second edition of the day in Rome, Italy, in 2004, with the support of the Focolare Movement. It was on that occasion that I had the privilege of introducing Dr Barber to Chiara Lubich and be a witness to the various encounters and discussions that they had between 2003 and 2004. I recall during the conclusion of the first meeting between them, in June 2003 at Rocca di Papa, Italy, where I listened to him closely, Chiara observed that the idea of interdependance was important, but not enough. Chiara told Barber during that first meeting: “Not only do we need interdependance, but then communion. The goods have to move. But goods can’t move on their own, and this is why we need to move hearts. Therefore, I talk about the universal brotherhood that we achieve among individuals and individual groups, but if we begin to remake this brotherhood among the nations, we’ll resolve the problem of terrorism at its roots.” Barber responded: “Yes. The term “interdependance” is the lite version of the word “communion”. It’s the first step towards communion.” He went on to say: “Democracy is also a matter of the spirit; it begins with the habit of the heart and then is expressed in secular terms. So, oftentimes the separation between spirit and secular is a stretch . . .” That dialogue between Barber and Lubich is something that is still vibrating today, beause of its absolute timeliness. What remains of Barber as a most precious legacy is his intellectual and civic commitment to giving life to a global citizenry that leads us nearer to unity.” Aldo Civico Source: Città Nuova
Apr 27, 2017 | Non categorizzato, Word of
https://www.focolare.org/gb/files/2017/04/201705WoL.mp3
Matthew ends his Gospel with the final events of Jesus’ life on earth. Jesus has risen from the dead, having fulfilled his mission. He had proclaimed God’s healing love for all, reopening the way that leads to fraternity. Matthew sees Jesus as Emmanuel, “God with us,” the one promised by the prophets and awaited by the people of Israel. Before returning to the Father, Jesus gathers together his disciples, the group who had most closely shared in his mission. He entrusts them with continuing his work — a tough assignment! But Jesus reassures them. He will not leave them on their own. Indeed, he promises to be with them every day, to support, accompany and encourage them “to the end of the age.” With his help, they will bear witness to meeting him, to his word and his acts of welcome and mercy toward all. In this way, many others will meet him and together form the new people of God, founded upon the commandment of love. We could say that God’s joy is to be with me, with you, with us every day to the end of our individual lives and to the end of human history. But is that true? Can we really encounter him? In a Word of Life commentary from 1982, Focolare founder Chiara Lubich wrote, “He is around the corner; he is next to me and to you. He hides himself in the poor, the despised, little ones, the sick, the person seeking advice, or deprived of freedom. He is in the ugly and the marginalized … As he said, ‘I was hungry and you gave me food’ (Mt 25:35) … Let’s learn how to find him where he is.” He is in his Word, which, if put into practice, renews our lives. All over the world he is in the Eucharist. He also works through his ministers, the servants of his people. He is present when we are in agreement among us (see Mt 18:20). Our prayer to the Father then becomes more effective, and we find light for our daily decisions. “I am with you always, to the end of the age.” How much hope this promise gives us! It encourages us to find him as we go along our way. Let’s open our hearts, and our arms too, to be welcoming and to share. Let’s do this personally and as communities, in our families and our churches, in our workplaces and on festive occasions, in our civil and religious associations. We will meet Jesus, and he will amaze us with joy and with light, the signs of his presence. If we start each morning thinking, “Today I want to discover where God wants to meet me!” we too will have wonderful experiences like this one shared in Glimpses of Gospel Life: “My husband’s mother deeply cared about her son, even to the point of being jealous. A year ago she was diagnosed with cancer, and her only daughter was not able to give her the level of care and help she needed. “During that time, I went to a summer gathering of the Focolare called a Mariapolis, where I encountered God’s love in a way that changed my life. “The first fruit of this conversion was the decision to ask my mother-in-law to come and live with us, setting aside all my fears about it. The light that had been lit in my heart made me see her with new eyes. Now I knew that it was Jesus in her that I cared for and helped. “To my surprise, she responded to all I did with just as much love. Months of sacrifice went by, but when my mother-in-law passed gently on to the next life, she left us all with a deep sense of peace. “It was around that time that I realized I was pregnant, after nine years of waiting! This child was a tangible sign of God’s love for us.”
Letizia Magri
________________________________________________ Read more: • Lubich, Chiara. “Jesus in our neighbor,” The Art of Loving. New City Press: Hyde Park, New York, 2010, pp. 103-110. • Lubich, Chiara. “The Word that gives life,” Essential Writings. New City Press: Hyde Park, New York, 2007, pp. 120-128.
Apr 26, 2017 | Non categorizzato
Only three days remain until the opening of the United World Week with the long awaited International Meeting of Youth for a United World in Loppiano, Italy. Five hundred young people are the starting blocks. “United World Project” is their slogan that will carry them through the race they are spreading by every possible means of communication. They are all directly involved in the project, a network of numberless concrete and courageous gestures that build bridges and open paths of dialogue and solidarity. The main working document of the Meeting, entitled “Universal Brotherhood: An Opportunity for the World” states: “The financial, economic and, above all, cultural crisis the has spread in every country poses epochal questions”. How can a future of justice, freedom and peace be given to all the peoples of the earth? We would like to begin from unity, the unity of the human family and to aim towards a horizon of the universal brotherhood among all peoples. This is our project.” The border that extends from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean, with its 3,169 kilometres of metal barriers and barbed wire and control towers, representation of the broken dreams of many immigrants in search of a better future. In the same vicinity, in Mexicali and in Calexico, a group of young people have believed in a world without walls and have been keeping busy. “We began singing in one of our city parks which is located right next to the border wall. It was a way of offering a bit of relief to the people who were passing through that area. The second step was to go inside the city’s maximum security prison where 4 thousand people are living, to offer them some music and song. After going through a lot of security controls, we were given permission to spend a few hours with 130 inmates inside a big hall. During lunch they told us that our visit was the only one they had received in two years.” The 2016 Worldwide Run4Unity Relay was held right next to the wall. “We wanted to plant our flag along the border wall as a sign of the unity that we’re committed to building with the people living on the other side.”
Apr 25, 2017 | Non categorizzato
