Maria Voce speaks of Cardinal Vlk
“A precious gift,” a “strong witness of the Charism of unity,” and “a Word really lived,” was how Maria Voce, President of the Focolare Movement spoke of Cardinal Miloslav Vlk, who passed away on Saturday, 16 March in Prague. In a communication to all the members of the Movement, Maria Voce highlighted the “edifying” way in which Vlk lived the last period of his life, marked by a great weakening but at the same time by “a continuous attitude of gratitude to God for the gifts he had received from Him.” She underlined the “very deep bond” the Cardinal had with the Focolare Movement “since the start of his clandestine ministry in the time when Czechoslovakia was under the communist regime.” She expressed immense gratitude for his commitment and devotion with which for 18 years, he carried out his role as moderator of the group of Bishops who declare themselves “friends of the Movement,” activities he followed with great interest and participation even from the hospital. Maria Voce denoted that Cardinal Miloslav was “surrounded by prayers of the Diocesan community, members of the Movement, friends of other Christian denominations, and both Jews and Muslims with whom he had undertaken years of dialogue.” She also cited the “many testimonials of his example of humility, communion and evangelical wisdom, which underlined the way he made himself simply a “brother” to all, and also his authority as a “father” who was able to give enthusiasm and motivate those around him.” “We have a great heritage before us,” Maria Voce concluded, and it is “A heritage to treasure and discover more deeply.”
Forty days in Syria
For more than 25 years I have been in constant contact with Fr. Nabil, a Catholic- Melchite priest of Syria, married and father of five. We met as seminarians during a meeting of the Focolare Movement . Since the start of the terrible war in Syria, it comes spontaneously to live the situation together. There are so many people praying for the people in Syria, invoking peace! Thus a spiritual communion was born, uniting also the two parish communities, his in Syria and ours in Switzerland. When his two older daughters couldn’t continue their studies in Syria, our community in Basel welcomed them. Last summer, since I had to change parish, I was able to take some time off to visit them. So the 40 days in Syria began! I arrived in Beirut at 3:00 in the morning, where Fr. Nabil welcomed me at the airport. With a car full of people and luggage we headed for Syria. At the border we were warmly welcomed by the office director. While the car and documents were being checked, we were his guests. Then we continued our journey, along secondary streets – since the main ones were closed – passing through numerous checkpoints until we reached Fr. Nabil’s town, five km away from the city of Hama. We were accommodated in various houses and experienced a warm and joyful welcome. I discovered a lively community. Every evening in the parish, over 200 children and young people took turns to meet us. All in all, more than 900 people passed some hours together. It is a daily celebration. The 70 youths in charge are strongly committed despite the fact that they go to school or the university, or are studying for their exams. As days passed I started to understand that this busy life is lived against a background of tearing pain. I discovered that the noise they hear daily come from the air raids. I found out that the stations of the “rebels” are just a few kilometers away, and that a week earlier, even a Christian village 12 km away had been attacked, with the death of many people. Various families can no longer buy the necessary living commodities. At night all is dark, and there are only LED lights with batteries. In many homes I saw photos of their sons who have died in the war. Almost none of the families is intact because over 3,000 youths have left the country. One day during a funeral, two grenades exploded and killed two people. I asked myself: where do these people find the strength not to despair? The fact is that for several years now, a great community has developed, and draws inspiration from the Spirituality of unity. There are over 200 people organised in small groups, who nurture themselves with the Word of God and take care of the disadvantaged people and children. They have set up a small social centre which assists people with serious diseases and provide with the help of the solidarity of their fellow citizens and international friends, for the medicines and treatments. They regularly visit up to 450 families to support them in their serious needs. Even the relationships between the various religious groups are well taken care of. And so we were invited, along with the other priests of the city, for the Ramadan dinner with more than 200 Imams of the City of Hama. Over the last week I had the chance to participate in the Mariapolis. There were over 200 people from various cities and regions of the country: Damascus, Homs, Hama, Aleppo and Latakia. For the first time since the start of the war, they could risk travelling and meeting one another. All have suffered immensely and lost their homes, jobs and even beloved relatives. But they have not lost their faith and love. (Ruedi Beck) Source: Gens magazine January – March 2017, p. 38-40
Is there meaning in suffering?
Agnese Fermo is a mathematics professor from Milan, Italy; she is married and has two children. She is also a member of the International Commission of the Centre for Dialogue with people of the Focolare that have no religious affiliation. We asked her to tell about her experience of the past several years engaged in this open dialogue and to present the upcoming conference titled “Is there meaning in suffering?” “I attended the international gatherings on this dialogue at Castel Gandolfo and other gatherings where we went deeper into the spirituality of the Movement. Right from the start we perceived the importance – for each one of us – of this communitarian experience that Chiara Lubich was offering to us. Dialogue, besides being an expression of the gift of diversity, was also a tool that enriched our thinking. I’ve belonged to the “dialogue group” in Milan for about 15 years. The need and desire that each of us had for dialogue made us feel that we were necessarily part of the human experience of a whole sector of humankind, and carriers of part of the truth through the relationships that we were building. But this experience couldn’t remain enclosed in a group: it was the trace of a path for each one of us to follow, besides for the Movement itself. We felt like we had to step out of structured groups, especially after Chiara left us. In Milan this has taken place, but with the many people with whom we’ve shared this experience – both members and non-members of the Movement – the relationship has remained deep and real. Regarding the upcoming conference titled Is there meaning in suffering? I believe I can say that we haven’t fixed any particular goal. I think this is because of the need we feel to give space to dialogue, not so much in the sense of comparing thoughts on the theme itself (there’s a lot of literature on this topic! And it’s often avoided as a topic). Rather, we’d like to create a space in which we can welcome people that have such a different religious sense towards life, a space capable of giving enough breathing room to this other portion of humanity that we represent, we who have different religious convictions. But there is also the desire to offer a communitarian experience, even if only for three days, to live within a dimension of mutual freedom beyond affiliation, in which each one of us can offer their our experience and innermost feelings on such a delicate topic as suffering. Personally, I wouldn’t know what the meaning of suffering is. I haven’t found an answer that has been able to express the mystery contained in that question. As I wonder about it whenever I visit the women’s prison, made me discover the value of my presence in that place as a time of sharing made up of mere moments, of the solitude that marks the pain of those women that I encounter. From them I’ve receive precious gifts and discovered the value of the embrace that that sharing contains which, although brief in time, brings to life our being [gifts] for each other. Knowing how to ‘stay inside the wound’ – which for me, means to say, being called to accept whatever life has in store for me in that moment – there’s submission in front of what you can’t avoid, [submission] to the suffering that we’re all asked to go through.”
Maria Voce remembers Chiara
The founder of the Focolare Movement died at Rocca di Papa on the 14th March 2008 at the age of 88 after a long illness. In the telegram of condolence sent by Pope Benedict XVI, he mentioned “her constant commitment for communion in the Church for ecumenical dialogue and brotherhood among all peoples”. He also thanked the Lord “for the witness of a life spent hearing the needs of people today” and expressed the wish “that all those who knew her and follow in her footsteps should keep the flame of the charism alive”. Chiara Lubich’s charism focuses on unity in the human family. It would be a dream if it were not founded on firm faith in the love of God the Father for his children, and on the words of Jesus, “May they all be one”. This charism has much to say to the world today as Maria Voce said to Adriana Masotti. A. – Yes, indeed. It almost has more to say today than when Chiara first proclaimed it. At the time, there was of course the tragedy of war and many painful situations, but there was not the disunity that seems to be spreading so much in the world today. This disunity cries out for the lifestyle brought by the charism of unity God gave to Chiara. We are discovering its relevance more and more. Q. – One of the definitions made of Chiara Lubich was a “woman of dialogue” and dialogue is a subject talked much about in many places today. However, often it does not happen or people do not know how to do it. What did dialogue mean to Chiara and how does the Focolare Movement practice this dialogue? A. – Dialogue was a lifestyle for Chiara, which meant considering every person she met as a brother or sister. Chiara did not want to dialogue; she wanted to love people who were her brothers and sisters; and that is why she was so happy to meet people. She shared what was in her soul and then these brothers and sisters spontaneously responded with the same openness. That is how dialogue began. It is the same for us today; we try to have this attitude towards whomever we meet. We try to do as Chiara did, to be always open, without looking at differences and distinctiveness of any kind except as a way to create an enriching encounter, because it is a meeting with a brother or sister who has something to give us, whatever their ethnicity or religious faith, whatever their social background or age. Q. – So the Movement is convinced that dialogue is the best tool to resolve the many conflicts in the world today. A. – Of course! There is no other way. Why? Because dialogue is love, and if dialogue is love it can truly change the state of the world. It can bring peace to places at war. D. – At the beginning of her spiritual experience, Chiara was strongly aware of humanity’s cry of suffering and she decided to take on and bear this suffering herself. What does the Movement Chiara founded do with regard to the many divisions the world is experiencing at present? R. – The Movement wants to have the same faith as Chiara, a faith based on the cry of Jesus forsaken. Chiara certainly understood that cry as the moment when the Son of God suffered the most, but it was also when He loved us the most. Precisely because he loved us the most, in that moment he re-established the unity that was broken between God and humankind and among people. Therefore, there is no other way of reaching unity than by passing through suffering. However, this suffering is filled with love because it is part of giving one’s life for others. So, considering all the sufferings of the world today, whether at a personal level or at the level of society, peoples or nations, the Movement tries to recognize His countenance in these, to see in them a God who died. But He is also a God who rose again and who can therefore rise above all these sufferings. D. – This translates into many practical activities … R. – Precisely. Perhaps they start with a simple act of love by a family who saw that another family was experiencing a similar difficult situation, and who took upon themselves the difficulties of another family with a disabled child. This created a network of solidarity among many families and involved the local town council. They realized that by loving the countenance of Jesus forsaken in that suffering, something changed. This is what we see. Wherever we are, in places where there is war, our people try to love enemies as well as friends. Goods are shared among all the families without looking to see which ethnic group or religion they belong to… We see this continually in many relationships that change and we see new communities building up that are connected among themselves and spreading more and more. Source: Vatican Radio
Cardinal Miloslav Vlk
Today, 18 March, Cardinal Miloslav Vlk, Emeritus Archbishop of Prague, passed way. He was 86 years old. For 18 years, he was the moderator of the group of bishops who adhere to the spirituality of unity. The Focolare Movement expresses deep gratitude for his life.