Dec 23, 2022 | Non categorizzato
Advent is a time for recollection, a time of waiting. It is a time that wakes us from slumber and surprises us with the incarnation of a God who makes himself “small” to come and dwell among us. The mystery of Christmas brings us back to the essential, and welcoming Baby Jesus into our lives becomes an opportunity for each one of us to convert ourselves again and look at our daily lives with gratitude. A charity that is always new Ever since the conflict broke out in Ukraine, we have been involved in collecting food and clothing and welcoming refugees. A chain of prayers for peace also began in our parish. We took in a Ukrainian mother with two children. Since the Ukrainian language has Slavic roots, there were no problems there, even if English is practically our common language… but how were we going to organise life for these people who were so completely disoriented? There are already five of us in the family, so we asked relatives and friends if they would help with our guests. It was about organising places for them, something we had never done before. After the first few days which were easy in some ways because of the novelty of the situation but difficult in other ways, we noticed how our children, all teenagers, adopted a sense of responsibility that they had not demonstrated before. They began helping with the household chores, shopping, accompanying someone to the doctor, teaching a few Slovakian words, cooking, ironing. The pain our guests were feeling was the sense of suspension, the lack of horizon. We found that embracing this silent pain was not only a good way to help someone else, it also helped us to live our faith better and transform it into a charity which is ever new. (J. and K. – Slovakia) God is paying you a visit As a widower, I no longer had a reference point for the future. My two daughters, who had already moved out of home, had their whole lives ahead of them. Should I remarry? My problem was not just that I didn’t have a partner, but the bigger question on the meaning of life. I started drinking, more and more. One day a Bangladeshi boy appeared at my door selling socks. Seeing me in such a sorry state he offered to clear up the kitchen and started washing up the piles of dishes and crockery until there was some semblance of order. As I was drinking the coffee he had made for me, I asked him about himself. He told me he was looking for work in Austria in order to be able to support his elderly parents and a sick brother. In short, he moved in with me a few days later. Besides helping me with the housework, I found him other little jobs with friends. Whenever he saw me getting restless, this good and simple boy would try to distract me. I can honestly say that he saved me. Through him, I really felt that God had come towards me, had come to visit me. (F.H. – Austria)
Edited by Maria Grazia Berretta
(taken from Il Vangelo del Giorno, Città Nuova, year VIII, no.2, November-December 2022)
Dec 22, 2022 | Non categorizzato
Message from Margaret Karram, President of the Focolare Movement, on the occasion of Christmas 2022 Activate English subtitles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGt4KlwM9N8 I wish everyone a very happy Christmas, and I’ll do so through a poem I wrote recently. Come Lord Jesus, hurry and come, The whole world can no longer cope! A dark night has come down, The Star has disappeared from the sky. Who will guide us now to Bethlehem, To meet the Prince of Peace? Who will help us rekindle in many hearts the flames of a love that burns and becomes art? It’s Christmas. Come back, come to us Lord Jesus. We want to welcome you like we have never done before. More than ever in the past, we want to recognise you in those who suffer: the poor, the lonely, those in despair, sick or abandoned. Grant that we may hear the cry of those who no longer hope, of those who no longer believe! Grant that we be people of peace. Give us strength. Give us the courage to echo the angels and like them proclaim: joy, hope, peacefulness, fraternity!
Margaret Karram
Dec 19, 2022 | Non categorizzato
In a few days it will be Christmas. It’s a celebration when we can meet up as a family and renew relationships, regardless of the lights and the gifts. God became a child and was born in the poverty of a manger. At Christmas 1986, Chiara Lubich invited the communities of the Focolare Movement to go out towards those who are suffering the most. Today too, we have many brothers and sisters who are having to live in situations of suffering and they are waiting for us to share with them and to bring them comfort. Today the warmth of the Christmas spirit makes us all feel more like a family, more united as one, more like brothers and sisters, so that we want to share everything, both joys and sorrows. Above all, we want to share the pain of those who, due to various circumstances, are suffering. … Suffering! Suffering can at times overcome our entire being, or occur suddenly and mix bitterness with the pleasant moments of our day. Suffering caused by an illness, an accident, an ordeal, a painful circumstance. … Suffering! … If we look at suffering from a human standpoint, we are tempted to look for its cause either within us or outside of us, for example, in human malice, or in nature, or in other things. … And all this might be true, but if we think only in these terms, we forget something more important. We lose sight of the fact that underlying the story of our lives is the love of God who wills or permits everything for a higher purpose, which is our own good. … And didn’t Jesus himself, after inviting us to take up our cross and follow him, then affirm, “Those who lose their life” – and this is the apex of suffering – “will find it”?[1] Suffering, therefore, brings hope of salvation. So what can we say today to our friends who are struggling with pain and suffering? … Let’s approach them with the greatest possible respect, because even though they may not think so, in this moment they are being visited by God. Then, inasmuch as we can, let’s share their crosses, which means to truly keep Jesus in the midst with them. Let’s also assure them that we are continually with them, and assure them of our prayers, so that they will be able to take directly from the hand of God whatever makes them suffer, and unite it to the passion of Jesus so that it can produce the greatest possible fruit. … And let’s remind them of that marvelous Christian principle of our spirituality, by which suffering that is loved as a countenance of Jesus crucified and forsaken can be transformed into joy. May this be our … Christmas/OR commitment – to share every suffering with our brothers and sisters who are suffering the most, and offer our own sufferings to Baby Jesus.
Chiara Lubich
(Chiara Lubich, Conversazioni, Città Nuova, Roma 2019, pag.265-268) [1] Mt 10:39.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEz1pZdFb50&list=PL9YsVtizqrYtnID7Mtj616OTSxpbqxvqg
Dec 14, 2022 | Non categorizzato
The Evangelii Gaudium Centre (CEG) has opened the inscriptions for the Training Course for Synodality, a concrete contribution to respond to the Church’s call to walk together. The Evangelii Gaudium Centre (CEG) which is linked to the Sophia University Institute, is offering a Synodal Training Course which will begin in 2023. It is a course which has been developed in collaboration with the General Secretariat of the Synod and with other training centres and academic institutes in Italy and beyond. But why talk about synodality? Prof. Vincenzo di Pilato, Professor of Fundamental Theology at the Pugliese Theological Faculty in Italy and coordinator of the CEG, explains:
Prof. Vincenzo di Pilato
Maria Grazia Berretta
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Dec 14, 2022 | Non categorizzato
God’s faithfulness is unshakable, like a rock, and this is the revelation of salvation not only for the people of Israel after the exile, as Isaiah announces, but for each one of us. Trusting in the Lord therefore means building our existence by going right to the root, because the deeper the foundations, the higher we will be able to build; the more we trust in Him, the more solid our actions will be. Family tensions When my brother D. who was angry at how he had been treated by R. (another brother) decided he no longer wanted to see him, I felt that at our age – we are all over 70 – we ought to be more merciful. That is when I had the idea of bringing the family together for a picnic in Jells Park, on neutral ground. But R. did not show up on the date agreed. All I could do was pray that his stubborn heart would mellow. A few days later I called him. I discovered he had not been well and had not eaten for some time. I replied that I would bring him a good soup. When I arrived at his place, he was grateful above all because I had not judged him. Later that day when I got home I called D. to let him know and he said he was prepared to visit his brother if I arranged it. The following Sunday, when the two of them met, there was some initial awkwardness but after a while they started talking quite normally. In the end R. invited us for dinner. I am really happy with the result and hope that my small contribution might heal certain tensions in the family. (Gill – Australia) Tipping Before the recent increase in salaries for doctors and medical staff, it was common practice in Hungary for doctors to be given a tip for their services, like a predetermined fee. As a chief surgeon, as a matter of principle I did not want this to happen, not least because I knew that lots of people of limited financial means were having to borrow the forints for the doctors. That is why I refused to accept, even though everyone else was, until a colleague pointed out that not accepting a tip could be taken by the patients as a sign that I had not done the operation well. One day, seeing an elderly lady pull out the usual envelope for me, I said to her: “I as a doctor am at your service and I’m paid for it, but if you would be more comfortable to accept my offer, I suggest you give it to a family in need”. She thought about it for a while, then taking my hand said: “Doctor, what you’ve just said to me proves to me that you really care about people. I thank you and, if you agree, I would be happy to help someone in need with you”. (P.M. – Hungary)
Edited by Maria Grazia Berretta
(taken from Il Vangelo del Giorno, Città Nuova, year VIII, no.2, November-December 2022)
Dec 7, 2022 | Non categorizzato
Imagine a young girl in love, in love with a love which is the first love, the purest one, a love which is still undeclared, but which begins to enflame her heart. A joy which is so special, difficult to experience again in a lifetime, a joy which is secret. A few days before December 7, I was told to make a vigil the night before, beside a crucifix, in order to prepare myself the best way I could for my marriage with God, a marriage which was to take place in the most secret manner. That evening I tried to make this vigil, kneeling beside my bed before a metal crucifix which my mother has now. The next morning, I woke up at about five o’clock. I put on the best dress I had, a simple dress, and I set out on foot crossing the city towards the church. A storm was raging, so that I had to walk my way pushing my umbrella ahead of me. I felt that it expressed the fact that in the step I was taking I would meet obstacles. When I reached the church, the scene changed. An enormous door opened. I felt a sense of relief and of welcome, almost like the open arms of that God who was waiting for me. The little church was beautifully decorated. Against the background stood out the statue of Mary, the Immaculate. Before Communion I saw, in an instant, the meaning of what I was about to do. I could never turn back to the world. I was getting married. I was marrying God. I remember that opening up my eyes to what I was doing was something immediate and brief, but so strong that I shed a tear which fell on my missal. I made a long thanksgiving. I think I ran all the way home. I only stopped, I think, near the bishop’s house to buy three red carnations for the crucifix which was waiting for me in my room. They were to become the sign of the feast day of all of us. This was it. Even with the most promising predictions on December 7, 1943, I could never have imagined what I see today. Praise to God, glory to Mary, Queen of a Kingdom which has literally invaded the world.
Chiara Lubich (Extract from “Today the Opera turns thirty”, Rocca di Papa, 7 December 1973)
Activate English subtitles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2i80L6Srdh8&list=PLKhiBjTNojHqNPFPXKJgyiqn8c7NKZ0ME
