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30 Nov 2014 | Non categorizzato
«The letter was written mainly to call attention to the Year of Consecrated Life about to start on Sunday, 30 November. News of local, diocesan and national initiatives have arrived from all parts of the world. We are certain that you will join this initiative according to the possibilities of each single or group of congregations.» This invitation was launched by the international centre of religious of the various congregations throughout the world who share the Focolari’s spirituality, in line with Pope Francis’ letter to all consecrated men and women.
Initiatives are stirring up everywhere: in the diocese of Homa Bay (Kenya), the bishop entrusted to a group of religious brothers, sisters and priests, guided Fr. Leo van de Weijer CMM, the task of coordinating the initiatives for the 2015 Year of Consecrated Life. The year will open with a seminar in Nairobi on 24, 25 and 26 November, with the participation of all the groups of other dioceses. This day of reflection and study will end on 27 November with an inauguration ceremony presided by the Cardinal and the Apostolic Nuncio.
Also the press and especially the consecrated life magazines, have focused on this special Year: the November edition of Vida Religiosa wrote «Pope Francis has launched the Year of Consecrated Life because he sees how the Church and humanity need the fidelity, joy and renewal capacity the Lord has embedded in religious life. And he believes in this and invites us to be faithful to the project the Lord has made us a part of, for the good of humanity»; the various linguistic editions of Unità e Carismi, will dedicate an issue of 2015 to this theme. An article on www.focolare.org will highlight this year’s main events on this theme, and will write about the life of many religious persons who give witness to the brave choices they have made.
The letter poses a query as to the specific contribution the Holy Spirit is suggesting for this Year of Consecrated Life, addressing all the religious who know and live the spirituality of unity. This specific role is expressed in the two challenges that call for «imagination and creativity, concretely expressed in the lives of the single religious or groups with particular focus on the young religious.»
We need to «give a new impetus to the spirituality of communion pointed out St. John Paul II in his “Novo Millennio Ineunte,” in order to give «an ulterior contribution, though a more hidden one, but certainly more effective and appreciated,» of entering «into all the sores of consecrated life today» and recognising the presence of Jesus Forsaken, and «embracing Him, making these sores our very own.»
In this particular time in which the whole Focolari Movement is invited – following the orientations given by the General Assembly and the programme launched by Pope Francis – to go all out, together and be well prepared, the religious are all set to live this spirit in the new step we are asked to take this year. «We want to start with this attitude – the letter ended – and participate in the opening of the Year of Consecrated Life together, with one heart and one soul.»
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30 Nov 2014 | Non categorizzato
“Consecrated persons are a sign of God in different areas of life, they are yeast for the growth of a more just and fraternal society, a prophetic sign of sharing with the poor and little ones.
Understood and lived in this way, consecrated life shows itself as it really is: it is a gift from God, a gift of God to the Church, a gift of God to his people! Every consecrated person is a gift to the people of God on its journey.” This is what Pope Francis said at the Angelus of February 2.
The Year of Consecrated Life, “a time of grace for Consecrated Life and for the Church,” was planned in the context of the 50 years of the Second Vatican Council; and more particularly on the anniversary of 50 years since the publication of the Council Decree Perfectae Caritatis on the renewal of consecrated life.
In the presentation to the press, Cardinal João Braz de Aviz, Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, explains how the “Council has been a breath of the Spirit not only for the whole Church, but perhaps in particular, for the consecrated life. We also believe that in these 50 years it has undertaken a fruitful journey of renewal, certainly not free from difficulties and hardships, in the commitment to follow what the Council has asked them: fidelity to the Lord, to the Church, to their own charism and to mankind today (cf. PC 2).” And it is on renewal that Pope Francis insists, speaking to the religious on the eve of the beginning of the Year: “We must not be afraid to leave the “old wineskins”: that is, to renew those habits and structures which, in the life of the Church and so also in the consecrated life, we recognize as no longer responding to what God asks us today to advance his Kingdom in the world. “
What are the objectives? Firstly, “We want it to be an opportunity to make ‘grateful memory’ of this recent past – continues Cardinal de Aviz – (…); recognize and confess our weakness, but also ‘shout’ to the world with strength and joy, about the holiness and vitality that are present in the consecrated life.” Second objective: “To embrace the future with hope. We are well aware that the present moment is difficult and trying (…) but we want to take this crisis as an opportunity to grow in depth (…). With so many “prophets of doom”, we want to remain men and women of hope.” Third goal: “To live the present with passion. Passion is about falling in love, true friendship, of profound communion (…). To witness the beauty of following Jesus in the many forms in which our life is expressed. In this Year the consecrated want to “wake up the world” with their prophetic witness, especially with their presence in the existential peripheries of poverty and of thought. “
Mons. José Rodríguez Carballo, Secretary of the Congregation, outlined some of the events that will take place during the year: “A number of international meetings in Rome, for young men and women religious, a meeting for those responsible for formation; an International Congress on the theology of consecrated life, with the collaboration of the Pontifical Universities, on the theme: “Renewal of consecrated life in the light of the Council and prospects for the future”; an international exhibition on: “The Consecrated Life and Gospel in human history”, with several stands representing the various charisms; a symposium on the management of economic goods and property by religious; also for contemplative nuns we plan a “World Chain of Prayer among the monasteries.’”
The religious men and women of the Focolare Movement, will invite everyone with a letter, to “live with one heart, as one body, so that this Year will be another step towards the ut omnes”, the unity requested by Jesus to the Father.
The closing of the Year is scheduled for February 2, 2016, the World Day of Consecrated Life.
Programme
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29 Nov 2014 | Non categorizzato
«Knowing how to lose» is a “shocking absurdity.” This was how Archimandrite Chrysostomos, Metropolitan of Kyrenia, defined the title of one of the first volumes of Chiara Lubich translated into Greek, and presented to the public in Nicosia, last 31 October. Shocking and perplexing because «in life we all want to win, but in effect the life of a Christian is full of paradoxes, martyrdom and testimonials. Chiara manages, with simple words to explore this mystery and help us to live it in our daily lives.» The Metropolitan of Kyrenia sponsored the soiree for the book’s presentation, during which the Catholic-Maronite Archbishop Youssef Soueif and Fr. Dimostenis, Orthodox priest, also spoke. The Italian Ambassador to Cyprus, Guido Cerboni, was one of the 80 participants.
In their speeches, the Metropolitan and the Archbishop expressed their great joy in taking this occasion to present Cypriot branch of the Focolare Movement in a more official manner,. This joy was shared by many others who had already known the Focolari for years. Retracing the historical developments of the encounter between Pope Paul and Athenagoras revived in all, a new awareness of the path undertaken by the Christian Churches towards a visible unity.
«Chiara’s message is an encouragement to the world which tends to withdraw into itself, Archbishop Youssef Soueif stressed. She calls attention to a unity which strengthens the determination to open up to one another… for us here in Cyprus, the appeal to unity is a common responsibility.» And in a personal conversation, concluded the evening saying, «Your charism brings an internal attitude of going towards the others, a dialogue which we urgently need today, here in the Middle East.» He considered this encounter a symbolic step towards communion between the two churches: «we really need events like this!»
Florence Gillet gave a much appreciated speech on the close relationship between the thoughts of Chiara Lubich and the valuable teachings of the Fathers of the Eastern Church.
A particularly touching moment occurred when Lina, a Cypriot who for many years has lead the small Focolare community on the Island, related her experience. Through the charism of unity, she rediscovered God who is love and a Father, and this pushed her to deepen her knowledge of her Greek-Orthodox Church, and return to the sacraments. “By living the Gospel I found a new relationship with the Fathers of the Church and their teachings, which I knew little about. But I found myself experiencing what St. John Chrysostom says: “When I see my brother, I see my God.”
28 Nov 2014 | Non categorizzato, Word of
In this period of Advent, our time of preparation for Christmas, the figure of John the Baptist comes into light once again. He was sent by God to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah. To those crowding around to hear him, he strongly urged a change in their lives: ‘Bear fruits worthy of repentance’ (Lk 3:8). And to those who asked: ‘What then should we do?’ (Lk 3:10), he replied:
‘Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.’
Why should I give what is mine to another? Since we were both created by God, the other person is my brother, my sister; therefore, he or she is part of me. ‘I cannot hurt you without harming myself,’ Gandhi once said. We were created as a gift for one another, in the image of God who is Love. We have the divine law of love in our blood. When he came among us, Jesus explained it very clearly in his new commandment: ‘Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another’ (Jn 13:34). It is the ‘law of heaven’, the life of the Holy Trinity brought down on earth, the heart of the Gospel. As the Father, Son and Holy Spirit live in full communion in heaven, to the point of being one (see Jn 17:11), we on earth are truly ourselves to the extent that we live the reciprocity of love. And just as the Son says to the Father: ‘All that is mine is yours, and what is yours is mine’ (Jn 17:10), so too our love reaches fulfilment when we share with one another not only spiritual goods, but also material goods.
The needs of our neighbour are the needs of all of us. Is someone unemployed? I am unemployed. Is someone’s mother sick? I help her as if she were my own. Are there others who are hungry? It’s as if I myself were hungry and I try to find food for them as I would for myself.
This is the experience of the first Christians in Jerusalem: ‘The whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common’ (Acts 4:32). This communion of goods was not obligatory, and yet they practised it intensely. As the apostle Paul explained it was not a matter of making someone go without so as to give relief to others but of ‘a fair balance’ (2 Cor 8:13).
Basil the Great says: ‘The bread you set aside belongs to the hungry; the coat you store in your chest belongs to the naked; the money you keep hidden belongs to the needy.’
And Augustine says: ‘The surplus of the rich belongs to the poor.’
‘Even the poor can help one another. One can offer legs to the other, another eyes to guide the blind, and another can visit the sick.’
‘Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.’
Today too we can live like the early Christians. The Gospel is not a never-never land. This is shown, for example, by the new ecclesial Movements. The Holy Spirit has given rise to them in the Church to help revive, in all its freshness, the passionate gospel-based drive of the early Christians and to respond to the huge challenges of present society where there is such great injustice and poverty.
I remember that in the early days of the Focolare Movement the new charism filled our hearts with an exceptionally powerful love for the poor. Whenever we came across people in poverty, we wrote down their addresses in a notebook so that we could visit them later and help them. They were Jesus: ‘You did it to me’ (Mt 25:40). After visiting them in the run-down places they lived, we invited them to share a meal with us. For them we got out our best tablecloth, our best cutlery, the tastiest food. All around the table, in that first focolare, sat a focolarina then someone poor, a focolarina then someone poor…
At one point it seemed to us that the Lord was asking us in particular to become poor so as to serve both the poor and everyone else as well. There, in the living room of that first focolare house, each one put in a pile on the floor whatever she felt was extra: an overcoat, a pair of gloves, a hat, even a fur coat… And today, in order to give to the poor, we have businesses that give employment and their profits to share out!
But there is still a great deal to do to help ‘the poor.’
‘Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.’
We might not realize it, but we have many riches that we can put into common with others. We have our sensitivity that we need to sharpen and things we need to learn so that we can help concretely, can find out how to live real fr
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28 Nov 2014 | Non categorizzato
We know that Chiara Lubich had a privileged relationship with Athenagoras, former Patriarch of Constantinople. A few day before the historical trip of Pope Montini to Istanbul, Chiara had gone to visit the Patriarch. Vatican Radio interviewed her on July 18, 1967:
What are your first impressions from your recent encounter with Patriarch Athenagoras?
”As soon as I found myself in the presence of this great person of our times, I had the impression of having before me the completely open heart of a father. He was a father who loves people and even in his venerable age, he presents a youthful, fresh spirit, rich of the greatest hope and faith.
My first impression was not that of finding myself before a non-Catholic brother, but finding a soul as if we were already of the same reality.
Throughout the whole conversation he always showed the highest appreciation for the Holy Father Paul VI. I had the impression that he follows all the events of the Catholic Church with extreme attention and veneration, especially the activities of the Holy Father.
After your recent conversation with Athenagoras, what do you think of the forthcoming meeting between Pope Paul VI and the Patriarch?
Given the deep belief of Athenagoras in the charity towards Christ and towards his brothers and sisters as the core of Christianity, I think that the act of the Holy Father to anticipate the visit of the Patriarch to Rome, is the best gesture to show that the Catholic Church is the Church of love, where the Pope, the successor of Peter, is the one who loves the most.
Do you therefore also think that there will be positive prospects and expectations after this encounter?
I think that Patriarch Athenagoras will manifest his conviction that love is the way to reach unity in the truth. This is the way that the Holy Father Paul VI also indicated in a recent talk addressed to a group of Orthodox students.
They have similar viewpoints concerning the way to reach unity, so we can hope that the Holy Father and Athenagoras may find very effective solutions to start theological dialogues and I think that with this atmosphere we can hope for everything.
On the other hand the figure of this great patriarch, like a prophet standing up with his faith and love for Constantinople, cannot but have a great influence on the Orthodox world, which he himself will visit soon before reaching Rome.
Could you tell us how the vision of Patriarch Athenagoras on the ecumenical problem was expressed during your conversation?
The ecumenical vision of the Patriarch, whose humility and holiness are visible from his every attitude and word, was clear in the last part of the long conversation, when he spoke to us about his recent Easter message. “I have the habit of publishing a message every Easter,” he explained. “The last one said: ‘The first ten centuries of Christianity were for the dogmas and the organization; the next ten centuries saw misfortunes, schisms and the division. The third era – this one – is the era of love. We meet in the same chalice through this way of charity. Of course,” he continued, “we need theologians, but the differences are too small and faded by the sun of love. The differences have lost their colour thanks to the sun of charity. In the first thousand years we lived in communion; then we separated.’” Therefore, referring to the recent annulment of the reciprocal excommunications by the Catholic and Orthodox churches, he affirmed: “Now the schism is gone; why don’t we return to the same chalice? We believe that we have the same Mother, the Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, as the Pope said; we have the same baptism: the door of the Church. Tell me: why don’t we return to the same chalice?”
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26 Nov 2014 | Non categorizzato
“I wish to have that same joy I see in your eyes,” Daniela of the New Horizon Community said, on the night she overcame her fear and went to the train station. That boy who had tried to commit suicide three times, became the turning point of her life.
Stories like this are embedded deeply in the hearts of the 300 representatives of 100 movements and new communities from 40 countries, gathered in Rome from 20 to 22 November for their Third World Meeting on the theme: “The joy of the Gospel: missionary joy.”
Organised by the Pontifical Council for the Laity (PCPL) in response to Pope Francis’s call to conversion, the appointment aims to be a continuation of the meetings promoted by John Paul II in 1998 and Benedict XVI in 2006.
Due to the sudden and unexpected explosion of new ecclesiastical realities in recent years, Card. Rylko, President of the PCPL, recalled in his opening speech that the Church considers this fact “a timely answer of the Holy Spirit in the difficult challenge of evangelisation in contemporary society.” Also Pope Francis stressed that the new charisms are “gifts of the Spirit embedded in the Church and drawn towards Christ, the centre to where they are channelled to gain momentum in their missionary drive.”
Overwhelming experiences have interwoven with rich and varied in-depth considerations of doctrines that aim to deepen the crucial parts of the encyclical Evangelii Gaudium, which is the magna charta of the meeting.
The themes discussed? Topics ranged from ecclesiastical renewal that springs from personal renewal, communion between movements (joining forces so as not to disperse single efforts), enhancing the feminine gift of warmth in evangelisation.
Utmost focus on interpreting the “signs of the times” that call for new answers to new issues. These three days have gapped differences and closed mentalities: in a growing atmosphere of brotherhood among the representatives of movements against a background of more than 50 years and the new communities that have just recently gained international ground. A big group of bishops and priests attended, and mingled with the laity in an atmosphere of mutual respect. Each of them was eager to know about the mutual experiences, and in the words of one of the participants, to “learn to discern the voice of the Spirit today, who incites all to go out and announce God’s love for each person.” The delegation representing the Focolari movement, along with Maria Voce, and newly elected Co-President Jesús Morán and outgoing Co-President Giancarlo Faletti, was composed of Anna Pelli, Severin Schmidt, Gisela Lauber and Marta Chierico.
“A meeting of real, profound communion, where we were all brothers and sisters.” This is how Maria Voce defined it in an interview given to focolare.org “and it is emphasized even more if we think of our beginnings in 1998.” “When we went to the Pope – she continues – we felt his joy of having been able to experience this communion. After all this was the gift we wanted to bring to him.” What new steps are opening up for the Movement? For Maria Voce there are two possible paths to be explored. They are the openness “towards the Movements of other non-Catholic Churches, because they have very strong experiences of people who live the Gospel like us”; and the “much deeper communion between laity and clergy.” “Thus we shouldn’t separate the ecclesial part from the lay part in the various Movements and not even in the Movements as a whole.” A going outwards that would highlight “a more vital unity, between the shepherd and his flock.”
Every moment was a good opportunity to bond: coffee break, lunch or dinnertime. Street missions, communities for drug addicts, evangelisation in the most remote places of the planet, prayer and work, caring for the elderly and disabled, and youth involvement in various scenarios: in Philadelphia, Kansas, Philippines, Ecuador, Korea, Mexico, Rome, and Palermo. The intense and continual dialogue culminated in the meeting with Pope Francis: «You have already brought many fruits to the Church and the entire world, but with the help of the Holy Spirit you can reap more and greater results,” he affirmed in his speech. «To reach ecclesiastical maturity, keep your charism alive, respect the liberty of people and always try to create communion,» he summarized, in entrusting to all the present a new target, and lastly: «Go forward: keep moving … Don’t ever stop! Be always on the move!»
«Since it was the first time that I was participating in a meeting of this kind, for me this experience was truly extraordinary – affirms Jesús Morán. – I enjoyed a special communion with many movements and communities in this kairos or extraordinary opportune moment of God that the Church is living with the gift of Pope Francis. In this regard, I experienced with new force his appeal to missionary conversion, which challenges all the charisms and leads them to reach a maturity worthy of the times (leaving aside every temptation of self-centredness) and a determination anchored in the freshness of the charism.»
«A surplus of ecclesiality and social commitment» is another need perceived by Morán. «In this sense – he concludes – we must strive towards a truly “Trinitarian” thought that may characterize our communion in a deeper way. It’s no longer enough to have any kind of cordial collaboration but to live one in the other, to strengthen and enrich one another in order to go outwards and take up the sufferings of humanity together.»
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