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18 Oct 2014 | Non categorizzato
“At 80 years of age and in the 15th year of his pontificate, Paul VI may look back on his pontifical work, amid social and intellectual turmoil, as a rejuvenation process of the Catholic Church. […] Pope Montini has received the Second Vatican Council’s message to ‘update’ itself in order to act against the frenzy of the “death of God,” “irreligious Christianity,” and archaic conservatism, a work that entails patience, foresight, courage, updating of the main pontifical institutes and the creation of new dicasteries and services, among which are the “Iustitia et Pax” and “Pontifical council for the laity.” These and other universal organisations trigger a growing cooperation of bishops and clergy, religious monks and nuns, and laymen and laywomen, in a sense of ecclesiastic renewal: which sprouts from a new communitarian spirit, and fruit of evangelical love which puts an end to individualism and religious classism, and unites the people in the parishes, and local and world institutions at the level of the Church and society in order to fulfill God’s will on earth as in heaven. All of these remind us that the Christian follows God’s will whether in prayer or at work. The Fathers of the Church considered the faithful in prayer, also when they carry out God’s will in all their undertakings. This is why social action – service for the common good – if performed with one’s mind turned towards our Father in heaven, acquires a characteristic and outcome of authentic religiosity. Because of this, when speaking to a group of bishops from Cuba, Paul VI reminded them that the Church continually invites the faithful to be “new men” in justice, truth, and charity, so that it can educate the social conscience of the faithful, favour active cooperation towards the good, teach them to overcome their own egoism and never resign themselves to being “inferior citizens.” This is the inspiration to stimulate a social reform, the dawning of a “new world,” that the young G. B. Montini had foreseen ever since those years when he worked for the Catholic paper of Brescia, “La Fionda,” where he advocated a free school of thought to counter the newborn fascism. With such perspectives, broadness of mind and modernity which explain the development of Christian social movements, and which even non-religious sociologists acknowledge, the Pope reminded the Diplomatic Corps of the most audacious principles of equality regardless of origin or race, in the exercise of religious and civil rights and in condemning racism, torture and all violence towards political opponents. The Pope’s interventions manifest that truth which even we, Catholics, forget: that is, that religion is life, that God is life […]. Love: central theme of the Holy Father’s life and work; the central themes of Christianity are the creation and redemption. He has with love, brought closer to the church, individuals and multitudes, separated churches and hostile states. And in the field of ecumenism, his activities in silence rather than acclaimed, have in fact led to the return of churches, for which we comprehend why Athenagoras in a prophetic and familiar way, called him: Paul the second.” (Excerpt of: Paul VI the Pope of the Council by Igino Giordani, “Città Nuova,” 10.7.1978, p. 26.)
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17 Oct 2014 | Non categorizzato
Speaking recently at the Focolare’s General Assembly (September 2014) Alessandro, a young Religious who shares the spirituality of unity with other young Religious, had this to say: “How great! I was recently in contact again with Jacopo, Gianluca, Alessandro, Alberto, Matilde, Jenny and many others! And happy memories of that beautiful experience we shared during that last meeting in Loppiano returned to my mind. I hope I can see you all again soon! I feel a strong need and desire to be in communion with them for a while. Do you want to know who those people are? You’re right, I didn’t tell you who I was talking about. They’re all men and women Religious from many different charisms, with whom we are in constant contact, with whom I live in a great friendship that always fills my heart.” At that meeting over a hundred young men and women Religious from 36 countries and belonging to 56 Religious families, gathered around the slogan: Yes! We choose the Gospel. The meeting was prepared with much enthusiasm in view of 2015, the year that will be dedicated to consecrated life, but it will also be one further step on a journey by people who have chosen to follow the Gospel that reaches beyond the diversity of charisms. The presence of Cardinal Braz de Avis, Prefect of the Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and Apostolic Life, highlighted the importance of their meeting. On that occasion “Don João” as he likes to be called, said: “The Pope loves you and our congregation is your home.” Alessandro went on to say: “It was the Lord puting us together, making us experience the joy of donating our charisms to one another. It was just beautiful and answered our deep need: that of having other young consecrated people with whom we could share simple things, concrete things, everyday things from our consecrated life. We found out that we have the same moments of difficulty and darkness, and we told each other how we try to overcome them. Sharing those experiences in order to live them together was like taking a deep breath, like opening the windows of the heart not only onto our own charisms, but on all the charisms of the Church, indeed, on the whole world! That universal breath made us fly high!” Alessandro’s experience seems to echo what Pope Francis said during the general audience in St Peter’s Square on October 1, 2014: “Woe, then, if these gifts become a reason for envy and division! As the Apostle Paul reminds us in his First Letter to the Corinthians, chapter 12, all charisms are important in God’s eyes and, at the same time, no one is irreplaceable. This means that in the Christian community we are in need of one another, and every gift received is acted fully when it is shared with brothers, for the good of all. This is the Church! And when the Church expresses herself in communion, in the variety of charisms, she cannot err.”
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13 Oct 2014 | Non categorizzato
“Chiara Lubich left us the family spirit as a heritage, and being open to humanity. This is the magna charta of our local community at Dumaguete, a central region of the Visayas in the Philippines. There have been so many occasions to experience it. We got to know about the situation of a mother and her baby who needed a house to live in for an undetermined period of time. We opened our home to them, without thinking of the consequences. To give them the best welcome we prepared everything, and tried to know more about the culture of their country of origin. A month after their arrival we realised that this would be a big challenge, and we would have to change many of our habits. We both still remembered the discomfort of the previous experience. The mother, nervous and full of hatred, had doubts about God’s love. The child was more and more restless, violent and capricious. When the situation become impossible to bear, we turned to Jesus on the cross, who seemed to say: “ If you do not love me, who will?” This gave us the courage to move on. We understood that we had to take up a dialogue with them in order to love them more concretely, for example, cooking their favourite dishes, or carrying out the most suitable activities. We felt that it was important for the child to go to school and the mother to find some little job. So we did all we could; each suggested some job possibilities, and through a communion of goods we managed to pay for some necessities like the child’s school uniform. Some even took turns to take care of the child while the mother was at work. This was a source of great joy. The two were invited to birthdays and parties of the members of the community, and they found a circle of friends, and soon said that they felt “at home.” With time, through everyone’s love, they began to acknowledge God’s love. The mother had the chance to start a new life, and rent a flat – which we furbished together – and find their independence. Another episode regarded another couple, when the husband was diagnosed with cancer at an advanced stage. Only the wife had a stable income, but they immediately became poor when the treatment began. The community tried to love them concretely: not only with funds, but also in terms of time and trying to gain knowledge on how to take care of a sick person like him. When he become bedridden, the sisters of the Congregation of the Poor of St Francis offered to bring him Holy Communion daily. We lived the entire vicissitude with the couple up to the end. During the funeral, the community took care of the ceremonies, the preparations in Church and the funeral. There was a strong family atmosphere. Our daughter’s friend came to our place while some adults and young people were preparing an activity. It was something new for her, to see how an adult showed great respect and belief in the ideas of the youth, something uncommon in the environment she came from. She told us that before she met the gen (young people of the Movement), her life was ‘a disaster’. She didn’t take school seriously, and made use of drugs. At a certain point my daughter, who is her best friend, had moved to another city to study, but the other gen continued to stay close to her. Now we have taken her in, and slowly she has started to change, even up to the point of improving her performance at school and has stopped consuming drugs.”
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11 Oct 2014 | Non categorizzato
“I work in a school in an underprivileged area. One of the experiences I had lived at the end of the year was a confirmation of how each of us can build unity in his own workplace. An ugly episode had happened, involving a professor against the school Principal and other colleagues. While I was taking down the minutes of a school council, there was a moment of conflict. The police arrived, the ambulance, etc. and there was a very explosive atmosphere. Injunctions were served, there were threats to sue, complaints… It was a very negative moment, colleagues were taking sides with one party or the other, at times making mischief and then each going his own way. I felt really uneasy, the report I had to make was really tough, and I tried only to describe the facts. I tried to listen to everyone without prejudice. I felt I had to do something to mend the relationships. The various parties trusted me, seeing how I had worked during the year and because of my relationships with the students, the families and colleagues. I was in this state, just waiting for an occasion when the School Principal asked me to do something to calm down everyone and bring peace back. At this point I went to pray before Jesus in the Eucharist and asked him to make me his spokesperson, since I knew I was not capable of resolving the situation with my own resources. So, with great apprehension, I called the colleague who was involved and who risked getting fired. An idealist with a great sense of justice, and in my view, very honest; he wasn’t a believer but was in search, and with whom I had built a deep relationship based on common convictions. The minute he saw my concern over the situation, he loosened up. We spoke about his life, the motivations behind all that had happened, and he said he was willing to take back his words and ask excuse for some of his attitudes, and certainly not in defence of his principles. I then went to the School Principal, and also on this occasion tried to listen and share. At the end they met and cleared things with one another, to dispel the many misunderstanding of the past. After other encounters the situation was resolved. It was a great relief to all, and a chance to start anew and look ahead. My colleague told me: ‘I want to thank you above all because I managed to free myself from the grudges and I was able to forgive, in a civil manner, that is, I managed to move on.” On my part instead, I knew I had to thank God for his love and mercy.’ (G. B. – Italy)
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10 Oct 2014 | Non categorizzato
“In Holland there are no wars, no poverty like in other countries of the world, we do not have natural disasters nor the persecution of Christians or of other peoples. We live in a free country where we can do and say whatever we want. And perhaps this freedom was at that moment my greatest enemy. ” Thus begins the story of Laura, a young Dutch girl who helped in the organisation of the 35th National Day for the Catholic youth of Holland. A festival with live music, stands and the sharing of experiences: this year, for the first time, it lasted for 2 days, and was hosted by the little town of the Focolare in Marienkroon (Nieuwkuijk), in a picturesque landscape in the woods. 700 young people arrived there on the weekend of June 28 and 29. “It was a really nice festival, full of joy and sunshine, very informal – continued Laura – The music groups played, someone was eating candy floss or attending a workshop, there was always something to do or experience.” During the preparation, the national television Talpa, contacted the organizers. It was a question of participating in a reality show in which an actor and a singer visit different groups in the Netherlands who share a passion or a way of life. They spend a bit of time with them, have interviews and a dinner to say thank you. When they heard about this festival for young Catholics, they asked to spend the weekend with them. “In this period of great criticism of the Catholic Church in the Netherlands, it seemed that this could be a great opportunity to show to the whole nation a church that is young, vibrant and full of strength and courage. At the same time we were a little afraid, not knowing how the interviews would be modified for the final transmission.” Three young people were chosen to be interviewed during the festival, among them Laura: “During the conversations prior to the final interview, I realized they wanted to create an image of a young Catholic in a precise stereotype: boring and with a limited view on the world. There were questions about pre-marital relations, on living and preaching the Gospel, the prejudices that exist in the Church today and the choices I was making in life at that time. I had to think for a few days before accepting the invitation. So many thoughts were going around in my head, ‘You do not know who will see this program. Maybe my college friends, my neighbours, my teachers, people who do not accept me because of my faith.’ I was sure that with this interview I would transmit a certain image of myself to the whole country, the image of a girl who devotes her life to the Church and to the building of a united world. And I didn’t feel happy about that. I had to take a huge step to overcome this fear of revealing my soul, my ideals, before an audience of a million and a half people. I finally said yes. The interview went very well. There will be people who see the interview and make negative comments or will not want to stay in touch with me. However, the intense and infinite Love that I feel inside of me for having remained faithful to God and to his plan on me as a young Catholic gives me great joy. I could not have given a greater testimony of my faith and my passion for a united world.”
See Vatican Radio article. Pope’s message to the young people
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9 Oct 2014 | Non categorizzato
A bonfire with an off-season carnival masquerade. The youth festival held last 28 September 2014 at the Mariapolis Lia ended with a symbolical event. The long-awaited one-day festival had been carefully prepared ahead of time by the young people who have spent a period of time in the little town of the Focolare Movement in Argentina. “We are aware of the many problems besetting our world, and some think that it is up to the others to look for solutions. Here in the citadel there are 90 boys and girls from 20 countries who have decided they were not going to wait any longer. We want to be the actors of this change, and we have found the formula: work to build the unity of the human family.” This was how the young organisers opened the festival onstage, addressing the 1,000 young people who responded to their invitation. They came from Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Brazil. Four hundred came from distant cities, and had arrived the day before. Through various activities they got to know more about the lifestyle of the inhabitants of the little town. They toured the various work stations, the small factories where the inhabitants share their own talents for the benefit of everyone. In the evening, they got the first shocking proposal: to pass the night without alcohol, but with music, dance, the most modern choreographies and… the response was enthusiastic! 
Early the next morning, an unexpected greeting was launched, with which the commitment of each one was boosted by worldwide support. At the Mariapolis Centre in Castel Gandolfo (Italy) the Focolare’s General Assembly was about to close and the President, Maria Voce, on greeting the people all over the world during an internet link-up said: «Allow me to give a special greeting to the youth gathered at the Mariapoli Lia, in Argentina, who are about to start their Youth Fest. We are all there with you, so that you may express your joy and involve all the participants in the theme you have chosen.” 
The entire event was full of creativity: Masks, colours from all over and a splendid sun created the right atmosphere for the launching of the festival. Suddenly a murga (typical theatre groups of Uruguay) invaded the scene; various characters emerged initiating a program of songs, dances and drama scenes. Some shared personal stories on their efforts to be authentic in their decisions made, on living the present moment and making a firm choice of Jesus as the ideal of their lives. They affirm: “We’ve had a beautiful experience here in the Mariapolis Lia; we have started out on a journey which is leading us towards universal brotherhood and we have dedicated a year of our lives to this goal.” “It is precisely with this “mad love” that we are able to give of ourselves, when we try to accept one another as we are, taking off the masks which make of us just another number in the meaningless crowd.” After this daring challenge, the festival proceeded with moments of prayer, games, and workshops, and to conclude, throwing into the bonfire the masks all had received upon their arrival. It was an invitation to take to the places where each one lives, studies, or works, this way of living they experienced at the youth fest.
