![Genfest 2012: “Look on high!”]()
1 Sep 2012 | Non categorizzato
Yesterday, 31 August, the busy day began at the Hungarian Parliament where an international youth delegation from the Genfest were welcomed. This was followed in the afternoon by a grand celebration in the esplanade of the Sports Arena, the opening of an “Expo of Eastern Europe” performance and sport activities with live interviews transmitted over the radio. In the evening there was the festive evening concert with young artists from five continents, preceded by the greetings of the Mayor of Budapest Tarlos Istvan, by the General President of UNESCO MS Katalina Bogyay.
Pope Benedict XVI sent a message giving his warm greetings to all the young people present. Referring to the Genfest motto “Let’s bridge” and to the bridges destroyed in the Second World War, the Pope affirmed: “Yet out of the ashes of that terrible conflict, there arose a determination to build peace on lasting foundations, a determination which was to be the inspiration behind the founding of the Focolare Movement. The bridges across the Danube were rebuilt, and the international community set itself the goal of eliminating once and for all the conditions that might lead to future conflict.”
“While Budapest itself, together with much of Eastern Europe, continued to suffer under the oppression of a totalitarian regime, there too, new possibilities for freedom and fraternal outreach have come about since the end of the Cold War. May this beautiful city be a sign of hope to inspire all the young people present to offer the hand of friendship to those from other backgrounds and cultures, “in such a way as to shape the earthly city in unity and peace, rendering it to some degree an anticipation and foreshadowing of the undivided city of God” (Caritas in Veritate, 7).”
Today, 1 September, there was the presentation of the several national delegations and the first part of “Let’s bridge”, the metaphor of the various phases in building a bridge. There will also be alternating reflections and witnesses by the youths from around the world who are committed to bringing about universal brotherhood in today’s world.
A solemn moment took place when the United World Project was launched. This project was conceived and developed by the youth of the Focolare Movement and open to everyone’s collaboration, which will be launched in its first phase in Budapest, aims to highlight and promote fraternity already under way by individuals, groups and nations. It will also start up a permanent international Observatory, recognized by the UN.
It is to these young people in particular that Maria Voce addressed her talk this afternoon, challenging them to: “Look on high. Set your gazes far, it is there that you’ll find something certain that you can grab onto. Look to the Love that is God. He is the only One who doesn’t disappoint you. Place yourselves on his side, trying to see the world and things with his eyes and you’ll be firm pillars of new bridges upon which everyone will walk happy and secure, and others will follow you.”
With their intense silence the young people absorbed her every word.
“Then, have no fear!” she continued, “Be yourselves and enter personally into society, and place your small or great personality at its service, your abilities and your talents. You make a unique contribution, one that will never be repeated again, different from that of the adults. . . You are now called to spend your lives for something immense, leaving behind you something immortal”.
At this point Maria Voce urged everyone: “So you need step into action. . . Begin to love concretely. The first step will not involve grand scale actions, but those small acts of love that make life great and have the power to change the world and influence society. . . And never allow the bridges that have been built today to lessen. The first bridge was built right here among yourselves. . . You’ve constructed a small bit of united world and each of you carries the strength of this experience within you. . . And so you shall file forth from this Sport Arena like a great river of love”.
She concluded by recalling a statement made by the founder, Chiara Lubich: “The world needs more soul, more love. And this is what we should bring to it!” She wished them: “Courage, then! All of us united in this beautiful adventure!”
In the evening there will be a large “Flashmob” – tranmsitted through live streaming – held simultaneously with other flashmobs around the world. The one in Hungary will take place at the historical Chain Bridge over the Danube. It aims to show the commitment of the Youth for Unity to build bridges among people, countries, religions and cultures.
Address by Maria Voce
Message sent by His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI
![Genfest 2012: “Look on high!”]()
1 Sep 2012 | Non categorizzato
The Focolare Movement also pauses and gratefully remembers Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini. We give thanks to God for having given to the Church and to the world a man who has provided such a great personal witness. We treasure his extraordinary love for the Word of God and his capacity for dialogue with the contemporary culture. These are the two pearls that we would like to see gathered by the new generations, as we begin the Genfest with 12,000 young people who have gathered from the five continents, in Budapest, Hungary.
31 Aug 2012 | Non categorizzato, Word of
“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
Jesus’ words are addressed to all of us who are thirsty in this world: to those who are conscious of their spiritual aridity and who still suffer thirst, and to those who are not even aware of the need to drink from the fountain of true life and of the great values of humanity.
Jesus is actually extending an invitation to all men and women today, revealing where we can find the answer to our questions and the fulfillment of all our desires. It is up to us, therefore, to draw from his words, to let ourselves be imbued with his message.
How? By re-evangelizing our life, measuring it against his words, trying to think with the mind of Jesus and to love with his heart.
Every moment in which we seek to live the Gospel is like drinking a drop of that living water. Every gesture of love for our neighbor is like a sip of that water.
Yes, because that water, which is so alive and precious, has something special about it. It wells up within us each time we open our hearts to others. It’s a wellspring of God that gives water to us in the measure in which it flows out from us to quench the thirst of others through small or big acts of love.
“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
We’ve understood: to avoid suffering thirst, we must give to others the living water within ourselves that we draw from him.
Very little is needed — at times a word, a smile, a simple gesture of solidarity, to give us a renewed sense of fulfillment, of profound satisfaction, a surge of joy. And if we continue to give, this fountain of peace and life will pour out water evermore abundantly and will never dry up.
Jesus revealed to us yet another secret, a kind of bottomless well from which we can draw. When two or three are united in his name, by loving one another with his very own love, he is in their midst (see Mt 18:20). And it is then that we are free, that we are one, full of light, with rivers of living water flowing from within us (see Jn 7:38). It is the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise, because it is from Jesus himself, present in our midst, that thirst-quenching water wells up for eternity.
Chiara Lubich
Originally published in 2002 (New City Magazine)
31 Aug 2012 | Non categorizzato
30 Aug 2012 | Non categorizzato
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t82EyPeQ990
![Genfest 2012: “Look on high!”]()
28 Aug 2012 | Non categorizzato
Anyone who has had the privilege of knowing Valeria Ronchetti personally can testify to the extraordinary spiritual strength of this exceptional woman and of all the first focolarine who began what she liked to call the “adventure of unity” alongside Chiara Lubich: the adventure of making the world become one family; contributing to the realization of Jesus’ prayer: “that all be one” (Jn. 17:21).
“It would be impossible to summarize the richness of Vale’s life in which she was a protagonist in so many areas of Europe and other continents, and in many areas of the Movement,” writes Focolare president, Maria Voce, in the message she sent to the centres of the world, informing them of Valeria Ronchetti’s death.
“We watched her as she strengthened her efforts in developing the branch of the consecrated women religious who live the Spirituality of Unity; her work in favour of communion among the ecclesial movements and new associations; in the worlds of art and sport and media… to mention only a few.”
Vale recounted the story of her life in many different settings and it is all being gathered along with news and testimonies, in order to write a biography about her,” the president went on to say. And it was precisely in telling her story and, in particular, her encounter with Chiara Lubich who, once she met her, was never again able to forget her greeting: “Fire and Light!” This was in reference to her great discovery – as the Second World War was raging – that God is Love and that he loves us immensely.”
We’ve put together a profile,” Maria Voce added, “that will be read at her funeral, which you will be able to watch via internet.”And just as she had dreamt of doing when she was a young woman in the midst of the ruins of the war, she shall be laid to rest together with the other members of that first group who have already “arrived in Heaven”, in a common tomb on which the words of the Gospel are engraved: “And we have believed in Love” (1 Jn. 4:16).
Maria Voce writes: “Many letters are arriving from around the world, from people who are telling us what the encounter with her has brought about in their lives. It’s like a grand chorus of thanksgiving to Almighty God!”
“With immense gratitude,” concludes the president’s message, “let us offer suffrages for Vale, certain that from there above, she will continue to help us keep the fire of the ideal of unity burning in our hearts and that we might bring its light into the world.”
