31 Mar 2012 | Non categorizzato, Word of
“You are already made clean.” What does Jesus mean with these words, what kind of purity is he speaking of? He is referring to the attitude one needs to have in order to stay in the presence of God; he means the absence of obstacles (such as sins) that come between us and any contact with the sacred, any encounter with the divine. To possess this purity, we need God’s help. In the Old Testament, people had already discovered that human beings are unable to approach God if they rely on human strength alone. God must purify their hearts; he must give them a new heart. There is a beautiful Psalm that says, “A clean heart create in me, O God” (Ps 51:12). You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. According to Jesus, there is a way to be pure of heart; it is his word. The disciples had heard and accepted his word, and it had purified them. The words of Jesus, in fact, are not like human words. Jesus is present in them as he is present in the Eucharist, though in a different way. Through his words, Christ enters us, and by accepting them and putting them into practice, we allow him to be born and grow in our hearts. Pope Paul VI said: “How does Jesus become present in souls? Through the communication of the word, the divine thought is conveyed; the Word, the Son of God made man, is conveyed. We could assert that the Lord becomes incarnate in us when we allow his word to come and dwell within us.”[1] You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. The word of Jesus is also compared to a seed sown in the heart of the believer. When it is welcomed, it penetrates deeply, and like a seed, it develops, grows and bears much fruit. It “Christifies” us, making us similar to Christ. The word, which has thus entered a person’s life through the power of the Spirit, truly has the ability and strength to keep the Christian far from evil: that is, as long as we allow the word to act in us, we will be free from sin and, therefore, pure. We will sin only if we cease to obey the truth. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. How then should we live in order that we too might merit Jesus’ praise? We should try to put each word of God into practice, to nourish ourselves with the word moment by moment, making of our lives a work of continuous re-evangelization. We do this so that we might have the same thoughts and sentiments as Jesus. We do this so that we might relive Christ in the world today and show to society, often enmeshed in evil and sin, the divine purity, the limpidness of spirit that the Gospel gives. During this month then, if possible (that is, if there are others with us who share the same desire), let us try in a special way to put into practice those words of Jesus that contain his commandment of mutual love. In fact, in John’s Gospel, where we find this month’s Word of Life, there is a bond between the word of Jesus and the New Commandment. According to John, it is in the context of mutual love that the lived word has its effects of purification, holiness, preservation from sin, fruitfulness, closeness to God. An isolated individual cannot long resist the enticements of the world, whereas in mutual love, everyone finds the healthy environment that protects their authentic Christian life. Chiara Lubich [1] From a talk to the parishioners of St. Eusebius in Rome (February 26, 1967)
![The Pope to Young People: Be witnesses of joy]()
28 Mar 2012 | Non categorizzato
This year,” the Holy Father begins by saying, “the theme of the World Youth Day is brought to us by an exhortation from the Letter of St Paul to the Philippians: “Rejoice in the Lord always! I say it again, rejoice!” (Phil 4:4). Joy is in fact an essential element of the Christian experience. (. . . ) And we see what a great strong attraction it has. In a world so often marked by sadness and anxiety it is an important witness to the reliability of the Christian faith.” As he describes some of the characteristics of joy Benedict XVI underscores that “our hearts are made for joy” and that “God is the source of true joy.” He explains to young people how to find and to “preserve Christian joy in their hearts through living the Word. His message goes on dealing with “joy and love’ which, according to Benedict XVI, are intimately linked: “Love produces joy, and joy is a form of love.” And recalling a statement of Teresa of Calcutta: “. . . God loves those who give with joy. And whoever gives joyfully gives more.” He then goes on to discuss “the joy of conversion” and the challenge of discovering “joy in trials”. “Suffering,” says the Pope, “can be transfigured by love and be mysteriously inhabited by joy.” Here he offers two young people as models: Pier Giorgio Frassati (1901-1925) and Chiara Badano (1971-1990), quoting a letter that Chiara Badano wrote to Chiara Lubich, dated December 20, 1989 in which the young Blessed confesses “I suffer much physically, but my soul is singing”. The text concludes with an invitation to young people to become “witnesses of joy” because, according to the Holy Father, “you cannot be happy unless others are: and so joy must be shared.” Complete text: MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE BENEDICT XVI FOR THE TWENTY-SEVENTH WORLD YOUTH DAY 2012
![The Pope to Young People: Be witnesses of joy]()
27 Mar 2012 | Non categorizzato
Video: Shrine of Guadalupe, 7 June 1997
«We are all here in front of the very beautiful image of Our Lady of Guadalupe which was painted in heaven, first of all, out of love for the very beloved Mexican people.
Like you, I too ardently wished to come here after learning more about this very sweet Mother of God and our Mother, and after reading the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe which surprised me and moved me.
What do we feel in our heart after this heavenly contact in which we contemplated the great privilege that the world, and first of all Mexico, received through the apparition of our sweet Lady? A deep conviction easily surfaces in our soul: Our Lady of Guadalupe has much to do also with us, with the Focolare Movement, the Work of Mary.
Why do I say this? Because Our Lady of Guadalupe is the Madonna of love, and love is the very essence of our spirituality. Our Lady of Guadalupe indeed manifests, explains, and teaches, in a sublime way, that art of loving which we have understood in the Gospel. We know that supernatural love has very precise demands: Above all, this love requires that we love everyone. This love asks that we do not allow ourselves to be conditioned by whether people are pleasant or unpleasant, beautiful or ugly, fellow countryman or foreigner, Asian or African. The love which Jesus brought on earth requires that we love everyone.
And what did Our Lady of Guadalupe do? She gave an extraordinary example: she loved the indigenous people and the Spaniards. Furthermore, true love demands that one take the initiative in loving, as Jesus did. He gave his life for us when we were still sinners. This is what the heavenly Morenita did. Unexpectedly, she appeared to an indigenous man and thus underlined, among other things, Jesus’ preferences. In times when the indigenous people were living their terrible Good Friday, she did not appear to a member of the dominating part of the population, but to an indigenous man, speaking his language. And she didn’t only appear, she brought about relief and happiness, and with heavenly sweetness she led millions of people on both sides to convert to her son, Jesus.
Supernatural love certainly doesn’t nourish itself on sentiments, or on a bit of good will, or just on solidarity, or almsgiving. It is that love which Jesus himself has borne witnessed to, by making himself one with us in the incarnation, and then in his passion and death. Another attribute of love is indeed knowing how to make ourselves one with others in order to understand them, and to share their joys and sufferings. It is this attribute of love, this making ourselves one, that substantiates inculturation, which is so very much needed today, and which the Church strongly emphasizes in order to offer an authentic evangelization.
Mary of Guadalupe is really the Mother of true love, the Mother of knowing how to make ourselves one. Our Lady of Guadalupe is an extraordinary and wonderful example of inculturation, which she expressed in the way she appeared. She did not have a white countenance as Mary of Nazareth is depicted; her features are those of a woman who is a “morena,” neither white nor indigenous. She is “morena,” and thus preaches to all the need not to ever clash, but always to come together. She shows her divine maternity, symbolized by the dark ribbons which hang down from her chest, as was the Aztec custom. By wearing a dress reserved for God and for the king, she wants to demonstrate that although she is not of divine origin, she is the queen of the universe. Next to the black ribbons, she has a small Indian cross to indicate that the center of the universe is Christ whom Mary is carrying in her womb. That cross, however, is accompanied by a small Christian cross engraved in the brooch she wears at her neck.
Her image highlights the presence of the sun behind her, with the stars on her mantle and the moon beneath her feet: the sun, stars and moon are not opposed to one another as people thought; rather, they co-exist in peace.
And we could go on and on…. As Mexicans, you would have many more things to tell us. What I have mentioned, however, seems sufficient to help us understand something very important: inculturation doesn’t only mean to make ourselves one with another people spiritually, discovering and perhaps potentiating the seeds of the Word present in them. It also means to receive, with humility and gratitude, valid elements that the culture of our brothers and sisters have to offer. Inculturation demands an exchange of gifts. This is what Our Lady of Guadalupe wants to tell us. Only in this way will the Gospel be able to penetrate into the depth of our souls and bring about its revolution, with all its consequences».
Chiara Lubich, Guadalupe, June 7th 1997
