![Economy at the Service of all Peoples]()
12 Aug 2010 | Non categorizzato
Caux is a small Swiss village overlooking Lake Geneva, about 1000 meters above sea level. In its monumental castle, which is now a hotel, an international conference on “Trust and Integrity in a Globalized Economy” is scheduled to take place between the 12th and 17th of August 2010. The conference is intended to be six days of research and debate during which, experts, academics and members of the international business community from all over the world, we will try to “explore new avenues to a more equitable world economy” as the conference’s subtitle states. And it will take place right here, in the same country that annually hosts the World Economic Forum in Davos. 
The conference is sponsored by the Swiss Foundation CAUX-Initiatives of Change, which operates both within Switzerland and internationally, to promote conflict prevention, intercultural dialogue, and trust between different social entities. This foundation belongs to a wider network of entities whose common connector is the, CAUX-Initiatives of Change, an NGO that has consultative status in the State Economic and Social Council at the United Nations (ECOSOC). Already in 2003, Chiara Lubich had gone at the invitation of President of CAUX-Initiatives of Change, Cornelio Sommaruga, to speak on how “religions can be partners on the road to peace”. To meet the unprecedented challenge that emerged following September 11, “the contribution of religions is decisive,” Chiara said. She went on to narrate a personal experience, the discovery of the art of loving, which is rooted in the Gospel, and leads to a love that “knows no discrimination”. (See full text) The 2010 conference is aimed at young people, students, businessmen, and economists. It looks forward to being a full immersion in the current economic situations of our cities and countries to understand the reasons for the global crisis in which we are immersed. Seen from this perspective it will also propose measures which can be taken at community levels that aim towards a more equitable economic system, in harmony with sustainable development and progress for all peoples. Especially interesting will be the dialogue between northern and southern hemispheres of the world. Speakers will include Lavinia Sommaruga Bode from Alliance Sud (Switzerland), Myrna Roselind Jelman, Consultant to the Ashridge Business School, researcher Juan Carlos Kaiten, from Mexico, and Amira Elmissiry from the African Development Bank. On the morning of the 14th August, Maria Voce, President of the Focolare Movement, will speak about the Economy of Communion as an instrument at the service the human person, in view of a more united world.
7 Aug 2010 | Non categorizzato
On the 7th of August, Benedictines, Trinitarians, Augustinians, Salesians, priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and religious from other ancient and new charisms, gathered from around the world at Mariapolis Faro, which is located in the small Croatian town of Krizevci about an hour from Zagabria. This annual meeting has become a tradition for these representatives of the many other religious men who have grafted the spirituality of unity upon the roots of their founder’s charism. This year too, Maria Voce, President of the Focolare Movement, was invited to participate in their meeting, which is being held in an Eastern European country for the first time. She began greeting them by saying: “Chiara’s family is everywhere!” The Will of God In her dialogue with the religious, Maria Voce, together with Giancarlo Faletti, touched on several important points for the life of the Movement in the coming year. “Throughout the past year we have considered God-Love and we allowed ourselves to be loved by Him. There was joy, difficulty, unexpected providence – all of them signs of His love for us. In the upcoming year, I feel that He’s challenging us to respond to His love, to see what we can do, and to see where the practice of reciprocity might lead us. Then let us do his will, awakening our thrust to holiness. But not alone: We can only do this in unity. Collective holiness, therefore, the holiness of the entire Work of Mary. Doing the will of God will be our response of love.” More Beautiful A religious asked Maria Voce how she thought the Church could be helped by us in this difficult moment. She responded with her usual spontaneousness and serenity: “I have the feeling that Our Lady wants to caress the Church, that she wants it to be beautiful, also through us. If the Work of Mary is itself, it contributes like a small daughter to making its mother more beautiful.” Co-president Faletti stressed the fact that difficult moments help to cause things that are nonessential to fall to the side, everything that is not God. More than in other years, this year’s dialogue highlighted the creativity, initiative, involvement, and needs of individual religious: To be a proactive leaven in the world community, to feel responsible not only of ones own small or large area of activity, but for everything, in order to bring things forward together, to work as a body. Difficulty and Optimism There were also some difficult questions, like how the religious should bring the Gospel to the people. Giancarlo Faletti pointed out that: “Even in our own past there were times when we couldn’t hold public manifestations in certain places, or even meet, or even talk about the Gospel. We seemed to be at a complete loss, and yet, it’s precisely then that what is at the core of our life came into evidence: Keeping Jesus in our midst always.” Maria Voce added: “These are not just words or a concept, but a Person, a Companion; it means never having to be alone, to know what to do in every situation, without the risk of becoming an ugly copy of the past. The socio-ecclesial reality of today is different from that of the past, so we can’t go on repeating things from 25 years ago. And since God has something to say to the people of today also through us, we need to bring up to date what our charism tells us for the Church and for the society of today. This is the challenge that lies at the centre of my experience as president.” She concluded by saying: “What a beautiful family Chiara gave us! I can’t help but be optimistic.” Faro – Beacon The mass followed, celebrated within the splendid Greek Catholic Cathedral of Krivzevci. Finally, people from the local communities of the Focolare Movement offered a feast for Maria Voce, Giancarlo, the Religious and the Gen (youth members of the Focolare). There was singing, comic sketches, traditional costumes and local delicacies. In her final farewell, Maria Voce underscored mutual love, which had been the premise of all the day’s events: “Mutual love among everyone here at Mariapolis Faro allowed many peoples and languages to form a single harmony today. If each of us, returning home, brings this harmony back to his and her country, then this Mariapolis will truly be a ‘faro’, a ‘beacon’ for many.” Giulio Meazzini See Photo Gallery for other images of visit to Mariapolis Faro
31 Jul 2010 | Non categorizzato, Word of
These words belong to an event which is simple and sublime at the same time. It is the encounter between two expectant mothers whose spiritual and physical symbiosis with their sons is total. They lend them their lips, their sentiments. When Mary speaks, Elizabeth's son leaps with joy in her womb. When Elizabeth speaks, it seems that her words are put on her lips by her son, the Precursor. But while the first words of her hymn of praise to Mary are addressed personally to “the mother of the Lord” (1:43), the final ones are in the third person: "Blessed is she who believed."
Thus her "affirmation acquires the character of universal truth: beatitude applies to all believers; it concerns those who accept the Word of God and put it into practice, and who find in Mary their model.”
"Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord."
It is the first beatitude of the Gospel in reference to Mary, but it refers also to all those who want to follow her and imitate her.
In Mary, there is a close bond between faith and maternity, as a consequence of listening to the Word. And in this passage Luke suggests something that concerns us too. Further ahead in his Gospel Jesus says: "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it" (Lk 8:21).
Almost anticipating these words, Elizabeth, moved by the Holy Spirit, announces to us that every disciple can become "mother" of the Lord. The condition is that he or she believe in the Word of God and live it.
"Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord."
After Jesus, Mary is the one who best and most perfectly said "yes" to God. Her sanctity and greatness lies, above all, in this. If Jesus is the Word, the incarnate Word, Mary, because of her faith in the Word, is the Word lived, but a created being like us, just like us.
Mary's role as the mother of God is lofty and magnificent. But the Virgin is not the only one God calls to generate Christ. Every Christian has a similar task, even though in a different way: to incarnate Christ to the point of repeating with St. Paul: "It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me" (Gal 2:20).
How can we accomplish this?
By approaching the Word of God as Mary did, that is, by being totally open to it. Therefore, to believe, as Mary did, that all the promises contained in the Word of Jesus will be fulfilled, and if necessary, to risk the consequences that his Word can sometimes imply, as Mary did.
Wonderful things always happen to those who believe in the Word–big things, little things. We could fill books with facts that prove this. We will never forget the experience we had in the midst of the war. Believing in the words of Jesus: "Ask and it will be given to you" (Mt 7:7), we asked for everything that the many poor in the city needed, and then we saw sacks of flour, boxes of powdered milk, jam, firewood, and clothes arrive.
Things like this happen today, too. "Give and gifts will be given to you" (Lk 6:38), and the cupboards with provisions to be shared are always full because they are regularly emptied.
But what is most striking is to see that the words of Jesus are true always and everywhere. God's help arrives on time, even in the most impossible circumstances and in the most isolated points on earth. Look what happened a short time ago to a mother who lives in dire poverty. One day she gave the little money she had left to someone who was in greater need. She really believed these words of the Gospel: "Give and gifts will be given to you." And she felt at peace. Shortly afterwards, her youngest daughter showed her a gift she had just received. It came from an elderly relative who happened to be in the neighborhood that day. There in her daughter’s little hand was double the amount that the mother had given away.
A "small" experience like this encourages us to believe in the Gospel. Each one of us can experience the joy, the beatitude, that comes from seeing the promises of Jesus come true.
When we come in contact with the Word of God, through the everyday circumstances of our life or by reading from Sacred Scripture, let us open our hearts
and listen. Let us believe that what Jesus is asking us and promising us will come true. We will soon discover, like Mary and like that mother, that he keeps his promises.
The Word of Life, taken from Scripture, is offered each month as a guide and inspiration for daily living. From the Focolare’s beginnings, Chiara Lubich wrote her commentaries on each Word of Life, and after her death in March 2008, her early writings are now being featured once again. This commentary, addressed to a primarily Christian audience, was originally published in August 1999.
By Chiara Lubich
