The Parish – a witness to the love of God
1,500 participants – amongst whom 140 from extra-European countries. These are the ‘numbers’ for the Parish and Diocesan Movement Congress which will take place at Castel Gandolfo (Rome) from 16 to 19 April. Born in 1966, with the encouragement of Pope Paul VI, the Movement is currently present in over 3,000 parishes in 41 nations, in all 5 continents. The spirituality of the Focolare is not only capable of renewing the life of the individual, but can also revive in a community, and therefore also in a parish or diocese, that life of communion which was so characteristic of the first Christian communities.
The theme chosen for the congress this year is ‘The Parish – a witness to God’s love’. ‘Words,’ the organizers say, ‘which respond to a reality that the Holy Father emphasized in his encyclical Deus Caritas Est.’ In his first encyclical Benedict XVI wrote: ‘In the Church's Liturgy, in her prayer, in the living community of believers, we experience the love of God, we perceive his presence and we thus learn to recognize that presence in our daily lives. He has loved us first and he continues to do so; we too, then, can respond with love. God does not demand of us a feeling that we ourselves are incapable of producing. He loves us, he makes us see and experience his love, and since he has “loved us first”, love can also blossom as a response within us.’
The congress at Castel Gandolfo is held at a crucial moment for the life of the Church and for its communities spread throughout the world. There will be participants from Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Uruguay, Canada, South Africa, Korea and the Philippines. ‘Benedict XVI,’ the organizers point out, ‘invites us all to announce to everyone that God is love. This is the inspiring spark of the Focolare Movement. It is important that the face of God-Love is discovered and found again in our Parish Communities so that they become authentic witnesses to the love of God – both because God reigns in their midst and because their love overflows on everyone.’ The programme will alternate meditations by Chiara Lubich on God-Love with experiences of communities animated by this spirit.
Following the Congress there will be a school for the animators of Parish communities that come from Asia, Africa and America, on the Spirituality of Unity and its spread in parish life.
‘Arms Down!’
This is an international campaign, sponsored by the youth section of ‘Religions for Peace’ (formerly the WCRP – World Conference of Religions for Peace) and by its International Council, where the Focolare Movement, the Rissho Kosei-kai and Shanti Ashram are represented.
The campaign is counting on inter-religious co-operation and will reach out to international organizations, governments, parliaments and national assemblies, town councils and the media, to ask with determination for a definite reduction in nuclear and conventional arms and to reallocate military spending to support urgently needed development, as set forth in the Millennium Development Goals (United Nations 2000).
It also asks for a review of the International Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, planned for 2010, as support on an international level appears more and more fragile as the situation in areas of crisis gets worse.
The campaign was launched officially in Costa Rica on 7 November 2009. The Focolare Movement participated right from the beginning by sending 6 delegates, amongst who were 4 young people from different countries.
During her trip to Asia last January Maria Voce, President of the Focoalare Movement, inaugurated the collaboration with a solemn signing of the appeal during her meeting with the leaders of the young people of the Rissho Kosei-kai. The collecting of signatures was publically launched in Mid-February during the meeting of the Young People for a United World in Castel Gandolfo (Rome) and subsequently throughout the world. The annual get-together at Loppiano for young people on 1st May (Florence, Italy) and other events linked to United World Week (1-9 May) will be important occasions to spread the campaign.
Who can help?
Everyone – the response is personal and can be made by simply adding one’s own signature on-line at the Religions for Peace site (http://religionsforpeace.org/initiatives/global-youth-network/campaign-for-shared-security/) or by organizing one’s own collection of signatures using the forms that are downloadable from the site.
‘At a time when it is urgent to react to a war mentality’, the organizers affirm, ‘and to give strength to the international civil society uniting with those who are working for the same aim, we feel that this initiative can be a constructive means of supporting practical choices for peace and universal fraternity.’
Easter of the Resurrection
Jesus is faithful to his promise: “… where two or three are gathered together in my name [that is, in my love], there am I in the midst of them.” .jpg)
Yes, where two or more are united in his name, the Risen Jesus is present, and he brings with him the gifts of the Spirit: light, joy, peace, love. This was the awesome experience made with my first companions during the Movement’s beginnings in Trent, during World War II, when we made the commandment, “Love one another as I love you,” our own, and formulated a pact among ourselves: “I am ready to die for you, I for you…” The Risen Jesus is just what the world is waiting for! It is waiting for witnesses who can truly say: we have seen him with the senses of our soul, we have discovered him in the light with which he enlightened us, we have touched him in the peace he gave us, we have heard his voice in the depths of our hearts, we have tasted his unmistakable joy. In this way we can assure everyone that he is the fullness of happiness and we can make the world hope again. Chiara Lubich
Life within – April 2010
We cannot but be happy if we have the life that Christ offers. This true life conquers death. This was first published as the Word of Life for March 1999.
Jesus said these words after the death of Lazarus of Bethany; then Jesus brought Lazarus back to life four days after he had died.
Lazarus had two sisters, Martha and Mary.
“When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him” and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
“Your brother will rise,” Jesus answered.
She replied, “I know that he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.”
Then Jesus declared: “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die” (Jn 11:20-26).
“I am the resurrection and the life.”
Jesus wants to make clear who he is. Jesus possesses the most precious thing anyone could want: life, the life that can never die.
If we read John’s Gospel we find that Jesus also said, “Just as the Father has life in himself, so he gave to his Son the possession of life in himself” (Jn 5:26).
Since Jesus has life in himself, he can give it to others.
“I am the resurrection and the life.”
Martha believed in the final resurrection. “I know that he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day” (Jn 11:24). But with his wonderful affirmation, “I am the resurrection and the life,” Jesus tells her that she does not have to wait for the future to hope in the resurrection of the dead. Right now, in the present moment, for all those who believe in him, he is already that divine, ineffable, eternal life that will never die.
If Jesus is in those who believe, if he is in us, we will not die. This life in the believer is the same life that is in the risen Jesus and is, therefore, quite different from the human condition in which we find ourselves.
And this extraordinary life, which already exists in us, will become fully manifest on the last day when, with our whole being, we will take part in the resurrection that is to come.
“I am the resurrection and the life.”
With these words Jesus is certainly not denying that physical death exists. But that does not imply the loss of true life. Death will remain for us, as for everyone, an experience that is unique, intense, perhaps feared. But death will no longer be a sign that our existence is pointless or absurd, or the failure of our life, or our final end. Death, for us, will no longer be really a death.
“I am the resurrection and the life.”
When was this undying life born in us?
In our baptism. There, even though, as human beings we were destined to die, we received immortal life from Christ. In our baptism, in fact, we received the Holy Spirit, the one who raised Jesus from the dead.
The condition for receiving this sacrament was the faith we professed, perhaps through our godparents. On the occasion of the raising of Lazarus, Jesus stated clearly to Martha, “Whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live … Do you believe this?” (Jn 11:25-26).
“Believing,” here, is something very serious, very important. It does not mean simply accepting the truths Jesus has proclaimed; it means adhering to them with our whole being.
To have this life, therefore, we must say our “yes” to Christ. And this means adherence to his words, to his commands: living them. Jesus reinforced this: “Whoever keeps my word will never see death” (Jn 8:51). And the teachings of Jesus are summed up in love.
So we cannot but be happy: in us there is life!
“I am the resurrection and the life.”
During this period in which we prepare for the celebration of Easter, let’s help one another to take that decisive step, which we always have to renew, toward the death of our ego, so that from now on Christ, the Risen One, may live in us.
By Chiara Lubich
Bruna Tomasi in Cile
After a very long journey, not just because of the 12,000 kilometres but also because of a problem with the airplane, Bruna Tomasi arrived in Chile. She had been invited, before the tragic earthquake struck this Latin American country, to remember and celebrate the second anniversary of Chiara’s departure.
As soon as she arrived she wanted to know about the victims of the quake and the situation regarding aid, which started arriving immediately the following day after the tragedy struck..jpg)
The next day she met with a group of young people at a Focolare centre in a poor area of the capital. She shared with them the experienced lived with Chiara at the beginning of the movement, when ‘everything collapsed and only God, who had been discovered as Love, remained.’ She emphasised the importance of ‘never losing enthusiasm and to go ahead guarding, above all else, unity and harmony amongst you.’ They were not just words for her, but a reality she has been lived for more than 65 years.
Many came to meet her and listen to her at the Aula Magna of the Catholic University on Sunday 14 March. Bruna managed to convey to everyone the experience of God Love and the newness of the charism of unity. Among those present were representatives of other ecclesial movements, the Orthodox Church and the Jewish community. Among the immediate impressions after the meeting: ‘ We needed to hear these words’ (from the Fondacio Movement). ‘We were struck by the great desire for holiness’ (Catholic Community Shalom).
It was an unforgettable day for the Focolare Movement in Chile; not just because of the exceptional visit of Bruna but also for the ordination of the first Chilean focolarino, Juan Ortiz, during the concluding mass celebrated by Card Francisco Javier Errazurz. The Cardinal, after having remembered Chiara with very moving words concluded encouraging everyone ‘to continue to feed the fire of love and unity among you, so that this fire will attract more and more people to Christ, so that it might be a light in our culture, a provoking and prophetic presence of unity in the church; a living witness that the fraternity of the human family is stronger than egoism and indifference. Love is stronger!’