23 Nov 2008 | Non categorizzato
“Sophia”, an Institute of higher education, emerges from a paradox: Chiara Lubich’s decision to “put her books in the attic.” Maria Emmaus Voce: Chiara had an ardent desire to know the truth, and thought she would get to know it through studying philosophy. At a certain moment she felt within that Jesus was asking her to seek the truth not in books, but in following Him, the Truth in incarnate. So she made the choice to put her books away in the attic, and give up her dream of studying in order to follow him. She also felt Jesus saying to her, “I will be your teacher”, promising to reveal his truth, and his knowledge, to her. And this is what happened through the gift of a charism, the charism of unity. From the profound conviction that the charism of unity contains the capacity to generate a doctrine capable of lighting up the various fields of knowledge, a university institute has been born today. “Sophia” it has been said, would like to be a laboratory for formation and research where the links between life and thought, study and experience, are re-established. What does this mean in practice? Maria Emmaus Voce: The attempt to live the unity between these aspects means that those who register at this institute come with a pre-condition, that they are ready to love others, to be open to everyone, regardless of culture, religion, from wherever or whatever race they belong to. The “Sophia” students accept an experience of life where they discover that they can be open to one another not only as individual people, but that their cultures can be open to one another. They also discover that each discipline is profoundly linked to others, and the foundation of all knowledge is Wisdom, God’s vision of man and human affairs. What do you hope for, as a movement and personally, from the process that with “Sophia” has just begun? Maria Emmaus Voce: We would like to form men and women who know how to put together teaching and life, and are capable of contributing to unity, of being men and women of unity, wherever they are in society, in their professional and social lives. We really expect these people, like catalysts in any group of people, to build up a point of attraction, a focus around which cells of unity are built, which reach out more and more into society until “all will be one” when the human family will be brought together in unity once more. This is Jesus’s prayer to the Father, it is Chiara’s and our dream, and therefore also my personal dream. By Chiara Santomiero – November 20 2008
31 Oct 2008 | Non categorizzato, Word of
We can’t think that just because we are in the world we can take to it like a fish to water.
We can’t think that simply because the media offers us all kinds of choices we are free to watch every program.
We can’t think that just because we walk the streets of the world we can freely look at all the ads and billboards and buy just any publication at the newsstand or bookstore.
We can’t think that just because we are in the world we can live as we please, the way everyone else does, following along passively accepting abortion, divorce, hatred, violence or embezzlement. We can’t.
We are in the world; no one can deny that. But we are not of the world (see Jn 17:14).
This makes a great difference. It puts us among those who don’t live according to what the world says, but rather according to what the voice of God suggests to us from within. God lives in the heart of every human being. If we listen to him, he will lead us into a kingdom that is not of this world, a society in which true love, justice, purity, meekness and selflessness are lived, where self-control is the norm.
In the past many young people journeyed to India and the Far East, hoping to find some peace of mind and to discover the secrets of the Eastern spiritual masters, who, after a long process of self-mortification, frequently radiate a more genuine kind of love that touches the people they meet.
The quest of these young people was a very natural reaction to the uproar in the world, to the noise around us and within us that leaves no room for silence in which to hear God’s voice.
However, it is not necessary to go to India. Two thousand years ago Christ urged us to deny ourselves. If we are Christians, we cannot expect to lead a comfortable and easy life. Christ did not, and he will not ask any less of us if we want to follow him.
The world, with all its attractions and negative aspects, is coming at us head on like a rushing river, and we must go against the current. It is also like dense underbrush in which a Christian must look very carefully where to step. And where should we step? In the footsteps that Christ himself laid down for us while here on earth. These footsteps are his words.
Today he repeats to us Christians: “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself….” If we follow Christ, we may be laughed at, misunderstood, scorned, slandered or isolated. We must be ready to lose face, to give up the easygoing, socially acceptable way of being a Christian. And there is more:
“If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”
Whether we like it or not, suffering is a part of everyone’s life, ours as well. Sufferings great and small come our way every day.
If we try to avoid them, to rebel against them, or if we feel like cursing them, then we cannot be called followers of Christ.
Christians love the cross; they love suffering even amidst tears, knowing that suffering has a value. God had countless ways at his disposal by which he could have saved humankind. Yet he chose to use suffering.
We know that Jesus rose after carrying his cross and being crucified. We are also destined to rise (see Jn 6:40) if we accept the sufferings that come from living an authentic Christian life and those that each day brings with love, rather than despising them. By doing so we will see that even here on earth, the cross is a way that leads to a joy we have never before experienced. We will begin to grow spiritually, and the kingdom of God will become firmly established in us. Little by little the world’s attractions will fade away before our eyes and seem as if they are made of cardboard. And we will no longer envy anyone.
Then we will be able to call ourselves followers of Christ.
“If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”
And like Christ, whom you have followed, you will be light and love for the countless suffering people in today’s world.
The Word of Life, a sentence of Scripture, is offered each month as a guide and inspiration for daily life.
By Chiara Lubich
This Word of Life was originally published in July 1978 and then in Words to Live By (New City Press, 1981). From the Focolare’s beginnings, Chiara Lubich wrote her commentaries on the Word of Life, and after her death March 14, her early writings are now being featured once again.
29 Oct 2008 | Non categorizzato
Living the present moment, I live the whole Gospel. If Scripture teaches us to do small things well, this is exactly what happens to people who, with their whole heart, do only what God wants of them in the present. If a person lives in the present, God lives in them and if God lives them, charity is in them. Whoever lives the present is patient, perseverant, meek, completely poor, pure, and merciful because he or she has love in its highest and most genuine expression. He or she truly loves God with their whole heart, their soul and their strength, is illuminated within, is guided by the Holy Spirit and therefore does not judge, thinks no evil, loves their neighbour as themselves, has the strength of evangelical folly to offer the other cheek, to go for two miles… He or she often has the opportunity to give to Caesar what is Caesar’s because in many present moments, he or she has to fully live their life as a citizen… and so on. Whoever lives the present is in Christ the Truth. And that satisfies, satisfies the soul that would like to possess everything in every moment of life. (from Essere tua Parola, Città Nuova Editrice – 2008 p. 51)
18 Oct 2008 | Non categorizzato
From the start of the Focolare Movement, Chiara Lubich, together with a small group of friends, began a spiritual journey marked by a deep rediscovery of the life of the Gospel. The effect of this life was the birth of a community made up of those who, after meeting them, began in turn to live the Gospel with commitment and enthusiasm, communicating their many surprising experiences to one another. Today the Word of God still occupies a central place. It is experienced as a source of God (cf DV 7) from which to drink, and to nourish the soul, as with the Eucharist (cf DV 21). The habit of sharing experiences of the Word with one another helped them to bring about an increasingly authentic evangelisation. One can understand Chiara’s ardent desire to leave to those who follow her, only the Gospel. “What remains and will always remain”, she said, “is the Gospel, which is not affected by time” (…) “The Work of Mary will thus remain on earth like another Mary: completely Gospel, nothing else but Gospel, and because it is Gospel, it will not die” (C. Lubich, Essere tua Parola, Roma, p 85)
11 Oct 2008 | Non categorizzato
30 Sep 2008 | Non categorizzato, Word of
Get Generous
Has it ever happened that you received a gift from a friend and then felt you had to reciprocate — not so much because you felt obliged to pay the person back, but simply out of love and gratitude? I’m sure it has.
If you feel this way, imagine how God must feel, God who is love.
He reciprocates every gift that we give to any neighbor in his name. True Christians experience this frequently. And each time it is a surprise. We can never get used to the inventiveness of God.
I could give you a thousand examples of this. I could even write a book on this subject alone, and you would see how true are the words, “…a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap.” God always reciprocates with generosity.
Here is one example. Night had fallen in Rome. In their basement apartment, a small group of young women who wanted to live the Gospel were wishing each other good night. Then the doorbell rang. Who could it be at this hour? At the door they found a panic-stricken young father. He was desperate: the following day he and his family were going to be evicted because they had been unable to pay their rent.
The women looked at one another and then, in silent accord, went to the dresser drawer. There they kept what was left of their salaries. In envelopes marked “gas,” “electricity” and “telephone” were the small deposits they had set aside for these bills. Without a moment’s worry about what would happen to them, they gave all the money to their visitor.
That night they went to bed very happy. They knew Someone else would take care of them.
Just before dawn the phone rang. It was the same man. “I’ve called a taxi, and I’m coming right over!” Amazed that he should have chosen to come by taxi, they awaited his arrival. As soon as they saw his face they knew something had changed. “Last night, as soon as I got home,” he said. “I found I had received an inheritance I never dreamed I would get. My heart told me I should give half of it to you.” The amount he gave them was exactly twice what they had generously given him.
“Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap.”
Haven’t you also experienced this? If not, remember that the gift must be given with no self-interest, without hoping to get it back, and to whomever asks.
Try it. But not so that you can see if it works, but because you love God.
You might be tempted to say, “I have nothing to give.”
That’s not true. If we want to, each of us can discover that we possess inexhaustible treasures: our free time, our love, our smile, our advice, our peace, our words that might persuade someone who has to give to someone who has not.
You might also say, “I don’t know whom to give to.”
Just look around you: don’t you remember that sick person in the hospital, that widow who always feels lonely, that boy in your class who failed and got discouraged, the young man who is sad because he can’t find a job, your little sister or brother who needs a helping hand, that friend who is in prison, that new person at work who is unsure of herself? In each person, Christ is waiting for you.
Put on the new way of behavior that comes from the Gospel and is the mark of a Christian. It is the exact opposite of having a closed mind or being concerned only about ourselves. Stop putting your trust in this world’s goods, and start relying on God. This will display your faith in him, and you will see from the gifts you receive that your faith is well founded.
It becomes apparent, however, that God does not give as he does in order to make us rich. He acts in this way so that many, many others, seeing the little miracles that happen to us as a result of our giving, may decide to do the same.
God also gives to us because the more we have the more we can give. He wants us to be administrators of his goods and see to it that they are distributed throughout the community around us, so that others might be able to repeat what was said of the first Christian community, “There was no needy person among them” (Acts 4:34).
Don’t you think that in this way you too can help give a solid spiritual basis to the social change that the world awaits?
“Give and gifts will be given to you.”
When Jesus said these words, undoubtedly he was thinking first and foremost of the reward we will receive in heaven. But the reward we receive on this earth is already a foretaste and a guarantee of our heavenly reward.
Chiara Lubich
