31 Aug 2008 | Non categorizzato, Word of
“Love your enemies.” These are very strong words. They completely overturn our way of thinking, and they force us to make a sharp turn in our life’s direction!
Let’s face it. We all have an enemy of one kind or another.
My enemy might be my next-door neighbor, that unpleasant busybody I try to escape from every time I see her approach the elevator I’m taking.
It could be that relative who mistreated your father thirty years ago and you haven’t spoken to since.
It could be that classmate you refuse to look in the face since he got you into trouble with the teacher.
Your enemy might be the girl who was your friend but dropped you to hang out with someone else.
Or it could be the salesperson who cheated you.
Quite often we look at politicians as enemies if their opinions are different from ours.
And, as always, there are people who see some priests as their enemies and then hate the Church.
All of these people and many, many others whom we consider enemies have to be loved.
They have to be loved?
Yes. They have to be loved! However, this is not merely a matter of changing our feeling of hatred into another feeling that is more benign.
We have to do much more than that.
This is what Jesus says:
“Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”
As we can see, Jesus wants us to overcome evil with good. He wants us to have a love that is carried over into concrete actions. We might wonder why Jesus is asking this of us.
The fact is he wants us to pattern our lives after the life of God, his Father, who “makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust” (Mt 5:45).
This is the point: we are not alone in the world. We have a Father, and we should be similar to him. Furthermore, he has the right to ask this of us because when we were still his enemies, when we were still living in darkness, he was the first to love us by sending us his Son who died in such a terrible way for each one of us (see 1 Jn 4:19).
“Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you….”
This lesson had a big impact on little Jerry, an African American boy from Washington, D.C. Because of his high I.Q., he was admitted to a special class, a class with all white children. But his intelligence alone was not enough to win him acceptance. Everyone disliked him because he was black. Then Christmas came. The other children exchanged gifts with each other, but they left Jerry out. Naturally, the young boy cried. When he got back home, however, he remembered the words of Jesus, “Love your enemies.” So, with his mother’s permission, he bought gifts which he distributed with love to all of his “white brothers and sisters.”
“Love your enemies… pray for those who mistreat you.”
One day, a girl from Florence named Elizabeth was heading into a church to go to Mass when, all of a sudden, a group of girls her own age started to make fun of her. It really hurt her. She wanted to scream back at them, but instead she smiled. While she was in church Elizabeth prayed for them. As she was leaving, they came up to her and asked why she had behaved the way she did. She explained that since she was a Christian she had to love in every situation. She said this with great conviction. The following Sunday she discovered that what she had done had borne fruit. When she entered the church she saw those same girls sitting attentively in the first pew.
These experiences show how children understand the Word of God. Because of this they are “grown-ups” in God’s eyes.
Perhaps we too ought to take steps to remedy certain situations in our own lives, all the more so since we will be judged by the way we judge others. We ourselves are the ones who give God the measure by which he will measure us (see Mt 7:2). Do we not really believe what we often pray, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us” (see Mt 6:12)? So, let’s love our enemies! Only by doing this can we heal disunity, break down barriers and build up the community.
Is it difficult? Painful? Does the mere thought of it keep us awake at night? Be strong! It is not the end of the world: all it takes is just a little effort on our part, and the remaining ninety-nine percent will be done by God, and then in our hearts will flow a river of joy.
Chiara Lubich
This text has been published in Living City, May 1978.
31 Jul 2008 | Non categorizzato, Word of
In however many neighbors you meet throughout your day, from morning to night, in all of them recognize the presence of Jesus.
If your eye is sound, the one who looks through it is God. And God is Love, and love seeks to unite by winning over.
How many people, in error, look at others and at things in order to possess them. It may be a look of selfishness or of envy which in either case is sin. Or people may look within their own selves, and be possessive of their own souls, their faces lifeless because they are bored or worried.
The soul, because it is made in the image of God, is love, and love that turns in on itself is like a flame, that because it is not fed, dies out.
Look outside yourself, not in yourself, not in things, not in persons; look at God outside yourself and unite yourself to him.
He lives in the depths of every soul that is alive, and if dead, the soul is the tabernacle of God that awaits him as the joy and expression of its own existence.
Look at every neighbor then with love, and love means to give. A gift, moreover, calls for a gift, and you will be loved in return.
Understood in this way, love means to love and be loved: as in the Trinity.
God in you will attract other hearts, igniting the life of the Trinity in them, which may already rest in them through grace, although extinguished.
You cannot light up a space—even if electricity is available—until the current’s two poles are brought together.
The life of God in us is similar. It must circulate in order to radiate outside of us and give witness to Christ, the One who links heaven to earth, and people with one another.
Look, therefore, at every one of your neighbors. Give yourself to them in order to give yourself to Jesus and Jesus will give himself back to you. It is the law of love: “Give, and gifts will be given to you” (Lk 6:38).
Out of love for Jesus, let your neighbors possess you. Like another Eucharist, let yourself “be eaten” by your neighbors. Put your entire self at their service, which is service to God, and your neighbors will come to you and love you. The fulfillment of God’s every desire lies in fraternal love, which is found in his commandment: “I give you a new commandment; love one another” (Jn 13:34).
Love is a Fire that penetrates hearts and makes them perfectly one.
When this happens you will no longer find yourself, nor your neighbor; you will find Love, which is God living in you.
And Love will go out to love other brothers and sisters because since your eye is sound, it will see itself in them and all will be one.
And around you will grow a community, just as around Jesus there were first twelve, then seventy-two, then thousands….
The Gospel is fascinating – because it is Light turned into love – it attracts us and draws us to follow it.
Then you might even die on a cross, so as not to be different from the Master, but you will die for whoever crucifies you, and so love will have the ultimate victory.
But your lymph – poured out for the hearts of others – will not die.
It will be fruitful, by propagating, bringing joy and peace and opening up Paradise.
And the glory of God will grow.
But while you are here on earth, be perfect Love.
Chiara Lubich
Part of this text is published in Essential Writings (New City Press, 2007), pp. 80-81.
17 Jul 2008 | Non categorizzato
My name is Sandeep, born and brought up in Bangalore, India. Raised in a Hindu community, my parents brought me up according to Hindu traditions and religious values. Every day begins offering prayers to our God to seek blessings by lighting a lamp with oil and incense sticks, and end the day in the same way giving thanks to God. Each Hindu family has their own God for e.g. Lord Krishna or Lord Shiva. My parents are devoted to two different Gods; as a result I began devoting myself to both of the deities. We have certain festivals which are practiced in order to thank God and His creations. For instance, at the beginning of our new year, we celebrate the harvest of the previous year and mark the beginning of the new harvest by offering various folk programs and preparing special dishes e.g.:- the festival of Pongal & Onam. In our every day life too we inculcate the practice of offering prayers before beginning any task. It could be before preparing breakfast or signing documents at work. We also inculcate the practice of visiting our Gods’ temples along with our family as often as possible in order to refresh our spiritual life and the feeling of unity under God’s shelter with reference to our Holy Book the Bhagavad-Gita. My parents are religiously tolerant and yet they kept their distance from other faiths; for instance they always had the wrong assumption when it came to Christianity that ‘BEWARE Christians convert other faiths’ as they had a few bitter experiences. My folks never bothered though to know the reason behind the others conversion which I could never understand. As I grew up I accompanied my aunt and grandma who offered prayers every Thursday in a Catholic Church. My understanding towards Christians as well as to other faiths became stronger as I realized that we all are the children of one God with different names. At college a very good friend of mine borrowed my guitar and I had to get it back for practice. When I went to get it he asked me if I would be happy to meet his friends and I obliged. It was worth meeting this bunch of strangers. Later on I got to know that they were all young people of the Focolare Movement who made a choice of putting God in the first place of their lives and tried to put into practice Christianity in a concrete way, by living the Gospel. That was when I decided to get to know more about Christianity and realized in a practical way that true Christians were not the one’s who wanted to convert other people, but helped them build more strength in living their respective faiths. For instance living the Gospel meant putting the Holy Book into practice which made me realize the importance of reading the Gita. The experiences of these new friends shared during our meetings, seeing them attend daily mass at Church reminded me to offer my prayers with family at the temple. The prayers they would offer before every meal reminded me of the verses from the Gita which in turn I recited within myself along side. Hence, I got an opportunity to share the feeling of togetherness, unity, joy and fraternity all under the warm ideal of God amongst us. The Experience of being with these Christians has been unique. An experience which has taught me to share and learn to reciprocate unconditional love with the ideal of God amongst us in all that we pursue. But to love, care and strive towards the will of God in the present moment is very challenging; during my every day life for instance at work, not everybody realises that a small gesture of Love like just saying hello can make a lot of difference and bring a smile on people’s faces making them happy. I just listen to my workmates when they are troubled due to work pressure and this has helped them to learn to love too, and has given me a humble feeling of sharing God’s Love with everybody I meet. With my friends, to help us live our lives according to the Will of God during the day, we circulate amongst ourselves a thought for the day that we try to put into practice. Everyday is a new day and has a different experience to share. Also, every month my Christian friends try to put into practice a certain verse from the Gospel for the whole month, which in turn helps me relate to the objectives in my religion. In doing so, I experience a strong bond of unity with my Christian friends. Now I would also like to share few instances and experiences of putting Christian’s values into practice in my every day life, Firstly beginning at home from being a single kid I was always aloof because my folks were always concerned that I would get into trouble. Of course later music became part of my life and I began making, sharing and knowing more friends but again only pertaining to music. As I began knowing more about the life style of my Christian friends, and met different people from various communities, the shared views, the thoughts and experiences helped me learn more about the Golden Rule which is present in all religions, ““Do to others as you would do to yourself … in order to build unity wherever I am. Consequently at home I began spending a good amount of time with my folks in helping them with the smallest of things of giving them company and helping them in their routine activities. The joy and smile of relief and happiness they would radiate would make it feel as a complete day. Even at class my Christian friend and I observed that the class was always divided into different groups and each group would never want to be with the other due to small issues of not possessing similar tastes, poor communication or various other trivial differences. Gradually my friend and I took the initiative to build unity from the smallest level within our class. It surely made a difference in the class and in the final year of graduation everybody realized the importance of being united and at least made the smallest of attempt to assist and love each other concretely. About my parents who were paranoid as to why I would not miss a single meeting with my Christian friends, they did get suspicious about me getting converted as I was always inclined visiting the church since my 10th grade. But later after my friends visited home and met both my parents they were convinced about no conversion of any sort. In fact they were more than glad to let me be part of the movement and wanted to know more about the movement through me. Actually initially I too was hesitant in getting used to this new style of life as there was more emphasis on the Christian scriptures but when I got more acquainted with it I realized it co-related to the religious Hindu principles thus inculcating more knowledge and faith in my own religion too. Above all I have realized the importance to be selfless and always try to share unconditional love with all my fellow human beings, it is a feeling which is inexpressible. More than that, it makes us experience the presence of God amongst us; all it takes is to always bear in mind the Golden rule “Do to others as you would do to yourself”. (S. – This experience was told at “Let’s connect”, an interreligious meeting, organized from the Focolare Movement, during the Youth Festival of the WYD 2008 in Sydney)
17 Jul 2008 | Non categorizzato
This journey of being able to meet with friends of many other faiths and do things together for a united world has been a beautiful experience for me. It started in 2006 when I was asked by the focolare movement to be present at one of these regional meetings for World Conference of Religions for Peace in Indonesia. I remember asking what I had to do and my director just said, “Just go and love.” It’s just that simple and sometimes you do not really realise it because in our working life, we tend to approach everything with an agenda and outcome. But yet this was the most important thing to do and that was what I tried to live out. I remember the meeting was in Ambon, the spice islands of Indonesia. When I was on transit to Ambon from Jakarta, I noticed some Japanese and I saw in their demeanour, something simple and felt that maybe they too would be going to the conference. I decided to approach them and even if they are not, just to greet them. Immediately, they responded with smiles and we spoke as one of them spoke in English. It was a good start and many a times, it is these simple gestures that are important for dialogue. I remember many times during this conference to resist speaking and try to listen and then offer a solution. It is very difficult for me because I tend to be very talkative as a person. It is true that when you love, God guides you to do things for Him. I also remembered telling myself to be ready for everything just to be open to loving. And so soon after I arrived and having breakfast with my new friends from the Philippines, one of the organisers came up to me, and asked me to help with a session the day after. I was shocked and then I remembered I promised to say “Yes” and to be open. I kept doing this at the conference and very soon I was facilitating a workshop, a session during the seminar and finally the peace statement. Now 2 years after that experience…. it has been an incredible journey. I suddenly have many friends from the other religions and we work together concretely for peace. We have this youth network called the Asian Inter-religious Youth Network. This is the network to activate religious youth for common actions for peace. Just last year for example, when the Myanmar unrest happened and Buddhist Monks were injured. We activated peace actions in terms of peace signatures, prayers vigils and peace marches throughout Asia. We gathered petitions and then submitted them to the chair of ASEAN in Singapore as Myanmar is a member of this regional grouping. Our petition urged dialogue and respect of the Monks and people of Myanmar. In WCRP, we believe in the power of mobilising diverse religious communities for peace. And the common bond that binds us is the Golden Rule. Personally, I also try to live out the golden rule in my workplace. In Singapore cars are very expensive and so my Muslim colleague drives me to work each day. And together we pray in the morning for the work in the office and entrust it to God. We would share the intention and then have a moment of silence. It is a simple gesture but it really works. I remember one time we were worried about the office’s financial situation. I remembered praying with him and the next day, more than sufficient amount of money arrived. To everybody, I also want to add a final word and that is, if we love then we can be the presence of Jesus in the world. And he is the greatest and foremost master of dialogue since he was the one who spoke first with the Samaritan woman and with Nicodemus. He was also at ease with everyone because he chose to love first before he spoke. If we follow Jesus then we are ready to live the golden rule each day and become the dialogue He wants us to have… (L. C. – This experience was told at “Let’s connect”, an interreligious meeting, organized from the Focolare Movement, during the Youth Festival of the WYD 2008 in Sydney)
17 Jul 2008 | Non categorizzato
“Al-Salamu Alaikum”. “Peace on You”. I am Najiyyah. I am a Muslim from Mindanao State University in Marawi, a city in the southern part of the Philippines. I met the Focolare Movement in 2006. I am convinced that whatever faith a person embraces, as long he has an inner peace instilled in him, he can light up the world. I am happy to know that I can contribute towards building a peaceful and harmonious community by starting with my self. I am teacher by profession. In school, seventy percent of the students in my class are non-Muslims, but I never make it a hindrance to create a serene, calm and a just atmosphere in the classroom. I try to love all—my students, my colleagues, and the people that I meet everyday. One time I dealt with a noisy student, who is of another faith. I felt that she was a bit harsh on me yet I kept holding back my anger. I tried to double my patience with her. I felt that I had to set aside my prejudices and to see only the good in her even as she continued to test my professional and personal competence as a young Muslim teacher. Later, after loving her concretely, she asked me if I am really a true Muslim, and I said yes. She was very amazed and she told me that I was different from the other Muslims she knew. This marked a beginning of a beautiful rapport between us. In one occasion, we were discussing the theme: “Tourism, a vehicle for peace” in class. When she was given the chance to share her thoughts, she said that peace is truly an individual’s choice and with much conviction she added that peace should really start from within. I felt an immense joy in my heart because I knew that her answer was not just an idea she had in her head, but it was a learning taken from life, an experience which we shared together. In Islam, we believe that the least we can do is not to harm another person even in our thoughts and words. I feel that if I live this aspect of my faith well, I can really contribute something to attain peace wherever I am. As a Muslim and as a teacher, it is very important for me to live my faith in a very modest way because I am aware that people are not only looking at me, but they are also learning from me; thus, I grab every opportunity that comes my way. I am a member of a youth club, which also works for peace. One of our initiatives is peer advocacy, which invites young people to stop talking about how “different” they are from the rest but instead to come together and talk about the “difference” they can make together. This encourages us to embrace others as our real brothers and sisters regardless of faith, culture, and social status. Our club also believes that there are some other ways to attain peace; thus, we came up with some other initiatives like a cleanliness drive in the school campus. Since most of us are students, we find a common free time within the week to meet and to do “clean-up” activities. We also encourage others to participate. Now, I am more and more convinced that a harmonious and healthy environment is a reflection of peace among us. Sharing my time, talents, and “treasure” is part of my commitment for peace advocacy. This must also be the reason why I was chosen to help resolve little conflicts in relationships. Being a mediator is a very big responsibility. I have to set aside my prejudices in order to listen better to the others. Almost always, I see that my personal commitment for peace and the sacrifices I make in order to achieve it, bear good fruits: problems are addressed, conflicts are resolved, and relationships are rebuilt. Through the spirituality of unity of the Focolare Movement, founded by the late Chiara Lubich, I have learned and I have experienced that peace is truly a fruit of unity. Unity has also been my person goal in building my rapport with others especially at home. As part of our culture, I grew with a deep sense of family. In fact, our house has been a home to our “extended” family members; some of them do not share our faith. Nevertheless, we have a peaceful atmosphere since we have respect for each other and that we always point out the good things we have in common rather than the things that divide us. There are also some girls who help us with the household chores. They are non-Muslims. I try to treat them as my real sisters by welcoming them in our home and letting them feel that we are really a family, after all, that is what we are—we are children of one God! They are welcome to eat with us at meal time. We invite them to join us for our family pastimes and we also encourage them to spend time with their own friends. On Sundays, we respect that it’s their worship day and we do not ask them to do household chores. We motivate them to fulfill their religious obligations. We welcome and celebrate the Christmas Season with them, too, but of course as Muslims, we remain faithful to our “Halal” when it comes to food. During Ramadhan, the month of fasting for us, Muslims, they are also invited to join us in fasting, but we have never imposed this on them. We share with them the purpose of why we fast but they have the freedom to join us or not. We don’t expect them to be wide awake at 3 in the morning when we prepare our food even if it is part of their duties at home to do so. I am happy because my mother and my sister also live the spirituality of the Focolare Movement and together, we try to build unity not only at home but also with our community. There are many occasions when we gather with our neighbors to celebrate and enjoy each others’ company. There are times that we also come together to welcome new acquaintances. With the sharing of the food, which is typical of our Maranao culture, and the playing of beautiful music through our very own ‘Kulintang’, these celebrations are always meaningful because we try to make sure that everyone is enjoying and at peace with one another—that not one will feel discriminated or out of place. I will always be grateful to Chiara Lubich. Her faithfulness to her Christian faith has moved me to best Muslim I can be. She is my inspiration to sow seeds of peace and transform the places, where I am, into fragments of unity by loving God and the neighbor concretely. I know that I can never stop the “wars” in Mindanao where I come from, but nothing can stop me from hoping and believing that one day, all shall come to pass. The road to achieving peace is long and difficult, but the journey is worthwhile because I am not alone. Yes, I have to start with myself, but it must not end there. I know that there are many young people who also want peace. If we work together, we can have better and faster means of achieving our goal. Yes, we may not live to see the day…., but we must begin! (N. A. – This experience was told at “Let’s connect”, an interreligious meeting, organized from the Focolare Movement, during the Youth Festival of the WYD 2008 in Sydney)
15 Jul 2008 | Non categorizzato
On the 7th of July 2008 Giancarlo Faletti was elected as co-president by the general Assembly, to become responsible, amongst other things, of the branches of diocesan priests and religious members of various Congregations of the Movement. Giancarlo was born in Cerro Tanaro (Asti-Italy) on the 14th of September 1940, in a family of Christian but not very practising farmers. His mother was a housewife. His father worked at the National Trains Company, and their family had to move to Turin because of his work. When he was still 10 years old he felt attracted to the idea of giving his life to God, but he felt very reliant on his family and the environment in which he lived. At 16 years of age he passed through a critical phase, seeking a meaning for his life. At 19 years of age he accidentally bought a copy of the magazine Citta Nuova (New City) at the door of his parish church. “On that wintry Sunday I felt as if I had entered a warm environment. Whilst I was reading those articles I felt there was something which bound a family together. I immediately wanted to know more”. This was when he got in touch with the Focolare. The year after, an international meeting in Grottaferrata turned out to be decisive for his life. The way for his life was clear: he wanted to give himself to God in the focolare. After he ended his studies in economics, he started to work with a bank. When he was 25 years old he started his new life in the focolare of Turin. He lived in Genoa from 1972 to 1983, where he was co-responsible of the Movement in Liguria. Here he took particular care of the youth, amongst whom fruits of sanctity soon blossomed: this year the cause of beatification has been opened for two of them, Alberto Michelotti and Carlo Grisolia. He then worked for 14 years at the Centre of the Movement in Rocca di Papa, where he was also co-responsible of the community of Castelli Romani and of a part of the Lazio region. In 1997 he received his licence in theology and was ordained a priest. In that same year he moved to Rome where he was co-responsible of the Movement for the regions of Lazio, Abruzzo and Sardinia. In 2000 Chiara Lubich, who always had a particular love for the city which is the seat of Papacy and Christianity, launched “Roma-Amor”, a great experience of new evangelization. Giancarlo Faletti was close to the founder, who followed this new initiative step by step. The objective is to help give new life to the city with the evangelic ideal of unity, at a civil and religious level, in a capillary way. Amongst the most varied initiatives one finds the ongoing dialogue the Movement has with the Islamic community of Rome, which began when members of the Movement were invited to speak about the Christian experience and the experience of inter-religious dialogue in the Mosque of Rome.
