31 Jan 2008 | Non categorizzato, Word of
Jesus, surrounded by crowds of people, went up the mountain to give his famous sermon. His first words, “Blessed are the poor in spirit … Blessed are the meek,” already signaled the novelty of the message he had come to bring.
They are words of life, words of light and hope that Jesus entrusted to his disciples to enlighten them and give their lives zest and meaning.
Transformed by this great message, they were invited to transmit to others the teachings they received and to put them into life.
“Whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
Today our society, more than ever before, needs to know the words of the Gospel and let itself to be transformed by them. Jesus must be able to repeat once again: do not become angry with your neighbors; forgive, and you will be forgiven; tell the truth, to the point of having no need to take an oath; love your enemies; recognize that we have only one Father and are all brothers and sisters; do to others as you would have them do to you. This is the sense of some of the many words from the Sermon on the Mount. If they were lived out, it would be enough to change the world.
Jesus invites us to proclaim his Gospel. But before we “teach” his words, he asks us to “obey” them. In order to be credible, we should become experts in the Gospel, a living Gospel. Only then will we be able to witness to it with our lives and teach it with our words.
“Whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
How can we live these words? The best way is to allow Jesus himself to teach us, drawing him to us and among us through our reciprocal love. He will suggest the right words to use when approaching people; he will show us how to open passageways into our neighbor’s heart, so that we can witness to him wherever we are, even in the most difficult environments and in the most complicated situations. We will see the world change: that small part of the world where we live will be so transformed that we will find harmony, understanding and peace.
What is important is to maintain his presence among us through our mutual love, to be docile in listening to his voice—the voice of our conscience that always speaks to us if we know how to silence other voices.
He will teach us to obey even the smallest laws with joy and creativity, so as to polish our life of unity to perfection. May it be said of us one day as it was of the first Christians: “Look how they love one another and how they are ready to die for one another.” As our relationships are renewed by love, the Gospel will be seen as capable of generating a new society.
We cannot keep the gift we received for ourselves. We are called to repeat with Paul: “Woe to me if I do not preach [the Gospel]!” (1 Cor 9:16). If we let ourselves be guided by our inner voice, we will discover ever-new possibilities to communicate, speak, write and dialogue. May the Gospel shine forth again, through us personally, in our homes, cities and nations. New life will flourish in us; joy will expand in our hearts; the risen Lord will shine forth with greater beauty; and he will consider us among the “greatest in the kingdom.”
The life of Ginetta Calliari demonstrates this in an outstanding way. When she arrived in Brazil in 1959 with the first group of focolarini, she was shocked at seeing the results of the country’s deep inequalities. She was determined to put reciprocal love before all else and the words of Jesus into practice. She said, “He will open the way for us.” As time passed, a community came to life and grew, a community that now numbers hundreds of thousands of people of every social class and age, inhabitants of the shanty towns and members of the well-to-do classes, people who put themselves at the service of those most in need. They have become a small and united people who continue to show that the Gospel message is true. This is the dowry that Ginetta brought with her when she left for heaven.
Chiara Lubich
(1) Tertullian, Apology, 39:7
![Cardinal Bertone: Communion is the basis of the Church]()
15 Jan 2008 | Non categorizzato
When Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone met over 600 diocesan priest focolarini, from 54 countries at the Centro Mariapoli at Castelgandolfo, the atmosphere was of intense, spontaneous and profound dialogue. It was the first time that he had visited the Focolare at its international centre since becoming Secretary of State. He had been invited for a dialogue with the priests who had come together for their annual meeting. The Cardinal listened to the testimonies of some “priest focolares” and heard of the effects that the “charism of unity” can have in various ecclesial and social-cultural situations. In Ireland, where there is a growing atmosphere of secularisation, he heard of a new relationship with the bishop and with other priests, a serious involvement in the universities, in the ecumenical and inter-religious field, and an effective presence in the media. In Switzerland, vocations have come to life through the witness of unity, the common life of the priests has become a reference point for other priests and an antidote to the crisis in vocations, and people are coming back Church on Sundays. In Italy (Ascoli Piceno) collaboration between priests and lay people animated by the spirituality of communion has brought new life to towns and cities. In October during an event organised by the young members of the Focolare Movement, civil institutions and the local residents became involved. Six questions were put to the Secretary of State, by priests from all over the world. They asked about the implementation of Benedict XVI’s teaching, the challenges of the Church today, about shortcomings in church communities, and about priorities in pastoral choices. Then they asked about the role of Ecclesial Movements, how to make the Church a Communion, formation in seminaries, and about help for priests in difficulty. And finally they asked about his personal daily rapport with the Pope. 
“The irrelevance of the faith” and “isolation and loneliness”. These are the two major challenges for Christians today, the Cardinal said, and recalling a reflection by the then Cardinal Ratzinger, published recently, where he says that “hell is the extreme trial of incommunicable loneliness”. “This tells us that loneliness is something that can begin here, and therefore hell can begin here”. He cited two quotes, one from Sartre, “Hell for me is the others”, and one from Gabriel Marcel, “The others are heaven for me”. “Therefore, he said, heaven, paradise, can start now with the spirituality of communion, with the charism of communion. This is the opposite of loneliness” On relativism, he said, “We must never tire of searching for truth, and witnesses of the truth” A personal question: “You are a well known ‘child’ of Saint John Bosco. How does this ‘charismatic childhood’ help you in your present ministry?” “The Salesian charism has always helped me form the time I was a boy” he answered. “Then I entered the congregation, I assimilated this spirit of family, the willingness to listen, and to welcome others, the atmosphere of intimacy…” 
On the Ecclesial Movements: “The movements have full citizenship in the Church. Their lively, effective, transforming presence, arouses interest also in non Christians.” Speaking about new and ancient charisms, he said, “The Lord continues to be creative, the creation is happening in the universe, in the cosmos… it is happening above all through the action of the Spirit”. And he invited everyone to “strengthen the spirit and practice of communion between new charisms and historical institutions”. Cardinal Bertone addressed a “very warm greeting” to Chiara Lubich, after referring to the fundamental role of the founders in the live of the Church.
![Cardinal Bertone: Communion is the basis of the Church]()
11 Jan 2008 | Non categorizzato
It is a tough programme: to “win over” a city. For some years now, “Ragazzi per l’unità”, (Teens for Unity), have been working in thei
r own cities, wherever the local community faces challenges. Their motto joins together two words in one: Colori (= colours) and Amo (= I love). (The two words together give Coloriamo = Let’s colour!). All over the world, they try to choose the drabbest areas of their towns and cities. With imaginations inspired by love, their aim is to colour them, with the think globally, act locally vision that society needs today. In Milan the choice of the young people is a Romany gypsy campsite. In Rwanda they have chosen an orphanage, the children’s ward in a hospital, and Aids sufferers. In California, in a school were racism is a problem, they have started a club to spread a culture of respect for diversity. In India, Christian and Hindu young people go to help their disabled peers. 
Let’s hear from a group of young people from Africa, who have started to visit prisoners in Iringa, Tanzania. “The first challenge was to convince the guards to let us in. The next one was how to bring the gifts that we had put together in common: fruit, salt, soap….also the “Word of Life” leaflet, our experiences and our songs. We walked for three kilometres before we reached the entrance, which was guarded by police. ‘You can’t all come in’, they said, ‘and whoever you choose, they can’t sing in there’. They did however let us take our gifts in.” “We read the Word of Life with them and told them how it had changed our lives. While we were speaking about the love of God, which is for everyone and that we can love too, the guards were silent and listened. At the end, the prisoners showed their joy with songs and dances, it was their way of thanking us. The guards were left speechless and they asked themselves who we were. We went home happy and with new resolve to continue the colouring of our city” From Città Nuova n. 1- 2008
6 Jan 2008 | Non categorizzato
When God created human kind he formed a family. When the Sacred writers wished to demonstrate the ardour and the fidelity of God’s love for his chosen people, they used symbols and analogies related to the family. When Jesus became incarnate, he gathered around him a family, and when he began his mission at Cana, he was celebrating the start of a new family. These simple ideas reveal just how important and precious the family is in the mind of God. Not only did he give it great dignity, he wanted it to be “in his image”, intermingling it with the mystery of his own life, which is both Unity and Trinity of Love. A great plan therefore lies behind the family, following on the path of the Holy Family of Nazareth. The family, a place where love is given and received, a place of communion, of fertility and tenderness, is a sign, a symbol and a model for every other kind of human association. It is not mere rhetoric to affirm that the family is the prime social good. Through the daily, freely given love, that gives meaning and value to its task of generation and education, the family brings to the fabric of society the irreplaceable good of human capital, thus becoming an effective resource for humanity. Furthermore, it opens its home and heart to the problems of society, and brings the warmth of the family to places where structures and institutions, in spite of all their good will, cannot reach. This is a great plan, and the commitment to follow it must be great too. Today more than ever, the family appears to the world in its fragility. Spouses faced with the first difficulties of married life begin to doubt their love for one another. Children deprived of a close relationship with united parents, find it difficult to undertake future commitments. And older people, separated from their immediate families, find themselves without rights or identity. More than ever the family must be loved, protected, and supported. We must always go back to its original plan, where in lasting unity, it is consolidated and fulfilled. We have to fill the meaning family of life with a spirituality of communion, making it more itself, a little community of love. And public opinion must support family values and sensible family policies. I place this, my wish for the family, in the hands of Mary Most Holy, seat of wisdom and mother at home, for the good of the family today and for the fulfilment of the whole human family. Chiara Lubich
31 Dec 2007 | Non categorizzato, Word of
This year the “Week of Prayer for Christian Unity” celebrates its centennial. The “Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity” was first celebrated from January 18-25 in 1908. Sixty years later, in 1968, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity was jointly prepared by the Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches and by the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity of the Catholic Church. From that time on, it has become common practice for them to meet together annually to compile the pamphlet using material with suggestions for the celebration of the Week of Prayer prepared by Christians from different Churches in a particular country.
The words of Scripture chosen this year by a large ecumenical group in the United States are taken from the first letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians, in Greece. They were a small young community, and Paul felt that the unity among them had to become more and more solid. That was why he urged them: “Be at peace among yourselves. … be patient with all. See that no one returns evil for evil; rather, always seek what is good both for each other and for all. … Pray without ceasing..” He wanted to stress that the life of unity of the Christian community is possible only through a life of prayer. Jesus himself prayed to the Father for the unity of his disciples: “that they may all be one” (Jn 17:21).
“Pray without ceasing”
Why should we “pray without ceasing”? Because prayer is essential to being human. We were created in the image of God, as a “you” of God, capable of establishing a relationship of communion with him. Friendship with him, spontaneous conversation with him, conversation that is simple and true – this is prayer. It is part of our very being, allowing us to become authentic persons with the full dignity of sons and daughters of God.
Created as a “you” of God, we can live in constant rapport with him, with our hearts filled with love by the Holy Spirit and with the trust that one has towards one’s own father. This is a trust that draws us to speak with God often, to tell him openly about ourselves, our thoughts, our plans. This is a trust that makes us yearn for those moments we dedicate to prayer – moments set aside in days filled with other duties at work and in the family – in order to enter into a profound connection with the One who we know loves us.
We need to “pray without ceasing” not only for our own needs, but also for our contributions to building up the Body of Christ, and our contributions to building the full and visible communion of the Church of Christ. We can understand something of this mystery if we think of a series of communicating vessels. When we pour water into one of them, the liquid level in all the others is raised as well. The same thing happens when we pray and raise our souls to God to adore and thank him. When one of us is elevated in prayer, the others are elevated as well.
“Pray without ceasing”
How can we “pray without ceasing,” especially when we are in the whirlpool of daily living?
To “pray without ceasing” does not mean multiplying our prayers. Rather, it means directing our hearts and lives towards God, living out God’s will for us, whether it be studying, working, suffering, resting or even dying for him. We will reach the point where we will no longer be able to live our daily lives without doing everything in agreement with him.
In this way our actions will be transformed into sacred actions and the whole day will become a prayer.
It may be helpful to offer to God everything we do by saying, “For you, Jesus,” and, in moments of difficulties, “What really matters? To love you is what matters.” In this way each thing we do is transformed into an act of love.
And thus prayer will be unceasing because love will be unceasing.
Chiara Lubich
30 Nov 2007 | Non categorizzato, Word of
These words conclude a large section of the Letter to the Romans in which Saint Paul presents the Christian life as a life of love for our brothers and sisters. This is, in fact, the new spiritual practice that Christians are called to offer to God under the guidance of the Holy Spirit (see Rom 12:1), who first brings it to life in their hearts.
Summing up the content of this section, the apostle states that loving our neighbor enables us to do the will of God, contained in the Law (that is, in his commandments), and to do it fully and perfectly. Loving our brothers and sisters is the most beautiful, most authentic way of showing our love for God.
“Love is the fulfillment of the law”
But what does this fullness and perfection consist of concretely? One can gather it from the verses that follow, in which the apostle describes the different expressions and effects of this love.
First of all, real love does no harm to one’s neighbor (see Rom 13:10). It makes us live all of God’s commandments, without excluding any (see Rom 13:9), since their first objective is to help us avoid every kind of evil we could possibly fall into—every evil against ourselves or our brothers and sisters.
Besides not doing any evil, this love urges us to do all the good that our neighbors may need (see Rom 12:6-8).
This Word encourages us to have a love that is concrete and sensitive to the needs, hopes, and legitimate rights of our brothers and sisters. It is a love that is respectful of human and Christian dignity, a love that is pure, understanding, able to share, open to all—as Jesus has taught us.
This love is not possible unless we are willing to step out of our individualistic and self-sufficient ways. Therefore, this Word helps us to overcome those egotistical tendencies (pride, greed, lust, ambition, vanity, etc.) that we carry within us and that can be our major stumbling blocks (see Rom 12:9-21).
“Love is the fulfillment of the law”
How then can we live the Word of Life during this month of Christmas? By keeping in mind the various demands of loving our neighbor that this Word calls us to fulfill.
In the first place, we will avoid doing every kind of evil against our neighbor. We will pay close attention to the commandments of God that relate to our vocation, to our professional life, and to the environment in which we live. The first condition to live out Christian love is never to go against the commandments of God.
In addition, we will pay attention to what constitutes the very soul, reason and aim of all the commandments. Each one of them, as we have seen, wants to nurture in us a love that is ever more vigilant, more delicate and respectful, ever more concrete towards our neighbors.
At the same time, we will grow in being detached from ourselves, in overcoming our egoism; this will come as a consequence of living Christian love.
This is how we will do the will of God “fully”; we will show him our love in the way that is most pleasing to him (see Rom 12:2).
“Love is the fulfillment of the law”
This was the experience lived by a lawyer who works for his city’s Department of Labor. “One day, I presented the owner of a company with a claim that his employees had not been paid according to the prescribed regulation,” he stated. “After fourteen days of intense research, I found the documents that proved that he was not fully respecting the labor laws. I asked Jesus to give me the strength to remain faithful to his words that called for me to be truthful and, at the same time, to be an instrument of his love.
“When the owner was confronted with the proof, he defended himself by saying that certain laws seemed unjust to him and to others. I affirmed that our mistakes could not be justified by the behavior of others who do not comply with the rules. During the conversation that followed, I realized that he had the same desire for justice and equality that I had, but he had let himself be influenced by those around him.
“In the end he said to me, ‘You could have humiliated and crushed me, but you didn’t do that. Because of this, I realize I have a moral duty to right this wrong.’ He, however, had a pressing appointment and could not wait for me to write up my report of his infraction. He took a blank piece of paper and signed it. This proved to me that he was ready to make an immediate change.”
Chiara Lubich
