18 Dec 2005 | Non categorizzato
A vibrant, joyful, authentic Church, moving towards – and with – society, was what attracted over 2,300 Dutch youth to Utrecht, one Sunday at the end of November. The event was the first national appointment, set as a follow-up of the World Youth Day (WYD) last August in Cologne, Germany. A participation as numerous as this has not been seen in decades. The event was the fruit of collaboration between dioceses and ecclesial movements, carried out in an atmosphere of profound communion. These ecclesial movements include Charismatic Renewal, the Committee of Young Catholics, Emanuel and the Focolare. It was a communion among charisms, like the one already experienced during the preparation of the WYD. “The happiness you seek, the happiness you have the right to enjoy, has a name, a face: that of Jesus of Nazareth.” This sentence is the center of the Pope’s profound and warm message, personally signed by him and welcomed by the youth with a long applause. Benedict XVI encouraged the young people to deepen their relationship with Jesus through the Sacraments and so be able to assume their responsibilities, both in their personal lives and in society. 
The meeting continued with workshops and group discussions regarding catechesis and its social application. The discussions thus ranged from such topics as faith, ethics and science, how to practice politics and economy as a Christian, ecumenism and interreligious dialogue. It was amazing to see how much these young people longed to deepen their faith and what a thirst they had for the truth. “The fog that has hung over the Dutch Catholic youth for decades has disappeared,” said Auxiliary Bishop of Roermond (Netherlands) De Jong, during his homily. Bishop De Jong, who is in charge of youth apostolate, concelebrated with Cardinal Simonis at the Mass which concluded the youth day. His words expressed the commonly felt certainty that in their increasingly secularized society, in the womb of the Church something new and irreversible is born. What is happening in the Netherlands is also happening in other European countries. As Lorenzo Fazzini wrote in the Dec. 8 issue of Avvenire, “there is an atmosphere of spirituality,” and this new-found interior life is reflected in openness to others which – in many cases – is translated into social commitment and the choice to serve the poorest.
30 Nov 2005 | Non categorizzato, Word of
Isaiah’s cry of hope was heard by the people of Israel who had been in exile for 50 years in Babylonia (modern Iraq). Finally the Lord sent his messenger to announce their liberation, their freedom to return to their homeland. Just as when they were enslaved in Egypt, God once again revealed himself as their leader who would guide them to the Promised Land. They then had to repair the roads, fill in the holes; remove all the roadblocks, as was customary to do when a king traveled to one of his provinces.
And then five centuries later on the banks of the Jordan River, John the Baptist repeated this joyful cry of the prophet Isaiah. This time, it announced the coming of the Messiah himself.
«Prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight… a highway for our God! »
Every year, as we draw closer to Christmas, we hear this same invitation. In every age God has revealed his ardent desire to remain among his sons and daughters, and now he has “made his dwelling among us” (Jn 1:14). Today too he stands at our door knocking because he would like to come in and “dine” with us (see Rev 3:20).
We ourselves often yearn to meet him, to have him as our traveling companion through life’s journey, and to be filled with his light. In order for him to enter our lives, however, we first need to remove the obstacles. It is no longer a matter of clearing the roads, but of opening up our hearts to him.
Jesus himself named some of the barriers that close off our hearts: “theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly” (Mk 7:21-22). At times it may be anger against our relatives or friends, prejudice toward persons of another race, indifference to our neighbors, a lack of love and caring in our families.
As we face these many obstacles that impede our encounter with God, we hear once again the invitation:
«Prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight… a highway for our God! »
How can we do something concrete to prepare the way of the Lord?
By asking for his forgiveness each time that we have put up a barrier that prevents us from being in communion with him.
This sincere gesture of humility and truth allows us to stand before him as we are, acknowledging our fragility, our mistakes, and our sins.
This is an act of trust by which we accept his fatherly love, which is “merciful… and abounding in kindness” (Ps 103:8).
It expresses our earnest desire to improve and to begin again.
Then at night, before going to sleep, we might stop for a moment to take stock and see how we did and ask for God’s forgiveness.
If we are Catholic, when we gather to celebrate the Eucharist we can be more aware and fervent in the expression of contrition repeated at the beginning of the liturgy. It is the moment when together as a community we ask for forgiveness for our sins.
Then individual confession, the sacrament of God’s forgiveness can be of enormous help. It is a moment of encounter with the Lord when we can hand over to him all our mistakes. We leave confession with the certainty that we have been saved and made new, and we experience the joy that comes from discovering that we are true children of God.
And God himself, through his forgiveness, is the one who removes every obstacle, who “makes straight the highway” and establishes a bond of love with each one of us again.
«Prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight… a highway for our God! »
This is what Louise experienced. She had a troubled life with her friends who were involved in drugs and had morally empty lives. In time, she struggled to break away from this group and she finally made it to overcome her addiction. Still she felt her life was scarred by this experience. After having gone through a hasty civil marriage, she began to recognize the first symptoms of AIDS. At that point, her husband left her.
Louise found herself alone, facing all her mistakes, until one day she met a group of Christians who were living the Word of Life and sharing their experiences. She discovered a whole new world. Soon she came to know God as a Father and as Love. When she began to believe in his forgiveness, she could no longer hold on to her sins. Her life took a complete turn. Knowing that she had been forgiven, now—even in the midst of her suffering and illness—she felt a joy she had never experienced before. Her countenance radiated a beauty that even the progress of the disease could not disfigure. The doctors were surprised to see her so peaceful. She was experiencing a new life.
The day she died, she was dressed in white, as she had asked to be. The road had been cleared for her to reach Heaven, for her encounter with the Lord.
Chiara Lubich
25 Nov 2005 | Non categorizzato
“The principle of fraternity from a judge’s point of view – he said –can be applied under two aspects: it relates strongly to the interpretation of the norm, and also to concrete behaviour” “We are faced… everyday with the living reality of man. Before us there are no folders or papers but dramatic personal and family situations.” This was the statement by the President of the National Association of Magistrates, Dr. Ciro Riviezzo, during his greeting on Sunday 20 November, expressing his view of the judge’s work in the light of fraternity.
“The steps forward must be taken together and not in isolation”. This was the realization that emerged in the conclusions presented by the members of the central commission “Communion and Law”, presided over by the magistrate Giovanni Caso, ex judge of the Supreme Court of Cassation, to the 1st International Conference “Relationships in law: is there a place for fraternity?” The Conference was organized by “Communion and Law”, on 18-20 November 2005, in Castelgandolfo (Rome), and it provided the opportunity for a rich and lively exchange of reflections and experiences on the various areas in the field of Law. Fraternity and law. A proposal that has old roots. We find traces of it in Roman law, later developments in the Middle Ages – with the institution of the “fraternization” – and it finds its way into the famous “liberty, equality, fraternity” of the French Revolution, as Prof. Fausto Goria, of Turin University points out in his opening speech. Which fraternity? Chiara Lubich opens a wide horizon. The founder and president of the Focolare Movement says – in a message read at the beginning of the Conference: “Fraternity is inscribed in each man’s DNA, it constitutes every man’s ultimate vocation. It is part of God’s plan, which is the total fulfilment of man and humanity” and it can be accomplished by introducing the evangelical commandment of mutual love also in the juridical world.
All different sectors in the world of law and justice were examined in this light
International law:it emerged that the principle of fraternity can inspire concrete models for action, and methods of analysis in the present process of growing interdependence among nations. Administrative law: in the relationship between public administration and citizens, this principle can become a catalyst to “accelerate” democratic participation, as Dr. Nino Gentile pointed out and as clearly shown by the transformation of a depressed area in Gela, Sicily, and the resolution of a serious conflict between farmers and mining companies in Perú. Private law: both the sectors of family law – with developments such as the introduction of new figures like the family mediator, who acts as a support for the family and helps resolve controversies -, and that of business law were dealt with. The latter showed how fraternity can moderate the profit motive and lead to the birth of companies ran on the principles of the Economy of communion. In criminal law, Prof. Adriana Cosseddu, of the University of Sassari, highlighted the fact that crime is considered today essentially as a violation of the law, rather than as an offence to the victim and an injury to the tissue of social relationships. That is why – she said – we cannot limit ourselves to “retributive justice”; what is needed is a justice that restores relationships – “restorative justice”. It is a new style of juridical action, which goes “beyond” what is “formally correct” without, however, straining procedures: situations that seemed to be at a dead end, find an unexpected way out to recovery. The bond of fraternity among the participants has created a network of relationships, which will continue its activity even at a distance, through the exchange of experiences, reflections, and cultural elaborations, working for a kind of justice which responds always more to the needs of humanity.
25 Nov 2005 | Non categorizzato
Fraternity can become a new lymph to revitalize relationships and humanize justice. It also opens interesting perspectives on the cultural level. This is the most significant finding that emerged at the end of an intense 3-day conference with nearly 700 participants working in the field of law. Magistrates, scholars, lawyers and students from more than 35 countries and 4 continents convened in Castelgandolfo to explore the subject “Relationships in Law: is there a place for fraternity?”, an initiative of the international group “Communion and Law” of the Focolare Movement.
The difference fraternity can make in all sectors in the field of law appears clearly, primarily from many experiences that have taken place on different fronts in the most varied countries: in Perú, serious conflicts were solved between farmers and mining companies that wanted to exploit lands where they had lived since time immemorial; in Europe, magistrates and lawyers were at the front line, safeguarding the values of fraternity in family law; in South America, in the field of juvenile law; in USA and Austria, new paths were open in the area of social rehabilitation, and work was done also to transform international law into peoples’ law and not only State’s law. In this way, practical experience triggers off cultural research.
The Conference opened with a message from Chiara Lubich, founder of the Focolare Movement. Do her words shed light on the task awaiting those involved in the world of law, pointing precisely to fraternity? Prof. Fausto Goria, Lecturer in Roman Law at the University of Turin, gives his answer in an interview with Vatican Radio:
Chiara has certainly said something very important: that in God’s plan – as she, being a charismatic, sees it – relationships among people are meant to be a mutual gift, and it is in this relationship of reciprocal self-giving that each one fulfils himself or herself as a person. This holds true also for groups and nations. I believe that translating this principle into actual practice, and then into a juridical norm, will require a certain number of years, but it can provide an interesting and useful perspective for development.
17 Nov 2005 | Non categorizzato
Gen Rosso is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a new CD composed of 10 of the group’s most popular songs, chosen from its repertoire of over 300 compositions. The selections are presented with new arrangements and there is one completely new release. “Zenit” is the result of the valid collaboration of a number of musicians, including well-known Italian singers in ‘duet’ with Gen Rosso’s soloists. These artists include Francesco Guccini, Antonella Ruggiero, Rosalia Misseri, Francesco Silvestre (Modà), Cheryl Porter and Kate Kelly who share the wealth of values that Gen Rosso upholds, and have therefore contributed their talent to produce an album that combines message and content with refined musical sensitivity. “Zenit” was given a press conference last November 17 at the Carroccio Hall of Campidoglio, Rome’s city hall, in the presence of the artists who collaborated for its production. The new CD is distributed by Multimedia San Paolo. Part of the profit from its sales will be donated for the construction of a new Multicultural and Interreligious Center for the promotion of dialogue among peoples in Jerusalem. Multiethnic by birth, ecumenical by vocation, musical loudspeaker of love, peace and brotherhood: Gen Rosso is all this. In its 40 years of energetic activity, it has asserted itself as one of the most mature expressions of music inspired by Christian values. It has characteristically been made up of a wide variety of musicians, singers, dancers and technicians who put together their professional and human experience to give life to a unique musical group that stirs audiences everywhere. It has given 2,000 concerts and gone on 170 concert tours in 43 nations, besides producing 53 albums and publishing 300 songs.
8 Nov 2005 | Non categorizzato
