April 2004

31 Mar 2004 | Non categorizzato, Word of

On more than one occasion Luke speaks about the disciples discussing who is the greatest among them (see Lk 9:46). This time it is during the last supper. Jesus had just instituted the Eucharist, the greatest sign of his love, of his unconditional gift of self, anticipating what he would go through just a few hours later on the cross. He is there with his followers “as the one who serves” (Lk 22:27). In fact, John’s Gospel reports his concrete gesture of washing the feet of his disciples. During this month when Christians celebrate Easter, Jesus’ resurrection, it is important to keep in mind this teaching.

The disciples do not understand because they are conditioned by the common human mentality that favors prestige and honor, the highest place on the social ladder, becoming “somebody.” Jesus, however, came on earth precisely in order to create a new society, a new community, based on a different kind of logic: love.
If he who is the Lord and Master washed the feet of others (a task performed by slaves), we who want to follow him, especially if we are in positions of responsibility, are called to serve our neighbors with just as much concreteness and dedication.

«Let the greatest among you be as the youngest, and the leader as the servant»

This is one of the paradoxes of Jesus’ life. We can understand it only if we reason that the typical attitude of Christians is love, a love that leads them to put themselves in the last place, to become smaller than the other, as a father does when he plays with his child or when he helps his older son with his homework.
Vincent de Paul called the poor his “masters” and as such he loved them and served them because in them he recognized Jesus. Camillus de Lellis bent over the sick, washing their wounds and making their beds “with the same affection,” he wrote, “that a loving mother has for her only child who is ill.”
And closer to our times how can we not remember Blessed Teresa of Calcutta bending over thousands of dying people, making herself “nothing” in front of each one of them, the poorest of the poor?

“Making ourselves small” in front of others means trying to enter as deeply as possible into their minds and hearts to the point of sharing their sufferings and interests, even when these things might seem to be of little importance, even insignificant to us but for them they are their whole lives.
“Making ourselves small” before the other not because we are somehow above and the other is below us, but because our ego, if it is not held in check, is like a balloon ever ready to float up to a position of superiority over others.

«Let the greatest among you be as the youngest, and the leader as the servant»

“To live the other,” therefore, means that we cannot lead lives focused on ourselves, on our own worries, our own concerns, our own ideas, and whatever belongs to us.
We need to forget ourselves, to put ourselves aside in order to notice the other person, to make ourselves one with all our neighbors to the point of reaching them where they are at and lifting them up, to help them overcome their fears and worries, sufferings, complexes and disabilities, or simply in order to help them come out of themselves and go towards God and reach out to their brothers and sisters. By doing so we will find together the fullness of life and true happiness.
“The leader” also refers to people in government and public officials of all kinds who can choose to fulfill their responsibilities as a service of love, so as to create and safeguard the conditions that allow love to blossom: the love of a young couple who want to get married and who need a house and job; the love of those who want to study and who need schools and books; the love of those who have their own businesses and who need roads and railways, clear and reliable rules, and so on.

From the moment we get up in the morning until we go to bed at night, at home, in the office, at school and in our neighborhoods, we can always find opportunities to serve and to be grateful when we are served by others.
Let’s do everything for Jesus in our brothers and sisters, without neglecting anyone, but always taking the initiative in loving.
Let’s serve everyone! It’s only then that we are “great.”

Chiara Lubich

March 2004

29 Feb 2004 | Non categorizzato, Word of

The Israelites are in exile in Babylon. They look back on their past with nostalgia, remembering the glorious times when God intervened with his power and freed their ancestors from their slavery in Egypt. They are tempted to think: God will not send us another Moses, he will never again work the great wonders of the past, and we will have to stay in this foreign land forever.
In 539 B.C., however, the king of Persia, Cyrus, freed the chosen people whose return to the promised land was even more extraordinary than the exodus from Egypt.
God never repeats himself! His love is capable of working ever greater things, things beyond our imagination. This is why he puts this invitation on the lips of the prophet Isaiah:

«Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not. See, I am doing something new!»

At the end of his book, Isaiah announces a future more luminous than ever before: the creation of new heavens and a new earth. God will do something so great that “the things of the past shall not be remembered or come to mind” (Is 65:17).
With the words of Isaiah in mind, the Apostle Paul also announces the unimaginable intervention of God in our history. God makes human beings new through the death and resurrection of Jesus; he recreates them, in his son, for a new life (see 2 Cor 5:17). Then, in the Book of Revelation, God announces the re-creation of the whole universe at the end of history: “Behold, I make all things new” (Rev 21:5).
The words of Isaiah stream through the entire Bible and they still have something to say to us today:

«Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not. See, I am doing something new!»

We are that “something new,” the “new creation” that God generated. He renewed our being and our actions through his Son when we received him in his words and in all his gifts. Now it is Jesus himself who lives and works in us. It is he who renews our relationships with others in the family, at school, at work… It is he who, through us, regenerates our social life, our culture, entertainment, health care, economy, politics, in other words, every kind of human activity that we are involved in.
We no longer think of the past longing for the beautiful things that once took place, or crying over the mistakes we made, for we strongly believe God’s action can continue to work “new things.”
God always offers us the opportunity to begin again. He frees us from all the burdens of the past which need no longer condition us. Life is simplified; it becomes lighter, purer, fresher. Like Paul, we, too, will forget the past and be free to run towards Christ, towards the fullness of life and joy. (see Phil 3: 13-14).

«Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not. See, I am doing something new!»

How shall we live this Word of Life? Let us try to carry out with love what God wants from us in every moment of the day – when we are studying, working, taking care of the children, praying and playing. This means setting aside whatever is not God’s will for us in that moment. This will prepare us to be open to whatever he wants to bring about within us and around us, and it will open us up to receive the particular grace he provides us with moment by moment.
By living in this way, offering each action to God and telling him explicitly, “It’s for you,” Jesus living in us will carry out works that will last.

Chiara Lubich