[:it]Mi sentivo sprofondare nel nulla… poi la forza di arrivare alla cura[:es]Sentía que estaba cayendo en la nada….. después la fuerza para llegar al tratamiento[:pt]Eu me sentia no fundo do poço… depois, tive a força para me recuperar
A Gold Mine: on the footsteps of the big saints of Spain
In meeting Ignatius in Manresa, Theresa in Avila, John of the Cross in Segovia, I found “giants” of sanctity who gloriously reached the goal by walking along personal, individual spiritual ways.
The extraordinary episodes in the lives of these elected souls, the holy words they said, the divine words they heard, the various environments in which they expressed one attitude or another, still fragrant with the burning love of God in their souls, had a strong, noteworthy impact on me. They unearth an insatiable desire: that of deepening, of developing to the utmost our personal relationship with God.
I felt the urgency, the need to consider once again the sacred moments that God’s will for us has reserved for this purpose, and the beauty of carrying out with increased commitment the appointments of prayers in the different moments of our daily life.
They are for us the “clothes” we put on, the premise for being able to go out then to love our brothers and sisters.
Yes, our clothes! But what clothes are we speaking of here?
They are the golden “clothes” of our union with God. They are and must be gold, gold, gold. And they can become a gold mine if we grow by going out to love our brothers and sisters for God.
I’ve begun to live in this way, trying to perfect, almost to refine or polish those moments. Do you know what the first result was?
Perhaps because “to everyone who has, more will be given” (Mt. 25:29), the effect was the impetus to do even better the next day, always better, almost as if we never do things well enough.
But the strongest effect, I would say the most extraordinary effect of this commitment has been, paradoxically, to see with greater clarity and precision and to feel attracted towards those words of Scripture, in the New Testament, which are most suited to the characteristic aspect of our spirituality, which is above all communitarian, and which enable us to live it out. Like “May they all be one” (Jn 17:21) – we need brothers or sisters to live this; like “Love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 15:12) – we need brothers or sisters; like “Above all, let your love for one another be intense” (1 Pt 4:8). They are words which concern not only me but also my brothers and sisters, and while they must be lived out after having put on the above-mentioned “clothes”, they must also be lived beforehand – in a sense, but undoubtedly – due to a divine interlacing, so that our lives as Christians may be completely fulfilled.
Is it not necessary to leave our gift at the altar – one of our practices – in order to be reconciled with our brother or sister if this is necessary?
But there is more. I also felt attracted towards other words of Scripture which are important for us and which undoubtedly help us to reach that necessary Christian self-denial, self-annihilation, so admired in the Spanish saints. For us, though, this annihilation is not pursued directly, but by giving visibility to our works for the glory of God. Words like “You are the light of the world; (…) your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father” (Mt 5:14-16). “Glory to your heavenly Father”, not to us; once again self-denial.
I felt attracted by still others words which ask that we show the world not so much the renouncements that the Gospel asks of all Christians, but the wealth and beauty of the gifts that God gives to us because he is our Father, like the words concerning the “hundredfold” which the Gospel speaks of, in relation to those who leave everything (this is the basic poverty, detachment); or the words: “Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work or spin. But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was clothed like one of them. If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you” (Mt 6:28-30). Only if we have faith in Him, only if we renounce thinking about it too much ourselves: this is annihilation.
It would seem that these aspects can show a new countenance of the Church, that of the risen Lord.
Later we’ll have chance of going deep into these aspects of Christian life. But we need a spiritual rebirth that is summed up in this formula: “Gold plus gold equals a gold mine.” That is: gold in union with God, in our prayers, in going in depth with this; plus gold: loving, loving the others, loving from morning till night, loving always. If we collect love in union with God and we collect love by loving our neighbors, our heart will become a gold mine, so that we can pour this gold on the world.
To create everywhere oases of fraternity for peace among all peoples: the shared commitment of Christians and Hindus
On the 24th of January 2002, Pope John Paul II convened the World Day of Peace in Assisi with leaders of the world’s great religions. Barely a year later, rumblings of war prevail over the voices for peace. The eruption of festering violence in India amongst Christians, Hindus and Moslems, as reported in regular news items, is an example of this. In this context, Chiara Lubich’s trip in India, which began in Mumbai on the 4th of January, focussed on dialogue with cultural and social Hindu institutions. From this emerged the mysticism which pervades the Indian culture and the universal brotherhood embedded in its roots.
The meeting with the Swadhyaya Family organisation highlighted, to everyone’s surprise, the many elements shared by our two movements. The Swadhyaya Family is a vast Hindu movement with more than 8 million adherents, founded by Shri Pandurang Shastri Athavale, known as Dada-ji (teacher-older brother). His movement teaches that God resides in every human being and that the fulfilment of spiritual unity holds within it the solutions of all world problems. The first contact with this movement came about at the World Day of Peace in Assisi at which only two women spoke: Didi Talwakar, daughter and spiritual heir of the founder of the Swadhyaya Family, and Chiara Lubich. This was followed by a meeting between them in Rocca di Papa, Rome, in which both made the discovery of the extraordinary parallels between the spirit of the Swadhyaya Family and the Focolare Movement. From this a profound spiritual friendship was born. In Mumbai, there were two further important meetingswhich led to an intensification of the dialogue initiated two years ago when Chiara Lubich visited India for the first time. The first of these meetings was at Somaiya College, a tertiary institute with 25,000 students and over 30 faculties and departments – one of the Hindu institutions most committed to inter-religious dialogue. The second important meeting was at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, a university level cultural centre which has one hundred centres in India and 15 abroad, founded to study the roots of Hindu culture and the means for developing it. This organisation numbers amongst its members Hindus, Moslems, Christians, Zoroastrians and Buddhists. Chiara arrived in India on the 4th of January this year. Her first meeting was with Cardinal Dias, Archbishop of Mumbai, and with his predecessor, Cardinal Simon Pimenta, to begin her trip in full communion with the local Church. Then, upon the invitation of Cardinal Dias, on the 9th of January, Chiara had a meeting with the clergy, seminarians, men and women religious of the diocese, to share with them the charism of unity. On the 12th of January she spoke at the third gathering of ecclesial movements with the participation of 3,500 people representing sixteen movements and associations. Following her meetings in Mumbai, Chiara Lubich returned to Rome, while those who had accompanied her on her trip continued on to Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu and to Delhi. A busy schedule of meetings was prepared in these cities with the Hindu world and with the local Church.
January 2003
The Christians of Corinth used to compare the apostle Paul with other contemporary preachers who spoke with greater eloquence and scholarship. They liked to hear nice talks, philosophical speculations, whereas Paul, physically weak and tested, presented himself with simplicity, without using the big words suggested by human wisdom . And yet Jesus had fully revealed himself to Paul on the way to Damascus, and ever since then God had continued to inundate his heart with the light of his Son and had invited him to bring that light to everyone. However, Paul was the first to realize the disproportion between the inestimable preciousness of the mission entrusted to him and the inadequacy of his person: a treasure in a poor clay jar.
How often we too are aware of our poverty, our limitations and inadequacy before the tasks entrusted to us, our incapacity to respond fully to the demands of our vocation, the sense of powerlessness in the face of situations that surpass our strength. Moreover, we feel inclined and attracted more easily towards evil rather than good, and we find it difficult to resist due to the weakness of our will. We too, like Paul, feel like vases of clay.
And it’s not hard to find the same weakness and fragility in the people around us, in our families, communities or groups.
How can we not be mindful of these words of Paul during this month in which we celebrate the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity? In spite of the treasure God has given us, we Christians have not been able to live in unity.
«We hold this treasure in earthen vessels»
If we were to look only at the earthen vessels that we are, we would really become discouraged. Instead, what matters, and what we must focus on, is the treasure that we bear within us! Paul knew that his earthen vessel was inhabited by the light of Christ: it was Christ himself who lived in him and this gave him the courage to venture everything for the spreading of God’s Kingdom.
As Christians, we too can experience the infinite treasure that we bear within us: it is the Most Holy Trinity. I look within myself and I discover depths of love, an abyss, an immensity, like a divine sun dwelling within me.
I look around me and learn to discern this indwelling treasure also in the others. Their vases of clay might be evident, but I don’t stop at outward appearances. John Paul II reminds us that we must see the light of the Trinity dwelling in us also “on the face of the brothers and sisters around us”.
«We hold this treasure in earthen vessels»
How should we live this Word of Life?
It is addressed to us. An us that doesn’t exclude anyone. “Christians must make known together this treasure that shines in glory on the face of the resurrected one.” However, in order to become fully aware of the treasure we have, we will need to enter into communion with it. Yes, we can learn to live with the Most Holy Trinity to the point of losing ourselves in it. We can have a personal relationship with each of the three divine Persons, with the Father and with the Son and with the Holy Spirit, so that God himself lives and acts in us.
We have the Father. In our vases of clay the Father is present. We can cast our worries upon him, all our concerns, as the apostle Peter suggests. Because this is what you do with a father: you entrust yourself to him, in everything and for everything, with total confidence. A father gives support and security, and the child, carefree and trusting, throws himself into his father’s arms.
«We hold this treasure in earthen vessels»
Also the Son dwells within us: the Word Incarnate, Jesus. Jesus is within us. We have learned to love him deeply wherever he is present: in the Eucharist, in his word, when we are united in his name, in the poor, in the authority that represents him… in the depths of our heart. We can even learn to love him in our shortcomings, weaknesses, failures, because he took upon himself our weaknesses and fragility even though he was not a sinner. Having shared all that we are, Jesus, the Incarnate Word, can support us in every trial of life. He can help us to overcome it and give back to us light, peace and strength.
And the Holy Spirit, that Spirit in whom we trustingly confide as though to other ourselves, who always answers when we invoke him and suggests words of wisdom, who comforts and sustains us, who loves us as a true friend and gives us light.
What more do we want? Only one Love has taken up residence in our heart: it is our treasure. The earthen vessel, ours and that of others, will no longer be an obstacle, it will no longer discourage us. It will simply remind us that the light and life that God wants to release within us and around us is not so much the fruit of our human capacities, but the effect of him at work in us, of his presence acknowledged and loved. Then, like Paul, we will be able to risk everything for the Kingdom of God and with greater strength strive towards the full and visible communion among Christians. Like him we can repeat: “But we hold this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us” (2 Cor 4:7).
Chiara Lubich
December 2002
These words mark the beginning of Mary’s divine adventure. The angel had just revealed God’s plans for her: to be the mother of the Messiah. Before consenting she wanted to make sure that this was truly the will of God, and once she understood that this is what he wanted she did not hesitate a moment to adhere to it wholeheartedly. From then on, Mary abandoned herself completely to God’s will, even during the most painful and tragic moments.
Because she carried out not her own will but the will of God, because she trusted unconditionally in what God was asking of her, all generations call her blessed (see Lk 1:48). She fulfilled herself completely, to the point of becoming the Woman par excellence.
This is the fruit of doing God’s will: we attain self-fulfillment, we acquire total freedom, and we reach our true being. God has always thought of us, he has loved us from all eternity; we have always had a place in his heart. God wants to reveal to each one of us, as he did to Mary, our true identity. “Would you like me to make a masterpiece of you and your life?”, he seems to ask us. “Then follow the way I indicate and you will become who you always are in my heart. I have thought of you and loved you from all eternity; I called you by name. By telling you my will I am revealing your true self.”
So then his will is not an imposition forced on us, but the expression of his love for us, of his project for us; and it is sublime as God himself, deeply fascinating and beautiful as is his face: it is God giving himself to us. The will of God is like a golden thread, a divine theme that runs through the whole of our earthly life and beyond; it goes from eternity to eternity: first in the mind of God, then on this earth, and finally, in heaven.
But for God’s design to be fulfilled completely, he asks for my consent, for your consent, as he asked it of Mary. This is the only way that the word he pronounced for me and for you can be fulfilled. So then we too, like Mary, are called to say:
«Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word»
Of course God’s will is not always clear to us. Like Mary we too will have to ask for the light to understand what he wants. We need to listen attentively and sincerely to his voice within us, seeking advice if needed from someone who can help us. But once we have understood his will, we want to say “yes” at once. Actually, if we have understood that his will is the greatest, most beautiful reality in our life, we won’t be resigned to “having” to do the will of God, but we will be happy to “be able” to do the will of God, to be able to follow his plans, so that what he wants for us will be fulfilled. It’s the best thing we can do, the most intelligent thing we can do.
The words of Mary, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord”, are therefore our response of love to the love of God. They keep us turned toward him, always listening and obeying, with only one desire in our heart, that of carrying out his will in order to be as he wants us to be.
Nevertheless, at times what he asks of us can seem to be absurd. We would do things differently, we would like to decide for ourselves. We would almost want to give advice to God, to tell him what to do and what not to do. But if I believe that God is Love and I trust him, I know that whatever he plans for me and for those close to me is for my good, for their good. So I entrust myself to him, I abandon myself with total trust in his will and I want it with all my heart, to the point of being one with it, knowing that accepting his will is accepting him, embracing him, nourishing myself with him.
We must believe that nothing happens by chance. No event, whether it be joyful, indifferent or painful, no encounter, no situation in the family, at work, or at school, no condition of physical or moral health is without meaning. On the contrary, every event, situation and person bears a message from God, everything contributes towards the fulfillment of God’s design which we will discover little by little, day by day, doing the will of God as Mary did.
«Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word»
How should we live this Word of Life? Practically speaking, our “yes” to the word of God means doing well and completely all that he asks us to do in every present moment. We should devote ourselves wholeheartedly to whatever we are doing, putting aside everything else, letting go of any other thought, desire, memory or action.
As we carry out each will of God, whether it be painful, joyful or indifferent, we can repeat: “May it be done to me according to your word”, or, as Jesus taught us in the “Our Father”, “Your will be done”. Let’s say it before every action: “May it be done” “Your will be done”. By doing so, we will accomplish one moment at a time, one piece at a time the wonderful, unique and unrepeatable mosaic of our life which the Lord has always had in mind for each one of us.
Chiara Lubich