Thirty years after her last visit to Fontem (Cameroon)
The king of Fontem, Dr Lucas Njifua, called the Fon, expressed his gratitude with these words: “The spirituality of the Focolare has changed our people especially through communicating the presence of God and Jesus’ wish: ‘That all may be one’. This is very important. It has helped us resist warfare. Crime is non-existent here. Those who live like this do not have problems in their families, dissension about land ownership, recourse to witchcraft …” Through a big celebration, the Bangwa and Nweh-Mundani peoples welcomed Chiara Lubich in Fontem, Cameroon, located in the middle of the forest. Chiara last visited Fontem 30 years ago, in 1969. The clearing and the hill overlooking the village were packed with people. The festivities consisted of songs and dances that exalted the value of life: the dance of the fertility of the earth, the dance of mothers of twins and, last of all, the dance of the Fon and all the chiefs. As a sign of recognition for the spiritual values brought by the Movement, Christine, the queen of Fontem, called the Mafua, invited Chiara to put on a traditional dress similar to hers and the Fon’s. She then placed on her head a traditional feathered headdress. The words of the Fon, endorsed by an enthusiastic applause, expressed gratitude for the Focolare’s spiritual contribution to the people in addition to the many social works accomplished by the Movement in Fontem. “When we are in awe of God, then we are at peace. It helps us to maintain high moral standards. This moral conscience is also important in the struggle against the scourge of Aids.” The words of Chiara and her final proposition were immediately embraced. The celebration was sealed by a pact of mutual love among the whole people. It was a strong moment, expressed with a hand shake, which created a powerful bond among everyone. 
“With this pact we are pledging our commitment to maintain full peace among us and to rebuild it again each time it breaks down. Only while love continues to shine in this city will heaven continue to send down its blessings on you, on your children and on your grandchildren.” Actually the history of the little town of Fontem is marked by the experience of a “blessing from heaven“. This blessing became manifest thirty years ago, in a small remote village in the forest where the Bangwa tribe risked becoming extinct due to the 90 percent infant mortality rate. Chiara traced the steps of the Focolare’s involvement in Fontem: “In 1964, Mons. Peeters, the bishop of a neighbouring town, received a delegation sent by the Fon of Fontem, bearing gifts. They came with a supplication: could the bishop ask Christians to pray to God to help them. The bishop turned to the Focolare Movement. The initial group of doctors and nurses from the Movement reached Fontem at the beginning of 1966. They opened the first dispensary in a local hut.” A few months after this Chiara visited Fontem. “I remember as though it were yesterday – and I often tell this story – the presence of God, like a sun, enveloping all of us gathered together in a large cleared area of the village. It was as though that presence of God gave us the strength, the enthusiasm and the light to start off together on this divine adventure.” Now, before our eyes, we see a harmonious village with houses, a church, a hospital, primary and secondary schools, a kindergarten and cottage industries. An aqueduct has been build, the village has been supplied with electricity and there are roads linking Fontem with neighbouring villages. Chiara expressed her great joy in seeing this development, “Above all because I can recognise just how much of what the Lord allowed us to foresee during my second visit, way back in 1969, has actually been accomplished.” Everyone was very moved when she recalled the words she had spoken on that occasion: “Rising up in this place I see a great city that will become famous all over the world, not because of material wealth but because it will shine brightly with a light which is generated by fraternal love kept alight amongst us in the name of God. Many people will make their way to this city in order to learn how to love“. From that time this ‘city’ has been the destination of many from all over Africa which is so troubled by ethnic conflicts. “Fontem has become a beacon which radiates the light of mutual love throughout Africa and indeed the whole world.” Over these years the Bangwa and Nweh-Mundani peoples, who are animists, have come to know Christianity. Chiara in her talk recalled the great message of the Jubilee, year of reconciliation and of forgiveness. But not all those listening to her were Christians. Addressing those of other churches or other religions, Chiara recalled the Golden Rule which is present in all the religions in the words: ‘Do not do to others what you would not like done to you’. “This means,” Chiara added, “that all of us have to continue to love one another.” This is the vocation of Fontem. That promise to live mutual love brought a note of great solemnity. Those present were strongly aware that mutual love is the guarantee that “the vocation of Fontem will continue to be, also in future years, as Jesus said, ‘a city on the mountaintop’ so that everyone may see it and imitate its life.” The echo of Fontem over these years has reached the whole world because the developments of this village are due to the contributions from the members of the movement in all continents. In fact in 1968, Chiara launched “Operation Africa” particularly among the youth of the movement. Consequently, a worldwide communion of goods was mobilised and continued for many years. It was animated by a new awareness of the duty “to bring justice” and to contribute “to repaying the debt the western world has towards this continent“. And as this sense of solidarity grew, so too did the discovery of the rich values and traditions of Africa.
May 2000
Jesus' farewell discourse after the last Supper is very rich with teachings and exhortations which he gives, with the heart of a brother and father, to his own for all centuries.
While it is true that all his words are divine, this phrase is especially significant because in them the Master and Lord condenses his doctrine of life in a testament that will become the magna charta of Christian communities.
Let us enter then into the Word of Life for this month which is, in fact, part of Jesus' testament, with the desire to discover its profound and hidden meaning and to imbue our whole lives with it.
In reading this chapter from John's Gospel, the first thing that leaps before your eyes is the image of the vine and the branches, so familiar to a people who for centuries has planted vineyards and cultivated grapevines. And this people knows well that only the vine engrafted on the trunk can become green with leaves and rich with bunches of grapes. Whereas the vine that is cut off shrivels up and dies. There couldn't have been a stronger image for expressing the nature of our bond with Christ.
But there is another word that resounds with insistence on this page of the Gospel: “remain”, in the sense of being firmly tied and intimately inserted in him, as the condition for receiving the vital lymph which enables us to live of his very own life. “Remain in me, as I remain in you.” “Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit.” “Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out.” (Jn. 15:4ff). Therefore, the verb “remain” must have an essential meaning and value for the life of a Christian.
«If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you.»
“If”. This “if” indicates a condition which would be impossible for anyone to observe if God had not taken the initiative and reached out to humanity, or better still, if he had not come down to humanity to the point of making himself one with it. He was the first to engraft himself, so to speak, in our flesh through Baptism and to vivify it with his grace.
Then it is up to us to bring to fruition what Baptism has worked in our life and to discover the inexhaustible riches it has deposited there.
How? By living the Word, by making it fruitful, by giving it a fixed abode in our lives. To remain in him means making his words remain in us, not like stones at the bottom of a well, but like seeds in the soil, so that in time, they will bud forth and bear fruit. But to remain in him means above all – as Jesus himself explains in this passage from the Gospel – to remain in his Love (cf. Jn. 15:9). This is the vital lymph that rises from the roots, up through the trunk and to the most distant vine shoots. It is the love that binds us to Jesus, that makes us one with him, as members transplanted – we would say today – in his body; and love consists in living his commandments which are all summed up in that great and new commandment of mutual love.
And almost as a confirmation, to prove to us that we are engrafted onto him, he promises that our every prayer will be granted.
«If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you.»
Jesus himself is asking, so he cannot but obtain what he asks for. And if we are one with him, he himself will be asking in us. Therefore, if we are about to pray, to ask something of God, let us first ask ourselves “if” we have lived the Word, if we have always remained in love. Let us ask ourselves if we are his living words, if we are a concrete sign of his love for each and every person we meet. We might even want to ask for graces, but without any intention of conforming our life to what God asks of us.
Would it be right then for him to grant what we ask for? Would our prayer not be different if it were to develop out of our union with Jesus, and if it were Jesus himself in us who presents the requests to his Father?
Let us ask all that we want, certainly, but first of all let us be concerned about living his will, his words, so that it is no longer we who live, but he who lives in us.
Chiara Lubich
[:it]«Dal dolore e dalla morte una nuova vita»
April 2000
These are stupendous words with which Jesus gives us the key to Christianity.
The feast of the Jewish Passover was approaching. In the crowd of pilgrims who had arrived in Jerusalem, there were also some Greeks who asked to “see Jesus”. The disciples referred this to Jesus and he replied by speaking of his imminent death. Then he added that rather than provoke the dispersion of the disciples – as could have happened – he would draw “everyone” to himself, not only his own, but everyone: Jew and Greek alike will believe in him without discrimination of race, social condition or sex. (cf. Gal. 3:28).
In fact, Jesus' work of salvation is universal, and the presence of Greeks is a sign of this universality.
«When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.»
What is the meaning of the words “when I am lifted up from the earth”?
For John, the evangelist, this expression means “to be raised onto the cross” and “to be glorified”. In fact, John sees the passion and death of Christ as the great demonstration of God's love for humanity. But this love is so powerful that it merits the resurrection and draws everyone to himself. The unity of the new people of God is built up around Christ raised up from the earth.
It is no longer possible to separate the cross from glory; nor is it possible to separate the Crucified Lord from the Risen Lord. They are two aspects of the same mystery of God who is Love.
It is this Love that attracts. The Crucified-Risen Lord exerts a profound and personal attraction in the heart of men and women, in two ways: through it Jesus calls his own to share in his glory; through it, he leads them to love everyone as he does, to the point of giving one's life.
«When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.»
How should we live this Word of Life? How should we respond to such a great love?
If Jesus died for all people, it means that all people are called to follow him; even more, all people are called to be another him. Let's look at every person with these eyes, that is, with a glance of love which goes beyond all outward appearances.
Whether they be Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, or of other convictions, all people should be the object of our love. We should love to the point of being ready to give our life. And even if we are not asked to give our physical life, we are often asked to die to our self-love.
When we lift our “ego” onto the cross, when we die to ourselves in order to allow Christ to live, then we too will see the spreading of the Kingdom of God around us.
It has been said that the world belongs to those who love it most and can give a better proof of their love. Who loved the world better than Jesus? Those who seek to imitate him can love the world in this way too, by giving themselves totally to their neighbor with a selfless, universal love.
«When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.»
During this month, we will try to welcome in our heart and translate into life the precious teaching of the Crucified-Risen Lord. It will cast light on the role of suffering, which can turn up in our lives, and on its extraordinary fecundity.
Day after day, whenever we are struck by small or big sufferings: a doubt, a failure, a misunderstanding, a tense relationship, a difficulty at work, an illness, also a serious misfortune or worry, let's try our best to accept them and to offer them to Jesus as an expression of our love.
Let's add our drop to the sea of his passion for the good of many. Once the offering is made, let's try not to think about it any more, but to carry out what God wants from us, wherever we are: at home, in the factory, in the office, at school… let's especially try to love the neighbors around us.
And because Jesus died for everyone and everyone is called to follow him, let's do all we can so that as many people as possible can find in our love the love of Christ. Then he will draw everyone to himself, and through our mutual love universal brotherhood will blossom among all.
Chiara Lubich