Klaus Hemmerle and His Passion for Unity

Feb 13, 2014 | Focolare Worldwide, Senza categoria

«I know that I’m not able to live alone, but only with Jesus in our midst. I strive to be part of a living cell, to be linked with other people with whom I can talk about such a way of living. I’d like to reach someone by phone, at least once a day, with whom I can feel understood regarding my life, someone who understands me so deeply that it takes no more than five minutes to know how things are going. If this isn’t possible at times, then I live the spiritual communion which is still something very valuable. I strive to weave a concrete network of relationships and to be an active part of them.

The Bishop Hemmerle with Chiara Lubich

Loppiano’s First Weekend For Giving

Feb 11, 2014 | Focolare Worldwide, Senza categoria

The story of the Focolare Movement often begins with the following words: “It was wartime and everything was crumbling  . . . only God remained.” That was in 1943 when the Second World War was in full swing. Many of the practices of those early days have become emblematic and are now part of the heritage of Focolare communities around the world.

One such practice was the “bundle”. Vittoria Aletta Salizzoni, one of Chiara Lubich’s first companions explains:  “I remember one thing. I think it happened in 1946. Chiara proposed that we give away our extra clothing to the community. That’s how we began the practice of the “bundle” as it was called. We were poor. You can imagine! In the aftermath of the war there wasn’t anything. Our clothing was old and used, but we all managed to find something that could be added to the “bundle”. I remember that large pile of clothing in the middle of the room of the “little house”, ready for distribution.”

This practice that recalls the first Christian communities where: “there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need” (Acts 4:34-35), has become common practice among the Focolare communities across the world.

The inhabitants of the Focolare town of Loppiano decided to launch a similar proposal on February 8-9, 2014 for their entire territory. This would also be in response to Pope Francis’ upcoming Lenten Message in which he highlights sharing. The pope calls for a conversion: “that human conscience may be converted to justice, equality, sobriety and sharing.”

The solidarity project has been entitled Weekend For Giving. “It will be a full immersion in the culture of giving,” organisers explain, “that offers a space for sharing and making requests for materials in good and usable condition, also the bulletin board for posting needs and the “time bank” where you can put your time at the disposal of others.

The town’s meeting hall has been chosen as the gathering point. “All kinds of things have arrived: from used clothing for all ages and sizes, books, appliances, furniture, toys, house décor items,” they say.

On Sunday space was also provided for discussing and explaining the culture of giving as opposed to a culture of possessing, and how it can be applied to everyday life.

At the conclusion of the day, the Permanent Bundle Network was inaugurated as the collection and distribution point for all the donated materials. It will be a place open to solidarity and redistribution of goods to those who are in need of them.    

In Africa, as a family

Feb 10, 2014 | Focolare Worldwide, Senza categoria

We are not going to Africa to get to know the place, to be tourists, but to encounter a people”, Flavia and Valter wrote.

She is Swiss, she studied International Relations in Geneve and had worked for a few months at Bukas Palad Tagaytay, in the Philippines. Valter is a Brazilian journalist who just finished his Masters Degree in 2012 at the Sophia University Institute in Loppiano, Italy. In 2005 he went as a volunteer to Indonesia, six months after the tsunami that ravaged Southeast Asia.

Inspite of living on opposite ends of the Atlantic Ocean, they met in 2004 and were married eight years later.

Now they are leaving their security, projects, jobs... They will be going to spend a few months together with the community of the Focolare in Man, in sub-Saharan Africa, 600 km. west of the capital of the Ivory Coast, Abidjan. “To leave everything behind is not easy – they wrote – but we feel that this experience of total detachment makes us more free to live every moment in profundity, without looking back”.

In Man they will work in the Little City of the Movement, in a center for computer science and in  a center that works towards waging a war against malnutrition in hundreds of children.

“The fact that we are going there as a couple is an aspect that we would like to underline – Flavia wrote. Many people say that marriage imprisons you, forcing you to live a life based on the search for material security. We want to take up the challenge and show that it is possible together to open ourselves to the others”.

“Meeting the African people has always been our dream – Valter added – but the many relationships that we have built has transformed our trip into an adventure that we would like to share with many of our friends. For them and for all the people who are interested to know more about the African continent, we had the idea to write a book of our experiences together with the photos to document them”.

“We would like everyone to participate in our adventure– concluded Flavia – and to offer the fruits of our experience: we believe  that the family is not only made by the bond of blood, but it contains all the relationships that are built together with the communities wherein we find ourselves”.

For those who would like to participate in this project they can make a donation and they will receive a “photo book” with their experience.

For more information:

https://www.facebook.com/juntosrumoaafrica.

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Chiara Lubich and Religions. Buddhism

Feb 9, 2014 | Focolare Worldwide, Senza categoria

Relationships with the Buddhist faithful have comprised a significant portion of the Focolare Movement’s history in dialogue. Although Focolare founder Chiara Lubich intuited as early as the 1960’s that it would be possible to construct genuine fraternal relationships with persons of different religions and cultures, it was not until 1979 that she personally met a leader from another religion, the Rev. Nikkyo Niwano founder of the Rissho Kosei kai. The friendship that developed between them was based on deep mutual respect. In 1981 Niwano invited Chiara to talk about her Christian experience to 12 thousand Buddhists in Tokyo, Japan. This marked the historical beginnings of an experience of genuine fraternity. The relationship continued for many years and was recently reaffirmed by Maria Voce’s visit to Tokyo in 2010. Paths of cooperation and understanding opened with other Mahayana traditions in Japan and Taiwan. Meetings with Venerable Etai Yamada from the Tendai School were unforgettable moments. Venerable Etai Yamada was fond of quoting the motto of the great Master Saicho: “Forgetting yourself and serving others is the apex of compassion-love”. These words were also cited by John Paul II during the meeting with representatives of other religions in Tokyo, 1981. Yamada added: “You can say that the Focolare puts into practice the words of the master 1,200 years later.” Currently there are very fruitful relationships with the Nichiren School. And there have been contacts with the Chinese Buddhist Monastary of Fo Guan Shan and with the Monastery of Dharma Drum Mountain. There are also contacts with Chinese Buddhists from the Fo Guang Shan Monastery and the Dharma Drum Mountain Monastery. Over the years, paths of knowledge and understanding have also opened with the world of Therevada Buddhism. During an extended visit to the international town of Loppiano two Thai monks – Grand Master Ajhan Thong and Phramaha Thongratana – came into living contact with Christianity. When they returned to their land, they shared their discovery and invited Chiara Lubich to present her Christian experience at a Buddhist university and in a temple in Chiang Mai. The Great Master Ajhan Thong presented the founder of the Focolare saying: “The sage is neither man nor woman. When a light is lit in the darkness no one asks whether it was a man or a woman who lit it. Chiara is here to give us her light.” From 2004 until the present several symposiums have been held. The fifth was held on 28-31 May 2012, following those held in 2004 and 2008 at the Mariapolis Centre in Castelgandolfo, Italy;  in 2006 and 2010 in Osaka, Japan and Chiang Mai, Thailand, which  was attended by people from Thailand, Sri Lanka, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, England, USA, Switzerland, Austria and Italy. The variety was not only geographical, but also the traditions that were represented. Among the Buddhists there were representatives – both monks and laity – from the Theravada and Mahayana traditions; and, among the Christians, representatives from the Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Communion and Lutheran Church. Over the years deep mutual trust has developed among the participants in these gatherings, which has allowed for open discussion on the Scriptures without any misunderstanding. The Castelgandolfo meeting was attended by His Eminence Cardinal Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and by the president of the Focolare Movement, Maria Voce. An event is scheduled for March 20, 2014 at the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome, dedicated to “Chiara Lubich and the Religions: Together on the Road to the Unity of the Human Family”. Six years after her death, the event will highlight her commitment to interreligious dialogue. The event also coincides with the 50^th anniversary of Nostra Aetate, the Second Vatican Council’s declaration on the relation of the Church to non-Christian religions. It will also be also be attended by religious leaders from Buddhism. Interview  to Chiara Lubich about interreligious dialogue (1998)

Refugee emergency and the challenge of integration

Feb 8, 2014 | Focolare Worldwide, Senza categoria

“They land on the Italian beaches in search of peace, a future, a life that is worthy to be called as such: in these past months they are above all the victims of the war in Syria, protagonists of a new  “biblical exodus” as it is called by many”. Marigen, shares how she and the other  focolarinas of Catania (Sicily-Italy) felt directly called by the faces of the refugees and the always more insistent disembarkations: “What can I, we do about it?”, they asked themselves.

From Valeria, a youth of the Movement,they came to know that everyday at the train station of Catania there is a crowd of Syrians who begin their journey towards the countries of Northern Europe. “They need everything – Valeria shared: clothes, shoes, big bags, luggages, food, medicines”.

The focolarinas immediately go into action: “We opened our cabinets and we brought out all those things that have accumulated there and that could be of use to others – Paola added. Some of us started to sew on missing buttons, to iron a shirt, others prepared bags of clothes sorted according to type. The experience of Chiara Lubich and of the first focolare in Trent during war time was very much present in our mind”.

The next day, they went to the train station and gave all that they had gathered to a young Moroccan girl who was coordinating the distribution. They discovered that a place to store all the donations received was needed. That very same evening a family offered their garage for this purpose.

They also had the opportunity to help and to get to know the migrants who were staying in the mosque, which had been transformed into a dormitory for the Muslim and Christian refugees. Lina, a focolarina from Jordan, translates their stories that is full of suffering and hope.

In the meantime, the community of the Focolare Movement of Syracuse shared with the entire city the suffering of the loss of Izdihar Mahm Abdulla, the 22-year old Syrian girl who died at sea because she could not bring with her the medicines she needed. Marigen continued: “We gathered around the refugees trying to bring them comfort and the material things they needed. We participated in the Muslim funeral rites held in the churchyard of the Cathedral.  We prayed together beside the Imam of Catania, the Mayor,and the Archbishop of Syracuse. There was a sacred atmosphere. We gather around the coffin united by this great suffering. The imam gave the bishop a Koran as a gesture of friendship and communion”.

Also in the island of Lampedusa, with the tragedy of the deaths at sea of so many, the community of the Movement, together with many others, faced this emergency by offering: hospitality, food, their homes, sharing with the migrants not just their surplus but even what was indispensable.

In the nearby island nation of Malta, the Focolare community also felt they wanted to do something upon the arrival of the refugees along the coastline of their Island. “Here the challenges of migration and integration are quite strong,” Vanessa related. “For two years now, we have started to be aware of the steps we could take and so we asked for permission to enter the detention centers where many refugees are gathered”.

They organize groups to take action on various fronts. “I am part of the group which visits the detention centre,” Vanessa continued, “We have met around fifty Somalian women from 16 to 50 years old, the majority of whom are Muslim and some Christians. We gave them English lessons, teach them working skills, dance, but the most important things is the relationship with each one: to listen to them and to share their frustrations, their life stories… We came to know of very delicate situations that have even led to thoughts of suicide… We realized that our willingness to listen to them is a very important resource, and we have seen with joy how much our visits bring them comfort and hope. This attitude of welcome is what we try to live and to share with them so as to promote a culture of integration”.