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Nov 8, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide, Senza categoria
Children listen wide-eyed to Pietro’s explanation. For them it is a school day in a classroom without desks or other learning aids, and the teaching is done primarily by nature itself. Lots of schoolchildren pass through the farm Fattoria Loppiano Prima, where people learn to cultivate their love for plants and animals.
Pietro Isolan is a young qualified farming expert, who for 18 years has worked hard at the farm in Loppiano: ‘It was also as a result of the economic crisis that we were forced to come up with new ideas to keep the business going. One of these was the “teaching farm”, a project for children and students at technical and professional colleges. It was to be an open-air workshop, with space allocated to rearing animals and a market garden. The objective was to give a hands-on experience of a production method where you would get to know the different kinds of animals and vegetables, and where we offer our experience centred on respect for human persons and for the environment.
The curriculum is made up of various modules that can be adapted to the needs of schools and that allow students to come in stages throughout the year.
The foundation of this new development was a personal experience that Pietro shared with other colleagues on the farm, turning a possible difficulty into a strong point for everyone: ‘After many years of work and following a personal and spiritual crisis, I realized that I had an experience I could offer, but that I had some things still to learn. And perhaps, if push came to shove, I would not have been able to support my family.
Pietro tells of a profound personal journal in relationship with nature seen as the manifestation of God’s creativity. It was a spiritual search that led him to understand more of the secrets of “permaculture” (sustainable use of the environment) and of various techniques seeking to optimize agricultural production while conserving the ecosystem. This sustainable agriculture is in keeping with the production philosophy of the farm, which has always been attentive to these kinds of values: ‘We created a market garden that was completely sustainable and which enriched the agricultural ecosystem. We planted and tended it together with the children who visited during those early years. Nowadays we grow seasonal vegetables and rear poultry.”
This latest development of the farm at Loppiano is a further demonstration of the common spirit animating every step of the way: trying to build relationships of fraternity, genuine relationships for people and for the environment. Pietro concludes, ‘In fact I’m convinced that, as everything is connected in nature, also in relationships between individuals, and in relationships between institutions, it is possible to generate synergies and links that increase exponentially both efficiency and the spread of good practice. At the end of the day I have to say I’ve experienced at first hand an expression that I read a while back and that really struck me: “Your true work is to create beauty, your true social action is to create awareness.” ’
Compiled by Paolo Balduzzi
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Oct 18, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide, Senza categoria
Many revolutions in history started in an unexpected way. Young people often find themselves at the centre. I cannot hide the fact that, like many immersed in the problems of the mega-cities of our countries, I also found myself asking: “When will this change?” I discussed this with some friends; I studied the paths taken by the great protagonists of history; I asked myself many questions.
When I started working as a journalist at the headquarters of ANSA in São Paolo, I never missed the opportunity to illustrate in my articles the signs of the times, seeking the truth. I had great aspirations. Yet as I gained experience, I felt that idealism was not enough.
I was faced with the demands of a complex world which required expertise and experience I didn’t yet have. Furthermore crisis situations were rampant in our interdependent societies, together with financial and work-related problems, internal conflicts, obsolete institutional mechanisms as well as other scenarios I was unable to decipher.
The offer to enrol in Sophia University arrived just as I had been reflecting on all of these things. I decided to invest in a plane ticket and decided to spend two years of my life doing a course which combines theory and daily practice, to explore a new culture, that of unity. I enrolled in a political subject and I found myself in a laboratory of life in which, day by day, together with students and teachers from different backgrounds, we faced an intensive program of study which delineated the culture of unity in many areas of science and of human interaction.
At Sophia University we experience that our goals for social change need to be accompanied by adequate preparation: we need professional formation, multi-dimensional knowledge and a 360° mode of dialogue in order to relate to peoples near and far and to able to manage the network of interdependence that characterizes our time. The comparative study approach among disciplines, illuminated by Chiara Lubich’s charism, is supported by the daily effort to put into practice the insights and academic results we achieve in the classroom. All these things involved my whole being, giving me new skills and different perspectives.
Having concluded the course, I can say that I acquired more expertise as a journalist, not only in employing better writing techniques, but also in reporting certain facts that I might have overlooked before.
I realized that the “new” I was looking for consisted in building relationships all round: with work colleagues, with the people I interview and with the members of the public who read my articles; it only comes about through an intense dialogue of life, through sharing and community consultation.
To aspire to a better world is something very important, but searching for the right tools to create it is equally fundamental. At Sophia University I realized that solutions can’t be improvised; we must devote time and resources to make sure the necessary conditions are there for things to happen.
(Source: Sophia University Institute website)
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Oct 11, 2012 | Senza categoria
A celebration full of “signs that evoke the Council,” said Archbishop Rino Fisichella and president of the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization, as he described some of the moments of the opening ceremonies of the Synod and the Year of Faith, which was presided over by the Pope and held in St. Peter’s Square on Thursday, 11 October 2012.
The first of these moments was the reading of excerpts from the four Conciliar documents, texts which marked the work of the Council and the renewal of the life of the Church. This was followed by a long procession which brought many people’s memories back to 12 October 1962. Thursday’s procession included all the Synod Fathers, including fourteen of the seventy still living Council Fathers who were able to attend in spite of their advanced ages.
As at the Council Paul VI gave delivered messages to the People of God, those same Counciliar messages were delivered by Pope Benedict XVI to personalities from around the world: to governors; to men and women of science and thought; to artists; to women; to workers; to the poor, the sick and suffering; to catechists and young people. Among the latter were also two youths from the Focolare Movement: Chiara Azwaka (Congo) and Ivan Luna (Philippines).
There will be 262 people attending the Synod (the highest number in the history of such assemblies), 103 Synod Fathers come from Europe; 63 from the Americas; 50 from Africa; 39 from Asia and 7 from Oceania.
Significantly, 45 experts and 49 auditors will also participate in the work: lay men and women who bring their life experience, and many other specialists and people actively involved in the New Evangelization on all five continents. Among the auditors are: Maria voce (Focolare Movement), Salvatore Martinez (Renewal in the Spirit), Chiara Amirante (New Horizons), Franco Miano (Catholic Action), Marco Impagliazzo (San Egidio), Enzo Bianchi (Bose).
Cardinal Rylko underscored the importance of the Ecclesial Movements as means for the New Evangelization during his speech on 8 October 2012.
Also significant were the fraternal delegates of other Churches and ecclesial communities, and the noteworthy ecumenical contribution offered by the Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of the worldwide Anglican Communion, Rowan Williams who gave an address on 10 October 2012 illustrating the Synodal theme from an Anglican point of view. The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholemew I also attended.
There are three special guests: Brother Alois, Prior of Taize, with an experience of the Evangelization of the young in an ecumenical setting; Reverend Lamar Vest from the United States, and president of the American Bible Society; and Werner Arber, Nobel Prize winner for Medicine in 1978, who is a Protestant, Professor of Microbiology in Biozentrum from the Swiss University of Basilea and president of the Pontifical Academy of the Sciences, who will offer a few reflections on the relationship between faith and science on 12 October 2012.
Among the usual languages being used by the various speakers, there is one who will speak in Arabic. This decision is linked to the Pope’s recent visit to Lebanon and the publication of the post-Synod Exhortation “Ecclesia in Medio Oriente”.
On the same day, the official opening of the Synod and of the Year of Faith was remembered around the world.
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Sep 3, 2012 | Senza categoria
Today young people are able to have quite valid international experiences. Through social networks they are able to meet in the name of common ideals. In this sense, how do you see the role and significance of the Genfest today?
After twelve years since its last edition, this Genfest was quite awaited. And the young people taken a year of Genfest for themselves, extending from 1 May 2012 to 1 May 2013, in order to show that both are part of it – that of grand international events and that of daily life, which they also share on the web.
In his message to the 45th World Communications Day (2011), Pope Benedict XVI makes a very clear analysis of both the potential and the limints of social networks in which young people are immersed, and he invites Christians to be there in creative ways, “because this network is an integral part of human life. “The web,” says the Holy Father, “is contributing to the development of new and more complex intellectual and spiritual horizons, new forms of sahred awareness.” On the other hand, he underscores that “It is important always to remember that virtual contact cannot and must not take the place of direct human contact with people at every level of our lives.” We are also convinced of this (. . . ), young people long for authentic relationships, “globalizing” I would say, realtionships that engage the entire person. It is only through direct contact that you can fully experience the joy of an encounter with another person, the challenge and richness of the diversity, the power of a shared ideal that you can live for together. The Genfest is a moment in which to see already realized the unity and brotherhood that these young people believe in and live for.
The Movement places itself before this challenge aware of the gift that God has given to it, the charism of unity, which is more than ever in keeping with humanity’s call to live as one family, in an interdependence and solidarity that this new cultural situation hastens and underscores (. . . ). This Genfest, not only as an event, but also as a phenomenon of sharing that the youths have begun in the preparations and that continues through concrete projects, is an important step, an experience that will provide significant insights. And it is especially interesting to bring this reflection ahead, young people and adults together.
Up until now the Genfests have been held in Rome. The choice of a Central European country, the city of Budapest, does this contain some special message?
Certainly, a powerful one! For the Movement first of all, it is a new phase in which we are recognizing a need to rediscover together the special riches that each land and people can offer to the world symphony (. . .) It is in the DNA of Hungary, Budapest in particular, part of its history, to search for the unity in diversity: Budapest is the “bridge city” par excellence. I think this was the most favourable place to send a message to today’s world that universal brotherhood is possible, while saving the richness of each individual.
Now that Genfest is over and you are taking scale, how does it scale?
I think that one of the features of this Genfest has been to give a new impulse to our trust for one another and to the complementarity among the generations that teach us much (. . .). I can say that it leaves me with great hope and joy at having seen the radical and concrete committment of these youths. They accepted with great involvement the invitation to aim high, to be on God’s side and to give their own irreplaceable contribution to the society, risking everything, beginning with loving each neighbour without expecting a return. Their bright and joyful visit has transformed Budapest and many have felt it and thanked them for it by joining in the march. Their return to their various homelands will bring a wave of love and joy into the whole world (. . . ).
Source: Tünde Lisztovszki/Magyar Kurír: http://www.magyarkurir.hu/node/41764
Aug 22, 2012 | Senza categoria
Celebration with the Focolare Community
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Jul 8, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide, Senza categoria
“Our story,” recounts Lucia, “began 42 years ago when we decided to share life journey. But the more we got together, the more we saw that we didn’t think alike, especially when it came to religion: I had faith, he didn’t. At first I didn’t worry about it. I didn’t think it would influence our future together. Instead, we had the first clash came when I became pregnant. We had to decide whether or not to continue the pregnancy.”
“I was too young,” continues Tonino, “to think about becoming a father and husband. I was still a student, I had many plans for the future, and now I found myself having to make a decision that would change my life! I grudgingly accepted Lucia’s determination to continue the pregnancy and to marry with a civil ceremony. The pregnancy went well, but as soon as the child was born, I once again felt crushed by the enormous responsibility to the point that I just ran away from everything and everyone.”
“Suddenly I found myself all alone – even though my parents never abandoned me – with a little girl to raise. The following years were marked by suffering, especially when he asked for a separation.”
“I wanted to live my life,” Tonino confirms. “I obtained the separation and then the divorce. I was free again. But many times I found myself thinking of them, and this is how I began to retrace my steps. I returned to courting my ex-wife again and to visit my daughter. We soon felt the need of a house for us to live in, the need for intimacy, to rebuild the family. I also accepted to celebrate the new marriage in church.”
“At that stage, those years of anguish were a thing of the past,” recalled Lucia. “We were living a new life and also our second child, Valentina, was born. It was very peaceful phase of our life due to the fact our economic situation had become more stable and also due to my gradual acceptance of living with someone who was different from me.
After a few years, the Focolare Movement suddenly entered into our family and turned everything around! Invited by a teacher, Valentina came to know the Gen3, the children of the Focolare. It was the beginning of a different path, first for her and then for us.”
“Taking Valentina to the Gen4 meetings was my job,” says Tonino. When I went to pick her up, she was always very happy and, as soon as she got into the car, she would ask forgiveness for being late (she always made me wait at least a half hour) and then begin to tell me about the beautiful evening. Contaminate by her enthusiasm and by the festive welcome that everyone in the Movement always had for me – even though I had no religious reference – I have also become a part of this family. Initially I joined the group for the “friends of dialogue”, comprised of persons with diverse convictions.”
“A while later – curious that a Catholic movement had accepted my husband the unbeliever – I also began to attend. And as my knowledge of the Focolare’s spirituality grew deeper, many of my questions found answers.
We have done some road together: many barriers have been knocked down. I’ve learned to listen, without fear of losing myself, to give space and listening, both inwardly and outwardly, so as to accept and understand others.”
“Our diversity – not only religious – “stresses Tonino, “has not in fact impeded the course of our life together. Valentina’s decision to become a focolarina, didn’t find me unprepared, since I have come to share so much with her. The relationship between us was minimally affected; on the contrary, it was strengthened, unlike for Lucia who, at least at first, didn’t accept it so well.”
“It wasn’t so easy for me to accept Valentina’s decision at first,’’ Lucia admits. “I would have liked her to have had other experiences first: a boyfriend, for example, a job; in order to compare the two choices and be able to make a more serene decision. But she felt strongly that this was her path. She’s already been in a focolare for eight years and more convinced than ever. I’m glad I went along with her decision. Even though she’s consecrated to God, she’s never neglected her relationship with all the family.”
“I thank Chiara Lubich and the entire community that I belong to,” Tonino concludes, “because you have given me and all those who share my same idea, the opportunity of strengthening this desire for unity through following a path based on the basic values of brotherhood and love for neighbour.”
Compiled by the international Centre for Dialogue Among Persons of Non-Religious Convictions
