From the Focolare archives: video clip showing Chiara Lubich’s first visits to New York (28 March-2 April 1964 and 22 April 1965)
Footage: Eli Folonari
Musical soundtrack: Gen Rosso.
Duration: 3′ 12″
Chiara Lubich’s first trip to the North America. Extract from diary
Simple gestures of love
It is the 16th of July 1949. Chiara Lubich is in Tonadico, in the Dolomite Mountains in northern Italy, for a period of rest together with some of her first companions. They are joined there by the Honourable Igino Giordani, whom Chiara called Foco. On that day, Chiara and Foco sealed a Pact of unity, a prelude to the spiritual and mystical experience that Chiara would live between 1949 and 1951. This period is known as “Paradise ’49”, the writings from which have recently been published in a book (for now in Italian). In the introduction to the book, the theologian Piero Coda offers some insights “For a theological reading” of the text. Here is an extract, relating specifically to the Pact of the 16th of July, together with a short video of Chiara Lubich from 20 December 1999, in which she shares this experience of light with the Gen, the young people of the Focolare Movement.
In 1966, Chiara Lubich assigned the first group of focolarini and focolarine to the Philippines. This marked the beginning of the spread of the spirituality of unity across many Asian countries and in Oceania
The Word of God is like a seed which bears fruit when received with an open heart and perseverance and when with it, we manage to overcome difficulties. Jesus invites us not only to listen to it and understand it, but above all to live it concretely every day. By living His Word, we allow Christ to transform the way we think and act, making our lives and the lives of others, fruitful.
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