“In our everyday relationships, we try to live experiences of brotherhood, build unity and establish bonds of reciprocity. But what is the origin of that spark of light that pushes us to risk and reach out to others? Chiara Lubich suggests an answer through an episode from her life.” Now let’s pass on to the second aspect: outreach.  The subject is very vast. We’ll limit ourselves to certain ideas given in some of the letters of the early days of the Movement. Reading just a few of these pages about this aspect, we can understand that: “The first inspiring spark was love.” Yes, it was love. A spark was enkindled, it spread light all around and burst into flames, setting the world on fire. Love reaches out; love in and of itself bears witness.  Even when you speak  your words should be backed up by the witness of your love. First, you have to love, expressed in concrete experiences, and then share your experiences. This is how the first Christians acted. One episode has always remained deeply impressed on my heart. I think this is very beautiful. In it lies the secret of our outreach, the required point of departure. “As I was walking along the streets of Einsiedeln, I saw many people of various religious orders passing by” – because there’s a beautiful shrine there. (Among these), I was especially impressed by the little Sisters of Charles de Foucauld. They rode by on their bicycles, wearing peasant scarves and they looked so full of life. The lively expression on their faces reminded me of their founder, Foucauld, who, they say, cried out the Gospel with his whole life. In fact, those Sisters seemed to say: ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are they who mourn’. Not the beatitudes that the world would like to hear, but the scandal of the Gospel. At that moment, I too felt a great desire to give my witness, also externally. But the answer didn’t come to me. At a certain point I met up with one of my companions, Natalia, and I told her: ‘You know, I saw how those Sisters had an effect on me. Their apostolate wasn’t with words, but by the way they dressed… and I wished we could do the same. But how can people know God through looking at us? Oh, yes, I know! ‘By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another’ (Jn 13:35).” Therefore, mutual love was our uniform.

Chiara Lubich

https://youtu.be/TPjeaq6W–w