With what eyes do we look at the world and our fellow travellers in the adventure of life? It is a question of vital importance, in an era like ours marked by polarisation and disagreements, loneliness and distances between the haves and the have-nots, without forgetting the increasingly pervasive presence of artificial intelligence. Yet, at the same time, the thirst for harmony and truth grows.

Chiara Lubich used to say that everything depends on which “eyes” we look at people with. If we look with the eyes of the heart, which are the eyes of Love, we will not stop at appearances, we will instead grasp the deeper reality that is hidden in every human being. And from the gaze of the heart proceeds action, the quality of the relationship, becoming close, being near to the other person. (1)

In 1961 Chiara wrote:

If you enter the Gospel … you’ll immediately find yourself on the mountain ridge. Therefore, already at the top, already in God, even though looking over the side you’ll see that the mountain is not one mountain but a mountain chain and that for you, life is to walk along the crest up to the end.

Every Word of God contains both the minimum and the maximum that he can ask of you, so when you read, “Love your neighbour as yourself” (Mt 19:19), you have the law of fraternal love at its highest degree.

Your neighbour is another you, and you must love him or her bearing that in mind. When neighbours cry, you must cry with them, and when they laugh, laugh with them. If they lack knowledge, be ignorant with them. If they have lost a parent, make their suffering your own. …

What has value for you is God who is both their Father and yours. Don’t make excuses for love. Your neighbours are those who pass next to you, be they rich or poor, beautiful or ugly, brilliant or uneducated, holy or sinful, a fellow citizen or a foreigner, a priest or a layperson, whoever.

Try to love whoever passes next to you in the present moment of your life. You will discover within yourself a new energy and strength you did not know you had. They will add flavour to your life, and you will find answers to your thousand whys. (2)

Chiara Lubich

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1. Our translation of the Italian text found in: See Vicinanza, lo stile di Dio nella vita e nel pensiero di Chiara Lubich, A cura di Povilus J. e Ciccarelli L., Città Nuova Editrice, Roma 2024, p. 5.
2. Ibid. pp. 99-100.