Focolare Movement

Living the Gospel: The Fountain of Life

Feb 1, 2018

By drawing on the Gospel, we ourselves can become generous sources of love for everyone.

20180201-01An Immediate Response We bought firewood and kerosene for the winter, in early summer. But it was already autmn and we didn’t have the money for the heating. One day, talking among ourselves in the family, we said: “The Eternal Father knows our needs and the important thing is trust in Him.” We hadn’t even finished saying it, when our friend arrived with an envelope full of money from a collection that had been taken. It had never happened to us before, to receive such a quick answer from God who cares for his children! I.S. – Serbia From the Dentist There was a boy in our community with very bad teeth, but being from a poor family he couldn’t afford to get them fixed. One day, we took him to a dentist, but when we got to the dentist’s office, we realized that all the patients were wealthy people. Trustin in Providence, we went in anyway. After the visit, the doctor asked us if we could afford such a costly procedure. We explained that we and our friends had held held a sale to help cover the expenses. The doctor became curious and wanted to know more. “You can pay me what you have,” she concluded. As we were leaving, she called us back and said: “You know, I’m going through a lot of problems and I thought I could do it for free, if you pray for me.” That’s what we did. Some time later the doctor told us that our presence brought a note of peace and joy to her work. G.B. – Pilippines Meetings in Jail Aware that there were many lonely people who needed someone to accompany them, we decided to go and visit the patients in a hospital, prisoners and teenagers in an orphanage. We brought toys and clothes for the orphans. Then we said: Why not use the means of communication to reach out to the most people possible? We obtained a half hour of radio time from a local radio. Many listeners were listening to our programm. When we went back to the jail, they welcomed us saying that, after listening to our radio program, they were waiting for us to come. Usually kids like us aren’t allowed into the jail, but they made an exception for us. With songs and dances, we shared our expeirences of living the Gospel, with men and women detainees, a dozen or so guards. They invited us to come back again. The local newspaper covered the news of this encounter in the jail. A group of friends – Uganda Illness When I learned that Monique had ALS disease, even though we hadn’t seen one another for two years, I went back to get in touch with her and see if there was anything I could do. We had been greatly in love, but for various reasons had drifted apart. Monique’s simple faith clashed with my agnosticism. Being at her side as she accepted the new situation with peace and serenity, I went through a complete change of mentality. A Christian would call it conversion. By the time her illness reached the terminal stage, I found myself completely changed. I’m not saying that I found the fith, but the respect for Monique had created a new space in my. J. M. – France

___

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe to Newsletter

Thought of the day

Related post

In the same boat: a journey toward peace

In the same boat: a journey toward peace

8 months of navigation, 30 ports, 200 young people. The ship for peace, ‘Bel Espoir’ set sail in March 2025 from Barcelona (Spain) and will continue its voyage until October. Its route will link five shores of the Mediterranean. On board, eight groups of twenty-five young people of various nationalities, cultures and religions that share a common desire to build a better world. They will live together and get to know each other, amid debates and personal experiences, tackling new issues at each stop. Among them are traveling twenty Living Peace ambassadors and other young people from the Focolare Movement. Bertha from Lebanon shares her experience. She is involved in the MediterraNEW project which works for the education of young people, predominately migrants in the Mediterranean.

Argentina: commitment in intercultural dialogue with indigenous peoples

Argentina: commitment in intercultural dialogue with indigenous peoples

Agustin, Patricia and their two children are an Argentinian family. After following a course at Sophia ALC, the Latin-American branch of the university institute that is based in the international little town of Loppiano (Italy), they began to research their roots among the indigenous peoples, and this gave rise to a strong commitment in intercultural dialogue.