Charism of Light

Chiara: I often talk about love but really it was a charism of light. Right from the start I could see that this spirit would spread all over the world.  Even at the beginning we prayed for this.  It was the feast of Christ the King and the reading in the Mass said: “Ask and I will give you all the nations as your inheritance”.  I told my companions that we would reach the whole world. And we have. We prayed that we might be instruments to carry this spirit of love and light throughout the world.

I was continuously under the action of this light which guided me on what to do, on how to act, on our way of working, of praying, of studying, of communicating, on how our homes should be, our way of dressing. And then later, on the expansion of the Movement in the continents, on how to organize the Movement and become a people. I foresaw all of this. I would say to my companions in our first focolare: “There will be a new art, a new form of politics, everything will be renewed”.  That’s probably why I didn’t even realize that the war had ended.  I was so absorbed by this charisma which was flowing out into the Movement.

The light which came was from another source although I saw my own thought within it. Everything happened gently.  The light which came was from another source although I saw my own thought within it. Its touch was gentle.  God doesn’t crush you because grace refines our nature, it doesn’t destroy it. All my earlier formation was useful because grace raises up our humanity. I wasn’t in the slightest frightened. no! Sometimes people say: Imagine all that responsibility….I don’t feel any responsibility. If God wanted to create this Opera, let Him do it!

But you know it’s still like that with this light. God guides me.  I am guided by this charism which is a gift of the Holy Spirit. I see, I speak and I communicate it and then it comes about.  But it’s not me.  It’s God using me.  He chooses.

We had to fulfil the prayer of Jesus: “May they all be one”, that is, one family and it’s happening. Of course when I am in the next life, others will continue to carry everything even further ahead.

If I were to leave an inheritance, it would be Jesus in the Midst. Love one another as Jesus has loved us.  Be ready to die for one another. Be a family. That’s what I’d say. That’s what it’s all about.

Source:

“Face to Face” – Video interview with Chiara Lubich by Sandra Hogget, Charisma Productions 2002. Copyright: Centro Santa Chiara Audiovisuals