World Gen Day: Together for a greater good

The Gen, the young people of the Focolare Movement, aim to reach holiness. They are young people like all the others: with their joys, pains, dreams, difficulties. But they know that such a lofty goal is not achieved overnight. It is built moment by moment and not alone, but together.

This expressed this through testimonies of life, songs and stories on Sunday 19^th December 2021, in a World Day during which they met virtually for over two hours.

Margaret Karram, President of the Focolare, greeted them and invited them to build true, profound relationships with everyone, stopping in front of others to meet them in the “here and now”.

Let’s hear what they had to say, through this selection of experiences of life from the day.

Unity in diversity
The Republic of Indonesia recognizes several official religions: Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism and traditional beliefs. The largest population is the Muslim one. This diversity makes interreligious dialogue an experience of everyday life.

I am studying for a Masters in Pharmaceutical Sciences. At the university I have many friends from different islands, belonging to different religions. Some of them are very close to me, they are like my sisters. I am a Catholic Christian, the friend next to me is a Hindu and others are Muslims.

During the month of Ramadan, I often accompany the Muslims to break their fast. Once I invited them to break it together in the Focolare. They felt very much loved. After the meeting, one of them wrote on his Instagram profile: “We don’t have the same background, religion, age and we don’t even come from the same country, but we have a dream: to build a better home for everyone, to hope and pray for a prosperous future. We long for a universal world, as our country’s motto says “Bhineka Tunggal Ika” – “Unity in diversity”.

I live in a boarding house where most of the girls are Muslim. At first they were afraid of me, because I seemed very serious and most of them had never lived with non-Muslim people. One day I had a lot of cakes and I thought I could share them with them. The relationship between us is growing. We cook, eat, and play sports and games together. Our experience of living together has broadened our horizon and this makes us happy.
Tika (Indonesia)

Love beyond our strength
My sister studies architecture. She had been dedicating herself to work her degree for three months, even working through the night. She had to present a project on the city: prepare the presentation documentation and the models. Junior students usually help senior ones, but due to COVID-19, my sister had to do it all by herself. At one point she asked our Mum and I for help. I happily replied: “Okay! I’ll help you!” However, I thought: “Really, I have enough to do with my own homework at the moment” and I wondered “Was it a good idea to say I would help her? It’s an important assignment for her degree, would I be able to do it right? Wouldn’t it be better to have someone who knows the subject?”

However, seeing my sister in need, I thought, “If I finish my homework early, I can help her.” So, every evening I wholeheartedly helped her with her project, as if it was mine. In the end she was able to hand in the work, finished on time and was successful. She thanked me very much and was happy that this work was completed not only by her, but with everyone’s strength.

However, seeing my sister in trouble, I thought, “If I finish my homework early, I can help her.” So, every evening I helped her with all of her heart in her homework, as if they were mine. In the end she was able to deliver the work, finished on time, with success. She thanked me very much and was happy that this work was completed not only by her, but with our contribution too.

It would be a lie to say that when I helped my sister I was always loving one hundred percent, not complaining, but I don’t regret doing it, in my heart I felt light and happy. Also, inside me, there was a little joy.

I remembered a phrase from the Gospel that says: “Whoever abides in love abides in God and God abides in him”, and I thought: “Perhaps God has taken up his abode in me?”
Rosa (Korea)

Between war and hope
I study computer engineering. Ever since I was a child, I’ve tried to live the spirituality of the Focolare. For a while however, I felt far away from Jesus and Mary. I was wondering where God is and why He allows the difficulties that we have here in Syria, such as the lack of electricity, high prices and the difficult economic situation. Also, all of this had an effect on my relationship with others. I recently went to London for a month to visit my sisters and there I took part in a weekend with the Gen, the young people of the Focolare. This experience helped me to find answers and to rediscover myself by living the spirituality of unity. I will never forget the love I found among the Gen, a love that filled my heart … it was as if we had known each other for a long time. This experience impressed me a lot and as a result I felt that something was beginning to change within me. As soon as I returned to Syria there was also a Gen congress in which I took part.

Due to the difficult situations of the war, it was the first time in 10 years that we were able to meet. It was a rich experience characterized by mutual love and lived as if we were all one family. Inner peace was growing in me day by day. The experiences of the two weekends with the Gen and the people I met, left a mark in my heart and helped me to once again be that positive person who looks forward with courage. There are times when, due to the pressures of life, we lose hope … as if it is the end of the world and there is nothing left. However, if we experience God, with his grace, He allows us to return to him and we discover that the difficult things we experienced were like our little participation in the sufferings of Jesus on the cross. We realize that our pains are small in the face of the sufferings he experienced to redeem us.

One thing I want to say is that when we experience painful moments in life, which seem to have no end, they can turn into light, but it is up to us to ask for God’s help in prayer. He is always ready to help us and with great hope we can start over and have an ever stronger relationship with him.
Paolo (Aleppo, Syria)

Meeting those who suffer most
After the earthquake two years ago in Croatia, we decided to take action by going to the places of the epicentre. When we asked the Parish Priest of Sisak how we could best be of help, he surprised us by asking us to collaborate with him to prepare a group of Romany children for their first communion. We agreed to go every week for a few months to the village of Capranske Poljane, where Muslim and Christian (Orthodox and Catholics) Romany people live. We held catechism classes with sketches and games with them.  From this meeting, beautiful relationships began that continue and grow even today.

Through the focolarini we also met and visited a family in Petrinja, in a very difficult situation (both due to the earthquake and the socio-economic reality in which they find themselves). With the aid of the Caritas organization, we were able to buy material and tools both to repair their house and to help them get back to work. They found Hope again!

During a meeting with the Gen, inspired by the example of so many around the world, I felt that I had to take a step to get out of my comfort zone. I wanted to “take to the streets” to try to love others as myself. One day we went to Sisak to talk to the Parish Priest about how to go forward with the Romany people and then we visited this family from Petrinja and brought them various basic necessities. We saw how they had used the money we had raised to fix up their living room which is now really cosy! We also brought a laptop so that the children could follow school online. I felt very much at home. There was a lovely family atmosphere. Even though I hadn’t done anything concrete for their situation up to that point, I gave what I could: myself with my good will and some of my time. I am grateful to God who gave me this opportunity to love and I want to continue to love because I have found the hundredfold of joy that I want to share with others and now I’m sharing it with you.
Thiana and Peter (Croatia)