![Facing Strife and Winning]()
Sep 4, 2002 | Non categorizzato
The largest television network in the Philippines gave live coverage to a ceremony in which The Council for Philippine Affairs awarded the “Bukas Palad” center “for its political determination in facing great strife. Its experimental programs consider the human person in his/her entirety and have proven successful in serving the poorest among the poor”. Accepting the award at the Center was one the first members of the Focolare Movement in the Philippines, Irene De Los Angeles, recognized as “a people’s hero … for the humanitarian service and development of the community that is exemplified and incarnated in nearly 20 years of programs and activities at the center”. Rising in one of Manila’s poorest neighborhoods, the Center has brought about a profound social transformation. The motivation for the award recognizes the roots for such social involvement in an “unyielding spirit, faith in God and unconditional love for all brothers and sisters in the infinite possibility of serving the poorest among the poor”. During the ceremony, Irene De Los Angeles accepted the award in the name of the Focolare Movement, especially the numerous families of “Bukas Palad”, whom she called the true protagonists. She said the spirituality of communion, which began by discovering that God is Love, is the interior force driving their work towards unity between the rich and poor. The Council of Philippine Affairs was founded in 1998 by a few people united in their desire to encourage the building of a society in which everyone has access to fundamental rights. The Council promotes quality in public service as well as moral responsibility with professional competence and transparency in government and society. Therefore, it gives recognition to individuals and groups which promote both democratic participation as well as communitarian heroism.
![Facing Strife and Winning]()
Sep 4, 2002 | Non categorizzato
Also in Tagaytay, Cebu e Davao “Bukas Palad” is a center in one of the poorest neighborhoods of Manila and focuses on the integral development of the person, the family and the society. Similar centers have begun in Tagaytay, near the Peace Citadel, as well as in the heart of the Philippine Archipelago in Cebu, and the far south in Davao where there is a large Muslim population. 23 Assistance programs reaching more than 6000 families: more than 3,200 children and teens are taught in the schools and colleges; more than 7,000 people receive care in the ambulatories; food and milk are distributed daily to more than 2,000 children; 1,872 children are sustained in adoption-from-afar programs; the TB prevention programs have been awarded for their efficiency; loans to begin small businesses have been given to 1,600 families; 259 families have had their houses repaired while 285 have been hooked up to running water and sewage systems; while numerous courses on family planning using natural methods are offered. Local Production: tailoring, carpentry, ice cream, bread and other food shops create their own merchandise and sell them at low prices to more than 4,500 families. Some News: a computer school for youth; a summer workshop for youth and couples. 50 lower-.income homes have been built for our poor families. In the four centers in which “Bukas Palad” is subdivided, 60 persons are working full time along side 330 volunteers. Many of these have adhered to the life and spirit of the Movement over the years. A Place to Meet Persons of Other Religions: From the beginning, “Bukas Palad” has been a place to encounter Buddhists from Japan, Taoists from Cebu and Muslims from Davao. People of different convictions have worked at the center and discovered the beauty of the Christian community. The Awakening of a Social Consciousness: “Bukas Palad” has cut deeply into the Philippine social fabric awakening a social consciousness that the country has often lacked. Embassies, banks, schools, hospitals and various NGOs, therefore, have begun helping and now hundreds of people are involved. The Beginning: A group of young people began the center in 1983, calling it “Bukas Palad” which means “with open hands”. They took as their motto the words “Freely you have received, freely you shall give” (Mt 10,8). They began with very little – 2,000 pesos (around $150) from the sale of used clothes. With that sum they began a small ambulatory. It was a miserable area along a canal: a long row of make-shift houses without plumbing or electricity, but full of illness, criminality and desperation. As soon as the word spread that such a center had begun, young people from all directions began coming to offer their assistance. They understood that God wanted more from them. A doctor here and there was not enough, neither was the good will of a few nurses. Various members of the Movement began offering their service.
Aug 31, 2002 | Non categorizzato, Word of
This Word of Life is taken from one of the books of the Hebrew Testament written between 180 and 170 B.C. by Ben Sira, a sage and scribe who carried out his office as teacher in Jerusalem. He taught a subject which was dear to the whole tradition of biblical wisdom: God is merciful toward sinners and we should imitate his way of acting. The Lord forgives all our faults because “he is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness” (Ps 103:3,8). He overlooks our sins (see Wis 11:23), he forgets them, casting them behind his back (see Is 38:17). In fact, Ben Sira goes on to say that aware of how small and poor we are, he “increases his forgiveness”. God forgives because, like any father or mother, he loves his children and so he always and untiringly excuses them, covers their mistakes, instills confidence and encourages them.
Because God is mother and father, he is not satisfied with just loving and forgiving his sons and daughters. He ardently desires that they treat one another as brothers and sisters, that they get along with one another, that they love one another. This is God’s great plan for humanity: universal brotherhood. A brotherhood that is stronger than the inevitable divisions, tensions, hard feelings that so easily creep into relationships due to misunderstandings and mistakes.
Often families break up because people don’t know how to forgive. Past hatreds are handed down only to perpetuate divisions between relatives, social groups, peoples. At times people even teach others not to forget the wrongs suffered, to cultivate sentiments of revenge…. And deaf resentment can only poison the soul and corrupt the heart.
Someone might think that forgiveness is a sign of weakness. No, it’s an expression of great courage, it’s authentic love, the most genuine, because the most selfless. If you love those who love you, what recompense will you have – says Jesus – everyone knows how to do that. Love your enemies (See Mt 5:42-47).
We are asked to learn from him and to have the love of a father, of a mother, a merciful love towards all those who come our way, especially towards those who do something wrong. Moreover, to those who are called to live a spirituality of communion, that is, the Christian spirituality, the New Testament asks for something more: “Forgive one another” (Col 3:13). We could almost say that mutual love requires that we make a pact with one another: to be ready to forgive one another always. This is the only way we can contribute towards universal brotherhood.
«Forgive your neighbor’s injustice; then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven»
These words not only invite us to forgive, but they remind us that forgiving others is the necessary condition for receiving forgiveness. God listens to us and forgives us in the measure in which we forgive others. Jesus himself warns us: “The measure with which you measure will be measured out to you” (Mt 7:2) “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy” (Mt 5:7). Actually, a heart hardened by hatred is not even capable of recognizing and accepting the merciful love of God.
How can we live this Word of Life? First of all, by immediately forgiving anyone with whom we have not yet been reconciled. But this is not enough. We need to search the innermost recesses of our heart and eliminate even a feeling of indifference, a lack of kindness, an attitude of superiority, of negligence towards anyone we meet.
Furthermore, we need to take some precautionary measures. So every morning I look at the people around me, at home, at school, at work, in the store, ready to overlook anything that I don’t like about their way of doing things, not judging them, but trusting them, always hoping, always believing. I approach every person with this total amnesty in my heart, with this universal pardon. I do not remember their faults at all, I cover everything with love. And throughout the day I try to make up for having been unkind, for a fit of impatience, by apologizing or by some gesture of friendship. I replace an instinctive rejection towards someone with an attitude of total acceptance, of boundless mercy, of complete forgiveness, of sharing, of being attentive to his or her needs.
Then when I pray to the Father, especially when I ask him to forgive my mistakes, I am confident that my prayer will be granted. I’ll be able to say with total trust: “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” (Mt 6:12).
Chiara Lubich
Aug 10, 2002 | Non categorizzato
Today we celebrate the feast day of St. Clare of Assisi 2002, which has always been commemorated from the beginning of our Movement, not only at the Center, but wherever the Movement is present around the world. Today, as in other years, we remember St. Clare and we’ll compare a detail of her journey towards God with our journey.
To look at Jesus as in a mirror in order to imitate him
One concept that regards this saint, and that we have not yet emphasized, is one we could express in this manner: “The mirror, the mirrors.” It is the image of the mirror which calls to mind precisely what St. Paul says in his letter to the Corinthians: “All of us, then, reflect the glory of the Lord with uncovered faces; and that same glory, coming from the Lord, who is the Spirit, transforms us into his likeness in an ever greater degree of glory” (2 Cor 3:18).
In her letters to Agnes of Prague, which are part of several writings in which she speaks of her own need to be radically faithful to the Gospel, Clare invites the sisters to look at Jesus as if they were looking in a mirror, a mirror that in its humanity reflects back divinity. She wrote: “Fix your eyes on the mirror of eternity, (Jesus) … and be totally transformed in the image of his divinity.” (FF 2888) “And since this vision of him is … a spotless mirror, bring your soul to this mirror every day and constantly search out your own face there so that you may be adorned … with all the virtues as it should be for you as daughter and beloved spouse of the high King.” (FF2902) Saint Clare was inviting Agnes to look to the Spouse and also to imitate him, making the same choices he made, his same actions, his same gestures. “If you suffer with him,” she continues, “with him you will reign; if you weep with him, with him you will rejoice; if you die on the cross of tribulation in his company, with him you will possess … for all eternity, the glory of the heavenly kingdom …; you will participate in the eternal goods … and you will live for all ages to come.” (FF2880) By imitating him Agnes becomes that Jesus in the mirror. But then, having become such, she can in turn be a mirror for the sisters.
An uninterrupted chain of mirrors from Jesus to the world: the Franciscan Movement
St. Clare says that this is how one creates an uninterrupted chain of mirrors from Jesus to the world. Jesus is the mirror of Francis. Jesus and Francis are the mirror of Clare. Jesus, Francis and Clare are the mirror of Agnes. Jesus, Francis, Clare and Agnes are the mirror for the first sisters who, in turn, become mirrors for the future ones. The future sisters, looking at the first sisters, become the mirrors for those who live in the world. Those who live in the world become mirrors of Jesus for everyone.
Thus by perfectly reflecting Christ, Francis and Clare, the first friars and the first sisters, have given birth to the Franciscan Movement: one of those ecclesial realities that from time to time bring back into the Church the Gospel in its radicality, to give it new life, to renew it, to reform it.
The demands of the charism of unity: to live unity in order to live Jesus
For us too, even though we are small and unworthy, we too have been invested with a similar task: to give life, to develop, to spread in the world a charismatic reality. It has happened to us too to perform a duty which is to live and help others to integrally and radically live the Gospel, looking at Jesus as if in a mirror. The very first notes we have about our Ideal of life at its onset, affirm: “We need to be another Jesus.” Therefore we are asked to mirror ourselves in him. To achieve this we see that Saint Francis and Saint Clare were given a charism, that of poverty by the Holy Spirit. We have been given the charism of unity. And it is precisely through unity that we can be another Jesus, be Jesus. Remember the definition of unity given in a letter written back in 1947: “Oh, unity, unity, what divine beauty! We have no words to describe it: it is Jesus.” Yes, it is Jesus. So then we began to understand that by loving one another, we would accomplish unity and Jesus would be in our midst… and in each one of us. To live unity was and is synonymous with living Jesus, and in this way the whole Gospel.
Unity: soul and aim of the Gospel
One day a small but significant light along our journey clarified this new aspect for us. The words of the Gospel seemed like newly sprouted plants on a large plot of land. We realized that each plant’s little root was set deeply in Jesus’ last will and testament, in the unity which lay beneath the whole plot of land. And the root received life from it. It was a 3D image of how we should consider Jesus’ last will and testament and its relationship with the other words of the Gospel, and how to live one word, unity, and all the others. We better understood that unity is not a particular virtue. In fact, it’s not listed among the virtues. It is not only Jesus’ highest word. It’s not just the fundamental theme of his testament. Unity is the soul of the whole Gospel, of the whole Scripture. It is aim that the whole Gospel tends toward. And, because it is the effect of charity, we could also say that it’s the summary, the synthesis of the Gospel.
We saw that we needed to live the words in view of unity. Yes, because it is not evangelically correct to live poverty for the sake of poverty, but for the love that leads to unity, or obedience for the sake of obedience, but everything needs to be in view of unity. The same could be said for every beatitude, as well as for the ten commandments, and for that which the first Testament requires, the Testament Jesus said he had come not to abolish but to complete. And now we understand why the Holy Spirit urged us to put into practice each month a different sentence of the Gospel so that in time we would make it to live them all. They open up unity like a fan. And we can mirror ourselves in them so as to become like Jesus, another Jesus, and in this way reflect him to others. We could ask ourselves today: are we in some way a mirror of Jesus? Do we mirror Jesus for the others?
To mirror ourselves in the Gospel in order to become a mirror of Jesus
In this regard I’d like to mention one of our dreams from the early days. We used to say: “If, for some absurd hypothesis, all the Gospels were destroyed, we would like to live in such a way that people, seeing our actions, seeing Jesus in us, could re-write the Gospel: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ (Mt 19:19); ‘Give and gifts will be given to you’ (Lk 6:38); “Do not judge’ (Mt 7:1); ‘Love your enemies’ (Mt 5:44); ‘Love one another’ (Jn 15:12); ‘For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them’ (Mt 18:20).”
Well lately we realized, with gratitude to God, that if we haven’t yet reached this goal at least we are on our way. I could tell this was true, when we were working on collecting the so-called fioretti for the book the St. Pauls Press asked us to prepare, to present some evangelical episodes of the life of the Movement. They reveal the effort we have made to align ourselves, to look at ourselves, we could say, in the mirror of the Gospel, and how the Lord consequently intervened just as he promised. Now, since we’re celebrating, let’s read some of them so as to give praise to God and thank those who, by living them, used the Gospel, Jesus, as their mirror and now, through the fioretti, can become a reflection of him for many. May Jesus make us all mirrors of him and of the Gospel so as to be a mirror for many others.
Aug 10, 2002 | Non categorizzato
We are in Innsbruck, in the middle of winter. It’s 10:00p.m. and it’s freezing cold outside. I put on my warm windbreaker and set out quickly for home. A young man stops me and asks me to buy his heater for 300 shillings. He explains to me that if he doesn’t pay up his boarding expenses by the end of the day, the landlady is going to put him out on the street. My first reaction is: “I’m sorry, but I can’t.” I have in my wallet exactly 323 shillings, enough money to cover my expenses for the second half of February. Every shilling is already accounted for to buy what I need like bread, butter, and so on. My friends are away for a winter holiday and I can’t ask anyone else for a loan. While I continue walking, it occurs to me that I have at least a warm room, whereas that man has nothing at all. I remember the words of the Gospel: “Give and gifts will be given to you”. I turn around and call out to him; I give him the 300 shillings; he can keep the heater for himself. While I’m on my way home, a sense of anxiety begins to come over me: I really don’t know how I am going to reach the end of the month. But as soon as I arrived, what do I find? A large travelling bag hanging on the door of my room. Surprise! It contains bread, smoked ham, eggs, cheese, honey, butter: all things that a hungry student dreams of. To this day I don’t know who hung that travelling bag on the door of my room.
Jul 31, 2002 | Non categorizzato
At the WYD in Toronto, inter-religious dialogue played an important role in opening horizons in the consciousness of the young people at a time in history when the encounter between faiths and cultures appears to be the only antidote to the tensions threatening the world.
For three days St Patrick’s Church set the stage for songs, dances, sketches, video’s and a fireworks of testimonials of young members of different religions who shared the Focolari spirit of unity. In fact, the Canadian Church had asked the Movement to organize the event. North American media was surprised to discover Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist youth participating at WYD in Toronto.
Personal stories told how the ’art of loving’ transforms one’s life, heals wounds, opens new avenues, unites youth of different cultures and creeds, and still respects everyone’s own identity.
They described how the art of loving is rooted in the golden rule, that is “do onto others as you would have them do onto you”, which is common to all religions: Metta, a Thai Buddhist once accused of being brain washed by Christians, later convinced the Buddhist school of his ideas. The Hindu, Avinash, described how his encounter with “Teens for a United World” in Bombay led to the discovery of a life rich with values.
A Jewish journalist and a Muslim Imam from the United States also spoke. One of the Christian witnesses was Alice from Burundi. She told the story of how she forgave those who killed part of her family.
Together with members of the other tribe, she has become a point of reference at the University for youth from the two ethnic groups in conflict. The youth welcomed with great joy the President of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue, Cardinal Francis Arinze, who said, “At this point, dialogue is an irreversible component of the Catholic Church.”
Jul 31, 2002 | Non categorizzato, Word of
Lake Tiberias, also known as the “Sea of Galilee”, is 21 kilometers in length and 12 in width. But when the wind comes down violently from the Bekáa Valley even the fishermen who are used to navigating in it are afraid. And that night the disciples of Jesus were really afraid: the waves were high and the wind was against them. They could barely control the boat.
And then an unexpected event took place. Jesus, who had remained on land, alone, to pray, suddenly appeared walking on the sea. Already upset by the weather conditions, the Twelve began to cry out, terrified, believing that they were seeing a ghost. It couldn’t possibly be Jesus they were seeing in front of them. Only God, it is written in the book of Job, walks on the sea (See Job 9:8). And then the words of Jesus: “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” He got into the boat and the sea became calm. The disciples not only regained peace, but for the first time they recognized him as the “Son of God”: “Truly, you are the Son of God!” (Mt 14:33).
«Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid»
That boat being tossed by the wind and beaten by the waves has become for all times the symbol of the Church. Sooner or later the moment of fear arrives for every Christian traveling through life. Perhaps you too have sometimes found your heart in the midst of a storm; perhaps you felt thrown by an adverse wind in the opposite direction from where you wanted to go; you were afraid that your life or that of your family would be shipwrecked.
Is there anyone who doesn’t go through trials? They can be experiences of failure, poverty, depression, doubt, temptation…. At times, what hurts the most is the suffering of someone close to us: a son dependent on drugs or unable to find his way in life, a husband who is an alcoholic or unemployed, the separation or divorce of people dear to us, elderly or sick parents…. We are also frightened by the materialistic and individualistic society around us, by wars, violence, injustice…. In the face of these situations a doubt can creep in: what ever happened to the love of God? Was it all an illusion? A figment of our imagination?
There is nothing worse than feeling alone in the moment of trial. When there is no one with whom we can share the suffering, no one capable of helping us resolve difficult situations, every suffering seems to be unbearable. Jesus knows it, and that is why he appears on the stormy sea of our life. He comes up to us and once again repeats:
«Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid»
It is I, he seems to say, in this fear of yours: when I was on the cross, when I cried out my abandonment, I, too, was taken by the fear that the Father had abandoned me. It is I in this discouragement you feel: there on the cross, I, too, had the impression that I no longer had the comfort of the Father. Are you confused? So was I, to the point of crying out “why?” Like you, and more than you, I felt alone, doubtful, wounded…. I felt burdened with the suffering of human wickedness…
Jesus really entered into every suffering. He took all our trials on himself, he identified with each one of us. He is beneath all that hurts us, that frightens us. Every pain, every frightening circumstance is a countenance of his. He is Love and love chases away all fear.
Whenever we are assailed by fear, suffocated by suffering, we can recognize the true reality hidden there: it is Jesus who becomes present in our life. It is one of the many faces with which he manifests himself. Let us call him by name: it is You, Jesus forsaken-doubt; it is You, Jesus forsaken-betrayed; it is You, Jesus forsaken-sick. Let’s allow him to get into our “boat”, let’s welcome him, let him enter into our life. And then, let’s continue to live whatever God wants from us, plunging ourselves into loving our neighbor. We will discover that Jesus is always Love. Then we will be able to say, like the disciples: “Truly, you are the Son of God!”
If we embrace him, he will become our peace, our comfort, courage, equilibrium, health, victory. He will be the explanation and solution to everything.
Chiara Lubich
Jul 1, 2002 | Non categorizzato
“Brotherhood as a political category is the most innovative answer to the tensions and conflicts in the world today, both in individual states as well as local administrations,” a key passage from the message Chiara Lubich launched from Rimini where she was invited by Mayor Alberto Ravioli. The city and provincial administrators desired that this message take off from their city, which is a capitol of tourism and hospitality, cosmopolitan by tradition.
Rimini’s congress building was filled with more than 5000 people, including many youths, on June 22. Present were around 40 politicians: mayors and members of parliament as well as Bishop Mariano De Nicolò. Introducing Chiara Lubich, Sergio Zavoli highlighted how the wealth of her interior charisma has incarnated into a system of values for everyday reality as well as for the political sphere. He called her a “witness and protagonist of a new, reasoned out, hope”. Hope was well expressed by the Founder of the Focolari in her message which centered on “Brotherhood and peace for the unity of people”. Three words she defined as “tremendously pertinent today after they paradoxically emerged in many people’s minds as an absolute necessity in the aftermath of the Sept. 11th tragedy.” She recalled the “many networks which are already working to connect peoples, cultures and diversities” thanks to the ecclesial communities growing not only in Europe, but all over the world.
Chiara called the “Movement of Unity”, comprised of politicians who take on brotherhood as a political category, a concrete example. Emanating from the Focolari in 1996, the “Movement of Unity”, she said, is “not a new party, but a vehicle for a new political praxis and culture.” Members of the majority are enabled to dialogue with the opposition, for example. “Those in government recognize the positive contributions of the opposition which helps them exercise their governmental control. Opposition is channeled through a criticism that is constructive and tends to correct and improve the functioning of government instead of obstructing it. This favors the search for the best solutions for the community, the well-being of which can only be fully guaranteed if both the government and the opposition are allowed to exercise their proper role.” She noted such striking political results as those seen in the opposing factions of Northern Ireland”. She cited the imbalance between the rich and poor nations as a fundamental cause for terrorism, “an imbalance that cries out for a greater sharing of wealth. But such a response is impossible until humanity is overtaken by an ardent desire for, and commitment to, universal brotherhood”. Prof. Stefano Zamagni then presented the ’Economy of communion’ project, calling it a new economic paradigm. Launched by Chiara Lubich over ten years ago, today it inspires more than 750 companies throughout the world. A presentation of the business park soon to be realized near the Loppiano Citadel followed. Jorge Braga De Macedo, President of the United Nations Economic Cooperation and Development Organization called it an “important proposal for economists working for development in the world’s poorest nations”. In an interview with Città Nuova, Mayor Ravioli said, “Today Chiara showed us – and Rimini is proud to have launched this message – that new instruments are necessary. The Economy of Communion together with brotherhood and unity among peoples are new instruments. They are concrete steps towards peace and unity.”
Jul 1, 2002 | Non categorizzato
Jul 1, 2002 | Non categorizzato
Jul 1, 2002 | Non categorizzato
Jun 30, 2002 | Non categorizzato, Word of
These words of Jesus are so important that the Gospel of Matthew reports them twice (Mt 13:12; 25:29). They clearly show that God’s economy is not ours. His calculations are always different from ours, as when He gives the same pay to the laborer who worked only one hour and to the one who worked all day (See Mt 20: 1-16).
Jesus says these words in answer to the disciples who had asked Him why He spoke openly to them whereas to others He spoke in parables, in a way that was more difficult to understand. Jesus gave His disciples the fullness of the truth, light, precisely because they were following Him, because He was everything for them. They had opened their hearts to Jesus, they were totally prepared to welcome Him, they already had Jesus. To them, Jesus gives Himself in all fullness.
To understand his way of acting, it might be helpful to recall a similar sentence reported in the Gospel of Luke: “Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap.” (Lk 6:38) These two sentences show that in the logic of Jesus, having (“to anyone who has, more will be given”) is equivalent to giving (“give and gifts will be given to you”).
I’m sure that you too have experienced this evangelical truth. When you helped a sick person, when you consoled someone who was sad, when you stayed closed to someone who felt alone, didn’t you sometimes feel a joy and peace without knowing where it came from? It’s the logic of love. The more we give, the more we are enriched.
So then we could express the Word of Life for this month in this way: to those who love, to those who live their lives loving others, God gives the capacity to love even more. He gives the fullness of love to the point of making them like Himself . And He is Love.
«To anyone who has, more will be given, and he will grow rich; from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away.»
Yes, it is love that makes us be. We exist because we love. If we didn’t love, and all the times that we do not love, we are not, we do not exist. (“even what he has will be taken away”).
All we must do then is love, without sparing ourselves. Only in this way will God give himself to us and with him will come the fullness of his gifts.
Let us give concretely to those around us, certain that by giving to others we are giving to God. Let’s give always; let’s give a smile, understanding, forgiveness. Let’s listen, let’s give our intelligence, our availability; let’s give our time, our talents, our ideas, our activity; let’s give our experiences, our capabilities; let’s share our goods with others so that nothing accumulates and everything circulates. Our giving opens the hands of God who, in his providence, fills us superabundantly so that we can give again, and much, and receive more, and in this way meet the boundless needs of many.
«To anyone who has, more will be given, and he will grow rich; from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away.»
The greatest gift that Jesus wants to give us is Himself. He wants to be present in us always: this is the fullness of life, the abundance with which He wants to fill us. Jesus gives Himself to His disciples when they follow Him united. This Word of Life reminds us, therefore, also of the communitarian dimension of our spirituality. We can read it in this way: those who live mutual love, those who live unity, will be given the presence of Jesus Himself in their midst.
And we will be given even more. Those who have, those who have lived their life loving others, thereby gaining the hundredfold in this life, will also be given, in addition, the reward: heaven. And they will be in abundance.
Those who do not have, those who will not have the hundredfold, because they did not live their life loving others, will not even enjoy the good and the goods (relatives, things) that they had on earth, because in hell there will be nothing but pain.
Let us love then. Let us love everyone. Let us love to the point that the other person returns our love and it becomes reciprocal: we will have the fullness of life.
Chiara Lubich
Jun 19, 2002 | Non categorizzato
“This meeting has been a spiritual experience, not just an academic exercise. We have all experienced the closeness of God. We were given an introduction to the Christian tradition, which we already knew something about. But it was Chiara’s personal and spiritual experience, her experience of God, which enriched us in a special way, because it is so similar to what our own saints have experienced.” This is what the Director of The Bharatiya Sanskriti Peetham Cultural Institute of the Somaiya University of Vidyavihar (Bombay), Dr. Kala Acharya, declared in an interview with Vatican Radio. Preparations began well in advance in India and at the Center of the Focolare Movement in order to meet everyone’s high expectations. The symposium went well beyond the expected. Something new and great began making itself felt from the very start. In her greetings, Chiara Lubich confirmed the impression that everyone had in their heart. “I think an unknown horizon is being thrown wide open before us.” Cardinal Ivan Dias, archbishop of Bombay was present at the opening, as well as Mons. Felix Machado who represented the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. “The various scholars profoundly expressed their traditions and convictions in a climate of openness and brotherhood,” explained Prof. Giuseppe Zanghì, co-head of the Focolare Movement’s Centre for Interreligious Dialogue. “Everything was carried out at a high academic level, while at the same time was penetrated and nourished by an intense spirituality. Truly, we were mutually enriched. On our part, we were introduced into an ancient culture that certainly holds human treasures, but not only human. I am not afraid to acknowledge that it also contains important divine wealth as well, which we need to make our own so that dialogue is sincere.” The Focolare Movement’s Centre for Interreligious Dialogue organized the symposium together with Prof. Kala Acharya. Future Prospects The President of the Somaiya University and son of the founder, Dr. Shantilal K. Somaiya: “Chiara will be coming to visit India in January 2003. There is continual progress in our relations as well as a profound unity and reciprocal love. Dialogue is at the top of the agenda for the Third millennium. I am certain that Religions will learn to understand each other as well as live and work together for humanity’s benefit. This is the objective.” Dr. Kala Acharya: “What we have started will certainly have a following, and I am sure it will flourish.” Prof. Zanghì: “A window has been opened, a reality which will have important developments. ” Interesting first fruits: A representative of the Rissho Kosei-kai Japanese Buddhist Movement was present as an observer. A similar encounter with Buddhists is being projected for 2003. An Audience with the Pope On Wednesday, June 19, the participants of the Symposium were present at the Pope’s General Audience in the Paul VI Hall. The Pope greeted them and a group photo was taken. Who is the Pope for the Hindus? Dr. Somaiya: “He is a great spiritual leader.” Dr. Kala Acharya: “For the Hindus, a Saint is a Saint. It is something that goes beyond religious boundries … And the Pope is the great Saint whom I respect.” (from an interview with Vatican Radio)
Jun 1, 2002 | Non categorizzato
Jun 1, 2002 | Non categorizzato
Jun 1, 2002 | Non categorizzato
Jun 1, 2002 | Non categorizzato
May 31, 2002 | Non categorizzato, Word of
Jesus’ way of behaving was so new with respect to the mainstream mentality that it often scandalized respectable people. Like the time he told Matthew to follow him and then had lunch with him. Matthew was a tax collector, and consequently, not very popular with the people; on the contrary, he was considered to be a public sinner, an enemy at the service of the Roman Empire.
Why, ask the Pharisees, does Jesus eat with a sinner? Wouldn’t it be better for him to stay away from certain people? This question offered Jesus the opportunity to explain that he specifically wants to encounter sinners, just as a physician goes out to the sick. And he concludes by telling the Pharisees to go and study the meaning of the words of God written in the Hebrew Testament by the Prophet Hosea: “For it is mercy that I desire, not sacrifice” (See Hosea 6:5).
Why does God want us to be merciful? Because he wants us to be like him. We must be similar to him just as children are similar to their father and mother. Throughout the Gospel, Jesus speaks to us of the Father’s love for the good and for the evil, for the just and for sinners: for each one, without discrimination and without excluding anyone. If he has preferences it is for those who would not seem to deserve to be loved, as in the parable of the prodigal son.
“Be merciful,” explains Jesus, “just as your Father is merciful” (Lk 6:36): this is perfection (See Mt 5:48).
«Go and learn the meaning of the words, ’I desire mercy, not sacrifice’»
Jesus extends the same invitation to each one of us today: “Go and learn…” But where should we go? Who can teach us what it means to be merciful? One person alone, Jesus, who went in search of the lost sheep, who forgave those who betrayed and crucified him, who gave his life for our salvation. In order to learn how to be merciful like the Father, perfect like him, we need to look at Jesus, who fully reveals the Father’s love. He said: “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (Jn 14:9).
«Go and learn the meaning of the words, ’I desire mercy, not sacrifice’»
Why mercy and not sacrifice? Because love is the absolute value which gives meaning to all the rest, even to worship, even to sacrifice. In fact, the sacrifice most pleasing to God is concrete love towards our neighbor, which finds its highest expression in mercy.
Mercy always helps us to see people in a new way, the people with whom we live every day at home, at school, at work, without looking back at their faults and mistakes. It enables us not to judge, but to forgive the wrongs we have received. Indeed, to forget them.
Our sacrifice will not consist so much in long vigils and fasting, or in sleeping on the floor, but rather in opening our heart to all those we meet, good and bad alike.
This was done by a man who worked in the admission and accounting department of a hospital. His village had been burned to the ground by his “enemies”. One day he saw a man arriving with a sick relative. He immediately recognized from their accent that they were those “enemies”; in fact, the sick man was frightened and didn’t want to reveal his identity for fear that he would be sent away.
The hospital employee didn’t ask for any documents; he helped him even though he had to overcome the hatred he had been harboring within himself. In the following days, he was able to assist the patient on various occasions. On the last day of his stay in the hospital, when the “enemy” came to pay his bill, he said to the employee: “I must confess something that you don’t know”. And he replied: “I knew who you were from the very first day.” “Why did you help me if you knew that I was your ‘enemy’?”
For us too then, as for him, mercy is born from love which sacrifices itself for others following the example of Jesus who reached the point even of giving up his life for everyone.
Chiara Lubich
Apr 30, 2002 | Non categorizzato, Word of
Matthew, the evangelist, begins his Gospel by recalling that Jesus, whose story he is about to narrate, is Emmanuel, which means God is with us, and he concludes it by repeating these words of Jesus, his promise to remain with us always, even after he has gone back to heaven. He will be “God is with us” until the end of the age.
Jesus addresses these words to the disciples after entrusting them with the task of bringing his message to the whole world. He was well aware of the fact that he was sending them like sheep in the midst of wolves and that they would meet with adversity and persecutions. This is why he doesn’t want to leave them alone in their mission. And so in the very moment in which he is leaving, he promises to stay! They’ll no longer be able to see him with their eyes, they won’t be able to hear his voice, they won’t be able to touch him, but he will be present in their midst, as he was before; indeed, more than before. Up until then, his presence was localized in one precise place, in Capernaum, on the lake, in the mountains, or in Jerusalem. Instead, from now on, he will be wherever his disciples are.
Jesus was also thinking of all of us living out day after day what can sometimes be a complex lifestyle. Because he is incarnate Love, he might have thought: I would like to be with them always, to share their daily worries, to give them advice; I would like to walk down the streets with them, enter their homes, enliven their joy with my presence.
This is why he wanted to remain with us and make us feel his closeness, his strength, his love.
Luke’s Gospel tells that after having seen him ascend to heaven, the disciples “returned to Jerusalem with great joy”. How could it be? They had experienced the reality of those words of his.
We too will be full of joy if we truly believe in Jesus’ promise:
«And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age»
These words, the last words that Jesus addresses to the disciples, mark the end of his earthly life and, at the same time, the beginning of the life of the Church in which he is present in many ways: in the Eucharist, in his Word, in his ministers (bishops, priests), in the poor, in the little ones, in the marginalized… in every neighbor.
We like to underline one particular presence of Jesus, that which he himself indicated to us in the Gospel of Matthew: “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” He would like to be present everywhere in this way.
If we live what he commands, especially his new commandment, we can experience this presence of his even outside of church, in the midst of a crowd, wherever this presence of his is kept alive, everywhere.
What is asked of us is mutual love, made up of service and understanding, of sharing in the sufferings, anxieties and joys of our brothers and sisters; a love which endures everything, which forgives everything, typical of Christianity.
Let us live in this way so that everyone may be given the opportunity to meet with him already on this earth.
Chiara Lubich
Mar 31, 2002 | Non categorizzato, Word of
In John’s Gospel, “seeing” Jesus is of capital importance. It’s the evident proof that God truly became man. In the very first pages of the Gospel we read the impassioned witness of the Apostle: “And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory” (Jn 1:14).
We hear the exclamations of those who saw Jesus especially after his resurrection. Mary of Magdala announced: “I have seen the Lord” (Jn 20:18), and the apostles as well: “We have seen the Lord” (Jn 20:24). Also the disciple whom Jesus loved “saw and believed” (Jn 20:8).
The only apostle who didn’t see the risen Lord was Thomas, because he wasn’t present on Easter day when the Lord appeared to the other disciples. They all believed because they had seen him. Thomas would have believed too, he said, if, like the others, he had seen. Jesus held him to his word and eight days after the resurrection, he showed himself to Thomas so that he too would believe. When Thomas saw Jesus standing in front of him, he burst forth with the most profound and complete profession of faith ever pronounced in the New Testament: “My Lord and my God!” (Jn 20:28). Then Jesus said to him: “You have come to believe because you have seen me.”
«Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed!»
Like Thomas, we too would like to see Jesus, especially when we feel alone, when we are undergoing a trial or suffering hardships…. We can relate to those Greeks who went up to Philip and said: “Sir, we would like to see Jesus” (Jn 12:21). How beautiful it would be, we tell one another, if we had lived during the time of Jesus: we would have been able to see him, to touch him, to listen to him, to speak with him…. If only he could appear to us too, as he appeared to Mary of Magdala, to the Twelve, to the disciples…
The people who were with him were really blessed. Even Jesus said so in a beatitude reported in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke: “Blessed are your eyes, because they see [me]” (Mt 13:16). 10:23 “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see” (Lk 10:23). And yet, Jesus told Thomas of another beatitude:
«Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed!»
Jesus was thinking of us. We can no longer see him with these eyes of ours, but we can see him with the eyes of faith. Actually, our situation is not very different from those who lived during the time of Jesus. Then, too, it wasn’t enough to see him. Many of the people who saw him didn’t believe in him. With the eyes of their body they saw a man. Other eyes were needed to recognize him as the Son of God.
Many of the early Christians hadn’t personally seen Jesus. They, too, lived the beatitude which we are called to live today. In the first letter of Peter we read: “Although you have not seen him you love him; even though you do not see him now yet believe in him, you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, as you attain the goal of (your) faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Pt 1:8-9).
It was very clear to the early Christians that the faith Jesus was speaking of comes from love. Believing means discovering that we are loved by God. It means opening our hearts to grace and allowing ourselves to be invaded by his love. It means entrusting ourselves completely to this love by responding to it with our love. If you love, God is present in you and bears witness to himself within you. He gives us an entirely new outlook to the reality around us. Faith makes us see events from his viewpoint. It makes us discover his plan for us, for others, and for all creation.
«Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed!»
Theresa of the Child Jesus is a luminous example of this new way of seeing things with the eyes of faith. One night, because of tuberculosis which would lead to her death, she spit up blood. She could have said: “I spit up blood.” Instead, she said: “My Spouse has arrived.” She believed without seeing. She believed that Jesus was coming to visit her in that suffering and that he loved her: her Lord and her God.
Faith helps us to see everything with new eyes, as it helped Theresa of the Child Jesus. Just as she translated that event into “God loves me”, we too can translate every event of our life into “God loves me”, or “It’s you who have come to visit me”, or “My Lord and my God” (Jn 20:28).
In heaven we will see God as he is, but even now faith opens our heart to the realities of heaven and enables us to glimpse everything in the light of heaven.
Chiara Lubich
Feb 28, 2002 | Non categorizzato, Word of
In this “pearl” of the Gospel, Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman near Jacob’s well, he speaks of water as the simplest of elements, but one that proves to be the most desired, the most vital for whoever is familiar with the desert. No great explanations were needed to convey the importance of water.
Spring water is for our natural life, whereas the living water that Jesus is speaking of is for eternal life.
Just as the desert blooms only after an abundant rainfall, similarly the seeds buried in us at baptism can bud forth only if sprinkled with the word of God. Then the plant grows, it gives off new shoots and shapes into a tree or into a very lovely flower, all because it receives the living water of the word of God which sparks life and preserves it for eternity.
«Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life»
Jesus’ words are addressed to all of us who are thirsty in this world: to those who are conscious of their spiritual aridity and who still suffer thirst, and to those who are not even aware of the need to drink from the fountain of true life and of the great values of humanity.
Actually, Jesus is extending an invitation to all men and women today, revealing where we can find the answer to our questions and the fulfillment of all our desires.
It is up to us, therefore, to draw from his words, to let ourselves be imbued with his message.
How?
By re-evangelizing our life, measuring it against his words, trying to think with the mind of Jesus and to love with his heart.
Every moment in which we seek to live the Gospel is like drinking a drop of that living water. Every gesture of love for our neighbor is like a sip of that water.
Yes, because that water, which is so alive and precious, has something special about it. It wells up within us each time we open our heart to others. It’s a wellspring of God which gives water to us in the measure in which it flows out to quench the thirst of others through small or big acts of love.
«Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life»
We’ve understood, then: to avoid suffering thirst, we must give to others the living water that we draw from him within ourselves.
Very little is needed, at times a word, a smile, a simple gesture of solidarity, to give us a renewed sense of fulfillment, of profound satisfaction, a surge of joy. And if we continue to give, this fountain of peace and life will pour out water evermore abundantly and never dry up.
Jesus revealed to us yet another secret, a kind of bottomless well from which we can draw. When two or three are united in his name, by loving one another with his very own love, he is in their midst (see Mt 18:20). And it is then that we are free, that we are one, full of light, with rivers of living water flowing from within us” (see Jn 7:38). It’s the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise because it is from Jesus himself, present in our midst, that quenching water wells up for eternity.
Chiara Lubich
Jan 31, 2002 | Non categorizzato, Word of
This is the answer Jesus gave to the first of the temptations in the desert after having fasted for “forty days and forty nights”. It concerns one of our most basic needs, food.
Thus the tempter proposes to use his powers to transform the stones into loaves of bread. What evil could there be in satisfying an inherent need of human nature?
However, Jesus is aware of the deceit behind the proposal: the suggestion is to use God, expecting that he put himself at the service of our material needs. Actually, Jesus is being asked to assume an attitude of independence rather than one of filial abandonment to the Father.
This then is Jesus’ answer, which is also an answer to all our questions concerning hunger in the world and to the increasingly dramatic demand for food, housing, and clothing on the part of millions of human beings. He who will feed the crowds by miraculously multiplying the loaves and who will base the final judgement also on giving food to the hungry, tells us that God is greater than our hunger and that his word is our primary and essential nourishment.
«It is written: ’One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God’»
Jesus presents the word of God as bread, as nourishment. This thought, this likeness sheds light on our relationship with his word.
But how can we nourish ourselves with the word of God?
Just as wheat is first seed, then an ear of grain, and finally bread, similarly, the word of God is like a seed placed in us that must sprout. It’s like a piece of bread that is to be eaten, assimilated, transformed into life of our life.
The Word of God, the Logos pronounced by the Father and incarnated in Jesus, is a presence of his among us. Every time we receive it and seek to put it into practice, it’s like nourishing ourselves with Jesus.
While bread nourishes us and helps us to grow, the word of God nourishes and helps Christ to grow in us, our true personality.
The fact that Jesus came on earth and made himself our food means that a purely natural food like bread can no longer be enough for us. We need that supernatural food, God’s word, in order to grow as his children.
«It is written: ’One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God’»
The nature of this food is such that we can say of it, as of Jesus in the Eucharist, that when we eat it, it is not transformed into us, but we are transformed into him, because we are, in a way, assimilated by him.
Thus the Gospel is not a book of consolation in which we take refuge solely in painful moments, but it is the code that contains the laws of life, laws which are not only to be read, but assimilated, eaten, with the soul, thus making us similar to Christ in every instant.
Therefore, we can be another Jesus fully accomplishing his doctrine to the letter. His are the words of a God, charged with unexpected revolutionary force.
This is what we must do: nourish ourselves with the word of God. And just as the necessary nourishment for our body can nowadays be concentrated in a single pill, likewise, we can nourish ourselves with Christ by living his words one at a time, because he is present in each one of them.
There is a word for each moment, for each situation of our life. Reading the Gospel can reveal it to us.
Let us live now love of neighbor out of love for God, which is like a concentrate of all his words.
Chiara Lubich
Dec 31, 2001 | Non categorizzato, Word of
All Christians are invited this month to pray for unity, and they have agreed to meditate and live a word of God taken from Psalm 36. This phrase from Scripture tells us something so important and vital that it can lead us to reconciliation and communion.
First of all, it tells us that there is only one source of life: God. From him, from his creative love, comes the universe, which provides a home for humankind.
It is he who gives us life with all its gifts. The psalmist knows the harshness and dryness of the desert and he knows what it means to find a spring of water with the life that blossoms around it. Therefore, he could not find a more beautiful image with which to sing of creation, like a river flowing from the bosom of God.
So then a hymn of praise and thanksgiving pours from our heart. This is the first step to take, the first teaching to grasp from the words of the Psalm: give praise and thanks to God for his work, for the wonders of the cosmos and for men and women fully alive, who are his glory and the only creatures who are able to say to him:
«For with you is the fountain of life»
But the love of the Father went beyond pronouncing the word through which all things were created. He wanted the Word himself to take our flesh. God, the only true God, became man in Jesus and brought on earth the source of life.
The source of every good, of every being and of every happiness came to dwell among us, so that he would be available, so to speak, to us. “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly” (Jn 10:10). He filled all the time and space of our existence with himself. And he wished to remain with us forever, so that we could recognize him and love him under the most varied guises.
At times we might think: “How beautiful it must have been to live during the times of Jesus!” Well, his love invented a way to remain not in one small corner of Palestine, but in every part of the world: He made himself present in the Eucharist, according to his promise. We can draw from this source in order to nourish and renew our life.
«For with you is the fountain of life»
Another source from which we can draw the living water of God’s presence is our brother, our sister. If we love every neighbor we meet, especially those in need, they are not so much benefited by us, but rather, we are benefited by them because they give us God. In fact, by loving Jesus in our neighbor [I was hungry (…), I was thirsty (…), I was a stranger (…), I was in prison (…)…] (See Mt 25:31-40), we receive in return his love, his life, because he himself, present in our brothers and sisters, is its source.
Another overflowing fountain is God’s presence within us. He always speaks to us. It’s up to us to listen to his voice, which is that of our conscience. The more we make the effort to love God and our neighbor, the louder his voice becomes to the point of drowning out all the others.
But there is a privileged moment, like no other, in which we can draw from his presence within us: it is when we pray and seek to go in-depth in our direct relationship with him who dwells in the depths of our soul. It is like a profound spring of water that never dries up, which is always at our disposal and which can quench our thirst in every moment. We must only close for a moment the shutters of our soul and recollect ourselves in order to find this source, even in the midst of the most arid desert. And this to the point in which we no longer feel that we are alone, but that there are two of us: him in me and I in him. And yet – thanks to his gift – we are one, like the water and its source, like the flower and its seed.
Thus during this week of prayer for the unity of Christians, the words of the Psalm remind us that God alone is the source of life and therefore, of full communion, peace, and joy. The more we drink from this fountain and the more we live of this living water, which is his word, the more we will grow closer to one another and live as brothers and sisters of the same family. Then the rest of this phrase will be fulfilled. The Psalm continues: “And in your light we see light” , that light which humanity awaits.
Chiara Lubich
Nov 30, 2001 | Non categorizzato, Word of
These are decisive words for our life and our witness in the world.
To explain the behavior of Christians, Paul likes to use the example of the clothes that the followers of Christ should wear. Also in his letter to the Colossians he speaks of the virtues that should fill their heart like many articles of clothing. They are: heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another (see Col 3:12-13).
But “over all these,” he says, almost as if he were thinking of a belt that ties everything together and perfects, enhances our whole appearance, “put on love.”
Yes, charity; because it’s not enough for Christians to be compassionate, humble, gentle, patient…. They must love their brothers and sisters.
But doesn’t love mean – someone might object – being kind, compassionate, patient, and forgiving? Yes, but there is more.
Jesus taught us the meaning of love. It consists in giving our life for others (see Jn 15:13).
Hatred takes away the life of others (“Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer” [1 Jn 3:15]); instead, love gives them life. Christians have charity only when they die to themselves out of love for others.
But if Christians have charity – says Paul – they will be perfect and all their other virtues will acquire perfection.
«And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection»
Of course, some of us might be well-disposed towards our brothers and sisters, inclined towards forgiving and bearing up with them. And yet, if we look closely, often, what might be missing is precisely love. Even with the holiest of intentions, human nature tends to make us turn in on ourselves and consequently to use half measures in loving others.
But we cannot call ourselves Christians if we stop at half measures.
We must make the greatest effort to love wholeheartedly. In front of every neighbor we meet during the day (at home, at work, everywhere), we can say to ourselves: “Come on, take courage, be generous with God. This is the moment to love, ready to give even your life.”
«And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection»
These words of the Apostle invite us, therefore, to examine ourselves, to see to what extent our Christian life is animated by charity. Love is the bond of perfection and as such it brings us to the greatest unity with God and with one another.
Let us thank the Lord, then, for having poured his love into our hearts. His love makes us more and more capable of listening to others, of identifying with the problems and worries of our neighbors; of sharing with them bread, joys and sufferings; of dismantling the barriers that still divide us; of putting aside certain attitudes of pride, rivalry, envy and resentment because of wrongs received in the past; of overcoming that terrible tendency to criticize; of going out of our selfish isolation in order to put ourselves at the disposal of anyone who is in need or lonely; of building everywhere the unity Jesus prayed for.
This is the contribution that we Christians can give towards achieving world peace and brotherhood among peoples, especially in the most tragic moments of history.
Chiara Lubich
![Facing Strife and Winning]()
Nov 10, 2001 | Senza categoria
Intervengono:
Romano Prodi
Presidente della Commissione Europea
Thomas Klestil
Presidente della Repubblica Austriaca
Jos Chabert
Presidente della Camera delle Regioni alla UE
Chiara Lubich
Fondatrice del Movimento dei Focolari
Live internet
E' un avvenimento progettato da tempo. Dopo l'11 settembre rivela una particolare attualità e significato.
La tragedia che ha colpito gli Stati Uniti, ha posto la comunità mondiale di fronte alla necessità di una risposta politica di tipo nuovo. Nell'opinione pubblica mondiale cresce la coscienza di appartenere ad un'unica famiglia umana. L'Europa ha un ruolo importante da giocare nella ricerca di vie e strumenti che possano far crescere una nuova cultura di giustizia sociale e cooperazione su percorsi di pace e di fraternità tra i popoli, uniche vie praticabili nell'attuale drammatica situazione mondiale.
"Ai comuni – ha dichiarato il sindaco van Staa – viene richiesto coraggio, apertura, senso di responsabilità".
I comuni possono contribuire all'unità europea con un processo dal basso: questa prima assemblea dei poteri locali dell'Europa unita mostrerà quanto le amministrazioni locali siano in grado di agire nel "costruire" i cittadini d'Europa, nel contribuire a comporre e ricomporre diversità delle culture e delle religioni, da sempre ricchezza del vecchio continente, nell'aprire sfide di fraternità intrecciando rapporti stretti e diretti con comunità locali dei paesi poveri degli altri continenti.
Il convegno si propone così di "dare un'anima" al processo di integrazione e di allargamento dell'Europa.
Oltre alla presenza del Presidente austriaco Thomas Klestil, spiccano i due interventi centrali: quello del Presidente della Commissione europea Romano Prodi su "le grandi opportunità dell'attuale fase storica dell'Europa" e quello di Chiara Lubich su "la fraternità in politica come chiave dell'unità d'Europa e del mondo".
Hanno confermato la loro adesione sindaci da tutta Europa, dall'Atlantico agli Urali, spalancando i confini dell'Europa unita. Significativa, in questa proiezione al futuro, la partecipazione anche di oltre 200 giovani, studenti in scienze politiche o comunque attenti al futuro politico del continente.
Sindaci e giovani lavoreranno insieme in quattro gruppi tematici di lavoro, finalizzati alla redazione di un "appello per l’unità europea" rivolto ai governi dei paesi rappresentati, per una autentica "Europa – comunità di popoli".
Il Consiglio Europeo, tenutosi a Nizza nel dicembre scorso, aveva chiesto alle istituzioni europee, governi e parlamenti nazionali, di aprire sull'Europa un dibattito ampio ed aperto per una vasta sensibilizzazione dell’opinione pubblica.
Il Convegno di Innsbruck sarà una tappa importante e forse unica per la sua rilevanza in questo progetto: il documento finale sarà consegnato nelle mani del presidente della commissione che sta preparando il prossimo appuntamento del Consiglio, fissato per dicembre a Laeken, in Belgio.
Le premesse ci sono tutte, come lascia presagire la dichiarazione del Presidente Prodi: "Il convegno costituirà un significativo momento, indispensabile per aiutare a creare un Europa in cui tutti i cittadini si sentano protagonisti".
Chiara Lubich, da parte sua, ha affermato: "L’unità d’Europa: un ideale, un impegno, quello di dare al nostro continente un supplemento d’anima che rinnovi i suoi cittadini e le sue grandi o piccole istituzioni".
Ufficio Stampa Innsbruck
Responsabile: Mr. W. Weger – Mail: w.weger@magibk.at
Tel: 0043 512 5360 1930 – Fax: 0043 512 5360 1757
Portatile: 0043 664 14 02 761
Fax diretto: 0043 512 58 24 93
Accredito dei giornalisti: via e-mail all’Ufficio Stampa Innsbruck
Oct 31, 2001 | Non categorizzato, Word of
The persecutions against the early Christians had already begun when Luke wrote his Gospel. But, as with every word of God, this sentence, too, is directed to Christians of all times and to their everyday lives. It contains a warning and a promise. One has more to do with our present life and the other, with our future life. Both invariably prove to be true in the history of the Church and in the personal circumstances of all those who strive to be faithful disciples of Christ. It is normal for a follower of Christ to be hated. In this world it is the destiny of a genuine Christian. Let us not deceive ourselves. Paul reminds us: “All who want to live religiously in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim 3:12). Jesus explains why: “If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you” (Jn 15:19). There will always be a contrast between the lifestyle of a Christian and that of a society that rejects Gospel values. This contrast can foment into a more or less masked persecution or into an indifference that makes us suffer.
«All will hate you because of me, yet not a hair of your head will be harmed.»
So we have been warned. When, without our understanding why, outside of the schemes of all logic and common sense, we receive hatred in exchange for the love we tried to give, this return must not disorient, scandalize or surprise us. It is nothing other than an indication of the opposition that exists between selfish human beings and God. But it’s also the guarantee that we are on the right path, the same one the Master traveled. So it’s a moment for rejoicing and being glad. And this is the way Jesus wants us to be: “Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you… because of me. Rejoice and be glad” (Mt 5:11-12). Yes, in that moment what must prevail in our heart is joy, that joy which is the characteristic note, the uniform of true Christians in every circumstance. Also because – and we should not forget this – we have many friends, brothers and sisters in the faith, and their love is a source of consolation and strength.
«All will hate you because of me, yet not a hair of your head will be harmed.»
But there is also the promise of Jesus: “… not a hair of your head will be harmed.” What do these words mean? Jesus takes up something that Samuel said and applies it to the final destiny of his disciples, in order to assure us that, although this hatred brings real suffering and real difficulties, we should realize that we are entirely in the hands of God who is our Father, who knows everything about us, and who will never abandon us. When Jesus says that not even a hair of our head will be harmed, he means to assure us that he himself will take care of every worry no matter how small, for our own life, for those dear to us, and for all that is important to us. How many martyrs known and unknown, have drawn from his words the strength and courage to face the loss of their rights, division, isolation, contempt, even a violent death, at times, always certain that God, in his love, permits everything for the good of his children!
«All will hate you because of me, yet not a hair of your head will be harmed.»
If we are the target of hatred or violence, or if we feel that we are at the mercy of the powerful, we already know the attitude that Jesus wants us to have: we must love our enemies, do good to those who hate us, bless those who curse us and pray for those who mistreat us. We must make a counterattack and win hatred with love. How can we do this? By taking the initiative in loving, and being careful not to “hate” anyone, not even in a hidden or subtle way. Although the world rejects God, it needs him, his love, and it can respond to his call. In conclusion, how can we live this Word of Life? By being happy to discover ourselves worthy of the world’s hatred, which is the guarantee that we are following Jesus ever more closely, and by loving in a concrete way precisely where there is hatred.
Chiara Lubich
Sep 30, 2001 | Non categorizzato, Word of
Throughout the history of its lengthy exiles Israel often experienced a radical sense of helplessness in the face of events which no human force could have changed. It learned humility, that is, an attitude of total dependence and complete trust in God. Precisely in the condition of a humble and poor people, Israel repeatedly took refuge and found a response solely in the One who had established with it an eternal covenant.
From the messianic perspective, the one awaited is a humble king who enters Zion riding a donkey, because the God of Israel is above all the “God of the humble”.
Because all the expectations were fulfilled in Jesus, we can learn true humility, that which makes our prayer acceptable to the Lord, from his life and teachings.
«The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds».
All of Jesus' life is a lesson in humility. He is God, and yet he became man in the womb of the Virgin Mary, then bread in the Eucharist and finally, ” cross.br the on nothing?>He had said: “Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart” (Mt 11:29). In washing the feet of his disciples, he who was master and teacher, bent down to perform the humblest of services. He had pointed out the little ones as a model, and he had entered Jerusalem riding a mule. In the end, he allowed himself to be crucified, annulling himself in body and in soul, in order to obtain heaven for us.
Why did he do all this? What motivated the Son of God?
What he was doing was revealing to us his relationship with the Father, the style of loving of the Trinity, which is a mutual “making oneself nothing” out of love, an eternal self-giving to one another.
Jesus pours out to humanity this trinitarian love which reaches its apex precisely in the act of giving himself completely in his passion and death.
Thus God shows his power in weakness. His is a love which elevates the world, precisely because it puts itself in the last place, on the lowest rung of creation.
«The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds».
Truly humble, then, are those who, following the example of Jesus, make themselves nothing out of love for others, who put themselves in the presence of God with an attitude of total availability to his will, who are totally empty of themselves so as to allow Jesus to live in them.
Their prayer will be granted because when they pronounce the word Abba-Father, it is no longer they who are praying; it is a prayer which obtains what it asks because it is put on their lips by the Holy Spirit.
The culminating point of Jesus' life was when “he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence” (Heb 5:7-8), that is, because of his prayer inspired by total obedience to the will of the Father, by his complete abandonment to him.
This then is the prayer that pierces the clouds and reaches the heart of God, that of sons and daughters who rise above their misery and trustingly throw themselves into the arms of the Father.
Chiara Lubich
Aug 31, 2001 | Non categorizzato, Word of
The teaching that Jesus wants to give us here concerns wealth, and Luke, the evangelist of the poor, acts as his spokesman. The term “mammon” is an Aramaic word which means material goods, but Jesus is using it here in a negative sense, that is, as the embodiment of treasures which can take the place of God in people's hearts.
The danger with wealth is that people can fall in love with it to the point that they put all their strength and time into keeping and increasing it. It becomes an idol to which everything is sacrificed. This is why Jesus compares it to a master who is so demanding that he doesn't admit anything or anyone else. This explains the need to make a choice without compromises.
«No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon».
We shouldn't take Jesus' words as a condemnation of wealth as such, but of the exclusive place it can hold in the human heart.
He doesn't require absolute poverty of everyone; actually, some of his disciples were rich, like Joseph of Arimathea. What he requires is detachment from one's goods. Wealthy persons should not so much consider themselves as owners, but as administrators of the goods they possess, which belong primarily to God and are destined not only to a privileged few but to everyone.
Wealth is an excellent tool if used to serve those in need, to do good and to promote social wellbeing, not only by means of charitable works, but also by the management of a business. This is the only way to use our goods without becoming enslaved by them.
Accumulating riches for ourselves always poses a great risk. We know from our own personal experience and from history that attachment to the goods of this world can corrupt and distance us from God. Consequently, we should not be surprised by the alternative Jesus resolutely puts before us: either God or riches.
«No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon».
How can we live this Word of Life?
Besides clarifying for us the relationship we should have with wealth, these words, like every word of God, have many things to tell us. Jesus is not offering us the alternative of choosing God or mammon. He says clearly that it is God whom we must chose in life.
Perhaps we have not done this yet. Perhaps we have mixed a little faith in him, a few religious practices and a certain love for our neighbor with many other riches, great or small, which fill our hearts.
If we take a close look at ourselves we will be able to see if what matters most to us is work, family, studies, success, health or one of the many other things in life which we love for themselves or out of self-interest, ignoring God completely.
If this is the case, our hearts are already enslaved; our lives are centered on idols incompatible with God.
What should we do then? We must decide and tell God that we want nothing else but to love him with all our hearts, our minds, our strength. And then we must strive to fulfill this resolution which is not difficult if we do it moment by moment – now, in the present moment of our lives, loving everyone and everything out of love for God alone.
Chiara Lubich
Jul 31, 2001 | Non categorizzato, Word of
In the Hebrew Testament fire symbolizes the word of God pronounced by the prophet. But it also signifies the divine judgement that purifies his people by passing in their midst.
We can say the same about the word of Jesus: it builds up, but at the same time it destroys all that has no consistency, all that needs to come down, all that is vanity, and it leaves only the truth standing.
John the Baptist had said of him: “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Lk 3:16), pre-announcing the Christian baptism inaugurated on the day of Pentecost with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the appearance of the tongues of fire (See Acts 2:3).
This then is Jesus' mission: to cast fire on earth, to bring the Holy Spirit with his renovating and purifying force.
«I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!»
Jesus gives us the Spirit. But how does the Holy Spirit act?
He fills us with love and he wants us to keep this love enkindled in our hearts.
What kind of love is it?
It's not an earthly, limited kind of love. It's the love that the Gospel speaks of. It's a universal love, like that of the heavenly Father who makes the sun rise and the rain fall on the good and the bad, including enemies (See Mt 5:45).
It's a love that doesn't wait for the others to take the first step, but which always takes the initiative by loving first.
It's a love that makes itself one with every person: suffering and rejoicing with them, sharing their worries and hopes. And when needed, it does so in a concrete way, with deeds. So it's not simply a sentimental love that is expressed with words alone.
It's a love directed to Christ in our neighbor, mindful of his words: “You did it for me” (Mt 25:40).
It's a love that leads to reciprocity, to loving one another.
Because this love is a visible, concrete expression of our life based on the Gospel, it underlines and testifies to the word that we can and must offer in order to evangelize.
«I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!»
Love is like fire – what is important is to keep it lit, and so it must always burn something. First of all, it must consume our selfishness, and it does this because by loving, we are projected outside of ourselves: either towards God, by carrying out his will, or towards our neighbors, by helping them.
Even a small fire, if it is fed, can become a large blaze – that blaze of love, peace, and universal brotherhood which Jesus brought on earth.
Chiara Lubich
Jun 30, 2001 | Non categorizzato, Word of
St.Theresa of Lisieux said that it is better to speak with God than to speak of God, because in our conversations with others there is always the danger of bringing in self-love.
She is right, but to bear witness to others we must also speak of God.
Nonetheless, undoubtedly, we must speak with God. We must love God above all else with that love which is the very foundation of the Christian life and which is expressed in prayer, or in doing his will.
We must speak, therefore, with our neighbors, yes; but above all, we must speak with God.
How should we speak?
By saying the simple prayers that every Christian says, but also by making sure, through some very brief prayers said throughout the day, that our heart is truly aimed at him, that he is the Ideal of our life; that he truly has the first place in our hearts; that we sincerely love him with all our strength.
I'm referring to the quick prayers which are recommended especially for those who are in the midst of the world and who do not have time to say long prayers. These prayers are like arrows of love that go out from our heart like flaming darts towards God: the so-called ejaculations which etymologically means, darts, arrows. They are a magnificent way to direct our hearts straight towards God.
In the liturgy of the Mass this month, in the Catholic Church, we read a verse which can be used as a very beautiful ejaculation. It says:
«You are my only fortune, Lord, nothing else but you»
“You are my only fortune, Lord.”
Let's try to repeat it during the day, especially when various attachments try to attract our heart towards things, persons or ourselves. Let's say: “You are my fortune, Lord, nothing else but you. Not that thing, not that person, not myself; You are my fortune, nothing else but you.”
Let's try to repeat it when agitation or haste would lead us to do less than the will of God in the present moment: “You are my fortune, Lord, nothing else but you, and so my fortune is what you want, not what I want.”
When curiosity, self-love or the thousand lures of the world are about to disturb our relationship with God, let's say to him with all our heart: “'You are my only fortune, Lord', not the satisfaction of my greed or pride.”
Let's try to repeat it often. Let's try to repeat it when shadows darken our soul or when suffering knocks at our door. It will help us to prepare for our encounter with him.
“You are my only fortune, Lord, nothing else but you»
These simple words will help us to trust in him. They will train us to live in the constant company of Love. In this way, more united to God and full of him, we will continually lay the foundations of our true being, as his image and likeness.
Everything in our life will flow in the right direction. Then yes, when we speak, our words will not be just words, or worse, empty chatter, but they will be like darts capable of opening people's hearts to accept Jesus.
So let us take every opportunity to pronounce these simple words. At the end of the day, we will experience that they were like a medicine, a tonic for our souls. St. Catherine would say that they made our hearts like a steady lamp.
Chiara Lubich
Jun 29, 2001 | Non categorizzato
Jun 27, 2001 | Non categorizzato
Their prophetic role in the face of the challenges of Christian unity and globalisation. Chiara Lubich: We are at the service of the new evangelization. Piero Coda: With the movements, the Church of the future. Andrea Riccardi: Diversity is enriching Lorenzo Rosoli The ecclesial movements? “They represent a true gift from God for the new evangelization and for missionary activity.” In her address, Chiara Lubich, founder and guide of the Focolare Movement, drew on Redemptoris missio and other key documents of John Paul II’s magisterium to profile the movements and ecclesial communities in the face of the challenges posed by Christian unity and globalisation. These historic challenges have been brought to people’s attention in recent weeks by the mass media because of two events: Pope John Paul II’s visit to the Ukraine and his urgent ecumenical appeal, and the imminent G8 Summit Meeting in Genoa of the eight most industrialized nations. Against this backdrop, the 10th International Theological and Pastoral Congress organised by the Focolare Movement on the theme, “The Ecclesial Movements for a New Evangelization” brought together in Castelgandolfo 1300 clerics – Catholics, Orthodox, Anglicans and Protestants from 44 different countries – along with Cardinals Dario Castrillon Hoyos and James Francis Stafford (to whom the Pope’s Message concerning the Congress, which we referred to yesterday, was addressed). Andrea Riccardi, founder of the Saint Egidio Community described the present as an “historic anthropological turning-point” which places the new evangelization “between a global world and many identities closed in upon themselves”. The Symposium asserted that evangelization can only take place if there is openness and communion; and this must exist first of all within the Church itself, between its institutional and charismatic dimensions, and among the movements and new communities. In her address, delivered at the Focolare Movement’s international Mariapolis Centre, Chiara Lubich interpreted the experience of her movement in the light of the requisites for a new evangelization: “Its ardour is new if those who proclaim the Gospel simultaneously grow in their union with God. Its methods are new if it is carried out by the whole People of God. Its expressions are new if it is in keeping with what the Spirit suggests”: to proclaim God’s love for every person; to form mature ecclesial communities; to re-evangelise oneself through the Word and a life of love; to proclaim the Word and to share the fruits of living it… Quoting John Paul II again, she continued, “a Christian society no longer exists, what does exist is globalisation with an interweaving of peoples and cultures.” In this context, she said, evangelization must follow the path of the dialogues indicated by the Second Vatican Council: dialogue within the Catholic Church, among Christians, with members of other religions and with persons of good will. “For 40 years the Focolare Movement has been engaged in all four dialogues.” Present in 182 countries, “it involves people of all walks of life, from children to bishops.” However, “it is especially our lay people that the Lord uses as instruments for the new evangelization.” In the words of the theologian Piero Coda, the new ecclesial movements “constitute both a preparation for, and a reception – at once charismatic and dynamic, and in some cases even surpassing and prophetic – of the ecclesiological model proposed and broadly outlined by the Council, but which in reality has yet to be defined from the theological and pastoral standpoints.” The new movements and ecclesial communities are implementing this ecclesiology of communion “by living it.” This is one of the key passages in his address, “Hierarchical and Charismatic Gifts for the Building up of the Church and for its Mission.” This communion, which was evident in a surprising way during the Jubilee year, is “the way the Spirit rejuvenates the Church and guides it in its mission.” What we have before us, he said, is a roughly-outlined ‘icon’ of the future of the Church”, one of whose characteristic and decisive features is its lay countenance: not only within the Church, but also as it relates to the world, to society and to contemporary culture. As Andrea Riccardi explained, the responsibility of the movements in evangelization is thus twofold: communion within the Church and communication of the Gospel in the contemporary world. “These recent years have increased the awareness that diversity lived out in love is enriching for the Church and for each charism… The movements are not little churches whose ambition is to spread to the entire Church. They are gifts which the Lord has given to his Church throughout the course of the twentieth century. Each movement has interpreted a particular aspect of the Church’s vocation in an original way. But each of these aspects, by its very nature, turns one’s attention back to the Church. The numerous vocations to the priesthood that continue to emerge in the movements are a gift to the Church. The witness of Christian love for all, especially the poorest, is a gift to the Church for the whole world. The communication of the Gospel, which lies at the basis of the missionary ‘structure’ of the charisms of the movements is a gift to the Church”.
Jun 27, 2001 | Non categorizzato
Jun 27, 2001 | Non categorizzato
The title of this article comes from John Paul II. He views the movements in the context of the Second Vatican Council. The teaching of that Council contains “that which the Spirit is saying to the Churches” (Rev 2:29) at this time in history. Piero Coda, professor of theology at the Lateran University, reflects on the new ecclesial movements that are emerging in the phase of the history of salvation in which we are now living. Ecclesial movements within the horizon of the history of salvation In his encyclical on the Holy Spirit, Dominum et Vivificantem, John Paul II comments that while it is an historical fact that the Church came forth from the Upper Room on the day of Pentecost, in a certain sense it can also be said that “the Church is always in the Upper Room that she bears in her heart” (n. 66). Pentecost continues in the life of the Church. One of the texts in Vatican Council’s documents that speaks of how the Church is guided by the Holy Spirit is Lumen Gentium n.4. It says that the Holy Spirit guides “the Church in the way of all truth (cf. Jn 16:13) and unifying her in communion and in the works of ministry, he bestows upon her varied hierarchic and charismatic gifts, and in this way directs her; and he adorns her with his fruits (cf. Eph 4:11-12; 1 Cor 12:4; Gal 5;22). By the power of the Gospel he permits the Church to keep the freshness of youth. Constantly he renews her and leads her to perfect union with her Spouse…Hence the universal Church is seen to be ‘a people brought into unity from the unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit’” (LG, 4). This is a very full text that would require much commentary. It highlights the pneumatological origins of the Church’s nature and activity in the Risen Christ. Referring to Scriptural themes, it recalls the plurality and diversity of the hierarchical and charismatic gifts in the Church. All of this is presented in the historical and dynamic context of a continuous rejuvenation and renewal by which the Church constantly grows and matures, yearning for perfect union with her Spouse. The final citation in the section just quoted refers to our being gathered into unity from the unity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This citation comes from St. Cyprian. It isn’t just a summary statement of the plan of salvation. What it tells us is that through the gift and action of the Spirit, trinitarian love is rendered objective and concrete in the relationships of complementarity and reciprocity between the various gifts that build up the Church. In line with the teaching of the Council, one contemporary writer has commented that the Holy Spirit is given and gives himself as “a powerful force of renewal and unity. Where He is present, communion arises, humanity is gathered into the unity of the Father, of the Son and of the Spirit, the Church is present: ubi Spiritus Dei, illic Ecclesia. On the other hand, the Spirit is also present in the Church as fruit. Where the ecclesial praxis is lived in charity (en agápe), there he becomes (in a certain sense) something he was not before: the in-the-midst-person of the ecclesial communion, the realm of action shared and so unifying. Where believers live in communion, there ecclesial life gets transmitted: ubi Ecclesia, ibi est Spiritus Dei”. By focusing our attention on the “charismatic gifts”, the well-known text of Lumen Gentium 12 brings us a step further. On more than one occasion John Paul II links LG 4 and LG 12 to the ecclesial movements. Von Balthasar comments that since the ordained ministry too is born and nurtured from a gift of the Spirit, it can be said that through the work of the Holy Spirit the whole Church is founded “on objective and subjective charism”. On the one hand, the ministerial and sacramental gifts communicate the objectivity of Christ’s ministry to the People of God. But in a more specific and restricted sense, the charismatic gifts too are directed towards bringing to maturity in ever new ways reception of the mystery of Christ in the subjectivity of individual believers and of the Church herself. This reception is expressed in three attitudes that define the relationship of the Church to her Lord: virginal openness to the gift that comes to her from God in Christ; spousal communion with Him and, in him, among her members; maternal fruitfulness in generating new disciples and bringing believers to the full maturity of Christ (cf. Eph 4:13). The novelty of the “charismatic gifts” In reading John Paul II’s writings, there is frequent mention of “novelty” in reference to the charismatic gifts. “They can take a great variety of forms, both as a manifestation of the absolute freedom of the Spirit who abundantly supplies them, and a response to the varied needs of the Church in history” (Christifideles Laici, 24). Even though absolutely unforeseeable and free, the action of the Spirit in history points in fact to the progressive realisation of the mystery of salvation: “Christ in you, hope of glory” (cf. Col 1:27). There is a history of charisms that is interwoven inseparably with the very history of the Church. Each of these charism – writes von Balthasar – is like a strike of lightning destined to light up a unique and original point of the will of God for the Church in a given time, manifesting “a new type of conformity to Christ inspired by the Holy Spirit, and therefore a new illustration of how the Gospel is to be lived… a new interpretation of revelation”. And this is where we see the characteristic novelty of charismatic gifts. It is not a question of absolute novelty. God the Father, in giving us his Son made flesh, has said and given us everything in him. The novelty lies rather in the fact that the Holy Spirit from time to time highlights, enlightens and puts into operation a particular aspect of the inexhaustible mystery of Christ. Within the providential plan of God who guides history, the aspect that gets highlighted is a powerful response to the issues of a particular era. It actuates, as it were, a new kairós of the coming of God among us. And all of this is line with the promise Jesus himself made: “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth…he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (Jn 16:13-15). The fullness of truth and grace has been given in Christ Jesus (cf. 1:17). All charismatic gifts are relative to that. Charisms are dispensed by the Spirit throughout the history of the Church. The novelty of these gifts and of the proclamation of Christ that comes to the Church from them cannot but represent a new increase in the Church’s self-understanding and self-configuration. All of this, of course, takes place within the substantial continuity of the “deposit of faith”. The Ecclesial movements and the mission of the Church today In view of the previous consideration, we can ask ourselves: what word, what gift does the Holy Spirit want to say and share with the Church today through the Movements? In order to offer a response, I think we would have to look briefly at something of the novelty of our times and then also how the Second Vatican Council responds so much to that novelty. With regard to the discernment of our times, I will limit myself to just two points worth noting. The first – and this applies particularly to the Western world, but it has a universal dimension – has to do with the end of modernity. In other words, for better or for worse, we are living at a time considered to be the conclusion of an era in which a model of humanism (both individually and collectively) centred on the affirmation of the subject-man. This affirmation of subjectivity was set against positions of otherness, be this otherness God or other people. The great “ideological narratives” of modernity have dissolved tragically and we are now in a large new realm, waiting for something new. The second element has to do with humanity’s irreversible journey towards acquiring a planetary consciousness of the human family. This requires understanding and working out differences (of culture, traditions, religions etc.) in a context of openness to the other and mutual relationship at all levels (political, economic, cultural and spiritual). In this case too, humanity is being prompted to cross the threshold of a difficult and risky novelty. Against this background the self-understanding of the Church expressed in Vatican II becomes surprisingly relevant right from the first number of Lumen Gentium “the Church, in Christ, is the sacrament of union with God and unity of the whole humankind”. This means that God and human beings, or me and others, are not to be considered in terms of some dialectic competition as you find in the dualistic logic of the servant/master relationship. In Christ, the relationship between God and humankind, and intersubjective relationships among people, have been taken into, revealed and redeemed in the realm of trinitarian reciprocity. In other words, they participate in the divine life which subsists between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. As Vatican II’s document on the Church in the modern world, Gaudium et Spes 24, teaches, this reciprocity is realised “through the sincere gift of self” (cf. Lk 17:33) that Christ Jesus revealed and realised in fullness in the kenosis of abandonment and death on the cross. This is the context in which the identity and mission of the charismatic gifts of the Spirit are to be considered. We shall do so under headings that John Paul II offers us as the way to read the Second Vatican Council – in terms of mystery, communion and mission. Before doing so, it is worth recalling how charisms and Magisterial teaching have worked together in history. The Magisterium of the Church manifests the apostolic continuity and catholic unity of the Church’s mystery and institution. It discerns if a charism is in accordance with the Gospel, and it also discerns a charism’s timeliness in terms of the needs of the church and the world. And charisms give life to teachings of the Church. The Second Vatican Council is the Magisterial teaching for our era. The charisms have to do with its reception in the life of the Church. Historical parallels come to mind. Take, for instance, the Council of Trent. It would never have become part of the lived reality of the Catholic Church were it not that, alongside exceptional pastors like Charles Borromeo, there were also charisms – like Ignatius of Loyola, to take but one example – capable of taking up in an exemplary and energetic manner the reforming drive of the Council. In a similar fashion today, the people of God is called to both a faithful and creative reception of the teaching of Vatican II. And today too, alongside marvellous pastors, there are all kinds of initiatives in particular churches that have facilitated an encounter for many with the letter and spirit of the Council. But it is also quite possible that today too the Spirit wants to give his contribution not only through more widespread charisms, but also through special charisms. At this point, we want now to pursue some elements of how the Movements play their part in helping us hear what the Holy Spirit is saying and sharing with the Church today in this period following Vatican II. The Movements and Mystery of the Church Frstly, the discovery of the Church-mystery. To rediscover (and live) the Church as mystery means highlighting the Church as the sacrament of Christ. The Church is the presence of Christ, indeed “the Christ present” (as Bonhoeffer put it). And this not only in the sense that the Church is generated, nourished and guided by the Word, by the sacraments and by the ordained ministry, but – as a consequence – in the sense that as a community of disciples, she is the sign and instrument of encounter with the risen Christ. And this is precisely – it seems to me – a specific feature of the ecclesial movements. As communities living as a communion of disciples, they make the presence of Christ, the Emmanuel, become an event. A second aspect of the rediscovery of the Church as mystery has to do with her spousal nature. She is not only (in the already/but not yet of the Christian eschatology) one with Christ, but she is also in front of him as the Spouse who is called to be clothed in the Spirit with the nuptial garment of holiness. The ecclesial movements trace a way of holiness that’s not elite but rather open to all. As von Balthasar commented, it is precisely to them that Providence has entrusted concretely, although obviously not exclusively, the animation and putting into practice of the conciliar programme of the universal call to holiness (LG, 5) and the decisive presence of the laity in the Church and in the Church’s apostolate in the world (LG 4 and AA). The Movements and the Church as Communion A second point that can be noted is the emergence of the movements at a time when ecclesiology is focusing on the Church as people of God and a communion. Charisms have always been recognised throughout the history of the Church. But today they are beginning to be recognised as important in a structural manner for the shaping of the Church-communion. More than in the past, what has been highlighted today is the fact that a group of Christians can share in a charism and that this helps share the building up of the Church body and its evangelising mission (cf. Christifideles Laici, 24,29). A constitutive characteristic of the movements is their ecclesial nature. They are open to all the vocations and to all the states of life present in the people of God. J. Beyer has pointed out that “the very notion of communion is not understandable unless it is made visible in the living Church. It seems that it is precisely to make this communion understood and experienced that the new forms” of Christian life were born. The Ecclesial movements as well as other forms and experiences can satisfy the need today for “schools of the ecclesiology of communion” that are so necessary to translate the teachings of the Council into action. The emphasis on Church communion today demands a conversion to a communional spirituality. The relationship of complementary reciprocity among the various ecclesial vocations must also be operative in relations between the movements and the (universal and particular) Church and in relations between the movements within the Church. In speaking of his order and of the relationship with other orders, St. Bernard of Clareville said: “I admire them all. I belong to one of them through observance, but to all of them in charity. We all need each other. The spiritual good that I lack I receive from others. In this exile, the Church is still on a journey and, if I can put it like this, the Church is plural. It is one plurality and a plural unity. And all our differences that manifest the wealth of God’s gifts will subsist in the one home of the Father that has many mansions. Now there is division of grace, then there will be distinction of glories. Unity, be it here or there, consists in charity”. The Church and the Church as Mission A similar point can be made with regard to the aspect of mission. It is immediately evident that the movements are in tune with the call to a “new evangelisation”. They have shown a new capacity to become instruments of openness and transmission of faith in Jesus Christ. Not least because they provide a possibility for giving Gospel witness – “Come and see” (cf. Jn 1:39). Faced with the challenge of postmodernity and global planning, it has become urgent today to return to an original experience of the Gospel. Such an experience has to be one that is able to render present the leaven of the Kingdom of God in those areas of life so crucial for the future. This is possible where the form of evangelisation is “new” in that it is capable of showing the novelty of Jesus Christ today in the life of believers and in their mutual relationships. In this light, the cultural aspect of evangelisation and commitment in the world take on their importance. Perhaps it will only be in the future that it will be fully realised that implications flow from these charisms to do with the understanding and very realisation of revelation as viewed from a particular angle. Such understandings of revelation from particular perspectives is in line with that “concentration of faith” that is spoken of today, namely that concentration on the essential for a more incisive proclamation, existential assimilation and socio-cultural fruitfulness. It would be worth reflecting further upon the meaning of the ecclesial movements also in the areas of ecumenical and inter-religious dialogue. Members of other Church, and indeed, believers of other religions and people of good will, share in the spirit and life of some of these movements. And that has an ecclesiological significance as Christifideles Laici points out (n.33). From an ecumenical point of view, this points us in the direction of a spiritual and practical realisation of that real, albeit imperfect, communion that all the baptised in Christ share (cf. UR, 3). If this is true then – as S. Bulgakow wrote back in 1933 – “it is the duty of ecclesial love, to perceive and render manifest the spiritual basis of Christian ecumenism, not only as an idea, but also as something that exists, a gift of grace. We have been given the experience of it as the breath of the grace of the Holy Spirit, as a manifestation of Pentecost, when people begin to understand one another in the diversity of languages”. With regard to inter-religious dialogue, it does seem that we are dealing with providential signs of the possibility opening up today for the Church to enter “a new stage of history in her missionary dynamism” (n. 35). Some initiatives have shown ways through which the great cultural and religious traditions, without renouncing their own richness, can be transfigured in the meeting with the Crucified and Risen Christ. The Ecclesial Movements and the Marian Principle I would like by way of conclusion to refer to the Marian principle of the Church about which Hans Urs von Balthasar has written so much. The primary and ultimate meaning of the Church is to generate Christ as “all in everyone” (Col 3:11). If this is so, we need to reflect further on De Montfort’s comment to the effect that there are two who work together in synergy both in generating the Son of God in the flesh and, in him, all of us as children of the Father. These two are the Holy Spirit and Mary. Since the movements are a gift of the Spirit, they cannot but have something to do with Mary. In a memorable address given by John Paul II to the Roman Curia, he spoke of the Marian principle as being as fundamental (if not more so) as the apostolic-Petrine profile of the Church. Von Balthasar has emphasised the need to revive in the whole people of God – hierarchy, laity, consecrated – the Marian form of being Church. And he recognises in the movements a stimulus and providential opportunity for this. The Marian character of the movements’ identity and mission can be seen in a number of ways – their charismatic origin and the primacy of spirituality that characterises them; their predominantly lay and ecclesial profile, their communal and ecumenical dimension; the authentically dialogical openness towards other Churches and followers of other religions. The life of Mary, shaped and guided by the Spirit is a “letting it happen” of the event of the God’s coming among us in the history of humanity. And this is echoed in the relationships between members of the Church and the social forms in which they are organised. Von Balthasar invites us to look at Mary as “the archetypal Church, upon whose form we should form ourselves. We: that means every single Christian and it means perhaps even more, our image of what the Church is. We are for ever concerned with reshaping and improving the Church in accordance with the demands of the time, following the criticisms of opponents and our own models. But do we not thereby lose sight of the one fulfilled standard, indeed the Model? Should we not constantly keep our eyes fixed on Mary … simply to know what Church, what ecclesial Spirit, and what ecclesial behaviour really is?”. Piero Coda
Jun 27, 2001 | Non categorizzato
Jun 27, 2001 | Non categorizzato
“ECCLESIAL MOVEMENTS FOR A NEW EVANGELIZATION” Programme 28/06/2001 
June 26 Introduction and presentation of participants Chiara Lubich: “The Focolare Movement’s Evangelization” Eucharistic concelebration presided by Cardinal Darío Castrillon-Hoyos, Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy “In the Spirit of Communion”: a look at the history of charisms in the Church (video) Prof. Andrea Riccardi: “Development of communion among the ecclesial Movements and with the Pastors of the Church, from ’98 to today” Natalia Dallapiccola, focolarina: “The God of today: Jesus crucified and forsaken, key to ecclesial communion” Group Meetings according to the different regions 27 June Prof. Piero Coda, professor at the Pontifical Lateran University: “Hierarchical and charismatic gifts working together in communion for the building up and mission of the Church” Cardinal James Francis Stafford, President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity: “The contribution of the ecclesial Movements to evangelization in a secularized world” Eucharistic concelebration Fr. Michael Marmann of Schönstatt: “The Work of Schönstatt and Evangelization” – Dialogue Dr. Stefano Gennarini: “The Evangelization of the Neo-Catechumenate Way” – Dialogue Dr. Salvatore Martinez, national co-ordinator of the Renewal in the Spirit: “Evangelization and the Renewal in the Spirit” Group Meetings according to the different regions 28 June Bishop Vincenzo Paglia, Bishop of Terni: “The experience of the Community of Sant’Egidio” – Dialogue Dr. J. Carrascosa and Fr. Gerolamo Castiglioni: “The experience of Communion and Liberation” – Dialogue Graziella De Luca, focolarina: Presentation of the video documentary “Miracle in the Forest” Eucharistic concelebration presided by Cardinal F.X. Nguyên Van Thuân Conclusion
Jun 27, 2001 | Non categorizzato
June 26 Introduction and presentation of participants Chiara Lubich: “The Focolare Movement’s Evangelization” Eucharistic concelebration presided by Cardinal Darío Castrillon-Hoyos, Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy “In the Spirit of Communion”: a look at the history of charisms in the Church (video) Prof. Andrea Riccardi: “Development of communion among the ecclesial Movements and with the Pastors of the Church, from ’98 to today” Natalia Dallapiccola, focolarina: “The God of today: Jesus crucified and forsaken, key to ecclesial communion” Group Meetings according to the different regions 27 June Prof. Piero Coda, professor at the Pontifical Lateran University: “Hierarchical and charismatic gifts working together in communion for the building up and mission of the Church” Cardinal James Francis Stafford, President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity: “The contribution of the ecclesial Movements to evangelization in a secularized world” Eucharistic concelebration Fr. Michael Marmann of Schönstatt: “The Work of Schönstatt and Evangelization” – Dialogue Dr. Stefano Gennarini: “The Evangelization of the Neo-Catechumenate Way” – Dialogue Dr. Salvatore Martinez, national co-ordinator of the Renewal in the Spirit: “Evangelization and the Renewal in the Spirit” Group Meetings according to the different regions 28 June Bishop Vincenzo Paglia, Bishop of Terni: “The experience of the Community of Sant’Egidio” – Dialogue Dr. J. Carrascosa and Fr. Gerolamo Castiglioni: “The experience of Communion and Liberation” – Dialogue Graziella De Luca, focolarina: Presentation of the video documentary “Miracle in the Forest” Eucharistic concelebration presided by Cardinal F.X. Nguyên Van Thuân Conclusion
Jun 5, 2001 | Non categorizzato
Jun 5, 2001 | Non categorizzato
May 31, 2001 | Non categorizzato, Word of
Don't think that just because you walk the streets of the world you can look at all the advertisements indiscriminately and buy just any publication from the newsstand or bookstore. Don't think that just because you are in the world, you can adopt everything the world does, for instance, a relaxed morality, abortion, divorce, hatred, violence, dishonesty…
No! No! You are in the world; no on can deny that.
But you are a Christian; therefore, you are not of the world.
This fact makes a great difference. It places you among those who live not according to what the world says, but according to what the voice of God suggests to them from within. It is in the heart of every human being. If you listen to it, it will lead you into a kingdom that is not of this world, where true love, justice, purity, meekness, and evangelical poverty are lived, where self-control is the norm.
Why do many young people become followers of the Oriental religions, hoping to find some silence and to discover the secret of certain spiritual masters of the East, who, after a long process of mortifying their inferior self, radiate a kind of love that touches everyone who meets them?
It is a very natural reaction to the uproarious sounds of the world, to the noise around us and within us which leaves no room for the silence we need in order to hear God's voice.
But is it really necessary to go to the East, when for two thousand years Christ has been saying to you: “Deny yourself… deny yourself”?
The world is coming at you head-on, like a river in flood, and you must go against the current. For a Christian the world is like a thick forest land and you have to look very carefully where to step. And where should you step? In the footprints which Christ himself laid down for you while he was passing through this world; these footsteps are his words: Today, he repeats to you:
«If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself…»
If you follow Christ, you may be scorned, misunderstood, laughed at, slandered, isolated. You must be ready to lose face, to give up the easy-going, socially acceptable way of being a Christian.
But there is more:
«… take up his cross daily and follow me.»
Whether we like it or not, suffering is a part of everyone's life, yours as well. Sufferings, great and small, come our way every day.
Do you try to avoid them? Do you rebel against them? Do you feel like cursing them? Then you are not a Christian.
Even amidst tears, Christians love the cross. They love suffering because they know that suffering has value. God had innumerable ways at his disposal by which he could have saved humankind. When he chose to use suffering, he did it for a reason.
It's important to remember, however, that after having carried the cross and having been nailed to it, Jesus rose.
Resurrection is also your destiny if you do not despise but accept with love the suffering brought on by your faithfulness to a Christian way of life, and every other suffering that each day brings with it. By doing so you will see that even here on earth the cross is a way leading to a joy you have never experienced before. You will begin to grow spiritually. The kingdom of God will become firmly established in you. Little by little the world around you will begin to look like a fake construction made of cardboard. You will no longer envy anyone.
Then you will be able to call yourself a follower of Christ.
«If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me».
And, like Christ whom you have followed, you will be light and love for the countless suffering people in today's world.
Chiara Lubich
May 20, 2001 | Focolare Worldwide
May 20, 2001 | Focolare Worldwide
May 6, 2001 | Non categorizzato
May 4, 2001 | Non categorizzato
Engagements at an ecclesial and civic level. Meetings with members of the Focolare Movement in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the Ukraine. Prominence given by to this visit by the media in the Czech Republic. The expansion of the Focolare Movement in Eastern Europe during the 1960s . Program – The spread of the Focolare Movement First visit to the Czech Republic On 27 April, a press conference was held with Chiara Lubich. It was attended by journalists from leading national television networks and radio stations, from independent newspapers as well as from the Christian press. On 28 April, Chiara gave a talk on “The New Evangelisation” to the 2nd National Gathering of Ecclesial Movements and New Communities in Prague. On 30 April she spoke to around 2,000 members of the Focolare Movement who had come together for a three-day meeting in Prague from the Ukraine, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Lucia Fronza e Antoni Baggio, representatives of the international secretariat of the Movement for Unity in Politics, met with a group of about 60 adherents of the Focolare Movement who work in the field of politics. They presented the birth of this new initiative, its developments and current actions. On 3 May, Chiara was invited by the Episcopal Conference of the Czech Republic to speak on “The Charismatic Dimensions of the Church and the New Evangelisation”. Giuseppe Zanghì, editor of the Focolare’s cultural journal “New Humanity”, spoke on the theme “Jesus Crucified and Forsaken, Key to the Spirituality of Communion” drawing parallels between it and the Apostolic Letter of Pope John Paul II, “Novo Millennio Ineunte”. Fr Silvano Cola, delegate for the Dialogue among Movements and New Communities, spoke on the topic “Dialogue and Communion among the New Charisms”. Chiara Lubich concluded her visit in the Czech Republic with a visit to the newborn little town of the Focolare Movement in Vinor, in the vicinity of the Prague. From the 6th of May, visit to Slovakia 7-8 May – Meeting with the men and women focolarini of the Czech Republic and Slovakia 9 May – Chiara Lubich has been invited to give her personal experience, and the experience of the Focolare Movement, to the Episcopal Conference. 10 May – Chiara has been received by the President of the Parliament, Josef Migas, and by the Vice President, Pavol Hrusovsky. This has been followed by a meeting with a delegation of MPs and representatives of various political groups. Chiara will speak on “Fraternity in Politics”. On 12 May, at the Sports Stadium in Bratislava, more than 5,000 people will gather for a meeting which will include experiences from the beginnings of the Focolare Movement, local experiences and artistic contributions. There will be a presentation on the spirituality of the Movement with its impact on youth, on the family, on the economy, in politics and within the Church. In the afternoon, Chiara Lubich will illustrate one of the cardinal points of the spirituality, “Unity and Jesus Crucified and Abandoned”, with the growth and development of various dialogues, including ecumenism and interreligious dialogue.
Apr 30, 2001 | Non categorizzato, Word of
Jesus is giving his powerful, intense farewell address to his apostles, and he has just assured them, among other things, that they will see him again, because he will reveal himself to those who love him.
Then Jude asks him why he intends to reveal himself only to them and not to everyone. The disciple was hoping for a great public manifestation of Jesus, one that could change the course of history, and that would be, in his opinion, more effective for the salvation of the world. In fact, the apostles thought of Jesus as the long-awaited prophet of the last days who would reveal himself to everyone as the King of Israel and, putting himself at the head of the people of God, would definitively establish the Kingdom of the Lord.
Instead, Jesus explains that he will not reveal himself in a spectacular and external way. His will be a simple but extraordinary “coming” of the Trinity into the hearts of the faithful, wherever there is faith and love.
With this answer, Jesus indicates how he will remain in the midst of his own after his death, and he explains how it will be possible to establish a relationship with him.
«If anyone loves me he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make our home with him.»
Jesus can be present in Christians and in the midst of the community not only after his death, but in a certain sense even now. There is no need to wait for the future. The temple that welcomes him is not so much one of bricks and mortar, but rather it is the very heart of the Christian, which thus becomes the new tabernacle, the living dwelling place of the Trinity.
«If anyone loves me he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make our home with him» (John 14:23).
But how can Christians achieve this? How can they have God come and dwell in their hearts? How can they enter into this profound communion with him?
Through love for Jesus, a love that is not mere sentimentalism, but a love that is translated into everyday living, and more precisely, into keeping his words.
It is to this love on the part of a Christian, verified by facts, that God responds with his own love: the Trinity comes to dwell in the person's heart.
«If anyone loves me he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make our home with him» (John 14:23).
“… keep my words”.
What are the words that the Christian is called to keep?
In John's Gospel, “my words” are often synonymous with “my commandments”. Therefore, the Christian is called to keep Jesus' commandments. But these should not be viewed as a list of laws. They should be understood as being summed up in what Jesus illustrated by washing his disciples' feet: the commandment of mutual love. God commands all Christians to love one another to the point of giving themselves completely, as Jesus taught and did.
«If anyone loves me he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make our home with him» (John 14:23).
How can we live this Word of Life well? How can we reach the point in which the Father himself will love us and the Trinity will come to dwell within us? By loving one another with all our hearts, and doing it with decision and perseverance.
It is principally through loving in this way that we Christians can begin to live that deep-reaching Christian asceticism that the crucified Jesus demands of us. For, the practice of mutual love causes the other virtues to blossom in our hearts and this love is also the surest gauge of Christian holiness.
Chiara Lubich
Apr 27, 2001 | Focolare Worldwide
Among the movements were: the Neocatechumenal Way, of Spanish origin, the St Egidio Community, the Focolare Movement and the Movement for a Better World, of Italian origin, Chemin Neuf and Emmanuel Community, of French origin, Regnum Christi, originating in Mexico, Mother’s Prayer Movement, of English origin and Schoenstatt of German origin “Thinking back to the communist era, the idea of a united world was totally inconceivable. Here, at this meeting, we have witnessed a new humanity.” “No longer were we members of different movements and ecclesial communities but one single family.” “This was a wonderful experience of Church which truly moved me.” “Each time the movements meet together, I realise that the fervour to proclaim Christ in our secularised society continues to grow.” “What I have witnessed today is for me a sign of hope for the future.” “Today I discovered how many great gifts there are in all the charisms: they all help us to understand God more; each one reveals a different beauty, a different light.” “We now have before us the whole of society, and with our unity we have to transform it.” These were just some of the spontaneous impressions shared by young people, families, people of all ages and backgrounds who had come from all parts of the Czech Republic to participate in the meeting in the sports stadium. Their comments express the atmosphere of the meeting: joyful hope and new strength to be on the frontlines in proclaiming the Gospel. This is a significant landmark in the Czech Republic where more than half the population consider themselves atheists. Its society is characterised by a general disorientation due to the impact of the materialistic Western consumer culture. These were just some of the spontaneous impressions shared by young people, families, people of all ages and backgrounds who had come from all parts of the Czech Republic to participate in the meeting in the sports stadium. Their comments express the atmosphere of the meeting: joyful hope and new strength to be on the frontlines in proclaiming the Gospel. This is a significant landmark in the Czech Republic where more than half the population consider themselves atheists. Its society is characterised by a general disorientation due to the impact of the materialistic Western consumer culture. Testimonies were shared by members of the various ecclesial movements and new communities. These expressed the power of love experienced in the encounter with God which generated profound changes in their lives. Among those who spoke was Chiara Lubich whose first visit to the Czech Republic was eagerly awaited. She illustrated with deep spiritual intensity the theme of the meeting. These witnesses were a response to the urgent need, expressed repeatedly by Pope John Paul II, of a vibrant proclamation of the Gospel in a de-Christianised world. The program of the day was very full: it included testimonies, artistic contributions and prayer. This meeting was not an isolated event. The “common witness” which the Holy Father hoped “would enliven the heart of the Church with the wealth of all the charisms” has become a style of life. So far there have been 150 such meetings in different parts of the world among ecclesial movements and new communities. Bishop Radkosvki, delegate of the Czech Bishops’ Commission for the Laity, outlined the story of the growth of these meetings which began from that “intuition of the Holy Father who with great foresight invited the movements to make known the charismatic face of the Church”. “This springtime which is about to reawaken” was announced by the Holy Father at the first historic meeting of ecclesial movements and new communities attended by hundreds of thousands of people gathered in St Peter’s Square on the vigil of Pentecost 1998. “The effusion of the Holy Spirit experienced that day has never faltered.”
Apr 27, 2001 | Focolare Worldwide
Apr 27, 2001 | Non categorizzato
Apr 21, 2001 | Non categorizzato
Apr 13, 2001 | Non categorizzato
