Nov 24, 2018 | Non categorizzato
At a time when the Catholic Church is celebrating the Feast of Christ the King, the following text by Chiara Lubich explains the importance and meaning this feast day had in the story of the Focolare Movement right from its earliest days during the Second World War. You know the episode of those early days during the war, when we first focolarine found ourselves in a cellar where we had taken refuge from the bombs, and we opened the Gospel. Everything was dark and in the light of a candle we read the last will and testament of Jesus. We had opened the Gospel at random and read this passage from beginning to end. It was a difficult text for us because we were young and our education had reached only up to a certain point, but we had the impression that those words were illuminated for us, one by one. Now we can understand that it was the effect of the charism that had been given to us, a charism that gives a new light to the soul of the person who receives it, for the benefit, then, of all those who come in contact with it. What we understood, above all, was that Jesus had prayed for unity: “That they may all be one, Father, as you and I are one.” May they all be one. We understood very clearly that that page of the Gospel, Jesus’ testament, was the magna charta of the movement that was coming to life. Naturally, we immediately realized that it would not be easy to bring about unity; we didn’t know how to do it. One day we gathered around an altar – there were seven or eight of us first focolarine. I remember that it was the feast of Christ the King and we were struck by what was written in our missal for that feast day, which has now been changed a little in the liturgy. We told Jesus: “We feel called to fulfill what you prayed for – unity – but we don’t know how to bring it about. If you want, make us instruments of unity.” And then, knowing that it was the feast of Christ the King, we remembered that in the liturgy of the Mass on that day it said: “Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possession” (Ps 2:8). I remember that we, who were mere girls, but full of faith, believing that God could do anything, asked, if it were possible, that we could serve him to the very ends of the earth. Now after 58 years of life, we see that he answered our prayer, because as you know our movement is Catholic and ecumenical, and we are in contact with the faithful of 350 churches, with numerous Church leaders. … Now we see that the Lord answered the prayer of us young girls, leading us to develop this movement among the various churches, and also among other religions, and even among people without any religious affiliation, to the very ends of the earth; practically speaking to every nation of the world. Source: Centro Chiara Lubich
Nov 24, 2018 | Non categorizzato
“If one day all people, not as individuals but as nations, learn to put themselves aside, to put aside the idea they have about their own country, … and if they were to do this as the expression of the mutual love between States that God wants, just as he wants mutual love among individuals, that day will mark the beginning of a new era. For on that day, Jesus will be alive and present among peoples. … Now is the time for every people to go beyond its own borders, to look farther. Now is the time to love other countries as our own, to acquire a new purity of vision. To be Christians it is not enough to be detached from ourselves. The times we live in ask something more of the followers of Christ: the awareness of Christianity’s social dimension. … … We hope that the Lord may have mercy on this divided and confused world, on peoples closed within their own shells, contemplating their own beauty – so special to them – although it is limited and unsatisfying. With clenched teeth they hang on to their own treasures, those very treasures that could help other peoples, where many are dying of hunger. May the Lord cause the barriers to fall, and charity to flow unhindered between one land and another, in an endless stream of spiritual and material goods. Let us hope that the Lord brings about a new order in the world. Only he can make humanity one family and cultivate the distinctive characteristics of each people, so that the splendour of each, placed at the service of others, may shine with the one light of life. By making each earthly country beautiful, this light will make each one a foretaste of the eternal Country”. Chiara Lubich
Excerpt from “Mary, bond of unity among nations”, Summer 1959 – Published in “Essential Writings”, New City Press, New York, 2007. pp. 231-2
Nov 23, 2018 | Non categorizzato
A tri-monthly magazine for those who work in all levels in the ecclesial ambit, in synergy with between the Work of Mary and the Città Nuova Publishing Group. What is it about? «Pathways of communion and dialogue» is the subtitle that reveals the style that characterizes the contents. Their aim was bold and daring: to give life to a new magazine that would express and be at the service of an ecclesial commitment, not just of some branches but of the whole Movement. It will be Ekklesía. Sentieri di comunione e dialogo (Pathways of communion and dialogue) which will be out at the end of this year. This new magazine from the Città Nuova Publishing House is aimed at being a «source of inspiration, an instrument of formation and an aid to action» not only for those who know the Charism of Unity, but also for many people committed to a Church that is going out, in tune with the Second Vatican Council, with the guidelines of the pontificate of Pope Francis and with the ecumenical experience. Carlos García Andrade, Hubertus Blaumeiser
Nov 23, 2018 | Non categorizzato
The “International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women,” instituted by the UN in 1999, is celebrated each year on 25 November, as an invitation to the governments, international organisations and nonprofit Associations to undertake campaigns to raise public awareness and bring about change. Much has been done, but there is still a lot to do. There is no need to go to faraway countries to see cruel violence still practiced on women, even in our own environments and in the most sordid silence. The words of St. John Paul II still echo forcefully in the apostolic letter, Mulieris dignitatem (MD, 15/08/1988), which underlines that “God created man and woman to his image, not only as singles, but in their common humanity, as a “two-fold unit.” Woman and man therefore, are essentially equal, and are both persons, called as such to participate in the intimate life of God and live in mutual communion in love, based on the model of God who is Love, which is unity in the Trinity, and to reflect in the world the communion of love in God (MD 7).” It is a goal which we can refer to daily, as individuals and as a society.
Nov 23, 2018 | Cultura, Focolari nel Mondo, Non categorizzato, Spiritualità
Innovation is on the horizon for focolare.org users. The Focolare website will soon appear in a restyled format and with additional navigational features. This is a project which the International Centre of the Focolare Movement in Rocca di Papa (Rome) has been developing over the last two years. The project aims at integrating the communication networks, carried out up till now by four separate publishing sectors (Website, Information Service, Mariapolis Newsletter, and Collegamento CH Worldwide Linkup), thus creating a unified “Communications Office”. Already operating since last February, this Office gathers news about the life of the Movement worldwide and transmits them through various media. Among its main objectives is to promote activities of the Focolare Movement, to communicate its life to a broader audience, and to contribute to a greater sharing of news among the various Focolare communities worldwide. The development of new communication technologies and trends called for the restyling of the website which includes a new graphic layout, significantly more minimalist in structure, and an upgraded navigational logic. The use of new applications will also allow for greater integration with the social media, and will enable users to access content in different and personalized modes. The new structure will, in fact, be mobile-friendly and as such will take into account the use of smartphones and other mobile technology in our daily life. It will focus on content that is brief and varied, available in different formats (text messages, infographics, video clips, etc). The contents of the current site, however, will not be lost. The static content will be published as an e-Book and in the future the news articles will be accessible through searchable archives. Also envisaged is a space, entitled “Mariapolis”, dedicated to news regarding many aspects of the life of the Focolare Movement. It bears the same name given to the traditional summer gatherings of the Focolare held around the world. The current print edition of the journal “Mariapolis” will be discontinued after December 2018. The digital version aims to be a virtual “community” open to anyone who wants to visit. A system of notifications will allow the users to choose when, which themes and channels, and the preferred device (PC, tablet or smartphone) they would like to receive the information on. Every two months, a “Mariapolis” newsletter in pdf format will deliver a summary of the main highlights. Happy surfing! Joachim Schwind
![Home of the nations, family of peoples]()
Nov 22, 2018 | Non categorizzato
Beatriz Lauenroth
It was a historic event for the ecumenical path: “That same evening, many had gathered not far away in Ottmaring, seat of the ecumenical town of the Focolare. Chiara Lubich was there with other representatives of the movements, like Andrea Riccardi of Sant’Egidio, and also other Protestants like Helmut Nicklas, head of the YMCA of Munich (Ecumenical Association of Christian Youths). They said: let’s join up, get to know one another, and start working together!” That first tract of the journey lead subsequently to the big “Together for Europe” events of 2004 and 2007, held in Stuttgart, and later in 2012, contemporaneously in 152 cities with the fulcrum in Brussels, and in 2016, in a main square of Munich, Germany, with 36 round tables and forums to share experiences, good practices and perspectives regarding Europe. In November 2017, the meeting of the friends of “Together for Europe” reached Vienna, the city bridge between East and West. On those days, this free forum of Christian movements and communities got together in Prague, on the occasion of the anniversary of the start of the so-called Velvet Revolution, the nonviolent revolution which in 1989, toppled the Czech communist regime: 
“It is a coincidence that strongly challenges the friends of ‘Together for Europe,’ to renew our common commitment of bringing the spirit of Christian humanism to post-century culture, thus offering our contribution in giving life and form to a more united Europe.” Beyond all the fears and prejudices, we wish to testify that the journey towards a Europe which is “home to the nations and family of peoples” is not a utopia. The Prague convention opened with the speech of the Czech theologian-philosopher, Tomáš Halík (Templeton-Prize 2014), a personal friend of Vaclav Havel, the first president of the newly constituted Czech Republic from 1993 to 2003, and then of Jaroslav Šebek, a member of the Historical Institute of the Science Academy of the Czech Republic, and of Pavel Fischer, Czech senator. The directors and representatives of the various Movements, 
Communities and Associations intervened to recall together another Europe, that of the big hopes and promises that arise from the rich heritage of an ethnic, social and cultural multiplicity, and that tends toward communion and dialogue. The Prague event has thus become an important step in the history of Together for Europe that continues to commit itself to a more united and fraternal Europe. “Often we mention ˗ Beatriz concluded ˗ the Founding Fathers of Europe, Schuman, De Gasperi and Adenauer. The youths say to us: let us work with you, so that the Europe of the fathers can also become the Europe of the sons and daughters.” Source: UnitedWorldProject
Nov 21, 2018 | Non categorizzato
A disabled daughter A parent never expects to have a disabled child. When this happened to us, my wife, already psychologically fragile, fell into a depression. I found myself taking care of the family in an unexpectedly new way. The first month, full of queries, I was isolating myself from friends and relatives. One day, at the staircase of the condominium, I met a couple who seemed to be very serene despite having a daughter with the Down syndrome. When I asked them how they managed to be so, their answer amazed me: “Our daughter is the biggest gift we could ever receive. She has brought us back to reality and the whole family benefited from it.” My wife and I went to visit them often. We learned about their faith, and day after day, thanks to them also we rediscovered the values we had neglected. (A. e G.F. – Italia) An unexpected gift Some relatives who had distanced themselves from us for inheritance reasons, accepted our invitation for them to stay with us for a few days. But when they told us the date of their arrival, it was not the best moment: we were having financial difficulties and I had no time to prepare the house as well as I would have wanted. Then I thought that the new found peace was the biggest gift and with the entire family we decided to do our best to make their stay a happy one. We would have liked also to give them a gift, but for want of anything better, our youngest son prepared a drawing and the oldest one, a welcome poem. The day before their arrival, in my husband’s company, the employees received a bonus package. When we opened it, there were two watches, a lady’s and a man’s watch: the unexpected gifts for our relatives. (R.H. – Germany) Another chance One of my sisters-in-law asked me the favour of taking her in our house for a period and to sign a bank loan she needed. Our house is small but we welcomed her sincerely. I saw that my husband however was very worried about the loan, considering that a few years back we had lent her a sum which she never returned. I told him that I would accept whatever decision he made, adding however that everyone should be given a chance to redeem himself. Doesn’t God himself do so with us? We signed the guarantee for the loan, which my sister-in-law is punctually paying back, even if at times not on time. As to me, I feel I have to continue helping her, and at times we have long talks during which she opens out to me as if I were a sister, overcoming the barriers that divide us. (M.D. – Paraguay) Totally at service After the death of our first girl, at only14 months, also the other two sons that arrived started to show the same symptoms. My wife and I were with bated breath, and the house became like a small hospital. However, trying to love one another, our children grew full of peace. How many times was I converted upon looking at them! Returning home after work, I tried to leave all my worries and problems behind, so as to be totally at their disposition. It could only work out this way, otherwise we would have been crushed by anguish and worries for the future. We concretely experienced that God is all powerful, and can give us a taste of paradise even in such a difficult situation. (G.M.B. – Italy)
Nov 20, 2018 | Focolare Worldwide
With a simple language like that of Jesus who used common terms that anyone could understand, to explain his kingdom, Sándor began his account of how he tried to incarnate the Gospel in everything he did. A group of farmers was formed around him that met regularly to their each other’s joys, pains and progress… They felt they had a mission. Their relationship with nature, such a source of wisdom, was a gift they could share with people living in the city. This simple little spark led to meeting with city mayors. From the meetings between mayors and farmers the need arose for creating an alternative to the globalization that sanctions and extinguishes so many traditions and values. In September 2016, they held a meeting which included experiences and presentations by specialists, with the goal of finding a way to give a soul to the area, beginning from the countryside. Some 350 people took part in the gathering, including 20 mayors. The 2cnd meeting was held last September in the Hungarian Municipality of Újkígyós, in the South East of the country where, despite the freezing weather, 500 people attended. 27 stands were set up to sell cheese, handmade rugs, honey, small furniture and marmalade… With gratuitousness and much generosity the farmers from many communes, boroughs and villages, offered the best of their culinary and artisan products. They also brought horses and gave rides to the children. It was a real feast for the population. 
The conference speakers included specialists in the fields of ecology, agriculture, noise pollution, farming, as well as researchers and university faculty who were all joined in strong and genuine friendship. This was not only the secret to the success of the project, but also the realizable path for making a contribution towards authentic fraternity. Even the local Mayor, who brought folkloristic groups, confided that he was seeing a “new soul” in the community. The parish priest underscored the efficacy of evangelizing in this way, which he experienced there. One of the organisers told me: “We didn’t have any political or institutional support: it was all a gift. The whole event didn’t cost a single penny: from the chairs, to the tents, to the tables. Here, as you can see, we’re all like brothers and sisters, because out in the villages, human relationships are the winning force. There is another kind of relationship between people in the city. They form circles, common interest groups, entertainment spots…but the people are isolated. They don’t know the people in their own condominium building. The farmers, because of their contact with nature, nurture a religious soul that knows the value and the cost of everything around them, and they acknowledge the sacredness of every human being, which is what Pope Francis continually calls us to do. This meeting seems like a small step, not only for the Church itself, but also for the society.” Franciscan Friar, Csaba Böjte, OFM, from Transylvania, Romania, also spoke at the event. He is famous beyond his homeland in Hungary and Eastern Europe where he and his volunteers provide a home for 1992 children and teenagers in difficult family problems. Currently there are 82 homes, and they welcome 2500 children. Sándor’s work is a pebble dropped into the ocean, but the circle is widening. Tanino Minuta
Nov 19, 2018 | Focolare Worldwide
Nov 19, 2018 | Non categorizzato
On 20 November 1959 the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child and approved in 1989, the International Convention on the rights of infants and adolescents. Based on the harmonization of different cultural and juridical experiences, the Convention enunciated for the first time, and in a coherent way, the fundamental rights to be recognized and guaranteed for all the children of the world. The document stated the four key issues: the lack of denunciation, greater interest, life and survival and development, and lastly, listening in all the decision-making processes. The Convention also provides for a control mechanism on the work of the States that have to present a periodic report on its implementation in their territories. According to UNICEF, every year millions of children continue to be victims of violence, abuse, abandonment, exploitation, wars and discrimination. A lot has been done, but still more must be done to achieve a concrete application of these principles.
