Mar 29, 2017 | Focolare Worldwide
Courageous impulse towards ecumenical commitment. Catholics and Lutherans can walk together on a path towards a full reconciliation. 500 years have passed since Luther’s Reformation movement, the commemoration of which will last a year, starting from 30 October last year to 31 October 2017 (a symbolical date that recalls the publication in 1517, of the Ninety-Five theses of Luther on indulgences and justification, in Wittenberg). Inauguration events started with a meeting in the Lutheran Cathedral of Lund in Sweden, between Bishop Munib Younan, President of the World Lutheran Federation, and Pope Francis. On that occasion, the Pope had invited all Christians united by baptism, to announce together the Word of God, putting an end to all the century-old theological disputes that had separated the two Churches, and underlining the common gifts received thanks to dialogue and mutual listening. The Italian journal Nuova Umanità (New Humanity) dedicated its 221st edition to this event, focusing on the work entitled, “Half a millennium after Luther” (published in March 2016). Curated by Hubertus Blaumeiser, it presents the essays of a Lutheran theologian, Theodor Dieter, and a Catholic theologian, Wolfgang Thönissen. The historically important Lund event was preceded by the document, “From conflict to communion,” published in 2013 by the Lutheran–Catholic Commission for Unity, which works on behalf of the World Lutheran Federation and the Pontifical Council for the promotion of unity among Christians. The text indicates five “ecumenical imperatives” to definitively overcome the causes of disagreements and live a season of common commitment in mutual trust. The First imperative: Catholics and Lutherans strongly united by baptism should start always from the perspective of unity and not from the point of view of division, to strengthen what they have in common, instead of underlining and experiencing differences. The Catholic and Lutheran Churches, in the course of history have defined themselves through disagreements. Now there is need of the contrary, of the experience of encouragement and reciprocal criticism. Then comes the second imperative: continually letting oneself be transformed by the encounter with the other and the reciprocal witness of faith, through dialogue that opens to various ways and degrees of communion. The Third: renewed commitment of oneself to seek visible unity and elaborate and develop together the concrete steps this implies, and constantly strive towards this objective. The Fourth: rediscover together the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for our time. And lastly the fifth: the missionary task of ecumenism becomes greater inasmuch as our societies become pluralistic from the religious standpoint, and this is why together we have to bear witness to God’s mercy in the Gospel announcement and service to the world. The report ends by saying: «The beginnings of the Reformation will be remembered in an adequate and just manner when Lutherans and Catholics will listen to the Gospel of Jesus Christ together, and will once again let themselves be called to form a community together with the Lord.» The genesis and development of such a document was deepened in edition 223 of New Humanity, dedicated specifically to this decisive step for ecumenism. Following the trail of the Lund event and as a logical consequence of the “theoretical” answer given by the Ecumenical Council of Churches, at the end of February in the town of Ottmaring and characterised by an outstanding ecumenical calling, the President and Co-President of the Focolare, in the name of the entire Movement undertook the commitment to testify to and work for communion between the Churches beyond all divisions. «As a global movement with many members who are Christians of many Churches, and which is thus already living the experience of a people united by mutual love […] we recognise in the Lund meeting a true and proper kairos, a sign of God for our time, which pushes Christians to commit themselves even more, to make the testament of Jesus – that all may be one – a reality. »
Mar 28, 2017 | Non categorizzato
The University Institute will be organising two open days at its international campus during which courses are presented in managerial skills in a changing world. Loppiano (Italy), 31 March and 30 April 2017
Mar 28, 2017 | Non categorizzato, Word of
https://www.focolare.org/gb/files/2017/03/201704Wol.mp3
Word of Life for ages 4-8 | for ages 9-14 | for ages 15-17 | MP3 Audio | Print
This was an invitation two travellers made to a stranger, having met him on their way from Jerusalem to the village of Emmaus. The stranger had come upon them while they were ‘talking and discussing’ all that had recently happened in that city, and he seemed to be the only person to know nothing about it. So the two of them welcomed him to walk with them, and they told him about ‘a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people’ (Lk 24:19). They had put their trust in him, yet he had been handed over by the chief priests and the leaders of the people to the Romans, condemned to death and crucified. It was an immense tragedy, and they could make no sense of it. As they walked, the stranger helped them understand the meaning of what had happened, based upon Scripture. It rekindled hope in their hearts. When they reached Emmaus, they urged him to join them for supper: ‘Stay with us, because it is almost evening.’ While at table together, the stranger blessed the bread and shared it with them. This gesture opened their eyes to who he was: the man once crucified and dead was now risen! The two of them immediately changed their plans. They went back to Jerusalem to find the other disciples and tell them the great news. We too can be disillusioned, appalled, disheartened by a terrible feeling of powerlessness in the face of injustices done to the innocent and defenceless. Our own lives have their share of pain, uncertainty, darkness… How we would like to transform it all into peace, hope, light for ourselves and for others! Do we want to meet Someone who can understand us to the core of our being, Someone who can shed light upon our journey through life? Jesus, the God-man, freely accepted to experience the tunnel of pain as we do, to meet each of us in the depths of our situations. He felt physical pain, but he also felt inner pain: from betrayal by his friends to the point even of feeling forsaken by that very God he had always called Father (see Mt 27:46; Mk 15:34). Through his unshakeable faith in the love of God, he overcame such immense pain, entrusting himself once more to the Father (Lk 23:46), and from the Father he received new life. Jesus has brought all of us onto this same path, and he wants to travel with us. In the April 1999 Focolare Word of Life, Chiara Lubich wrote, ‘He is there in anything that hurts us … Let’s try to recognize Jesus in all the distress and the tough situations in life, in all darkness, in our personal misfortunes and those of others, and in the sufferings of the world around us. They are him because he has made them his own. It would be enough … to do something practical to lessen “his” suffering in the poor … for us to … find … a new fullness of life.’ A seven-year-old girl shared her experience: ‘I was very sad when my daddy was sent to prison. I loved Jesus in him, so when we went to visit, I didn’t cry in front of him.’ A young wife said: ‘I accompanied my husband, Robert, through the last months of his life, after the doctors gave him no hope of recovery. I never left him for a moment. Seeing him, I saw Jesus. Robert was on the cross, really on the cross.’ Their love for one another became a source of light for their friends, who were drawn to compete in solidarity, never letting up and spreading to many others, giving rise to an association for social development called Abbraccio Planetario (‘global embrace’). ‘What we experienced with Robert,’ said one of his friends, ‘inspired us to follow him on a real journey towards God. We often ask ourselves the meaning of suffering, illness and death. I believe everyone who had the gift of sharing a part of the journey alongside Robert now has a very clear answer.’ This month all Christians celebrate the mystery of Jesus’ death and resurrection. It is a chance to rekindle our faith in God’s love, which allows us to transform pain into love. Every detachment, separation, failure, and death itself, can become for us too, a source of light and peace. Sure of God’s closeness to each of us, in any situation, let’s repeat with trust the disciples’ prayer at Emmaus, ‘Stay with us, because it is almost evening.’ Letizia Magri
Mar 28, 2017 | Non categorizzato
Discarded, outcast, crushed, seemingly with no escape: in their stories lie the inspiring sparks for this CSC Media production – a 20 minute video which recounts three true stories while maintaining anonymity. The protagonists who at the height of their pain come across a person – or rather the Person: Jesus. He too cried out in his abandonment on the cross, discarded by heaven and earth. They experience passing from death to life, from pain to love as expressed by some passages from Chiara Lubich which are included in the stories It is a project which was created thanks to a host of contributors. Featuring: Alessio De Caprio (Italy), Rafael Reyes Loyo (Mexico), and Sarah Finch (UK). Music by Sandro Crippa. Artwork by Roberto Cipollone (Bottega di Ciro, Italy). See trailer and more details at www.focolare.org/scartati. The video is available in three languages: Italian, Spanish and English.
Mar 27, 2017 | Non categorizzato
The international network HDC – Health Dialogue Culture (formerly known as MDC – Medicine Dialogue Communion) promotes a Congress in Sao Paulo, Brazil from 7 to September 10, 2017 entitled: Promoting Global Health: strategies and actions on the individual and collective level
Rationale of Congress:
Nowadays, it is accepted that biochemistry and genetics are not enough for an insightful understanding of health and illness. Both personal and sociocultural context should be taken into account and underpinned. As health contributes remarkably to economic growth and social well-being, the determinants of health should be considered as strategic. Health systems, then, have to look at patients in their wholeness and to respect their complexities and experiences. The relationships between health professionals and health managers and between them and users of health services are key elements of the healthcare system. Spiritual dimension too cannot be ignored and can have a substantial influence on quality of life, satisfaction and outcomes of personal health. The Congress aims to focus on those aspects in the endeavour of better understanding them and to share experiences and good practices.
Mar 27, 2017 | Senza categoria
Focolare representatives of 21 publishing houses gathered at the Mariapolis Conference Centre in CastelGandolfo, Italy, during March 24 -26, in order to share their professional experience and to discuss their identity and the new forms of collaboration envisaged on a global level. Maria Voce thanked them for their Important work in spreading the message of the Focolare Movement.
Mar 27, 2017 | Non categorizzato
On stage is a triumph of diversity. This is how Campus: the Musical, which played March 18 at the Mandela Forum in Florence, Italy, can be described. The show is a unique genre, in which people of various levels of disability, mostly young people, gather around professionals that make up the international performing arts group Gen Rosso. The troupe has been around since 1966, when it began from an idea inspired by Chiara Lubich’s charism. The choice of venue could not be more perfect. The sports arena at the center of Florence, where there are public events, sports, concerts and debates, in 2004 was changed to the Nelson Mandela Forum to bring high-caliber cultural events to the community, as well as a sense of openness, exchange and the happy meeting of diversity of all kinds. “The purpose of freedom is to create it for others,” Mandela used to say. For those whom freedom means moving and singing to the rhythms and textures of African ethno, samba, jazz, rock, pop or rap, it may get taken for granted. But for those who have a more difficult daily routine in a wheelchair, or who find it difficult to navigate a sidewalk, or who live with the limits of a psychological disability, it can seem like a dream. This is a dream that “Uniti senza barriere” (United without barriers), an association that works in the world of disability in that area, wanted to make reality, thanks to meeting Gen Rosso and collaborating with other associations and agencies that are active in the social sphere. Campus is inspired by true events, taking advantage of the palette of colors and decibels that the band uses to give voice and soul to the peaceful weapon of dialogue (which was so dear to Mandela). It is set on a university campus, where the stories of nine teens of different nationalities cross, young people searching for their way, with a weighty past behind them and an unknown future ahead to create. The musical has a global current running through it, supported by a narrative that points to the heart of challenges today, thanks to its universal language and a sound that is definitely live. The project has reached the stage after a long period of reflection on the key issues of our time: culture clashes, the struggle against terrorism of every kind, and migration. Rather than just respond, it proposes solutions that are tangible, such as the “Italia per” project (Italy for…), which the international group promotes with workshops and shows dedicated to specific problems. At the Nelson Mandela Forum, after many hours of rehearsals, disabled youth and children, and even four small infants with their mothers, made their debut dancing and singing a dream of unity and fraternity. Proud to take on their roles, emotions in their voices and faces ran high as the professional artists took a step back to leave them the stage and the applause (from close to 1,000 attending). Campus has certainly hit one of its marks: overturning traditional understandings of disability. It also shows what the true limits of our existence are: when we build up material and cultural barriers that divide us, or relate to someone disabled and think that we have something more to teach or show them. “It always seems impossible until it’s done,” Mandela would have said.
Mar 26, 2017 | Focolare Worldwide
I arrived in Baghdad as the Apostolic Nuncio to Iraq and Jordan, two weeks after the terrible 2010 attack in the Syrian-Catholic cathedral that provoked the death of two priests, 44 faithful and five soldiers. Upon visiting the cathedral, one can imagine the desolation and I had the deep impression that I had been sent there to share that pain. The relationships between Christians and Muslims had been compromised for years, up to the point that also in the Nunciature, for any work or purchase only Christians were chosen. I felt I had to go against the current. I started to try learning Arab (unfortunately with little success!) to be able to greet everyone. When I was allowed, I would chat with the guards assigned to protect the Nunciature, at times sharing the dinner they prepared, even if the soldiers were not the best of cooks. The nun who acted as my interpreter did not agree too much with this, but I was convinced that something had to be done. I felt I had to “trust” even if this brought about some surprise. Once a Muslim barber to whom I started to go to have the hair in my ears removed, put a bit of gas from his lighter into my ear to burn the hair. I knew it was ingenuity on my part, but done on purpose in order to see the other person’s viewpoint. The only Muslim who worked in the Nunciature was the gardener. When I left he said to me: “So you are going, and I wish you could leave me a bit of your peace.” He probably had seen that it was an interior peace which only Jesus can give. Once when speaking to the gen (the youth of the Focolare), Chiara Lubich recalled the Emperor Constantine, who had seen a cross in the sky bearing the words: “In this sign you will conquer” – and said that our weapon is Jesus Forsaken and there is no other way for unity other than the cross. There Jesus had taken upon himself every division and separation, and rose from the dead. Also for us the defeat will be transformed into victory. In May 2015 I was transferred to Cuba. The preparations for Pope Francis’s visit were underway. All was proceeding well, but a small diplomatic incident at the last minute shook the preparation activities. And in a second I lost my interior peace, precisely in the presence of the Pope. Upon entering the Havana Revolution square for the solemn Mass, I saw the stylised picture of Che Guevara, with the words: “Hasta la victoria, siempre!” (Towards victory, always!). I immediately thought of the key of our victory: Jesus Forsaken. And I understood that I could not reach victory if not by passing through that defeat. Jesus could not resurrect without dying. Jesus Forsaken is not the instrument to be used in cases of necessity to solve our problems. He is the Spouse with whom we should be “one flesh.” And if I complain about something or someone, I realise that I am complaining about Him. I can’t say that I have chosen Him if I prefer not to have problems. I know that I should be happy when there are some rather than when there are none. So the problems, divisions, wars, poverty etc., no longer frighten me. I don’t live waiting for them to end soon, but in the hope that arises from the certainty that in Him these have already been resolved. So I live serenely and can transmit peace also to those who do not share my faith, like the gardener of the Nunciature in Baghdad.
Mar 26, 2017 | Non categorizzato
At the Angelus on March 19, Pope Francis affirmed his “closeness to the dear people of Peru, who have been struck hard by devastating floods. I pray for the victims and the rescue workers.” The Focolare community is praying and is on site bringing relief as well.
Mar 25, 2017 | Non categorizzato
Message from Cardinal Francis X. Kriengsak Kovithavanij, Archbishop of Bangkok, for the funeral of Cardinal Miloslav Vlk – Prague, 25 March 2017.« I bring a message on behalf of the bishop friends of the Focolare – Catholic bishops and bishops of various Churches in many parts of the world. For us, Cardinal Miloslav was a friend, a brother and we could say even a father. “His life mirrored Jesus’ life in so many ways”, a Lutheran bishop wrote recently. At our bishops meetings he helped us experience the freshness of Gospel life and the joy of being a family of true brothers, united in Jesus. In the spirit of the Second Vatican Council, he worked tirelessly for Christian unity and for communion among bishops and with the Pope. Thank you, Miloslav. Through your heroic witness you showed what it means to have God in the first place and gave us the key to making the Church ever more beautiful, united and alive.»
