Sep 21, 2015 | Non categorizzato
The Summer School was held in Tonadico in the Dolomite Mountains, not only due to the marvelous scenario of the locality, but also for the bond that existed between Chiara Lubich and those mountain districts. It was there, in fact, that in 1949 with some of her young companions, Chiara lived that mystic experience that is central to the history of the Work she had started. The idea of a summer school on “Religions in a global world” sparked up last April, at the end of an interdisciplinary seminar held at the Sophia University Institute. On that occasion a group of experts had started up an interdisciplinary, interreligious reflection (the scholars were Christians, Sciites and Sunnis Muslims, one was an expert on Buddhism and another, a lay thinker) and an intercultural event since there were also scholars from North Africa, Turkey, Iran, China and the USA, besides the European countries. The School program consisted of six general sessions, four of which were reserved for those who enrolled and two were open to the public. The one-to-one lessons were held after the work group discussions. The Sophia spirit lies precisely in uniting the dichotomy between life and thought, spiritual experience and scientific research. This perspective brought out the need to clarify how one’s personal comprehension of the truth harmonizes with that of people of other religions and cultures. A Slovak student highlighted how the research for knowledge can no longer be individual or monodisciplinary, but a community commitment that unites professors and students in the research efforts which should also be ,matched with a life commitment. Slowly, the participants managed to create a setting in which cultural contents and life perspectives harmonized, and solidified not only the traditional dichotomies, but also helped to break down cultural and religious barriers. Also the recreational moments were an occasion to deepen relationships, and delve into the deep differences in the worlds of each one, thus enhancing concrete dialogue where all is possible and sustainable. On the mountain peaks at 2,500 metres, the Christians gathered to celebrate Mass while the Muslims had their prayer rituals. At the closing of the School, the students all felt that they were bound by a sense of profound fraternity. The differences were still there, but now appeared as sources of mutual enrichment. On his way back, a young Shiite student wrote: “I would like to dedicate my first post on Facebook to the extraordinary group I was lucky to pass the Sophia Summer School with. I was able to present my faith in its authentic form, an opportunity that often is not possible in the light of the false image others often transmit of my religion. Likewise, I was also able to delve deeply into their lives, and in the faith of those I consider my brothers and sisters. The experience I had within the magical setting of the Dolomites, helped me to make a new discovery of the Catholic religion: I pray that we can continue this very important work. » Istituto Universitario Sophia
Sep 20, 2015 | Non categorizzato
“I see and I find my own light in the other, the true Reality of myself, the real me in the other (perhaps buried or secretly disguised for shame), and once I have found myself, I am reunited by resurrecting myself.” Chiara Lubich, The Resurrection of Rome. “Mercy was the dough with which we kneaded our civilization in past centuries. Without knowing and loving mercy we do not understand the Bible, the Covenant, the book of Exodus, Isaiah, the Gospel of Luke, Francis of Assisi, Teresa of Avila, Frances Cabrini, Don Bosco, Christian social works, the Italian Constitution, the European dream, and life together and love affairs after the concentration camps, families living and staying together until the very end. It is mercy that matures and keeps up our relationships through time, it turns falling in love into love, sympathy and emotional accordance into big and strong projects, it makes our “forever’s” pronounced in youth become a reality, it prevents maturity and old age from becoming just a nostalgic story of broken dreams. Mercy lives of three simultaneous movements: the eyes, the bowel (rachàm in the Bible) and that of the hands, the mind and the legs. Those who are merciful are first and foremost people that are able to see deeper. The first instant of mercy is a look that reconstructs the moral and spiritual figure of the one that arouses mercy in us. Before acting to “take care of him,” the merciful one looks at him and sees him in a different way. The “not yet” is glimpsed beyond the “already” and the “has already been” appears to all involved. Prior to being an ethical action, mercy is a movement of the soul, with which I can see the other in their original design, before the error and the fall, and I love them in order to recreate their truer nature. Mercy can reconstruct the broken image in the soul, it can reconstruct the interrupted storyline. It can see that there is an inter-human solidarity that is deeper and truer than any crime, it believes that fraternity is not cancelled by any fratricide. It sees Adam again, even after Cain. And while it perceives purity in impurity, beauty in ugliness, light within the darkness, it also moves the body, and touches one in the flesh. The whole insides are moved. Mercy involves the whole body, it is a totalistic experience, something like the birth of a new creature – if there was no mercy, the experience of childbirth would remain totally inaccessible to us males; and yet we can understand something of this mystery, the greatest of all, when we give life mercifully. Mercy is something that is felt, it hurts, there is labour in it. It is an embodied experience, it is corporal. For this reason those who know mercy also know disdain: if I do not suffer viscerally from all the injustice and evil around me, I cannot be merciful. The same bowels are moved today by the indignation and anger in front of the children who died locked inside a lorry or drowned in the sea, and tomorrow the betrayal of a friend in need of forgiveness”. (Read more) by Luigino Bruni Published in Avvenire (Italian newspaper) on 06/09/2015
Sep 19, 2015 | Non categorizzato
Following the practice that Chiara Lubich began, the Focolare Movement around the world goes into depth on one point of the spirituality of unity each year. After having reflected on and lived a central point which is the Eucharist, the Movement is now focussing on its specific goal: unity. There are a great many writings by Chiara Lubich on this essential point of Focolare spirituality. They give clear reference points and remain as a precious legacy. Here is one. “If we are united, Jesus is among us. And this has value. It is worth more than any other treasure that our heart may possess; more than mother, father, brothers, sisters, children. It is worth more than our house, our work, or our property; more than the works of art in a great city like Rome; more than our business deals; more than nature which surrounds us with flowers and fields, the sea and the stars; more than our own soul. It is he who, inspiring his saints with his eternal truths, leaves his mark upon every age. This too is his hour. Not so much the hour of a saint but of him, of him among us, of him living in us as we build up – in the unity of love – his Mystical Body. But we must enlarge Christ, make him grow in other members, become like him bearers of Fire. Make one of all and in all the One. It is then that we live the life that he gives us, moment by moment, in charity. The basic commandment is brotherly love. Everything is of value if it expresses sincere fraternal charity. Nothing we do is of value, if there is not the feeling of love for our brothers and sisters in it. For God is a Father and in his heart he has always and only his children.” Chiara Lubich, Essential Writings, New City Press, New York 2007, p. 102
Sep 19, 2015 | Focolare Worldwide
“I’ve lost everything’ tearfully declared a fisherman from Guanaquero – a small village 450 km north of Santiago, on the Pacific. “But we will start again, as we Chileans have always done.” The cameraman embraced him in a supportive manner. These were some reactions after the night of the earthquake. On the evening of Wednesday, 16 September, just before 8 p.m. the series of seismic waves began, with an intensity of 8.4 on the Richter scale. The following secondary waves also exceeded an intensity of 7. The long seismic activity made us run to find refuge in the courtyard of our home. Our neighbours on the street also did so. “How are you all? Is all ok?” “Yes, don’t worry, and you?” we all asked one another. “Do you need anything?” There was no fear, no agitation. Also the children knew what to do. In Chile all are taught on how to behave in the buildings, schools, and supermarkets where the safety zones are all marked out for the protection from possible collapsing buildings. After the experience of 2010 the country was more than adequately prepared. In La Serena, 480 km north of Santiago, the capital, due to the intensity of the quakes we knew that the epicentre was very close. The lights went off and only when we found a radio transistor did we know that it was about a 100 km from here. A triangle of small towns of 20/30 thousand inhabitants, Illapel suffered great damages, but it was not so in the bigger towns. Less than an hour had passed and the radio then confirmed the tsunami alert. Throughout the country, evacuation of the coast of 6,000 km had started, from the desert in the north to the cold south: a million people had to find refuge at an altitude of at least 30 km?? above sea level. The waves arrived in the form of huge masses of water that advanced and raised the sea level to at least four metres. The port of Coquimbo with 150 thousand inhabitants was partly submerged. Then came the news of the victims. All were expecting it. It was just a few hours before our traditional celebrations for the independence of Chile, on the 18-19 September. The 12 victims and five missing would not be celebrating this year’s event. Among these, three died of heart attacks, another three were sucked up by the sea, and the others lost their lives due to falling rocks from the mountains or the collapse of walls. The government had declared a state of calamity in some provinces of the 4th Region. The President, Michelle Bachelet, spoke to the country: the rescue system has been activated. Our thoughts go to those who lost all their possessions: villages of fishermen, the inhabitants of the epicentre zone. It is the eighth emergency in less than two years. The earthquake in the north last year, the floods, and in March the most arid region of the planet, the Atacama Desert, was submerged by floods. Then the volcanoes were next: one last year and an eruption a few months ago. Then there was the tremendous drought from north to south, Valparaiso overwhelmed twice by fires in the surrounding zones, and now the earthquake and tsunami alert… Once the terrible list concluded, we recalled the words of the old fisherman of Guanaquero: “We shall overcome!” In his eyes I saw a reflection of determination and perseverance. The same values explained why on the bare and steep slopes of the mountains of this northern zone, suddenly immense green spots suddenly appeared with avocado and vine cultivations. They were literally pulled out from the soil, exploiting every drop of humidity for their irrigation. Only determination and perseverance can obtain fruits from nature that over here has nothing to offer. This is how we built this nation. It would be impossible not to love it » Alberto Barlocci, from Chile
Sep 18, 2015 | Non categorizzato
Gen Verde will be in the Hungarian town of Szeged, city which has become a symbol of the humanitarian challenges which Europe and the world are facing today. The message underpinning their workshops: hospitality and solidarity.
Sep 18, 2015 | Focolare Worldwide
«I have been out of my country for more than 30 years. Every time I would return there was always the chance to meet with one of my brothers or sisters who had gotten married, or witness the birth of a nephew or niece. In my life, our family relationships and above all, the faith of our mother, a simple and brave woman like many African women, have always been the force that has sustained me in all my decisions and choices in life. Ever since I was a child, I had always been impressed by one of my uncles, a Franciscan friar who, at every visit, took care of all the children in the neighbourhood and not only his nieces and nephews, leaving a mark in my heart, and the desire to follow his footsteps in the future. When I just an adolescent – Mandela was already in prison – the massacre of the youth of Soweto happened and upset me so much that I vented out my anger against Fr. Paul, a Belgian Jesuit. I had said him, «If it only depended on me, all the white people would have to return to their own homes.» He answered calmly: «You know, we can fight discrimination with other weapons.» A few months later, he invited me to meet the Word of Life group in my town. Five years later, I found myself in Fontem, Cameroon, in the first testimonial-town of the Focolare in Africa, side by side with young people from Italy, France, Ireland, Belgium and other various African nations like Burundi, Uganda, Kenya, and Cameroon; and together with them I discovered that we are all brothers, despite our differences. This was how in my heart I felt the great desire to shout it out to the whole world, and testify to this fraternity, especially in daily life. In 1986 I was sent to Man in the Ivory Coast, where I remained for eight years. Together with all those who wanted to live the same ideal of fraternity, we nurtured mutual love among us, which drove us to promote concrete initiatives to help the needy in many ways, also through music, to tell the world that the united world is not a utopia. When I was 40 I transferred to Sao Paolo, Brazil, and had to learn a new language. I met a new people, which I fondly call a “population composed of peoples”: indios, native Brazilians and also the descendants of Germans, Italians, Ukraines, Japanese, Chinese, Afro-Brazilians and many other roots, but all Brazilians! It was creative, generous, and full of a contagious joy, which we, Africans are very familiar with. In a short time, I felt like I was one of them, that is, Brazilian. For 15 I worked in the Mariapolis Ginetta as a graphic designer and in the production of books and magazines for the New City publishers, building relationships among the staff, suppliers, printing press workers and security guards who had the task of inspecting all the boots of cars. With others, I also coordinated the activities of the young people of the Focolare Movement: the Gen3 and Youth for Unity. This experience was one of the most important of this period because they taught me to become an “adolescent,” even if I was an adult. Through love for one another kept alive among us, I discovered that I also had the capacity to make big sacrifices, since they had overflowing energy and enthusiasm. I also understood why the hair of many parents start turning white when there is an adolescent in the family. So now I am back again in the Ivory Coast: I have returned to continue building this pathway that started years ago with the youth. I had always been struck by the focolarini in the Focolare town of Victoria during the war, and who could have left the country then, but had decided to stay. Like Chiara Lubich and her first companions, they had sealed a pact of readiness to give up their lives for one another. This testimonial is something I treasure deep inside, and I wish with God’s grace, to live up to this measure with all our people. I do not know if we will achieve extraordinary things, but I would like to live each moment as if it were the last of my life.» Source: African Nouvelle Cité, July 2015
Sep 17, 2015 | Non categorizzato
Bernd Nilles (second from right) at the Focolare’s centre in Rocca di Papa, Rome.
Sep 16, 2015 | Focolare Worldwide
He greeted me crying He was an idol for me. I was proud to have a father like him, but one day he left us. My mother never explained why. I had to grow up in order to find out: he had another family. I didn’t want to see him anymore, not even when he came to visit us. One day a classmate who was in a similar situation told me that as a Christian, he had forgiven his father and had drawn a great joy from this. In order to do this concrete act, which was very difficult for me, I went to visit my father. He greeted me crying. There was no need for explanations. We had again become friends. (R.S. – Venezuela) The “troublesome” student One day a rather rebellious boy in my class had a fit, throwing a desk in the air; fortunately, there were no serious consequences. A colleague, who had always wanted to get rid of this “troublesome” student, had thought to proceed with a legal strategy, sending a grim report to the headmaster. On one hand, I wanted to avoid a further rebellion from the boy with a worsening of his psychological condition, but I also wanted to consider the opinion of my colleague and respect his suffering. The report was written, but we did it together, searching for the right words in a way that would not worsen the situation. The causes of his behavior came to light, and a greater comprehension of the problem was born. Now this colleague and I have a new understanding: he has decided to collaborate with me on projects for rehabilitating students at risk. (R.R. – Italia) The grandmother In our neighborhood there lived an elderly woman. She was alone. Every once in a while she came to ask us to read her the letters she received or to ask us to accompany her to collect her pension. On special occasions we invited her to our house, where she always felt at ease. Our children loved her too, and each time they welcomed her with joy: for them she was the “grandmother,” and for everyone she was the “least” of which the Gospel speaks. One day she suffered a stroke, and her neighbours immediately called us, almost as if we were her biological family. She remained in the hospital for two months, and we constantly assisted her. When she recovered, she accepted the offer to move to a home for the elderly. But we continued to look after her, with the collaboration of the others. Thanks to the grandmother, a great solidarity was put into motion in the hospital and in our neighborhood. (M. S. C. – Spagna)
Sep 15, 2015 | Senza categoria
“I don’t feel the exhaustion, but probably just the lack of sleep, since I have slept five hours less than usual over the last five days. I have just returned from a school camp or rather, a work in progress camp for kids, as one of the educators of Teens for Unity of the Focolare. It was a fantastic adventure which, compared to other activities this year, has enlivened my daily routine, making me forget that I have entered that potentially critical post-retirement phase. The proposal to give a hand for those kids was enticing. Well, I thought, I may be retired, but I still have the energy and eagerness to keep going. The appointment was at nine in the morning in Borgo Don Bosco, a venue placed at our disposal by the Salesians. Slowly the kids arrived, 25 boys and girls in all, below 18 years of age. After the initial shyness a friendly atmosphere was immediately created, even if most of them had no idea whatsoever of what would come about or what to expect. The programme was full of surprises, as it should have been for an initiative with young people. But also a surprise was the hard work (so to say!), sweating together under the sun, or drenched with rain, to clear out the site of the camp. For three mornings, I was assigned the task of restoring a remote corner of the garden, abandoned for over 20 years. The grass had grown on that soil transported by wind and rain, concealing an entire asphalted pavement. Locker rooms and showers were still there, and had become the hiding place of spiders and insects so big they seemed like an alien race. Without counting the various objects abandoned in the grass that initially could not even be seen, it was practically a jungle to be razed to the ground. At mid-morning, I thought of telling the kids how I try to consider the work, and particularly that job. I must not have said more than 20-30 words in all. But I ended by confiding the real motive urging me to do this: the thought that “in that place, Baby Jesus would have come to play.” I understood from the silence that had descended on us, that the kids understood the sense of my words and had taken it to heart. And the light I saw shining in their youthful eyes was immediately transformed into concrete action, giving them a new drive in helping one another. This immediacy was a lesson for me, since, unlike these boys and girls I myself am rather slow in letting myself be convinced by what others tell me. At Sunday Mass, I found myself next to a boy who had worked by my side. On exchanging the sign of peace we both spontaneously reached out to one another, to declare that we were ready to give our lives for each other. As an adult this act would never have been so spontaneous towards another adult, but it was not so with him. Staying with these young people gave a new dimension to our future as one humanity, and gave me hope. In fact, I saw that they all had the desire and capacity to give. It is up to us to believe in them. Adolescence is a difficult age, but it is also the age in which one can build great horizons. There is no need for words, just start “doing” positive things with them. Perhaps this is why, on saying goodbye, some of them asked to come with me next Saturday to the district market, to collect the unsold fruit and vegetables for the poor people’s canteen.”
Sep 14, 2015 | Focolare Worldwide
“This is the plea of the entire of the Middle East: ‘Stop the conflicts!’,” states Arlette Samman, a Lebanese, in the face of the unprecedented exodus of entire populations from Syria, Iraq and other countries: “For those who leave, it is an immense suffering, since they are going towards the unknown and feel that death is near. They find themselves without resources and security for the future of their families… otherwise none of them would have wanted to leave their own country.” “It is comforting to see the humanitarian response by many European countries,” continues Philippe who has lived in Egypt over the past 14 years. “But we also wish to give a voice to the Middle East as it anxiously awaits peace and the right “to live and not to die”. Both underline the importance of finding ever new solutions for brotherhood and above all, intensifying public opinion. This is the same perspective targeted by the peace mobilization that the Focolare Movement has currently relaunched together with all those working for the same aim. In Europe, solicited by the words of Pope Francis, and also by the new awareness on the part of the political authorities – as recently expressed by the EU Commission’s President, Jean-Claude Juncker – initiatives have doubled to welcome the refugees with private homes opening their doors, coordination of material aids and fund collections. 
Practically the entire world will be present in Rome over the next days, with the 80 delegates from 36 countries, representatives of the respective geographical macro-areas: “Coming here is an occasion to meet our brothers and sisters operating for peace, and who continue to support us in difficult times.” This is the general state of mind of those coming from distressed areas. From Latin America, Maria Augusta De La Torre, gave us a view of other situations: “In Cuba people are full of great expectations and hope. On one hand is the ‘new friendship’ between Cuba and the USA, and on the other, the Catholic Church which in Cuba is more dynamic than ever. The Pope’s mediation and his next visit to the Island is boosting this revival.” As to the frontier conflict between Colombia and Venezuela she said: «It is a very painful situation. We went to the border and saw the suffering of the people who had to leave their homes and there is great uncertainty with regard to the future, suffering and rebellion in face of the what has happened. Smuggling has always existed, but now nobody knows what lies behind these forceful decisions. In Venezuela the people feel depressed and without hope. The members of the Movement find the strength that comes from living the Gospel and want to continue to bear witness to fraternity between these two peoples. » From Nigeria, Ruth Wambui Mburu, a Kenyan citizen, confided that the stronger commitment they have to face as a Focolare is the radical enforcement of separation between north and south, between Muslims and Christians, and ethnic groups. Their efforts and commitments consist in being testimonials of fraternity lived among these different groups. Georges Sserunkma, also from Nigeria, upon arriving in Rome precisely in this historic moment, said “I feel that this is really the unique home we all live in – seeing how the Church and the Movement take all these situations to heart, makes me breath a wider dimension and fills my heart with hope.” 
“Each of us has come with a heavy load on our shoulders,” affirms Marcella Sartarelli from Vietnam, “but also with hope in believing that “the world is reaching out to unity.” One of these signs for her is also “the openness we saw in Vietnam, for example in our contacts with the Church. There is a new awakening, which is giving more hope. All we know about Vietnam is the war of 30 years ago, but less about what Vietnam is today – a country undergoing rapid development. Some passages of the encyclical Laudato Si’ seem to trace a precise profile of this country: a fast advancing economy, with ultra-modern cities and at the same time, the countryside abandoned to pollution. With a group of young people in a village near Hanoi, where the situation is critical, we are documenting this hidden problem, but at the same time, rolling up our sleeves to clean up.” 
Also in Oceania, environmental problems are strongly felt: “In New Zealand, the young people promoted the action Give one hour of your power, inviting everyone, on the day dedicated to the care of the planet, to switch off the electricity for an hour,” Augustine Doronila recounts, “while for years now there has been an ongoing action to help the population of Kiribati, an archipelago at risk of extinction due to the rising sea levels.” Reflections and sharing of experiences will mark the two weeks meeting, from 14 to 27 September 2015, dedicated to the word “unity”: not only a point of the focolarino spirituality, but a key to the spiritual and social action of the Movement, the word that synthesizes its message.
