Sep 4, 2015 | Non categorizzato
“Aboard the bus to the hospital in Harefield, Great Britan, where I was studying nursing, I was impressed by one my colleague’s way of acting. I was very shy then, but she started to make friends with me, and I was impressed by that. She invited me to breakfast, in spite of having some of her ‘wilder’ friends nearby. She didn’t make a distinction. I was trying to be a Christian but wasn’t very happy. I would go to church on Sundays more to salve my conscience than anything else. But she spoke of joyful faith, genuine faith that she shared with other young women like herself, faith illuminated by love. One day she arrived at the hospital with a guitar to celebrate with one of the nurses who was notorious for not getting on with people. I said to myself, if this woman is able to do so much, perhaps it would be worthwhile to find out what’s behind behind it. She told me about the spirituality of unity that inspired her. I began to visit the people at the focolare and every time I found new ways to give of myself: sharing some clothing or food with those in need, offering to do something practical like the washing, etc. These small gesture, which were the fruit of the Gospel that I had also begun to put into practice, made me feel much joy inside me. Even though I still didn’t know what the Focolare Movement was, I knew it was the place I had to be. I looked at the radical choice the focolarinas and thought I would love to have the courage to be like them. But they’re Catholics, and I’m Anglican. . . I felt this voice inside me saying, ‘But you can, you know. Why don’t you just say your yes to me?’ I felt like taking a step off a cliff by saying my yes to God. It was so unlike me, but I was happy to want to follow him forever. I became a nurse specialised in midwifery, because of a deep desire to bring a change in society. I thought that with this specialization I could go abroad, and I had already put some money aside for the trip. When I entered the focolare I gave that money to the poor and began my formation to become a focolarina. My first destination was the focolare in Leeds for five years. I worked in an area of the city with deep rooted social problems. I had came from a middle class backgound and had a romanticised idea of what poverty was. When one particular girl came to the clinic, she always had the same clothes on and her tights were full of holes. It was important for me to build a relationship with her, to get to know her so that she could tell me about her situation, where she lived, and so on. One day I visited her home. Her partner was standing in the doorway, very verbally aggressive towards me. I was so shocked by the man and the state of the house, that I could hardly talk. Then I noticed a big tank of fish on the wall, so I started to talk about the fish and the tension melted. On my next visit I brought along some dresses, and the third time I found her sitting on the window sill ready to show off her new clothes. I now live in the focolare at Welwyn Garden City and continue to work for the National Health Service (NHS). In recent years there was upheaval in the NHS and it’s not so easy to bring that change that inspired me at the start of my career. But even in this upheaval I strive to do everything as an act of love towards God and my brothers and sisters. Living in community with people who have made the same choice in life is an important opportunity also for my job; but also to grow together in the unity amongst us and in our faith in God-Love, giving ourselves to others whether they are Catholic or Anglican.”
Sep 2, 2015 | Focolare Worldwide, Senza categoria
In 1998, Chiara Lubich established the Education for Dialogue Centre in Mariapolis Luminosa, the Focolare’s permanent Mariapolis in the State of New York. For that occasion she wrote: “May all those who take part in the activities of this centre also feel like builders of this new reality, collaborating with love, patience, mutual understanding and solidarity, in order to create an island of peace and a sign of unity for today’s world. . . may it especially be a school where one learns to live out this love, which is the only thing that can make the peoples of the earth a single family.” “These words from Chiara also informed a recent meeting of August 15 and 16 at the North American Mariapolis, titled: Dialogue and the Difficult Questions. It was attended by a hundred people and it focused on how to dialogue and communicate with people who think differently.” 
There were also very valuable contributions by four experts in moral theology and political theories from Fordham University (New York), Providence College (Rhode Island) and Georgetown University (Washington D.C.). They write: “We began with some words from Chiara Lubich on the dialogue that emerges particuarly from the spirituality of unity which, if practiced, helps to transform people’s relationships with eah other.” Charlie Camosy (Fordham) and Amy Uelman (Georgetown), examined the “reasons why USA society is so polarized by opposing positions and how the walls between people could be broken down by listening and being open to others.” Dana Dillon (Providence College) dealt with the delicate relationship between love and truth, based on one of the main points of the spirituality of unity: Jesus forsaken. The theologian presented Him as the true model of dialogue inasmuchh as “He entered into the disunity of that moment in which He felt abandoned by the Father, unifying the greatest division possible, the one between Heaven and earth.” In the afternoon there was an interactive programme offered by Claude Blanc, a leadership coach and team work consultant, who guided the participants in several exrecises in “learning to listen deeply and without pretexts.” A reflection on “Different Ways of Communicating” (imposing, discussing, trying to convince the other, and focusing on the common good), given by Bill Gould (Fordham),brought the session to a perfect conclusion. The roundtable discussion on Sunday, evidenced the need for being prepared to confront some current burning issues as well as the challenges of daily life. Two impressions: “The workshop on listening helped me to see how importnat and fruitful this can be in daily relationships;” “I leave quite enriched by this experience.”
Sep 1, 2015 | Non categorizzato
Climatic change is one of the major moral challenges of our times. Several religious leaders unite in order to support a worldwide petition in favour of 100% of renewable energy by 2050. Religions for Peace is the world’s largest and most representative multi-religious coalition-advances common action among the world’s religious communities for peace. Religions for Peace works to transform violent conflict, advance human development, promote just and harmonious societies, and protect the earth. The global Religions for Peace network comprises a World Council of senior religious leaders from all regions of the world; six regional inter-religious bodies and more than ninety-two national ones; and the Global Women of Faith Network and Global Interfaith Youth Network. The President of the Focolare Movement, Maria Voce, who is one of the co-presidents of Religions for Peace, is aware of the moral responsibility necessary for the care of our planet. She is personally supporting the petition addressed to heads of states and invites all the interested to join the campaign. To sign the online petition visit http://faithsforearth.org and select your country.
Aug 31, 2015 | Non categorizzato
It was a decidedly ecumenical move on the part of Pope Francis to dedicate a “World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation.” He not only identified the current ecological crisis as one of the most pressing urgencies of our time but also wanted to highlight the urgent need to act no longer fragmented and in isolation but “together” – not only in the field of ecology but in all the challenges facing humankind. The idea of a World Day of Prayer had been suggested to him by Orthodox Metropolitan John of Pergamom who spoke at the public presentation of the Encyclical Letter Laudato sì on June 18th. To underscore the added value of a prayer that is made by agreement (Mt. 18:19), in the letter that institutes the Day of Prayer (June 8, 2015) the Pope exhorts: “Sharing the concern of my beloved brother, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, for the future of creation, and at the suggestion of his representative, Metropolitan John of Pergamum . . .” As if to say that it was not important who had the idea; we can always learn from each other! And to reiterate the idea, towards the end of the document, the Pope urges Cardinal Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christians Unity, “to ensure that it is coordinated with similar initiatives undertaken by the World Council of Churches.” The World Council of Churches will dedicate “the period between September 1st (the first day of the Orthodox Liturgical Year) to October 4th (feast day of Saint Francis of Assisi on the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar) – to a Time for Creation with a variety of initiatives in favour of the environment and its connection to justice and peace. The Pope’s choice of September 1st for the yearly celebration of the World Day is quite significant, since it is the same as that of the Orthodox brothers and sisters and the day that begins the Time for Creation that was established by the World Council of Churches. Also significant is his wish that other churches and ecclesial communities join in, so that it might be a fruitful opportunity for giving witness “to our growing communion.” The annual World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation will offer individual believers and communities “the precious opportunity to reaffirm their personal vocation to be stewards of creation, to thank God for the wonderful handiwork which he has entrusted to our care,” and precisely because it is destined to involve Christians from various denominations speaking with one voice, it will be a further concrete and common message from Christians to the world. A passion for the protection of Creation has also characterised the Focolare’s commitment with its international network EcoOne that offers a space for anyone working in the field of the environment to share ideas and concrete projects. The Movement’s involvement in the field of ecumenism is also significant, especially in places where there is a high concentration from people of different denominations. For the Focolare the World Day of Prayer for the Protection of Creation represents a magnificent providential world event that will join its members in prayer, beseeching from God the preservation of the Home that welcomes the great human family. But it will also join together people of good will from all backgrounds and beliefs in coming up with new strategies and answers for the environment and for a more united world.
Aug 30, 2015 | Non categorizzato
“Seeing what the Holy Spirit has done with us and with many other spiritual and social “enterprises” that are at work the Church today, I cannot but hope that He will continue to act now and always with the same generosity and magnanimity. And this holds true not only for brand new works that will arise from his love, but also for the development of those that already exist, like our own. Meanwhile, I dream that the atmosphere in our Church will be more suited to her identity as the Bride of Christ; a Church which can be seen by the world as being more beautiful, more one, more holy, more charismatic, more akin to Christ her Spouse. I dream of her being a beacon for humanity. And I dream of seeing in her a holiness of the people, never seen before. I dream that the lived siblinghood, that is gaining momentum today in the consciences of millions of people, will be practised more widely across the globe, so that in the third millennium it will be a general, universal reality. Consequently, I dream of fewer wars and conflicts, less hunger, and the reduction of the thousand other evils in the world. I dream of an ever more intense dialogue of love among the Churches so that the formation of the one Church is seen to be close at hand. I dream of a more living and active dialogue among people of the most varied religions linked to one another by love, by “the Golden Rule” present in all their sacred texts. I dream of greater encounter and mutual enrichment among the various cultures in the world, so that they may give rise to a world culture that highlights those values which have always been the true wealth of individual peoples, and I dream that these values will be seen by all as global wisdom. I dream that the Holy Spirit will continue to enrich the Churches and strengthen the “seeds of the Word” beyond them, so that the world may continually receive new light, life, and works which He alone can is able to give. So that ever-greater numbers of men and women may set out towards straight paths, converging on their Creator, and putting their hearts and souls at his disposal. I dream of Gospel-based relationships not only among individuals, but also among groups, movements, religious and lay associations; among peoples and among States, so that it becomes logical to love other people’s countries as our own; and logical to tend towards a universal communion of goods, at least as a goal to reach. (…) In a word, I dream of already witnessing the new heavens and new earth, as far as this is possible here on earth. I am dreaming of many things, but we have a millennium to see them come true.” Chiara Lubich Extract from: “Attualità. Leggere il proprio tempo”, Città Nuova, Rome 2013, pp. 102-103
Aug 29, 2015 | Non categorizzato
Pasquale Foresi commented many times on the theology of the charism of Chiara Lubich, underscoring its novelty for both living and thinking. Between 1990 and 1998 he was often called upon to answer questions that were posed by members of the Movement from a variety of vocational, cultural and geographical backgrounds. On one of these occasions he was asked for advice on how to live humility[1]. “Being humble simply means accepting to be who you are,” he said. “And all of us are sinners. If anyone says ‘I’m not a sinner,’ he lies; so all of us can have humility all the time. Saint Benedict’s outline seems quite wise to me and has always helped me to live. It could be summarised as follows: The first step for being humble is to accept humiliations, mortifications. . . One day, someone speaks badly of you at the office, in your workplace; there might be a misunderstanding between you and someone else, or even a calumny. . . You need to be able accept these tribulations and difficulties. The second step is to love humiliations, which is more than accepting them. This is the case, for example, when we have given our life for others and judgement and accusation begin to arise amongst the people for whom we have done much. These criticisms can have a basis in reality but are exaggerated. It is difficult to love such humiliations, but they’re beneficial for growing in the life of God. The third step is to prefer humiliations not only loving them, but being happy over them. As when someone speaks badly of you and you say: ‘This is a grace from God that I am receiving. . .” This is the highest grade which all of us should tend towards, because it returns us to that humility which draws us together. Obviously, the calumnies should always be clarified but with detachment, living the Gospel that says “Blessed are you when, lying, they will utter every sort of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad because your reward is great in Heaven.” [1] Foresi, Pasquale. COLLOQUI, domande e risposte sulla spiritualità dell’unità, (Rome: Città Nuova Publishing House, 2009) p. 64.
Aug 28, 2015 | Non categorizzato
This year, the annual general meeting will be held over a period of 2 weeks. The zone delegates, who will be representing 36 geographic areas and 6 Focolare little towns, will be taking stock of the life of the Movement in the different parts of the world and will be establishing guidelines to meet the challenges of the coming year.
Aug 28, 2015 | Non categorizzato, Word of
Listen to the Word of Life
If we all truly loved our neighbour as ourselves, wars would cease, corruption would disappear, universal brotherhood wouldn’t be a utopia, and the civilization of love would soon become a reality. Here is one of those words of the Gospel that demand to be put into action immediately, this very instant. It is so utterly clear, and demanding, that it does not need a huge amount of comment. To see the power it contains, it may be useful, all the same, to look at it in its context. Jesus is replying to the question of one of the scribes (one of the students of the Bible) who had asked him which was the greatest commandment. It was an open question, especially as 613 precepts to be followed had been identified. One of the great teachers who had lived a few years before, Rabbi Shammai, had refused to say what he thought was the chief commandment. Others instead, as Jesus also did, focused on the central place of love. Rabbi Hillel, for example, affirmed: ‘Do not do to your neighbour anything that is hateful to yourself: this is the whole of the Law. The rest is commentary.’[1] Jesus is not the only one to take up the teaching about the central place of love, but he put together, as a single commandment, the love of God (see Dt 6:4) and the love of neighbour (see Lev 19:18). The reply he gives to the scribe who is questioning him is in fact: ‘The first [commandment] is, “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” The second is this, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.’ ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself’ The second part of the single commandment is the expression of the first, love for God. Every one of God’s creatures is so close to his heart that to give him glory, to show him in action the love we have for him, there is no other way than to be the expression of his love for all. As parents are happy when they see their children getting on with each other, helping each other, staying united, so also God – who for us is like a father and a mother – is happy when he sees we love our neighbour as ourselves, and so contribute to bringing about the unity of the human family. For centuries Prophets had already been explaining to the People of Israel that God wants love and not sacrifices and holocausts (see Hosea 6:6). Jesus himself recalled their teaching when he said: ‘Go and learn what this means, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners’ (Mt 9:13). How indeed can we love God who we cannot see, if we don’t love our brother or sister (see 1 Jn 4:20)? We love them, we serve them, we honour them to the measure that we love, serve, honour every person, both the friend and the unknown, from our own or from another people, above all the ‘small’, those most in need. This is the invitation to the Christian in today’s world: to translate worship into life, to go forth from the churches, where we adore, love, praise God, so that we go to meet others, in such a way as to practise what we have just learnt in prayer and communion with God. ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself’ How then can we live this command of the Lord’s? Let’s remind ourselves that it is part of an inseparable pair that includes love for God. We have to give ourselves time to get to know what love is and how we can love, and so we need to give space to moments of prayer, of ‘contemplation’, of dialogue with him. We learn love from God, who is Love. We don’t steal any time from our neighbour when we stay with God, indeed we prepare ourselves to love in a way that is increasingly generous and appropriate. At the same time, when we come back to God having loved other people, our prayer is more genuine, more true, and is filled with all the persons we have met, who we bring back to him. To love our neighbours as ourselves we need, then, to get to know them as they know themselves. We ought to reach the point of loving as the other wants to be loved and not as we would like to love. Now that our societies are becoming always more multicultural, with the presence of people from a huge variety of backgrounds, the challenge is even greater. Someone who goes to a new country has to learn its traditions and values; only in this way can they understand and love the people who live there. The same thing is true for those who receive new immigrants, who are often bewildered, struggling with a new language, and finding it difficult to fit in. Differences are present within the same family, in the workplace or in the locality, even when they are made up of persons who belong to the same culture. Would we like to find someone who’s ready to set aside time to listen to us, to help us revise for an exam, to find a job, to tidy our house? Perhaps the other person has similar needs. We have to know how to intuit them, being attentive to the other, adopting a sincere attitude of listening, putting ourselves in the other’s shoes. The quality of our love also matters. The apostle Paul, in his celebrated hymn to charity, lists some of its characteristics, which it could be useful to remember: it is patient, kind, not envious, not boastful or arrogant, does not insist on its own way, is not irritable, keeps no score of wrongs, but bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things (see 1 Cor 13:4-7). How many chances and how many nuances there are to living: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself’! In conclusion we can recall that this principal for human existence is at the basis of the well-known ‘golden rule’ that we find in all religions and in all the great teachers of ‘secular’ culture. We could try to find, at the origins of our own cultural tradition or religious belief, similar invitations to love our neighbour and then help one another to live them together: Hindus and Muslims, Buddhists and followers of traditional religions, Christians and men and women of good will. We have to work together to create a new mentality that gives value to the other, that instils and encourages respect for the person, that cares and protects minorities, that is attentive to the weakest, that sets aside one’s own interests to put those of the other into the first place. If we were all truly aware of having to love our neighbour as ourselves, to the point of not doing to the other what we do not wish to be done to us and that we should do to the other what we wish the other would do for us, wars would cease, corruption would disappear, universal fraternity would be no utopia and the civilization of love would soon become a reality. Fabio Ciardi [1] Babylonian Talmud, Shabbath Folio 31a.
Aug 28, 2015 | Focolare Worldwide
Every day around the world thousands of people stand up for an integral economy. Aldo Calliera is the owner of El Alba, a company inserted within the Economy of Communion, involved in the raising of livestock in Santiago, North Argentina. Work begins early for this country folk, even before the break of dawn. Before the day begins mate is prepared, a typical South American beverage that is meant to be sipped through a silver straw by a group of friends. With each new round, stories are shared and bodies warmed. The owner did not wish to lose this age old tradition of his guachos, and he began to attend the early morning materas, but he was surprised that with his arrival the conversation languished and silence fell on the assembly. It was the same every day. Guachos are reared in a culture where everyone falls silent when the boss arrives, not because of disappointment but because from the times of the Conquest the worker has been considered inferior to the master. Thus, Calliera went away each day feeling that he had been given a punch in the stomach, and his heart shrank at the thought at not having been able to penetrate the wall. Gradually his insistence enabled hearts to open and names be shared, all but one: Ernesto’s. One day, Calliera was programming “the service,” which is the time and location coupling for the production of calves. After the planning session the engineer who was with him, was about to issue orders to the workers, but Calliera stepped in saying: “Leave it to me, to talk to my men.” Then he explained to the workers what had to be done and, instead of simply giving them orders, he asked them for their opinion. Ernesto, whose voice the owner barely knew, spoke up for the first time: “I think that we won’t have any calves next year.” Calliera was doubly surprised and asked why. The answer was simple: there was not enough water for all the animals at the place where he had planned to take them for mating. It might seem that anyone could have said it, but in this culture it is customary to respond “Yes, sir” to one’s boss, even when you disagree. Callieri relects: “Then I realised that it is only by having an optimistic vision of others that you can draw out the best in them. Only in this way is it possible to find treasures in others that otherwise remain hidden, and to discover the best way to draw them out. Each person’s talents are like virtues that you discover when there is mutual trust.” Needless to say, the Callieri heard Ernesto’s advice and changed the “service” and things went better. . . The matera had produced a small cultural change that helped everyone to build relationships based on reciprocity that neither workers, nor forefathers would ever have immagined. Source: EoC online
Aug 27, 2015 | Focolare Worldwide, Senza categoria
An illness 
My husband has been ill for two years now because of a brain tumour. At times he complains because objects fall from his hands. I made an agreement with my daughters to never make him feel that something strange has happened. Many times, upon discreetly observing how they treat their father with care, and aware of the sacrifices and many renunciations they undertake to help the family, I see that they are more mature for their age. We are undergoing as a family, a period we have never experienced before. Despite the inexpressible suffering weighing on us, we feel a great serenity. (B.S. – Poland) The old man There was no more food in the house. I took a bag of cornmeal and 1,000 francs: half for transportation and the other half for the mill. I hailed the first taxi that came by. Beside the taxi driver, an old man was profoundly asleep. I noticed that the taxi driver was trying to slip the man’s wallet from his bag, so when I arrived at my destination I said: «This is my father, and he has to get off with me.» The driver continued to say that this was not where the man wanted to go, but due to my insistence, said he would let the man get off for 1,000 francs. I gave it to him immediately, and taking the bag, I helped the old man, still asleep, get off. Over here it occurs often that taxi drivers drug people in order to rob them. The old man awoke when I poured water over his head. He looked for his bag and checked if all his money was there. He said to me: “You saved my life”, and gave me 5,000 francs. I looked for a taxi driver I trusted who accompanied him safe and sound to his village. (M.A. – Cameroon) Trendy pants My classmates made fun of me because I didn’t have trendy clothes. I have a big family and we live in the countryside. One day I helped a classmate who was having a hard time with math and we became friends. Another day the others started to joke about my pants and he defended me. From that time on, all this stopped. We need to be at least two to be able to fight wrong ideas. In a short time we all became friends, and when they had to choose the class leader, they chose me. (E.C. – Italy) The beggar In my community we pray daily to God to bless our food, and help us to share it with those in need. At lunch time the usual beggar knocked on the door and we had nothing but cornmeal porridge for lunch and dinner. We did not have any money either, so I told the beggar that we did not have anything. When I sat down for lunch, I had no appetite. After a while, a phrase came to my mind, “Give and you will be given.” So I gathered what we had and gave it to the beggar who was still waiting. Not long after that, someone knocked on the door. A girl was there holding a big plate of cornmeal porridge saying: «This is from mama». It’s incredible how God is so punctual. (Sister Madeleine – Burkina Faso)
