Dec 14, 2022 | Non categorizzato
God’s faithfulness is unshakable, like a rock, and this is the revelation of salvation not only for the people of Israel after the exile, as Isaiah announces, but for each one of us. Trusting in the Lord therefore means building our existence by going right to the root, because the deeper the foundations, the higher we will be able to build; the more we trust in Him, the more solid our actions will be. Family tensions When my brother D. who was angry at how he had been treated by R. (another brother) decided he no longer wanted to see him, I felt that at our age – we are all over 70 – we ought to be more merciful. That is when I had the idea of bringing the family together for a picnic in Jells Park, on neutral ground. But R. did not show up on the date agreed. All I could do was pray that his stubborn heart would mellow. A few days later I called him. I discovered he had not been well and had not eaten for some time. I replied that I would bring him a good soup. When I arrived at his place, he was grateful above all because I had not judged him. Later that day when I got home I called D. to let him know and he said he was prepared to visit his brother if I arranged it. The following Sunday, when the two of them met, there was some initial awkwardness but after a while they started talking quite normally. In the end R. invited us for dinner. I am really happy with the result and hope that my small contribution might heal certain tensions in the family. (Gill – Australia) Tipping Before the recent increase in salaries for doctors and medical staff, it was common practice in Hungary for doctors to be given a tip for their services, like a predetermined fee. As a chief surgeon, as a matter of principle I did not want this to happen, not least because I knew that lots of people of limited financial means were having to borrow the forints for the doctors. That is why I refused to accept, even though everyone else was, until a colleague pointed out that not accepting a tip could be taken by the patients as a sign that I had not done the operation well. One day, seeing an elderly lady pull out the usual envelope for me, I said to her: “I as a doctor am at your service and I’m paid for it, but if you would be more comfortable to accept my offer, I suggest you give it to a family in need”. She thought about it for a while, then taking my hand said: “Doctor, what you’ve just said to me proves to me that you really care about people. I thank you and, if you agree, I would be happy to help someone in need with you”. (P.M. – Hungary)
Edited by Maria Grazia Berretta
(taken from Il Vangelo del Giorno, Città Nuova, year VIII, no.2, November-December 2022)
Dec 7, 2022 | Non categorizzato
Imagine a young girl in love, in love with a love which is the first love, the purest one, a love which is still undeclared, but which begins to enflame her heart. A joy which is so special, difficult to experience again in a lifetime, a joy which is secret. A few days before December 7, I was told to make a vigil the night before, beside a crucifix, in order to prepare myself the best way I could for my marriage with God, a marriage which was to take place in the most secret manner. That evening I tried to make this vigil, kneeling beside my bed before a metal crucifix which my mother has now. The next morning, I woke up at about five o’clock. I put on the best dress I had, a simple dress, and I set out on foot crossing the city towards the church. A storm was raging, so that I had to walk my way pushing my umbrella ahead of me. I felt that it expressed the fact that in the step I was taking I would meet obstacles. When I reached the church, the scene changed. An enormous door opened. I felt a sense of relief and of welcome, almost like the open arms of that God who was waiting for me. The little church was beautifully decorated. Against the background stood out the statue of Mary, the Immaculate. Before Communion I saw, in an instant, the meaning of what I was about to do. I could never turn back to the world. I was getting married. I was marrying God. I remember that opening up my eyes to what I was doing was something immediate and brief, but so strong that I shed a tear which fell on my missal. I made a long thanksgiving. I think I ran all the way home. I only stopped, I think, near the bishop’s house to buy three red carnations for the crucifix which was waiting for me in my room. They were to become the sign of the feast day of all of us. This was it. Even with the most promising predictions on December 7, 1943, I could never have imagined what I see today. Praise to God, glory to Mary, Queen of a Kingdom which has literally invaded the world.
Chiara Lubich (Extract from “Today the Opera turns thirty”, Rocca di Papa, 7 December 1973)
Activate English subtitles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2i80L6Srdh8&list=PLKhiBjTNojHqNPFPXKJgyiqn8c7NKZ0ME
Dec 6, 2022 | Non categorizzato
A volume of Chiara Lubich’s works entitled “Letters” has been on sale in Italian bookshops for several months. We spoke to Florence Gillet from the Chiara Lubich Centre, a theologian and scholar of the Focolare Movement’s founder who edited the publication.
Florance Gillet
Carlos Mana
Dec 3, 2022 | Non categorizzato
On 21st November, 2022, at the International Centre of the Focolare Movement (Rocca di Papa- Italy), a meeting entitled “People of God, Crossroads of Diversity. Many nodes, one network” took place. It brought together the different ecclesial realities linked to the charism of unity. “We are a portion of the Church with different colours, with different shades of colour, as many colours as there are charisms, ministries, places of birth and peoples. Our task is to build unity in this diversity, above all to give rise to communities in which the Gospel is lived in a full way”. These are the words of Sister Tiziana Longhitano, of the Franciscan Congregation of the Poor, Coordinator of the Centre for consecrated members of the Focolare Movement, who was one of the participants at the meeting, which brought together people from many countries and vocations. There were about forty present in person and about 600 connected via zoom. It was an opportunity to share and to discern what the next steps on the beautiful journey which began in April 1982, in the Nervi Hall, in the Vatican, with the Congress “The Priest today, the Religious today”. About 7,000 Priests and Religious participated in that event in which, through testimonies from all over the globe, they highlighted the fruits of meeting the charism of unity and the renewal it brought to many religious communities and parishes. Today many realities continue to reap those fruits, a symptom of an ongoing process, not only within the Focolare Movement, but throughout the Church; realities illuminated by a “prophecy”, as Margaret Karram, President of the Focolare Movement, defined it, in her intervention: “a prophecy that has made its way and continues to mature to increasingly become a reality which is shared (we hope) and practiced throughout the Church”. Throughout these 40 years, dioceses, parishes, priests and various charismatic communities have shared experiences and generated communities in the light of the charism of unity, presenting themselves no longer as individual pieces of the Church but as a single body, a people that lives the culture of communion, listens to each other and walks together. Suffice it to mention the important development of the Parish Movement and the Diocesan Movement in recent years and the commitment of priests, religious, consecrated persons and lay people in the Synodal Journey. There were many experiences shared during this event. From Brazil, Desi, a married Focolarina and Matheus, a seminarian, told how the call to synodality and to work in synergy with all the realities of the Focolare Movement led to the birth of some pastoral Congresses that focused on listening, knowledge and formation. Desi said, “Our hearts are expanding towards our aim, ‘May they all may be ONE’. From Ecuador we heard the testimony of the Apostolic Nuncio, Msgr. Andrés Carrascosa and of some priests of the Archdiocese of Quito who, following a retreat, decided to start a group to meditate on the Word of Life: Father Ramiro Ramirez said, “I have had a deeper experience of the Word. It has become more alive in me, I have learned to understand the Gospel better (…) and also my brother priests (…). Father Charles Serrano added: “I heard that there would be a meeting of about 15 priests and that the Nuncio would be there. When I arrived I met priests in need of healing, fragile, suffering and broken-hearted. I felt like that too (…).The first time I attended, I thought I would be mad to go back, now I think I am mad, because on the second Tuesday of each month I cannot wait for the meeting (…). The Church today needs to live fraternity in order to strengthen itself, as Sister Maria Inês Vieira Ribeiro, connected from Aparecida (Brazil), said, “to form a people at the service of the Kingdom of God, protecting life, especially in the places where there is most suffering”. This is why the diversity of each reality becomes the true wealth of the Church which, despite the difficulties of this time, regards her children as the possible saints of tomorrow. This is the experience of the young people of the “Charisms for Unity” Movement, who, from getting to know the Ideal of Chiara Lubich, wanted to put their charisms in contact. From this idea, during the pandemic they had a series of Zoom meetings, a kind of workshop, to share experiences, put the Gospel into practice and encourage each other to live out their consecration with enthusiasm. They called it, “Saints together, on Earth as in Heaven”.
Maria Grazia Berretta
To see the full meeting click on: (3) PEOPLE OF GOD, CROSSROADS OF DIVERSITY – YouTube
Dec 1, 2022 | Non categorizzato
The World Council of Churches (WCC) hosted Focolare president Margaret Karram and co-president Jesús Moran, as well as other members of the Focolare community, on 28 November, offering a guided tour of the Ecumenical Centre, and discussing unity, reconciliation, inter-religious bridge-building, Faith and Order, and communications, among other issues of interest. WCC acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca expressed appreciation for the many past collaborations between the WCC and the Focolare, most recently the Focolare’s participation at the WCC 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe. Sauca said the WCC recognizes the importance of cooperation and mutual support between the WCC and the Focolare to serve together under the new paradigm of the pilgrimage of justice, reconciliation, and unity. “Christians of different churches belonging to Focolare have been part of delegations of their respective churches and in other capacities at WCC assemblies,” noted Sauca, who summarized a long history of cooperation between the two groups. “Your commitment to promoting the dialogue between Christians, Jews, and Muslims as well as your engagement in a sustained dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians are inspiring assets for the worldwide movement of Focolare and beyond,” said Sauca. Staff from the WCC and representatives from the Focolare movement also discussed past and future areas of collaboration, and shared their experiences related to unity and ecumenism. Karram shared her warmest greetings and expressed great joy to be visiting the WCC, 20 years after the last visit of Focolare founder Chiara Lubich visited the WCC. “Twenty years ago, Chiara Lubich, founder of the Focolare movement, came here at the invitation of the then-general secretary Konrad Raiser and Prof. Ioan Sauca,” said Karram. “I am very grateful to be with you all here today to commemorate this anniversary. I give praise to God because I am aware I am walking on ground that I hold sacred.” Karram assumed the WCC of the willingness and of the ability of the Focolare movement to continue walking together. “I want to add not only walking together—but we have to hold hands—not only walk together but hold hands, side-by-side. I want to promise this.” Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay WCC general secretary-elect, commended the many ways in which the Focolare community and the WCC have exchanged ideas and insights over the years. “Our collaboration has been on different levels,” he said.
Source: WWC
Full speech by Margaret Karram Photo gallery on the Focolare leadership visit to the WCC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Lx8IklNEPQ&t=53s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7OMciDbHA8&t=1s
Nov 30, 2022 | Senza categoria
Remaining lukewarm before the proclamation of the Word is like remaining “blind, naked and unhappy” (Rev 3:17).However, God continues to knock at our door of man, especially in the darkest moments of life; just as a father seeks his son, God does not tire of chasing us and those who listen to his “call” experience full joy. Providential solution When our children were young, and even during their adolescence, outings and trips together were always occasions for celebration. When we were left alone, we realized that we had changed, as if we had taken different paths and had grown apart. It was difficult to talk to one another without giving offence. We realized that we needed to find a new way of communicating and decided to go to a psychotherapist. When I shared this with a friend, she confided to me that she had experienced the same situations with her husband and that they reached the brink of divorce. The providential solution they found was to become part of a community in their parish and to get involved in works of charity. I suggested this to my husband and he agreed. Since then our lives have changed: giving our time and energy and opening our doors to others, we have found not only a way to live but a way to communicate. We also experience greater joy with our children and grandchildren. (F.D.A. – Croatia) The Value of Becoming One After my architectural studies in Florence, I went home for the holidays to my small village in the Tuscan hills where my parents were renovating the old family farmhouse. After I had a look at the plans, I expressed some concerns both about the actual condition of the building and the changes necessary to preserve the original structure. My brother, however, reacted badly, accusing me in front of everyone of wanting to be a know-it-all. I wanted to show that I was right, but since from a group known in Florence that was committed to living the Gospel I had learned the value of “making yourself one with others”, as St Paul said, I put my ideas aside, to avoid arguing. When the time came to start the work, the foreman explained that the project could not be carried out as it was and recommended some changes, which coincided with those I had suggested. At this point, my mother, explained: “You see, my son, when you’re here, we’ll always think of you as a child and that’s why we don’t accept what you have learned. Try to understand your brother”. (C.G. – Italy)
Edited by Maria Grazia Berretta
(taken from The Gospel of the Day, New City, year VIII, n.2, November-December 2022)
Nov 25, 2022 | Non categorizzato
This is one of the pages from the diary of Irene, a young editor of Teens, a magazine of the Città Nuova publishing group, which is made by teenagers for teenagers. Through her eyes and her words we learn of a journey in a country marked by divisions and we get to know the project “Harmony among peoples”, which, thanks to art and dance is spreading beauty and hope to the new generations in Bethlehem. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6rF91sFMdo
Nov 24, 2022 | Non categorizzato
In recent months, Pakistan has been hit by floods that have claimed many lives and destroyed much infrastructure. The Emergency Coordination of the Focolare Movement, through AMU (Action for a United World) and AFN (Action New Families), took immediate action to ensure initial assistance and basic needs were met. The floods’ destructive force caused extensive damage to communities in Pakistan affected, which began to be unleashed on this territory as early as mid-June 2022, bringing a third of the country to its knees.
Many consequences still affect the population today. For this reason, the Emergency Coordination of the Focolare Movement, with AMU and AFN, upon learning of the emergency, launched a fundraiser to support the provision of food parcels, clothing and sanitary products to about 500 families in the localities of Nowshera in northern Pakistan; Tando-Alla-Yar and Kotri in Sindh; Sangar in southern Pakistan; and other localities still being assessed. Many have mobilised to respond to initial requests for help and to assess the most urgent needs on the ground. In the face of the ever-increasing number of displaced people, aid shipments were organised in the first few weeks and continue to this day. Despite precarious transportation, most of these families have already been reached. In addition, some members of the Focolare Movement on the ground are directly involved not only in the preparation and distribution of parcels, but also in providing medical care for those who need treatment and medicine to fight primarily typhoid, dengue, cholera and malaria. “On October 16, 2022, we went to a village in Haji Hafiz Shah Goth, about an hour’s drive from the city of Kotri, and set up a medical camp there,” says Fabian Clive, a member of the Focolare community in Karachi. “The doctors there examined 200 people including children, women and men. Most people do not have the opportunity to have regular medical check-ups, either because they are quite expensive or because they do not have access to the city. “Our goal is to set up medical camps in the different areas of Sindh that have not yet had this kind of assistance. There is a widespread call to responsibility and a great willingness to make a contribution.” The situation remains alarming even some weeks later. As water levels drop, the enormous severity of the devastation, compounded by malnutrition and disease, has emerged. The needs of the communities are increasing, changing every day. So carrying out response actions, continuing to embrace this country, is a shared goal. If you too would like to contribute to the Focolare Movement’s Emergency Coordination for Pakistan fundraiser, you can donate at the following:
Azione per un Mondo Unito ONLUS (AMU)
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Azione per Famiglie Nuove ONLUS (AFN)
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| IBAN: IT58S 05018 03200 000011204344 Banca Popolare Etica |
IBAN: IT92J 05018 03200 000016978561 Banca Popolare Etica |
| SWIFT code/BIC: ETICIT22XXX |
SWIFT code/BIC: ETICIT22XXX |
| Reference: Pakistan Emergency |
| Contributions for this made to the two current accounts will be handled jointly by AMU and AFN. Tax benefits are available for donations in many European Union countries and others around the world, in accordance with local regulations. Italian taxpayers will be able to obtain deductions and deductions from income according to the regulations governing non-profit organisations, up to 10% of income and to a limit of €70,000.00 annually, excluding donations made in cash. |
Maria Grazia Berretta
Nov 22, 2022 | Senza categoria
The merciful are those who are able to forgive others and often even themselves. However, mercy is not just an inner disposition, it is the way that unites us with God. His immense love for us is not a feeling but an action; the act through which each of us is ‘reborn’. Living in peace It was not the first time I had noticed trespassing on my land. I had never had any enemies and my father had taught me how to build good relationships, but on this occasion I wanted to see clearly what was going on. I asked Our Lady for help and one night I went into the orchard with another farmer. As I suspected, at a certain hour I saw my neighbour arrive with two sons armed with fruit boxes. The plan was to photograph them in the act: bewildered by the flashes, the three of them immediately ran off, leaving the harvested fruit on the ground. The next day, towards evening, our neighbour’s wife asked my wife if she would kindly destroy the photos and not press charges against her husband. As agreed, my wife replied: “I don’t know what photos you are talking about, my husband has been away for two days”. From that day on, things started to change with unusual kindness and a willingness to help with the picking… During one of the breaks, the neighbour admitted he had come to get some apples ‘to try them’ and had seen flashes. I replied: “Strange things have been happening in the village for some time. What’s important for us is to live in peace”. (V.S.E. – Italy) A real change When I retired and looked back on my life all I could see was a total failure! I never got married because my parents were against my choice of a guy who was good but not one of our ‘rank’. My relationship with my brothers and sister had almost completely broken down because of an inheritance that according to them had been unfairly divided. I could call myself rich but what a void has been created in and around me! While I was in hospital a niece came to visit me who said something that really troubled me: “The trouble with you Aunty is that you are possessed by evil. Every trace of goodness in you has disappeared”. When I was finally discharged, I looked for a priest in whom I could confide what was distressing me. When he had finished listening to me, it seemed to him that I somehow wanted to take revenge on life, on family, on everyone, so he urged me to start thinking more of other people by celebrating relatives’ birthdays with gifts, taking an interest in the neighbours’ news, writing to former students. They were small gestures but steps towards the light. In desperation I put his suggestion into practice. It is hard but I really feel something is changing. (G.I. – Spain) Friends in sickness While my mother was in hospital I got to know her roommate, Klari who was at the same stage of cancer and undergoing the same series of chemotherapies. They had become friends, but something was dividing them. As a young woman, Klari had been a communist activist and did not accept the Catholic faith my mother professed. They did not argue, but you could feel that neither of them wanted to let go of their own beliefs. Nevertheless, my mother was always available and to help Klari who had no relatives she had involved us in the family with her needs – just little things, like dealing with some paperwork for her, phoning friends, etc. When their health started to deteriorate for both of them, each reacted differently to the illness. A great peace shone out from my mother, who always remained attentive to her friend. Klari, on the other hand, became impatient and aggressive, but before she went into a coma, she thanked my mother for the way she had always been by her side. She had now become one of our family. (P.F.H. – Germany)
Edited by Maria Grazia Berretta (taken from Il Vangelo del Giorno, Città Nuova, year VIII, no.2, November-December 2022)
Nov 18, 2022 | Non categorizzato
Presentation to the European Parliament in Brussels (Belgium) of a document aimed at expressing a common social ethic, which contains the shared positions of Christians and Marxists. It is the result of an eight-year journey or we could even say one which has been going on for two centuries. “A project of transversal dialogue” is how Dialop defines itself. Christians and Marxists in Europe have been working on it for some years. After a meeting in the Vatican of some representatives of the European Left with Pope Francis, it took a decisive step forward (see Dialop: Christians and Marxists working together). 
The event took place on 8th November in the Altiero Spinelli building with the presence of 40 people from 9 countries of the Union and others who followed the streaming. The presentation of the position paper, “In search of a common future in solidarity” was supported by the Left Group of the European Parliament, in collaboration with the Movement for Politics for Unity Movement and New Humanity, The document, on common positions in Socialist Christian dialogue, was written by Prof. Michael Brie, President of the Scientific Committee of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation and by the Belgian sociologist, Prof. Bennie Callebaut of the Sophia University Institute. It analyses how, as antagonists in the past, Christianity and Marxism are faced with another wall to break down, that of wild capitalism and how they find surprising affinities in the present. In the message and in the person of Pope Francis they also find a figure who unites, a leader and a traveling companion. The paper states, “We are working on projects guided by shared visions in common struggles“. The document declines what these projects are, indicating some topics being explored: “an economy of life; a caring community; a policy of transformation in solidarity; a world in which there is room for many worlds; the dignity of every individual in a world rich in common goods; and together for peace”. The inevitable question of how, when it comes to discussion, these are expressed in practice, was formulated by Prof. Léonce Bekemans (Jean Monnet Chair, University of Padua). Walter Baier, from Transform!Europe, one of the initiators and coordinators of Dialop responded: “We work on three levels: dialogue as a cultural initiative in order to become a think tank; involving people in the work for solidarity, as happened with initiatives for migrants and refugees; arousing political involvement especially for building peace”. Marisa Matjas, Portuguese MEP of the Bloco de Esquerda, vice-president of the Party of the European Left in the European Parliament, was the hostess. She vividly remembered the words of Pope Francis to the members of the European Parliament in 2014, which were “said when we needed to hear them most”. “He spoke to us about keeping democracy alive in Europe, about employment and workers’ rights, about education, about migration, at a time when the EU was ignoring the massive movements of people coming from Syria; he also spoke about the dignity of human rights, we have many things in common that we need to work on together.” In his opening remarks on “Common paths towards a global, just and fraternal society”, the theologian Piero Coda said, “Today we need, like the food we live on, vision, spirit and covenant. It is time to hope and give hope ‘in the plural’. This is what Dialop invites us to do”. A plurality that requires wider alliances, not only the Catholic world, but the whole Christian world, with an ecumenical dimension; not only Christianity, but all religions; not only the left, but the various political ideologies that are committed to the common good and the defence of the environment. Citing the document, he said that there must be an initial effort to put aside any claim of “having the monopoly of the truth”. “Together with Marxists and Christians, a transformative and transversal social ethic must count on the contribution of other actors and traditions who are present in our continent and have different world views”, reiterated Fr Manuel Barrios Prieto, Secretary General of COMECE, recalling the concept of human fraternity, starting with the signing of the Abu Dhabi document of 2019 and the encyclical “All Brothers”. A renewed commitment to dialogue resumed in Brussels, with a momentum of inclusiveness, aware that dialogue is a ‘ work in permanent progress’.
Maria Chiara De Lorenzo
