Chiara Lubich: the path to fraternity among all

Mar 28, 2022 | Non categorizzato

How can we ensure that our daily efforts, our work and our relationships become a means of building a united world? One way is to see the people we meet every day with new eyes, being ready not to judge but rather to trust, hope and believe always. We need to acquire a merciful outlook. Mercy is a virtue that the times we live in ask of us with our neighbours both near and far. God’s great plan for humanity is universal fraternity. A fraternity that is stronger than the inevitable divisions, tensions and hard feelings that so easily creep into relationships due to misunderstandings and mistakes. Families often break up because they cannot forgive each other. Old hatreds maintain the division between relatives, social groups, and peoples. At times there are even those who teach people not to forget the wrongs they have suffered and who cultivate feelings of revenge… And a dull resentment poisons the soul and gnaws at the heart. Some people think that forgiveness is a weakness. Instead, it is the manifestation of the greatest courage. It is true love, the most genuine love, because it is the most selfless. “If you love those who love you, what merit have you?” – says Jesus – everyone knows how to do that: “Love your enemies”[1]. We are asked to learn from him and to have the love of a father, of a mother, a merciful love towards all those who come our way, especially towards those who do something wrong. Moreover, to those who are called to live a spirituality of communion and fellowship, that is, the Christian spirituality, the New Testament asks for something more: “Forgive one another”^[2]. We could almost say that mutual love requires that we make a pact with one another to be ready to forgive one another always. This is the only way we can contribute towards universal fraternity. These words not only invite us to forgive, but they remind us that forgiving others is the condition for receiving forgiveness ourselves. God listens to us and forgives us according to how much we forgive others. … Actually, a heart hardened by hatred is not even capable of recognizing and accepting the merciful love of God. … Precautionary measures are needed. So, every morning, in relation to the people around me, whether at home or at school, at work or in a shop, I’m ready to overlook anything I don’t like about their way of doing things. I try not to judge them, but I want to trust them, always hoping, always believing. I approach every person with this complete amnesty in my heart, with universal forgiveness. I do not remember their faults at all, and I cover everything with love. Throughout the day, then, if I have been unkind or impatient, I try to make up for it by apologizing or showing some sign of friendship. Then, when I pray to the Father, especially when I ask him to forgive my mistakes, I am sure that my prayer will be granted. I’ll be able to say with complete trust: “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” ^[3]

Chiara Lubich

 (Chiara Lubich, in Parole di Vita, [Words of Life] Città Nuova, 2017, p. 667) [1] Cf. Mt 5:42-47 [2] Col 3:13 [3] Mt 6:12.

The Pope and the act of consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Mar 25, 2022 | Non categorizzato

On 25^th March, Pope Francis will consecrate Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.This plea is part of the choral prayer that rises up in the world for peace and accompanies the great network of solidarity to which the members of the Focolare Movement also adhere. On 25^th March, the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, around 6.30 p.m. (Rome time), from St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, Pope Francis will consecrate all humanity and in particular Russia and Ukraine, to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. With this act, according to Catholic tradition, every person on earth, especially those who suffer today because of war, is entrusted to Mary our Mother and through her intercession, to God. The Pope wrote to all the bishops in world to invite them to participate. He said, “The Church is strongly called to intercede before the Prince of Peace and to demonstrate her closeness to those directly affected by the conflict”. Because there is no victory in a war. With war, everything is lost. Therefore, the Pope continues, “in response to numerous requests by the People of God, I wish in a special way to entrust the nations at war to the Blessed Virgin Mary”. This act “is meant to be a gesture of the universal Church, which in this dramatic moment lifts up to God, through his  Mother and ours, the cry of pain of all those who suffer and implore an end to the  violence, and to entrust the future of our human family to the Queen of Peace”. The Focolare Movement, present in more than 180 countries, therefore also in many places where conflicts and wars are still taking place, adheres to the Pope’s appeal. A few days ago in Assisi, the President of the Focolare, Margaret Karram, who together with the General Council of the Movement was in the “city of peace” for a few days of retreat, invoked a prayer for universal peace: “We ask you with the faith that moves the mountains, that there be a ceasefire in the war and that dialogue will be victorious ‘in seeking paths to peace’ between Russia and Ukraine. We ask for the grace that every ongoing conflict, in particular the most forgotten ones, can end”. Since 1991, the years of the Gulf War, the Focolare communities have been united in prayer for peace through a daily “time out” at 12 o’clock in each time zone. Christians of different Churches, faithful of various religions stop for a minute of silence or prayer to ask for peace and to focus on their personal commitment to build it wherever they are. On Friday 25^th March, at the same time that the Pope will perform the act of Consecration, Car. Konrad Krajewski, the Pope’s envoy to Fatima will do the same in Portugal, to plead for Peace together.

Lorenzo Russo

Here is the link for the live prayer from 5.00 p.m (Rome time) Here the act of consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in various languages.

Composers of values: notes and words from a children’s workshop

Mar 24, 2022 | Non categorizzato

On 26 February a partnership between the children of the Focolare Movement (Gen 4) and the Forme Sonore Association brought about a workshop on composing children’s music, with about a hundred participants from various continents. Many reflections were collected from participants, as were the impressions of the teachers, Sabrina Simoni and Siro Merlo. This beautiful collaboration began in the summer of 2021 between Forme Sonore, an association that deals with music production and experimentation to encourage the growth of musical thought, and the Gen 4. It lead to a piece of music recorded by a small choir of children from Burundi. The opportunity to join forces and achieve something beautiful together rose once again on 26 February 26, the day in which the founders of Forme Sonore, teacher Sabrina Simoni (director of the ‘Mariele Ventre’ choir from Antoniano in Bologna, Italy, who plays a lead role in the annual Italian children’s ‘Zecchino d’oro’ event) and maestro Siro Merlo (an expert in writing children’s songs and artistic direction) held a beautiful workshop, organized and promoted by the Gen 4. It was aimed at those who understand music and work with children. It included a training session that was followed online by a hundred people from all continents. It focused on the composition of children’s music, not only from a technical point of view, but as a means to convey values such as sharing, unity, fraternity, care for others and nature. “When Valeria Bodnar, the Gen 4 assistant from Burundi, contacted us last August, we were deeply impressed by her enthusiasm,” Sabrina and Siro said. “We felt the same way on Saturday 26 February. The word that more than any other that describes it is ‘chorality’ – that intense feeling you get when, moved by sincere joy, you perform a song together with others. “The people who participated, in addition to being geographically very distant from each other, belong to remarkably different social and cultural spheres, yet the messages that reached us by the end of the workshop expressed similar views perfectly in harmony.” Filippo from Monopoli, Italy said: “This course has particularly revived my desire to compose something for our Gen 4. I learned that songs for our children must be simple, playful and make them feel free and happy to sing them.” There were many expressions of thanks. Ramia from the Ivory Coast wrote: “I understood that the song must be composed taking into account the psychology of children, the target audience that will interpret it, finding the best way to convey an emotion and the right rhythm to allow the child to sing without worries.” It was a real journey among notes, technique and passion, which revealed to participants how important it is to consider music as a “means and not as an end,” explain maestros Simoni and Merlo, “a vehicle that not only ‘transports’ content of various kinds (didactic, pedagogical, emotional or playful), but does so more quickly, directly and profoundly.” This moment of great sharing became a mutual gift. It left an important mandate for those who work in childcare and music: to grow and shape themselves more and more so they can accompany the children in this path of discovery where, as the teachers conclude, “music has a particularly powerful socializing energy that must be properly guided and channelled by competent teachers, animated by great passion, rich in empathy and sensitivity.”

Maria Grazia Berretta

I was fleeing and you took me in

Mar 23, 2022 | Non categorizzato

Through the reports sent to us by journalists and news broadcasts on the web and social networks, we are following the conflict in Ukraine as it happens.  Every day we witness the human drama of large numbers of people, mostly women and children, who have to flee from the bombardments. At the same time, actions that welcome refugees  are silently multiplying in many European countries. Here are some testimonies. A month ago, none of us could have imagined that today there would be more than three million refugees from Ukraine. But this is the reality we are experiencing not only in the countries close to the conflict zones but now in all the countries of Europe and beyond. Practically overnight we had to organise ourselves to welcome our Ukrainian brothers and sisters, mostly children and women, who are fleeing from the horror. “When the conflict began and the first people arrived from Ukraine,” says Manuela from Berlin, Germany, ” I saw it as a response to the fact we have had to cancel the annual Focolare meeting that we call the European Mariapolis. Welcoming people as best we can,  is now my and our Mariapolis. This is what God wants from me and from us.” And from Munich, also in Germany, Dora says: “The priests’ house where I work took in two women and a 12-year-old child. They don’t speak German or English but we understand each other by using web translation on our mobile phones. A few evenings ago, after dinner, I asked them if they needed anything. The mother replied: ‘Yes, I need a pair of size 42 shoes for my son.’  At that moment I felt Chiara Lubich very close to me and I understood that we were on the right path.” Dora is referring  to an event that happened to Chiara Lubich during the Second World War when a man who was poor and struggling asked her for a pair of men’s shoes size 42, and, almost immediately, a friend gave her a pair of shoes in that size which her family did not need. At the moment, some some Focolare Centres with residential facilities are being made available  to host the refugees from Ukraine.  As early as 3 March 2022, the first 5 refugees (2 young mothers with their children) were given accommodation in the Mariapolis centre ‘Dialog.hotel.wien’, near Vienna, Austria. They were grateful for the hot showers and the food they received.  The following day they continued their journey by train. Ten days later, 34 refugees arrived, including 15 children, who were accommodated for between one to five nights. The same happened with the Mariapolis Centres in Germany: Zwochau/Leipzig, Solingen/Cologne and Ottmaring/Augsburg. Twenty-five young people from north-west Germany took part in a charity run for Ukrainian orphans on Saturday 12 March 2022. A large group ran in Solingen and others from Cologne, Munich and also from Graz.  Other participants joined in along the course and ran with them. In total, the young people ran more than 250 kilometres and collected more than 10,000 euros! At the end, they connected via videoconference with the focolarine who are in Ukraine and were able to talk and share the experiences they are living. Taking care of refugees and collecting money, clothes or food are not the only things to do; it is also important  to raise awareness of the idea of peace. Margarete D. is a teacher and started a special campaign with her class in Krefeld, Germany. She saw that the children in her school wanted to do something practical  and so they began the  “Postcards for Peace” initiative. Some sentences were translated into Russian and meticulously written by the children in Cyrillic letters next to the translation in their mother tongue.  These messages were sent to people who have influence to stop the fighting. There is still a great deal to be done. In the meantime, efforts are being made to organise the logistical and practical aspects of welcoming refugees in the best  way possible whilst hoping there will soon be an end to this conflict.  This is the hope expressed by Pope Francis  after the Angelus on Sunday 20 March 2022: “I plead with all those involved in the international community to truly commit to ending this abhorrent war. “

Carlos Mana

Living the Gospel: «Forgiveus our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors» (Mt 6:12)

Mar 22, 2022 | Non categorizzato

Is it really possible to imitate God our Father in a love that truly forgives? It’s most certainly not easy. However, what can prepare the way for us to reach this point is to have received what Pope Francis calls “the grace of shame” in our lives and the subsequent joy that comes from having been forgiven. It’s a mysterious pathway which Lent indicates to us so that at the end of it we can arrive at unexpected places. Healing wounds One day someone surprised me with a really sharp personal criticism, which I didn’t think I deserved. I was deeply hurt and the attack burnt inside me afterwards. I was tempted to cut that person out. I no longer wanted to have anything to do with them. But I realised this attitude was not coherent with my choice to live the Gospel. How could I heal this wound? I turned to Jesus, and immediately his words came to mind: “Don’t do to others what you would not wish them to do to you”. For days I practised this motto with everyone I met, including the person who had so insulted me. And I noticed something healing within me, replacing any bitter thoughts. I experienced that sense of relief which can only come through forgiveness. (R. – Italy) Unconditional love For quite a while my wife and I had been arguing more and more. Who knows why? The smallest trigger, a word out of place, a something which was nothing, and we’d start to raise our voices, dragging up old grudges. One of those evenings, when the atmosphere between us was truly electric, I noticed our nine year old daughter sitting on the stairs and apparently playing with paper aeroplanes.  She was smiling, as was our younger son. They really seemed to be enjoying themselves! That got my attention, so I picked up some of the paper planes and showed them to my wife. Close up we could see that each plane was decorated with little hearts and messages like “We love you lots”, “You’re the best parents in the world!”, “We want to hear you singing!”. As my wife read them, I saw tears running down her cheeks. We looked at each other, ashamed of ourselves. We hugged and promised to rediscover our “yes” of love pronounced years ago. (M. – Portugal) The first step From when I was a teenager, my father and I could never get on. My mother suffered a lot over this, but we could never find a way through. Until one time, when I was travelling away from home, I confided in a friend who was an active member of a Catholic movement. He said that in difficult situations he would ask himself the question: “If I don’t love that particular person, who can do it in my place?” I returned home with these words ringing powerfully in my ears. Surprisingly I began to recall many occasions in which I could have taken the initiative to show love to my parents but didn’t. To make up for this, I decided to start with small things, helping out in little ways which before I always avoided. Basically, I noticed something inside me change. Twenty years have passed since then and now I have my own children. I understand the importance of taking the first step, as if the other person’s happiness depended only on me. (R.T. – Hungary)

Edited by Maria Grazia Berretta

(from Il Vangelo del Giorno, Città Nuova, anno VIII, n.2, marzo-aprile 2022)

Chiara Lubich: Boundless mercy

Mar 21, 2022 | Non categorizzato

In the Our Father, Jesus invites us to ask God to forgive our debts as we too forgive our debtors. It is the Word of life that we try to put into practice during this month of March 2022. Our love for our brothers and sisters must be full of mercy, even to the point of forgiveness. Jesus says that we must always take the initiative so that harmony and fellowship are constantly maintained. Therefore, he urges us to live the commandment of love of neighbour in a radical way. In fact, he does not say: ‘if you remember having offended your brother or sister’, but rather, ‘if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you.’ For Jesus, the very fact that we remain indifferent about any disharmony with our neighbour – even if we ourselves are not responsible for this disunity – is already a reason for not being acceptable to God and, indeed, being rejected by him. Jesus wants to put us on our guard not only against serious outbursts of hatred toward others, but also against any expression or attitude that in some way denotes a lack of attention or love for our brothers and sisters. … We should try not to be superficial in our relationships, and instead search the innermost depths of our heart, to be sure that we have eliminated even the slightest attitude of indifference or lack of generosity, every attitude of superiority or any intentional neglect of others. In everyday life, we can make up for any rudeness or impatience with an apology or a friendly gesture. If at times this isn’t possible, what counts is to radically change our inner attitude. Any instinctive rejection of our neighbour needs to be replaced by an attitude of welcoming, of full and total acceptance of the other, of boundless mercy, forgiveness, willingness to share and attention to their needs. If we do this, we can offer God all the gifts we want. He will accept them and take them into account. Our relationship with him will grow deeper and we will experience true union with him, which is our happiness, both now and in the future.

Chiara Lubich

 (Chiara Lubich, in Parole di Vita, [Words of Life] Città Nuova, 2017, p. 283)

Dominican Republic: Open arms and open heart

Mar 17, 2022 | Non categorizzato

A cultural exchange project breaks down the barriers between Haitian migrants and the community of La Romana in the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic is a country in the middle of the Caribbean Sea that shares the territory of the island of Hispaniola with Haiti. Historically, it has a cultural value for the entire American continent, since it was there that Christopher Columbus landed on his first voyage. Both countries share cultural and historical roots, but also have contrasts that have separated them for centuries. Haiti is the poorest country in the Americas. Political instability and internal violence have caused thousands of people to migrate to other countries. Every year thousands of migrants cross the border from Haiti to the Dominican Republic in search of a better future, creating tensions between the two nations. “It is estimated that there are about 2 million Haitians in the Dominican Republic. They come mainly to work in the cultivation of sugar cane, because there are several sugar factories here, “says Modesto Herrera, a doctor who is part of the Focolare community in the Dominican Republic. Although there is mutual exchange between these neighbouring peoples, there are also latent tensions and discrimination against Haitians living in the Dominican Republic. One of the biggest barriers is language, because in the Dominican Republic the language is Spanish, while in Haiti Creole is spoken. A few years ago, the Focolare community of La Romana began a project that aims to create bonds of fraternity with Haitian migrants living in neighbouring cities. “We work in the parish where there is a “Batey”, a rural community of sugarcane workers, mainly made up of Haitians,” says Sandra Benitez, a businesswoman. Although many had never visited the Batey because it is a remote area of the city, a group of young people and other members of the community decided to break down the barrier that has divided them for years and began to visit it. They gradually discovered that the Haitian community needed to be integrated into society. La Romana is known for its textile industry. “We saw the potential of young people and decided to work in the textile sector,” says Cristian Salvador Roa, who teaches sewing to the Haitian community. He adds: “It gives me great satisfaction to see that young men no longer wasting their youth, but becoming productive and who start to make the most of their lives by doing something productive.” “The best testimony we can give is that, given the barrier of language, the barrier of social bias, when that barrier is broken, we discover the great wealth that can be found in a culture or that can be found in sharing our human condition with others,” concludes Concepción Serrano, an industrial engineer.

Clara Ramirez

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeyGvKnZJAs&list=PL9YsVtizqrYsxCVExqFc_vvuzCKyNbr43&index=4

Chiara Lubich: only the Gospel

Mar 14, 2022 | Non categorizzato

Everything passes, even life. Only the Gospel will remain forever, since it is not subject to the passage of time. Today, 14 March 2022, 14 years after Chiara Lubich’s death, we publish this text in which she hands over the Gospel to those who follow her on the path of unity. It is an invitation to live the Word in all our daily activities.    A thought constantly comes to mind: “Leave only the Gospel to those who follow you. If you do so, the Ideal of unity will remain. It is obvious that in the time in which you and the others are living, there have been useful concepts, phrases, and slogans that have made the Gospel relevant and applicable in modern times, but these thoughts, these sayings, these almost ‘words of life’, will pass away. When unity among Christians is almost achieved, ecumenism will no longer be a distant goal. When a certain degree of unity has been reached in the world, there will no longer be talk of a global person as an ideal to be pursued. When the predominantly atheistic world is permeated by the reality of God, atheism will no longer be so prominent. The spirituality of unity itself, which is now a medicine for our times, once having achieved its purpose, it will be placed alongside all the others arising from the various charisms given by God to the Church down the centuries. What remains and will always remain is the Gospel, which does not suffer the passage of time: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (Mt 24, 35). This means all of Jesus’ words. I feel that we must certainly adapt ourselves with all our might to the times in which we live, following the particular inspirations that God gives us to bring about and cultivate the kingdom of God in ourselves and in those entrusted to us. But we must do all this knowing that life is transitory, knowing that there is eternal Life announced by Jesus in his Gospel. We must put in second place in our hearts all ideas and ways of doing things that are useful but not purely evangelical, and constantly renew our faith in the Gospel, which does not pass away.

Chiara Lubich

(Chiara Lubich, in La Parola di Dio, [The Word of God] Città Nuova 2011, pp. 112-113)