The Gospel in action: experiences on forgiveness

Aug 4, 2014 | Focolare Worldwide

Dad’s bread The separation from my husband had left me with very little self-confidence, in addition to giving me a serious feeling of guilt. I had lost all my points of reference. Then, with the help of my family and friends, I found again a little strength to live. I learned how to detach myself from my own ideas, to respect my husband in his life choices, and not to judge him. It wasn’t always easy, in fact the opposite is true … In addition, these steps are not made once and for all, we must begin again each day. But I was able to make some painful choices in peace: for example, to stay on living in the house that reminded me of my life as a couple. Speaking with my three oldest children, I realized it was better that way in order to enable them to continue living in their own environment. On the day of my youngest son Gael’s confirmation, my husband came and started to make some bread. I tried to make everyone feel at home: forgiveness prevailed. It was a wonderful day that reached its climax when we shared together the bread that Dad had made. B.G. – Mauritius The guitar Judy and Tom, a couple who lived on the edge of the abyss between drugs and alcohol. As a result of our friendship, Judy decided to stop taking drugs, while Tom remained hostile. One evening we went to visit them, and seeing a guitar in the corner, I asked Tom to play something. He did and slowly began to open up: a first step towards the big decision to return to work and leave the drugs. With other friends we helped him in every way. On the tenth anniversary of their wedding, Judy expressed the desire to renew their wedding vows, “now that God has entered our lives.” So we organized a big party for them. G.L.O. – USA A Pact I was having big problems in my relationship with my father, so I was thinking of leaving home, even though I was only 16. After talking it over with friends from the parish, I understand that I had to try to love him better, without expecting anything from him. A few days after this decision, I stayed at home to work with him. Hours of silence. When we had finished working, he confided in me: he had noticed that for some time I interacted with him in a different way from my brothers. “I understand that you may have wanted a more affectionate father, but I ask you to accept me as I am.” For me it was as if we had made ​​a pact. M.T. – Belgium Source: The Gospel of the day (Supplement to no. 11/2014 of the magazine Citta’ Nuova)

Klaus Hemmerle: The Priest Today (2)

Aug 2, 2014 | Focolare Worldwide

«The youth of today will be the leaders of the tomorrow. From the questions and often impetuous desires of young people, from their opinions and sometimes impatient and exaggerated demands, we can understand something of what is going on in the minds of people in any given epoch. Those who are very much in contact with today’s young people, come up against two tendencies which seem to be contradictory: on one hand young people want closeness, equality and spontaneity, so that whoever is distant or too high is neither accepted nor understood. They want people who have something to say, not to be too different from them but to have an inside-knowledge of their situation. In short, they don’t want these people to feel that they are above everyone else in some way, with their answers come down from somewhere on high. At the same time, however – and this is the other tendency – we discover in young people a great thirst for originality, the need for a model they can hold up in front of them, an Ideal they can follow which is convincing and a way of life. Young people want to draw their lives from depths they themselves are not able to reach, from a source they feel cut off from. They are looking for someone who is very close to them and at the same time someone “who comes from the land of distant waters” to make them drink. They are looking for someone who is both like them and at the same time completely different. They are looking for someone who is small and at the same time someone who possesses a greatness without which life is dull, frivolous and empty. In a sense broader than that of a specifically religious or Christian context, we could say: young people, indeed, humanity today, is attracted both by: action and a mystical dimension, nearness and authority, brotherhood and mandate. Couldn’t this be nostalgia for Jesus Christ? For the Son of God who comes to us as the Son of Mary, for the Messiah who belongs to the carpenter’s family? Yes. And this nostalgia for Jesus Christ is also a nostalgia for the priest: for that priest, whose message becomes credible by means of his personal life, and who gives witness to this message through his own experience, by what he says and what he brings, even though his ultimate authority comes from Jesus Christ Himself. The priest in himself is a man like any other; he must never elevate himself as if he were somehow higher or better. But it is also true that Jesus Christ has imprinted Himself upon the priest. Jesus chose the priest and sent him out to bring His presence near to men and women, to witness to Him and transmit His life, and message. There is something different in the priest, but this difference can be justified only because of Jesus Christ and for Him. Thus, courage is needed, courage to differentiate oneself and courage to be near; courage to live in contemplation and courage to serve with simplicity and humility; courage to climb Mt Tabor and courage to wash the feet of one’s neighbour: this is the figure of the priest today. And this figure meets the desire of our times, the nostalgia for Jesus Christ who comes from the Father in Heaven and at the same time, lives the everyday life of ordinary people. To live Christ, to live his mission, to live his authority close to Mary, the Handmaid of the Lord – this is what it means to be priests today. In a word: the priest, the response of God to our times; the priest – the man of our times […]». (To be continued) Klaus Hemmerle: The Priest Today (1) Forthcoming event

A Cry From Gaza «Pray for us.»

Jul 31, 2014 | Focolare Worldwide

Jerusalem, July 30, 2014. “The situation in Gaza is dramatically deteriorating. Following the total destruction of the electrical plant, which was only partially operating, the people are now completely without electricity. Yesterday, G., a Christian woman, informed us that water has also become scarce. Two hours ago she telephoned saying that shortly there would be no telephone line, but she wanted to inform us that everyone was still alive. Three families are staying with her, because their homes have been completely or partially destroyed. They say that the love among them strongly unites them, and they wish to stay together even if it means dying together. The home of H., which was already seriously damaged a week earlier, was completely blown up last night by four missiles. In their last telephone call they begged: “Pray for us not a little, but a lot!” The apartment of  N., was bombed five days ago. They are now living on the stairs, which is the most protected place they can find. They tried but were unable to restore the generator so that they could have a few hours of electricity. Nadia says it’s like living in an ongoing earthquake, and she is suffering very much. But when she telephoned she was very grateful because, at 15:00 a four-hour ceasefire was declared. Within Gaza there are some 50 people who live the spirituality of unity. They count on the prayers of the worldwide Focolare family. Meanwhile, in Jerusalem we have visited the fifteen wounded who were taken from Gaza and placed in a hospital in the city. Among them was a small child of four years, who lost her family. There was also five-year-old Yazan, thirteen-year-old Abdul Karim and twenty-year-old Musleh. One of them lost a kidney, another lost an arm and a leg. . . We wanted to kneel down in front of each one of them and ask for forgiveness. We continue praying that the hatred, mistrust and fear may melt and that peace return.” Corres Kwak and Claudio Maina – Focolare Movement in the Holy Land

Angiolino and his needy friends

Jul 30, 2014 | Focolare Worldwide

Angiolino is by no means “self-centred”. This is the best description you could probably give of him. For 75 years he’s lived as someone who is “other-centred”. He’s lived in several places in Italy, then in Belgium and Argentina. For the past few years he’s been living in Rome, Italy. “When I first came to Rome, I felt a bit awkward. I knew so few people, but at the same time felt the need to do something for the people here who often seemed tired and stressed, unhappy and buried in their personal problems. Then, I simply began to acquaint myself with whomever came into view, beginning with the shop workers, the florist, the coffee shop owner, the newspaper seller. But especially the many poor people I met who were begging for money. Often when I go to church, I find them coming up to me in groups of four or five. One asks for some money, another for a pair of trousers or pieces of clothing. Even when I don’t have anything to give them, I stop to chat a bit and they feel accepted. Once in a while I stop by a Romanian who is unable to move one leg because of an accident. He’s married with a daughter who considers me a father. Then someone tells me he hasn’t had breakfast. So I invite him to a coffee shop and do a bit of shopping for him. Hasamed from Bangladesh supports his family, cleaning windshields. When he insists on buying me a cappuccino I let him pay, out of respect for his personal dignity. If someone has a need that goes beyond my possibilities, I pray to the Eternal Father, and often the answer comes. Once, not knowing how to assist a Romanian lady who was in need, I gave her the gold cross and chain I have always worn around my neck. At times, not concerned about who sees me (it’s been a while since I’ve looked for human respect), I sit with them and listen to what they have to tell me. . . I don’t solve their problems, but at least they feel there is someone who wishes them well. My way of acting is not always looked upon in a positive way. Once someone even threatened me: ‘You give too much trust to those over there, then they take advantage and come to rob you. If you continue like this, I’ll report you to the police!’ But as for me, I just continued, hoping that my example might draw others. Like that time when I was at the Vatican Museums and it began to rain. I saw a bearded old man approaching, soaked to the skin, unsteady on his feet and wearing a tattered scarf around his neck. He smelled of wine and I understood immediately! In fact, I had just received some extra money from my pension. ‘Come,’ I told him, ‘let me buy you a pair of shoes.’ As I stepped into the shop, a gentleman turned to me and said: ‘I’ll also contribute ten euros.’ I’m a bit talented at doing clown performances with a foldable metre for measuring. The monies I receive from these small  performances I donate to from seminarians from outside the country, since the bishop who was assisting them has died. Then there are others in Congo who would not be able to carry on with the studies if it were not for my support. I was also able to help a married couple who were unable to afford a cesarian section: now they have a healthy baby girl. I share these little episodes with people whenever the occasion allows, and my barber – for example – has refused to let me pay for the last two haircuts, telling me to “send the money you were going to give me, to Congo.” Living like this is an investment: for example, at times I leave the house focused in on myself, a bit burdened by some personal problem, but when I spot one of my poor friends I take courage. It’s as if they say to me, come on, Angiolino, get out of yourself, give us a smile. . . And by forgetting myself, I return to being free and happy. Source: Città Nuova online

Klaus Hemmerle: The Priest Today (1)

Jul 26, 2014 | Focolare Worldwide

“If you are looking for a seismograph that can register the vibrations of our world today, can know the positive and negative developments of the consciousness of our times with its imminent dangers and new experiences, look at the priest. In a certain sense he is the heart of Our Lord, placed by God Himself in the heart of humanity with this calling to be completely available to the Lord and sensitive to all people, with whom he is called to make himself one and be close to; but this availability also involves a great vulnerability. Whoever deals with a theme such as The Priest Today – an essential question for the life of the Church in our times – finds himself faced with countless theories, experiments and projects. The documents of the Second Vatican Council and the 1971 Synod of Bishops, the talks and letters of recent Popes, especially our present Holy Father, John Paul II all offer support and mark out the way. But they do not dispense us from making the personal effort of carrying them over into our own lives so that they may be comprehensible for others and express a shining witness for all people, both within the Church and outside of it. With the directives of the Church in my heart and keeping my eyes fixed on the experiences and problems of humanity, I sought an image that could shed light on the figure of the priest today – who is he? How does he appear to us? In my search I came across a text that can provide that answer to the question about the priest’s identity today, even though it does not mention the priesthood at all. This is the great attraction of modern times: to penetrate to the highest contemplation while mingling with everyone, one person alongside others. I would say even more: to lose oneself in the crowd in order to fill it with the divine, like a piece of bread dipped in wine. I would say even more: made sharers in God’s plans for humanity, to embroider patterns of light on the crowd, and at the same time to share with our neighbour shame, hunger, troubles, brief joys. Because the attraction of our times, as of all times, is the highest conceivable expression of the human and the divine, Jesus and Mary: the Word of God, a carpenter’s son; the Seat of Wisdom, a mother at home.[1] This text of Chiara Lubich speaks to me of our times and highlights the priest as God’s answer to our world today. This text speaks to me of Jesus Christ and makes me understand the priest from this point of departure: Christ. This text speaks to me of being a Christian – and reveals to me the life of the priest from this point of departure: the life of an ordinary Christian. This text speaks to me of the Church – and shows me the place and meaning of the priest within the Church.” (To be continued)

Teenagers of the Focolare at Refugee Landings in Sicily, Italy

Jul 23, 2014 | Focolare Worldwide

The Teens for Unity from southern Italy have held their annual “Big Bang” meeting in the extreme peripheries of Sicily (July 1, 2014 – July 6, 2014). This was the fifth such event and, once again, it was rich in content, full of emotion and generous commitment. The preparations were carried out by the teenagers themselves, who not only decided on the content, but also the dynamics and timing of the event. They reviewed the last five years and examined the current situation. The teenage editors of the Teens for Unity in Calabria and Sicily (GRAFOTEENS) had already highlighted some issues for adolescents such as the difficult relationship with their own bodies, with the growing number of cases of anorexia and boulemia. The teenagers wanted to change the approach to the problem. They dealt with it in a newspaper article and then staged an open-ended “psychodrama” that they left to be continued in the various work groups. Another burning issue was the relationship between teenagers and parents, which was presented by psychiatrist Ezio Aceti. He focused on communication and the strong feelings that can unfold in friendships, love and even education. The tragic deaths of 45 mirgrants who perished in the hold of a ship caused an interruption in the summer camp. The boat carrying the corpses arrived at the Port of Pozzallo a few kilometres away from the site of the camp, so the Teens for Unity decided to cancel the concluding festivities on Saturday and attend the prayer vigil that was going to be held to commemerate the dead and comfort the living. This decision brought them to the heart of the tragedy of immigration, meeting with Caritas workers and learning what prompts thousands of people to flee their own war-torn lands in search of peace and employment. The local diocese asked the Teens for Unity to be involved in the Vigil.They decided to bring both their “roots” and their “wings”. Their “roots” was the journey they share as members of the Focolare Movement. They read a passage by Igino Giordani from 1926: Come, my exiled brother, let us embrace, in which Giordani discusses the duty towards others and the least. The “wings” was represented by a letter to the 45 deceased refugees, written by a 14 year old girl, Enrica, who asked forgiveness for othe world’s indifference and lack of sensitivity. At the conclusion of the prayer vigil the Teens for Unity were greeted and thanked by the vicar general of the diocese, and some of the refugees and minors who had escaped death just a few days earlier. A dialogue was begun in broken English and Italian, and the youths from the Focolare invited the young refugees to attend some upcoming appointments that could help them to become inserted in the local environment. Perhaps the real “Big Bang” was the new beginning offered at this refugee landing and represented by the Chiara Luce Badano Award that was bestowed on the Sicilian Communities of Ispica and Rosolini for their warm welcome and acceptance of the refugees, especially minors in search of a better future. Source: Città Nuova online

Burundi. Small Miracles of Microcredit

Jul 22, 2014 | Focolare Worldwide

The Focolare’s United World Project (AMU) and its partner in Burundi, Cadre Associatif des Solidaires (CASOBU), are quite a winning team! This is thanks also to co-financing by several Italian state entities with whom they were able to conclude several microcredit projects on the peripheries of Bujumbura and in the Province of Ruyigi, Burundi. In all, 80 microcredit groups have been established. The savings accumulated within each group has allowed 406 people to take part in the first project; and 722 people in the second project to begin a production business that enables them to support their families. Sandrine who is one of the project animators recounts: “At first it wasn’t easy to introduce the project, because the people didn’t respect the schedule of programmes. . . this often required me to go beyond simply executing the tasks that had been entrusted to me.” Jerome works in the projects department at CASOBU. He is motivated by the desire to come to the aid of his people: “Each time I try to work alongside them, to respect their personality and dignity, to help everyone to put the accent on the human person and to strengthen the social bonds. In one group a person wasn’t able to repay the credit within the set deadline. Another member of the group, seeing what that other group member had done, lost his own records. Knowing that I was in Ruyigi, the previous debtor looked for me in order to report on his situation. I took the opportunity to stress the importance of brotherhood in the group and how it was the most important value for us, which comes before everything else. Meanwhile, we managed to find the second party who, as it turns out, had gone off to search for money to repay his debt. I learned how important it is that the beneficiaries find the ability to solve their own problems, remaining faithful to the rules, but being enlightened by the spirit of brotherhood. This self-confidence also shows them what they’re able to do.” “In other words,” Sandrine continues, “we at CASOBU would like this Gospel love which guides us as the animators, to also inspire relations within the group, including the decision-making.” One of many experiences: “One woman, a mother with two children and expecting the third, had taken on a debt so that she could begin a small business, but she had never attended the group meetings. It seemed that she had moved elsewhere. They finally found her. As she recounted her story, they realised she had terrible problems. Her husband had abandoned her and her small children, she wasn’t able to pay the rent and was threatened with being thrown out on the street. The group members found a family who took in her children, and they unanimously agreed to grant her an additonal loan so that she could restart her small business. The woman was then able to pay her debts before the deadline. And the other group members felt pride in having brought this situation to a happy conclusion.”

Citizens of the World Camp LIVE

Jul 19, 2014 | Focolare Worldwide

http://live.focolare.org/rpu/ See also:

“Citizens of the World” Youth camp, the world championship of fraternity

Jul 17, 2014 | Focolare Worldwide

The tension of those 115 minutes of play time is felt all over the world, and even more so in Argentina. Everyone is in front of the television screen for the finals of the Soccer World Cup. When Germany makes a goal, there is a moment of profound silence, then a shout of joy from those who side with that team and immediately after the applause of everyone. They are the more than 500 teens from different Countries who arrived in the Argentinian Little Town of the Focolare Movement (250 kms. away from Bueno Aires), to participate in the “Citizens of the World” Youth Camp that started on July 14. Some were supposed to arrive later but they hurried to come so as to live together the great finals. There were flags, faces painted with the colours of the two national teams, songs, cheers… everything, but all done in mutual respect. Even if they didn’t know one another, in a short time freindships were formed. They are adolescents between the ages of 13 and 17, coming from 27 countries and 5 continents. They are all members of Teens for unity. Sharing the World Cup finals together was a happy coincidence, as it became an opportunity to practice living the experience of fraternity, before starting the tasks to be done during the first week of the youth camp. The proposal consists of realizing an international workshop where teens are formed according to the culture of fraternity, and which will allow them to acquire a worldwide dimension, where one learns to respect and love the country of the other as one’s own. The event will take place in two stages. The first week will be held at the Mariapolis Lia, where the teens will work together in a dynamic programme, “just like in a laboratory” they explain, “where different elements are mixed together to produce something new. This is what we want to do during these days”. The objective is to learn to build relationships with everyone, in a venue of  a “culture of reciprocity” that allows each one to be formed as “men and women citizens of the world”. Saturday July 19, the first phase concludes with a day open to other teen boys and girls and with a live streaming link up (live.focolare.org/rpu) with the Teens for Unity all over the world. At the end of the day they will make a pact to commit themselves to “going towards the peripheries”, so as to concretize actions of solidarity in terms of fraternity. From July 20 to 27, during the second week, the project will continue, moving to different cities of the Latin American continent, where there are social iniziative animated by the spirituality of unity, typical of the Focolare Movement. This include schools, community centers, homes for street children, home for the elderly. In the meantime, the streets and the areas of the Little Town come to life and experience a new sprint with the presence of these teens who want to participate in the “world championship of fraternity”. video

Vincenzo “Eletto” Folonari, a gratitude that is 50 years long

Jul 12, 2014 | Focolare Worldwide

A trail in heaven. This is the title of the docu-fiction that tells the exciting story of Vincenzo “Eletto” Folonari,  a young heir of a rich Italian family, who left everything to follow Jesus “I chose God and nothing else” was one of his famous phrases. http://vimeo.com/100491503 Presentation: «He was young. Rich. Handsome. He had everything that someone his age could ever want. But Vincenzo looked beyond, he wanted something more in his life. He came to know the spirit of the Focolare, he left everything for an ideal: universal brotherhood. He disappeared one summer day, amidst the waves of Lake Bacciano. But his death was not in vain. It was the push that gave life to the Gen Movement. Youth, teens, children present today in 182 Countries of the world. That was his dream. He was named Vincenzo. But for everyone he was  Eletto».   To acquire the dvd (available in various languages): http://editrice.cittanuova.it/s/38125/Una_scia_nel_cielo.html

Economy of Communion: learning from the bees

Jul 11, 2014 | Focolare Worldwide

It was not easy to start the production. Financial difficulties did not allow her to have a stable income, until the right moment came, and Donatella Paolini Baldi was able to go ahead:  «The number of families of bees and the amount of honey produced increased – she shared – so much so that I was able to ask for the v.a.t, to do various registrations, to constitute a real and true enterprise, to leave my other job and to have a small income as an apiculturist». “Beach honey” fragrant and aromatic is the best-selling product of the small enterprise, that she was able to build up through the help of the Corporation of a regional Tuscan natural park: a special quality that has already received some awards. Inserted in some purchasing groups as a supplier of honey, she is also a member of the “district of economic solidarity”: a pact made among organizations, purchasers, producers and citizens (consumers) who aim at making production and consumption sustainable. This is a network of enterprises with similar goals, who aim at local production with few middlemen, reusable energy, biological cultivation, and who propose a series of services and products that are highly social and ethical. The style of the Economy of Communion has entered into all the activities of this small enterprise that produces honey: taxing itself when – in spite of the good production – it was not possible to pay both salaries (her own and that of Peter, a young collaborator). Or in resisting the “siren’s call” when, applying for a regional subsidy for apiculturists, she is offered a loophole to gain more advantages. «I suffered a lot thinking of the materials that I could have had for free – Donatella shared – or better still, paid for by the community and even if I imagined the ridicule of my colleagues, I said a difficult “No”, but it was a “No”! To speak of fair play is easy, but to go against the current is a bit difficult. In the end, my enterprise was considered as qualified for the subsidy and was entirely financed by it; and I was happy that my choice, without their knowing it, allowed other financed apiculturists to be inserted in the list after me». In the “honey plant” which is availed of for the extraction of the honey, Donatella met G., a labourer who is serving his jail sentence by working there.  «Even if I was reassured by the person responsible for the plant, by the social worker and by his lawyer, I still found it difficult to accept the fact that I had to spend a lot of my working hours alone with him. In fact, before knowing him they already gave me a detailed description of the multiple homicides he committed… When I found myself in front of him, tall and robust, courteous and helpful, this wall continued to be present between me and him». Until one day G. heard a conversation of mine on the telephone. «I was talking to a friend who was sharing her feelings with me in search of understanding and help. I was trying to encourage her to maintain certain actions such as: seeing each other new every morning, seeing the positive in each other. G. understood well the meaning of my words so much so that he thanked me afterwards. His gratitude enlightened me… ». And still more, punctual providential interventions, seen as actions of the “hidden partner”, God, to whom Donatella and her collaborator Pietro entrust themselves continually. «It was a particularly difficult year due to the cold and the intense rain which compromised the blossoming of the flowers and therefore the production of honey. Among the apiculturists there was a drum beat of telephone calls. In this atmosphere, S. an apiculturist who supports his family through his work, called me up crying. He didn’t know what to do, he was desperate. I told him to calm down and to have faith. I overcame my reluctance and I went to look for and then found some fields that are next to 10 hectares of sunflowers. We can put the houses of the bees on his land and the bees can then fly to the sunflowers in the neighbouring field, whose owner was happy to collaborate. I don’t know if we will have an abundant production of honey, but I understood that asking and giving have truly the same value».

USA: the Company Cube

Jul 9, 2014 | Focolare Worldwide

http://vimeo.com/98416187 An entrepreneur is someone who pursues a productive idea. That of John Mundell, of Indianapolis (USA), is quite original. The enterprise of this civil engineer, where19 collaborators work, adheres to the project of the Economy of Communion (EoC). There are around a thousand companies in the world that adhere to this evangelical way of working in the economic field, with a strong presence in Europe and with a notable growth in the regions of Latin America and Africa. The simple but winning idea launched by Mundell is called “The Company Cube” (Dice for the companies). This is a nice instrument that helps to live in a practical way the life style precisely of the Economy of Communion. The Company Cube, is a practical way of remembering the values that create a work environment grounded in mutual respect, concern, and shared responsibility. Not only this, it also aims high, and proposes itself as a daily “modus operandi” to bring about social change through decisions made centered on the person. How does it work? “Take the Cube and… throw it – John Mundell explains. Read the side that faces up and try to live it in your place of work. At the end of the day think about how your way of acting changed and share your experience: Roll it, Read it, Live it, Share it. You will experience surprising results!”. But what is written on the faces of the dice? Build (relationships everyday!), Support (with actions, not just words!), Share (expertise, time, yourself!), Value (every person,every idea!), First (to help others!), Competitors (can be friends too!). Regarding “Competitors”, a colleague shares: “When I found out my competitor had won a project we both had written proposals for, I called to congratulate her. She was surprised to hear from me. She shared her approach and it gave me an idea for our next project.” In August of 2013, during an international congress of th EoC held in Mexico City, entitled “The person and comunione, towards a refoundation of the Economy”, John Mundell launched the Spanish version of “The Company Cube”: “El dado empresarial”. For more information: The Company Cube ( http://www.thecompanycube.org/it/ )

To tear off pieces of heaven

Jul 8, 2014 | Focolare Worldwide

«Solitude, silence, do not frighten: they are made to protect, not to cause fear. Nevertheless, one can take advantage of such a suffering. The greatness of Christ is the cross. He was never so close to the Father and so close to the brothers as when naked, wounded, he cried out from the gallows: «My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?. With that suffering he redeemed: in that fracture he reunited all men with God. Therefore we should not think that sufferings, which are never lacking even in this moment of rest, are a hindrance: they are a stimulus. And so […] listen to that Voice, so as to start to converse: a Voice that arises from the depths of your soul and falls from the heights of the heavens. You are not accustomed to listen to it and so, in the first encounters, it may seem that it escapes you, almost as if there is a thick wall between you or a cosmic distance. It is because it comes from the most intimate part of you and you are used to the clanging that comes from the world outside. It comes from the planets, from the sun, from nature […] and brings with it a profound voice: that of the author of the sky and of the earth.[…] Listen to it. Contemplate it, within the silence wherein God speaks. This is, in the day of life, the hour of dusk of contemplation, when the creatures gather together to assess the work that has been done and to prepare the actions of tomorrow: a tomorrow immersed in eternity. […] Detachment from the world, therefore, and attachment to God: thus not a separation from people, inasmuch as they are brothers, members of the same divine and human family. The wealth of experience of those who have passed the exam of life is useful to them: but above all what is useful is that wisdom, which in religion is called sanctity. The mystic introduces into the arteries of the Mystical Body the virtues of contemplation: seeds of the divine, that expand into the social fabric. This needs it as never before. […] So then one (…) detaches from creatures so as to find oneself in God, where they will never be separated anymore.  Since the Lord – the Trinity – has placed himself to live in you, then with his love, you love all creatures: and to love them means to unite yourself to them. […] And since God is in tranquility, one can achieve this more easily in the relaxation of the spirit and possibly of the body during this period, striving to relax by establishing peace with all creatures, forgiving and forgetting, up to the point in which no thoughts regarding the others remain to disturb us, but all gather in the house of the Lord sharing with one another. […] In this station we meet with spirited companions on the journey, who, placed in front of the dilemma: the Eternal or the world?, choose the Eternal, to the amazement of relatives and the scandal of friends.  They make of the task assigned to them in time, a march of coming closer – almost an attack – on the Eternal and they tear off pieces of heaven: thus they give to the generations an idea of the Infinite. Paul, Augustine, Bernard, Franci­s. Thomas, Dante, Catherine… And the John of the Cross and Teresa and Pascal and Newman and Manzoni…[…] The meditation of their writings – up to the point of assimilation – sends the soul on the way to divinity. One scales the heights with them, who know the way and provide the instruments necessary. And the peak is the home of peace and also of joy, because it touches paradise. (Excerpts taken from “Città Nuova” XXIII/13 10 July, 1979, pp.32-33)

USA: Luminosa Award Ceremony 2014

Jul 7, 2014 | Focolare Worldwide

“The bible the world reads the most is the one they see in us.” With these words, the recipient of the Luminosa Award for Unity 2014, John Armstrong, challenged the audience at a panel discussion at Mariapolis Luminosa, Hyde Park, NY on June 21. How can the world read the bible lived out, if Christians are deeply divided and judging one another’s traditions, beliefs and forms of worship? If people can read in us Christians at least the core phrases of the Gospel’s message, such as “Love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 13:34), they would get the essence of it. Rev. John Armstrong is the founder of the ACT3network, an acronym for Advancing the Christian Tradition in the 3rd Millennium. It is a ministry that began with a focus on spiritual renewal but then embraced the vision that he calls “missional ecumenism,” opening the door to ecumenical dialogue especially among evangelical Christians. In his acceptance speech for the Luminosa award, he quoted Focolare founder Chiara Lubich with her statement, “In Christianity, love is everything.” If Christians really believe that, they would believe in this pure love that is both the reason and the consequence of the presence of Jesus in their midst. In this vision, we can believe in the renewal not only of theology and ecumenism, but all the fields of human endeavor. Armstrong said, “Our business is to live the Gospel in community; it is to be the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” In the panel discussion, “How can we bear witness to the New Commandment?” the four speakers shared their personal ecumenism stories. Fr. John Crossin, director of the secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, invited everybody to focus on the mission that we have in common rather than looking at things where someone may think of lines that one cannot cross while being a Christian. “We need to call everyone away from fighting and to Christian love,” he said. Rev. Elizabeth Nordbeck, minister of the United Church of Christ and faculty member of Andover Newton Theological School in Massachusetts, shared four stories where she experienced ecumenism. What they all had in common: friendship and trust precede ecumenical dialogue; non-cognitive and non-verbal sharing matters; and very often it helps to “do some stuff together first.” Nordbeck encouraged everyone to have an open mind: “We all tend to engrave in stone the opposite of the things that we most fear. Instead, we need one another to learn from one another.” Rev. Bud Heckman, director of the El Hibri Foundation and former executive director of Religions for Peace USA, widened the view of the participants from ecumenism to interfaith relations and highlighting the need for Christians to know how to connect with those who do not identify with a particular church. Times have changed: “When I grew up in a small town in Ohio, we were all Christians,” he remembered. One boy from the other side of the street didn’t go to their church: “Are you a Christian?” he asked him. “No, I’m Catholic,” was the answer of the boy. Having a Catholic as a friend was already an exception. Later, he was dating a Jewish girl, “and only when I asked her the third time what she was doing for Christmas, she told me: ‘Look, here is the Menorah, we are Jews, we don’t celebrate Christmas.’” In 1990, 86% of the U.S. population identified themselves as Christians, in 2001, this number went down to 76%. By 2050, less than half of the population may be Christian. “The group of ‘none’s and none’s’, who might be spiritual, but not affiliated with a particular religion, is growing.” There is the need of the witness of mutual love even among religions. It should be bore with deeds, not words. He said, “We don’t remember facts, but experiences, we remember how we felt.” He cited the 2004 gathering of the Parliament of Religions for Peace in Spain, when the Sikh community fed all the members there present with vegetarian dishes. Everybody remembered the hospitality.  “It was building relationships instead of talking,” he said. It was clear that there are still different opinions and convictions, but this isn’t a problem for dialogue: “I don’t want the other to agree with me — if so, it isn’t dialogue.” Dialogue cannot be argumentative, by nature, said Armstrong: “If they don’t want to hear what you want to say, there’s not much dialogue.” The other panelists agreed, because there are differences, but they don’t have to divide up. This commitment is about keeping the doors open to one another — and to the Spirit. With the Luminosa Award for Unity, the Focolare recognizes since 1988 persons or associations who have given a significant contribution to building bridges of mutual understanding and concern among the various Christian churches, major faith traditions and people of good will, in all aspects of social life. Past Luminosa Award recipients include Cardinal John O’Connor, Archbishop of New York, Norma Levitt, former president of WCRP and honorary president of Women of Reform Judaism, Rev. Nichiko Niwano, President of the Japanese lay Buddhist organization, Rissho Kosei-kai , His Royal Highness Lukas Njifua Fontem, King of the Bangwa People of Cameroon  and Imam Warith Deen Mohammed, American Muslim leader. By Susanne Janssen – Living City Magazine

Fr. Cosimino Fronzuto, a living memory

Jul 5, 2014 | Focolare Worldwide

«I would like to tell you what the priesthood is for me, what it means for me to be a priest today. It is to be simultaneously, as much as it is possible for a human creature,Jesus of the cenacle and Jesus of calvary, Jesus of the crowds and Jesus of Gethsemani, Jesus of the hosannas and Jesus of “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”, Jesus of death and Jesus of the resurrection. It is to be always more, everyday a little bit more, Jesus, just as the eternal Father desires and arranges in his loving will. […] Let Him use me as he wants. I dn’t have anything except the present. In it, to be able to do anything or not, both humanly and as a priest, doesn’t matter; what matters is to be that will of God on me». This is what Fr. Cosimino wrote to his parishioners on the 25° anniversary of his priestly ordination, in 1988, when he was already tried by the illness that will bring him to the end of his earthly experience on July 5, 1989. «Jesus died at thrity three years old – he wrote – so why do I have to die at 49 or 50? Jesus was able to say: “Everything is done” while everything was revolving around him, nevertheless he says it. Why do I think of many big and small projects? For me too everything will be “Done” (brought perfectly to its conclusion) if I remain like Jesus in the design of the Father». Fr. Cosimino, was born in Gaeta (Italy) on September 5, 1939 and he entered the seminary in 1950. In this period of formation he was exemplary, both in his spiritual journey, lived with great committment, and also in his studies. A great desire was always strong in him: to understand how to live in order to become a saint. He was ordained a priest in Gaeta on July 14, 1963. A year after his ordination he participated in a meeting of the Focolare Movement at Ala di Stura (Northern Italy). Here, as he himself would often repeat, he found the answer to his desire for sanctity, he found the “IDEAL”, as it was called then. And so he immediately treasured, with committment, all that he received, striving not to lose even a single word and his committment was in understanding, but above all in living the spirituality of unity. In 1967 he was named the parish priest of St. Paul, in his native city. Here, with his typical style full of love and attention towards everyone, in a special way towards the least (teenage mothers, ex-prisoners, drug addicts, rthe homeless and the drifters), he organized his community by focusing simply, but with strength and decisiveness, on living the Gospel in all the situations and in the most diverse realities. Occasions were not lacking wherein he had to take a stand also with regards to social realities that were drifting far away from a truly human and Christian dimension. He worked a lot for the Priest Movement and for the Parish Movement, two branches of the Focolare Movement. In this way many, also on an international level, were able to get to know him, as was evident by the great participation of many during the entire period of his illness. A significant aspect in order to understand his life is his relationship of unity with other priests, in a passage from an individualistic mentality to a life of communion. His only goal, to grow in charity, putting aside the talks on new techniques of the apostolate, of catechesis and on modern and attractive expressions of the liturgy, as was fashionable then, to give space to sharing, like in a family: goods, salary, friends, light or trials, health, clothes, ideas. He made his own with radicalness and conviction, the symbol of the priest movement of the Focolare: the washing of the feet. He wrote: «The consideration of the washing of the feet was fundamental for me. Because He did it, so too must I repeat it for the people of this generation. Sublime dignity! But Christ in his divine dignity lays down his clothes and washes the feet. I, a priest, will repeat Christ, by stripping away my false good reputation which I am attached to and I will come closer to the others to bring them the washing of the feet, the redemption. I will wash the feet in the confessional, in the hospital, while saying Mass, taking care of the poor, the elderly. But I must strip myself of everything. This is essential».

Living the Gospel like the first Christians

Jul 4, 2014 | Focolare Worldwide

«I met Chiara Lubich immediately after the end of the war. I went to Trent to those girls who they said “were living the Gospel like the first Christians”. The words of Chiara sent me into a crisis. I came from a Christian family and I belonged to the Catholic Action, but I realized that my religiosity had very little to do with Christianity, because I practically was not living the Gospel. With our group we often went to Trent and Chiara too would go to Rovereto, our town, to visit us. She spoke to us of the Gospel and she made us fall in love with Jesus. A community was immediately formed in Rovereto which included the manager of the Telephone Company, the mathematics professor, the shoemaker, the watch repairman, a father and a mother, young boys and girls, we were many and we really loved each other. Every time that we met as a community we tried to make a new committment to live the Gospel, to change our lives and to take care of the needy around us.

Violetta Sartori

Focolare: on the path of social Christianity

Jun 27, 2014 | Focolare Worldwide

At the conclusion of a year-long celebration of the 60th year of the Focolare Movement in France, a symposium on the Movement’s contribution in the Church and in society in France was held on June 4 last at the Catholic Institute of Paris. In front of quite a diverse audience, attempts were made to answer the questions: “Who are the Focolare?” and “What is their involvement in the world today?” Whilst not ignoring some criticisms, such as lack of visibility, the speakers highlighted the positive contribution the Focolare Movement has made to French society. “There are not many movements that have arrived at their sixtieth anniversary in a ‘healthy’ state,” said Jean-Louis Schlegel, a sociologist of religion, in his talk.

Father François-Marie Léthel

Laurent Villemin,

An ambassador shares his experience

Jun 26, 2014 | Focolare Worldwide

«Thanks to my work as a diplomat, with my family we learned to recognize the treasures of an extended humanity, to love the country of the other as our own, to love God in the person whose nationality and culture is different from ours. Mnay ask me if it is possible to live as a Christian in an environment that brings you into contact with the riches, but also with the sufferings of the most varied humanity. This is my daily challenge. In my work I try to draw inspiration from the ideal of fraternity proposed by  Chiara Lubich. There is a writing on diplomacy, which I use as a sort of guide. It says among other things: “Make yourself one with the other, in that complete forgetting of onself that possesses – without noticing it and without looking after it – him who calls to mind the other, the neighbour. This is the diplomacy of charity (…). The divine diplomacy (…) is moved by the good of the other and is therefore without any shadow of egoism”. And still more: “If every diplomat in fulfilling his function is guided in all his actions by charity towards the other State as if it were his own country, he will be enlightened by the help of God up to the point of contributing towards the realization of relationships among States just as the relationships among persons shoud be”. I feel that this affrimation is very true and concrete and I was able to experience this on many occasions. For example, while I was watching the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics and the Paraolympics, I thought of sending my corresponding colleague a message through my mobile phone: “Your Country is showing us all its beauty”, I wrote. And he immediately replied: “Thank you”. With that simple gesture I was able to express my appreciation for his country. Sometimes work is transformed into a real battle. I remember when it was my Country’s turn to hold the presidency of the European Union, I was given the task of presiding one of the working groups wherein the adoption of “European Diplomatic Programme” was proposed.  This meant a program of professional formation offered to young diplomatic officers working in the national diplomatic corps of member Countries. It was strongly supported by some countries and greatly contested by others. The program provides for the inclusion of a language to the detriment of other national languages, which, at that point, should have also been taekn into consideration. In such a situation it was up to me to find a solution. I talked to the representatives of each Country, listening fully to the reasons of each one: as president, I wanted to be at the service of everyone. But I went ahead, trying to convince them that it would be more advantageous for everyone to have a common formation program, and that it would be useful to go ahead with two official languages that would not create any difficulties in the realization of the program. I made my proposal which was approved by all and the European Diplomatic Program is today an established and well-known reality. I carry out my mission in a country that is torn apart. divided, with considerable problems from all points of view.  I struggle, in these times, to love the persons concretely, to live the divisions and not to escape from them, to love the men and women without God and to bear witness to Him, there where he does not exist, to be, through my life, a bridge that unites. You don’t necessarily have to be an ambassador to become a “bridge”. When we love the other we can do everything; Saint Augustine reminds us this  and the witness of Chiara Lubich and of all of us who want to live her same ideal of unity in the world, are the most tangible proof». Source: New Humanity online

The Economy of Communion in Germany: “Outside the Box”

Jun 25, 2014 | Focolare Worldwide

Kenya:”Sharing with Africa”

Jun 24, 2014 | Focolare Worldwide

Argentina: International Youth Camp

Jun 24, 2014 | Focolare Worldwide

500 teenagers from every continent will attend the events at Mariapolis Lia, a Focolare town in the state of Buenos Aires, Argentina. But they are only a small portion of the workshop which will be followed by  members of the Youth for Unity worldwide. A Facebook page has been documenting the preparation stages of the event: “There is a global mobilization underway, with those of us who have been preparing since July 14-21 at Mariapolis Lia; others who have been awaiting and preparing events to welcome the teens to their cities; and still others who have been organising projects at local levels. They are all like small workshops of a worldwide construction site for the building of universal brotherhood and becoming citizens of the world! Even the preparatory activities have turned out to be opportunities to interact and share with many people – civil authorities, public institutions, associations, friends, the local Church and community – the most beautiful gift we have received: our ideal of a United World.” Why has the camp been given this name? Chiara Lubich explains it in something she wrote to some young people in 1970: “The man of tomorrow will be a man of unity, a citizen of the world. He will be capable of both welcoming in his heart the treasures that the peoples of other lands have to offer and of giving his treasures to all of them. The man of tomorrow will be a man of unity, a world-man.” Newsflashes from around the world.Paraguay: “We are getting ready to welcome the teens from Ireland. In the photo you can see me telling Radio Caritas listeners about the activities that will take place during the second week of the camp. We will go to three cities: Asuncion-Lambare, Capiata and Caazapa, which is 230 Km from the capital.” Austria: “Five of us will be attending and, in the second part of the camp, we will move to Bolivia to the Rincon de Luz Social Assistance Centre. Teens from Switzerland will go to Bolivia as well.”    “In Salta, Argentina, we’ve been getting ready for some time to welcome the teens from Italy. We are working with public institutions, the local Church and youth organisations to finalize the “Let’s Colour Our Cities” projects that will be taking place. The most worrisome gray areas that have been identified are injustice, corruption, the gap between those who have and those who have nothing. . . Then there is the problem of drugs and the growing violence that has become natural among teens like us. The second stage activities will be held in three communities: Tartagal, General Mosconi and Yacuy. There is an obvious lack of material wealth in these regions, but there is certainly great cultural wealth, as well as a strong desire to build a more united world. There will be many opportunities to deepen our friendship with groups of teens from these communities! These areas are populated by Argentina’s indigenous peoples: the Wichi and Guarani.”   On July 19^th a “SPECIAL DAY” will be held at Mariapolis Lia during which the young people will celebrate the 30^th anniversary of the Youth for Unity Movement. There will be a live streaming of the event at 15:00 GMT (11:00 local time). http://vimeo.com/98558320

Spain: Architecture – pushing the boundaries

Jun 23, 2014 | Focolare Worldwide

Barcelona, ​​the capital of Catalonia, pulsating with experimentation and innovation, was the ideal venue for exploring new fields and new frontiers in Architecture at the international workshop ArquitecturaLimite, which was held June 15 to 18. It was attended by 30 people including young architects, teachers and students of architecture coming from Spain, Italy and Colombia, and with contributions from lecturers of the Polytechnic of Barcelona (EPSEB – UPC), of the ‘University Without Borders’, of the University ‘La Salle’ in Barcelona, ​​of professional studios and technical schools of bio-architecture (for example constructing brick buildings using only ecological materials). The programme allowed participants to analyze issues and low cost technologies to deal with design solutions in extreme environments. The concept of limit, low-tech technologies and the management of participatory processes and cooperation were all looked at. There was a great response at all levels, from both teachers and students, who expressed the desire to keep in touch, and re-opened the discussion, in these times of major changes in society, about what the essential elements of this discipline really are. What do you take away in your backpack, and where do we go from here? These were the two questions that participants responded to in group work: “Architecture must be built for the people and together with the people in a shared way: it is a cultural change.” “I take away a deep ethical sense: I’m not building schools, but education; not a health centre, but health. ” And again: “Replace the words ‘working for countries in the developing world’, with ‘let’s go to share’.” Everyone left re-charged with experiences, values ​​and dreams. Some scenarios of participating in upcoming projects of International Cooperation in 2015 were identified and planned, in collaboration with the NGO Action for a United World (AMU). Haiti, Madagascar and the Philippines being possibilities. The next round of Dialogues in Architecture, the organiser of the Spanish event, is the national interdisciplinary workshop “Openings” (“I Varchi”), a week for musicians, architects, filmmakers and writers, in Italy, in Montefalcone Appennino, from July 27 to August 2.

Loppiano: A special ‘thank you’ to Vincenzo (Eletto) Folonari

Jun 21, 2014 | Focolare Worldwide

Live streaming from Loppiano, 21 June at 3.30: http://live.focolare.org/loppiano

“Thank you, Eletto!” A journey through history and reflections on Eletto Folonari’s life, on the development of Loppiano which from October next will be celebrating its first 50 years of life, and the Gen Movement which he accompanied on its very first steps. In a letter to Chiara Lubich, Eletto wrote: “I have chosen God for ever and only Him! Nothing else.” He goes on to tell her that he wants to give all the goods he had inherited to the Focolare Movement – including the 200 acres on which the town of Loppiano (Florence) now stands – adding: “It was of no credit to me that I owned them, I was given them for free.” One of Eletto’s characteristics, in addition, was his relationship with the children and young people of the Movement that Chiara herself had entrusted to him in the early ’60s. “Why do we want to say thank you to Eletto?” – the gen that are organizing the event on 21 June in Loppiano ask – “First of all, for that Yes to God, an unconditional yes that is at the origin of what the Eternal Father has since worked through him, that is the birth of the first of the 33 towns of the Focolare Movement and the Gen Movement now spread throughout the world.” Yes, because this was his fundamental quality: Eletto knew how to place himself completely at the service of the divine will as Igino Giordani, who was his first biographer, so well expressed. In the conclusion to his 1965 book which simply bears the title “Vincenzo Folonari”, Giordani writes that his best known virtue was humility and that he: “… remains an example of the apostolate of modern lay people (…). It is basically the type of holiness that is required today in a democratic society, community-based, but which has been desecrated on a global scale: evangelization from the inside, without any props, motivated by love alone (…). ” The afternoon (live streaming starts at 15:30) offers a journey through history and reflections on Eletto’s life. There will be family members present and some of the first “popetti” (as children were called in the local Trentino dialect) who participated in the first Mariapolis’ in Fiera di Primiero (Dolomites) and whom Eletto looked after and loved. There will also be music and dances from different countries and the presence of many Gen, witnesses to the life and influence of the Gen Movement from the ’60s to today, all over the world.

Ascoli Piceno: I love my city

Jun 20, 2014 | Focolare Worldwide

In Ascoli Piceno, a city in Central Italy, the Focolare is present in numerous parishes of the city, in many ecclesial bodies, aside from the many environments of professional and civic life. In fact, many of our co-citizens have come to know the Ideal of unity, through the meetings proposed by the  Diocesan Movement of the Focolare. We dream that our city can become a city of fraternity, we look first of all at the relationships that animate it, at the good that circulates, at the abundant commitments of many in the different sectors and we are amazed. We try to weave a network of relationships among people, lay and religious institutions, associations, movements, highlighting their specific characteristic with the aim of realizing the common good. The city thus becomes a laboratory of fraternity. With this goal in mind we have constituted an association whose title already expresses our objective “Amolamiacitta’ (Ilovemycity)” onlus. A “transversal” consensus is built around it among associations and movements of civil society who start to work for fraternity together with us. The public institutions also have started to collaborate with us through this new instrument that we are equipped with. There are numerous initiatives that have started, involving the different ecclesial realities present in the city, together with the members of the Movement and many citizens. Some examples are the “United World Week” of the youth, the “Spring Bazaars” of the teens, the “Feast of fantasy”, held during the period of the Carnival, the “Family Week”, “City onstage”, with the involvement of the schools of various arts in the city, the vacations in the snow “On skis together is better”, the “Room of marvels”, wherein beauty is profoundly shared, and which has become the “venue” of knowledge of the marvels of the world. Then there is also the project “And the city… as a school”, the campaigns against gambling,  “Everyone’s New Year Celebration”, maybe a true icon of the entire project “I-love-my-city”. During the New Year in fact, we can see how our city becomes a city of fraternity the way we dream it should be, characterized by a sense of family that shortens distances, drives away all fears and makes diversity beautiful. A fruit of all this life that floods the city was lived by us in 2009 when the “Chiara Lubich Award for fraternity” was given to Ascoli Piceno for the project “I-love-my-city”. The Municipal Council, in the speeches expressed the desire that the granting of the award would mark a new way of working for the city, a “compromising” of personal positions and of one’s political party in view of the common good. The city of Ascoli is also well-known for the precious bobbin lace, that are made by the weaving together of many fine threads by expert hands that at times are truly masterpieces. We feel that linked by reciprocal love we can weave many bonds of fraternity with everyone and contribute towards opening our city to a united world. (R.C. Ascoli Piceno)

(531)

Slot Mob against gambling

Jun 18, 2014 | Focolare Worldwide

Another step forward for Slot Mob, the campaign against gambling supported by several associations and the media, thanks also to young people: it  took place in Catania, (Italy), where the City took a stand against slot machines, approving an amendment in the resolution of the municipal domestic and waste tax, which reduces by 50% the tax on waste to those business people that remove them from their shops. This is a reduction for two years in total, which includes a commitment not to install any other gambling machine for 10 years. The event to promote public establishments which do not have slot machines and video poker took place in Catania on 22^nd February. On that occasion “Youth for Unity” in their publication “Grafoteens”,  an information sheet for young people in Sicily, Calabria and Malta – posed themselves the question about “an ethic that is less about the world of gambling in general and which affects more and more the poor areas of the city”, including children, in spite of the prohibitions, and conversely on “an ethic that emerges in a stronger way regarding the use of goods confiscated from the Mafia, and which, in Calabria, the ‘Ndrangheta (a Mafia organization) continues to attack”. From this the meaning of the article summary is clear, “What side is the state on?” This constitutes a specific request to the administrative institutions to take a firm stand to support ethics which despite everything survive. And the answer came in June, with the resolution of the Municipality. The “Let’s get in the game” committee which promoted Slot Mob, and the “Teens for Unity”, who were committed to pursuing its instances were understandably satisfied. It’s a sign of detachment from the very strong culture of patronage and lobby of the managers of slot machines, wrote Giancarlo Morello in the editorial of the June issue of Grafoteens . We also appreciate the commitment and promise-keeping that some councillors demonstrated in the days of the creation of the Slot Mob, and who were then committed to the idea of rewarding those who would take away these machines. It all constituted a first signal towards achieving the “Let’s get in the Game Committee” and Grafoteens’  goal of a “City without slots”. The city of Catania is also working on a municipal regulation to counter the spread of pathological gambling. Like Catania, there are many municipalities where the fight against gambling, by mobilizing citizens, has taken many forms through the Slot Mob campaign. Supporters of the initiative include the Italian New City magazine and the Economy of Communion. To learn more or to arrange a Slot Mob in your city go to: http://www.nexteconomia.org/le-attivita/slot-mob http://www.edc-online.org/it/home-it/slotmob.html http://vimeo.com/98447447

Ecumenical Musical Evening

Jun 17, 2014 | Focolare Worldwide

The feast of Pentecost is past, once again bringing the gift of unity that is felt even among different charisms, such as those developed through the centuries by many Christian churches. In order to emphasize the spirit of Pentecost, which unites Christians, the churches in the southern hemisphere celebrate at this time of year the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. In Porto Alegre, for example, conferences have given way to art: a musical evening called “An Ecumenical Musical Evening” brought together various groups in the city, both as audience and as musicians. Intense correspondence over a two-month period meant that all those who in previous years had participated in ecumenical initiatives were invited. And finally the much-expected date arrived: June 4, 2014. There were approximately 300 people, to listen to a performance of violins, with children from different schools, the choir of Porto Alegre, with people from all over the city, not belonging to any particular church, and other artistic pieces. The recitation of the Lord’s Prayer was an important moment, to seal real relationships as brothers and sisters who seek to bear witness to the one faith in Christ. How to live this witness? Joan Patricia Back (Centro Uno of the Focolare Movement), in a reflection during the Week of Prayer in the northern hemisphere (January 2014) in Modena, Italy had said, “The exhortation to unity is contradicted by the actual situation: for centuries Christians have been divided, and the divisions are the anomaly with which they present themselves to the world that does not know Christ. But Jesus said that the world would recognize him by the unity of those who follow him: how can we live today so that the world may see Christ in us? We are called to live a life of communion in Christ, which is the foundation of unity: if we base our lives on Him, we live as he taught us, we are his people, then we will be one. And he invites us to love one another as he has loved us, because from this people will recognize us as disciples. And we can love each other even though we belong to different churches.”