A year with Pope Francis
Congo. Amani, the Language of Peace
“Our land has been devastated by 20 years of civil wars, boy soldiers, violence, exploitation of natural resources, no proactive politics. We are young people who have never known peace. Is there any way we can respond to this challenge? And will our parents, friends and regional authorities be willing to follow us in this crazy adventure?” These ideas led to the formation of a group of Congolese young people who wanted to hold a festival that would send a message using the language of art that would reach highest international levels. A petition was also sent to the Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon.
“Our land is fertile, water is abundant and the subsoil a gift from God: North Kivu could be an earthly paradise. We young people would like to build it.” They called it their mission. Two years went into preparations and on February 14-16, 2014, the Amani Festival was held in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo (amani means peace in Swahili). They sang of their suffering and hope, proclaiming their message to an audience of 25,000 people: politicians, international representatives and UN peacekeepers.
Young people from the Focolare Movement were among the promoters and animators of the event. Belamy Paluku is from the Gen Fire Band in Goma, and in charge of the artistic performances. He states: This festival has been the realization of a great dream: to gather many people and proclaim a message of unity together being advocates of the forgotten people in society. Not only did these artists offer their own points of view, but they come from countries that are at war with one another, and they gave a strong witness of brotherhood and peace from the same stage. I hope this will be the beginning of a new step.”
Many participated in the preparation of the festival, both onstage and behind the scenes. There were those who churned out biscuits and gouffres, those who served the food and those who served the drinks. Everyone worked hard and friendly smiles were everywhere,” says Jean Claude Wenga, who was in charge of communications at the festival.
“I wanted to see what was happening in the culture outside my country and how we might build relationships through cultural exchange,” explains Aurelia from the Focolare, “that’s why I wanted to take part in this event.”
Even adults were not indifferent to the event: “Andre Katoto, the father from one local family commented: “Amani means peace. With this festival we wanted to celebrate peace here in our region.”
Portugal. Young People Take Action Against Social Exclusion
With the elderly in a rest home; with inmates at a local prison; in a social assistance institute and with handicapped peers in a special education centre. These are not places that young people would normally go to spend their time. But last February 8, 2014, a group of a hundred Youth For A United World from Caldas da Rainha. the western region of Portugal wanted to send a signal to the city, to shake off some of the widespread indifference. The starting point was a meeting at the Parish Community Centre where they identified their goal: to give a witness of brotherly love and the conviction that living for a united world can be the answer to many of today’s challenges, inspired by the witness of young people from around the world. Then they split into groups and visited several places in the city where there was a need of help, or where they could draw attention to a need. At the request of the request of the Municipality they repainted the walls of a youth centre. They offered a smile, tickets and coffee to unsuspecting passers-by. It was a unique experience for the citizens of Caldas da Reinha who immediately welcomed the enthusiasm and conviction of the young people. “If everybody did a little something right there where they are, everything could change,’ declared Assistant Mayor Hugo Oliveira. 
One young man who visited some prison inmates recounted: “I went expecting to give, and I was the one who received.” Some of the inmates expressed their desire to join the young people in creating a more united world. Following their visit, the inmates wrote: “I’ll try to forgive. . . .” “I’ll enter into contact with my family again.” It was an intense day which didn’t go by unnoticed and which involved so many people. But the challenge has only just begun say the young people: “We want to continue this path of universal brotherhood in the places where we live, beginning with small gestures, in our families, relationships with friends, at school and at work.” Then the biggest challenges!
Called to be community — A guide to living a spirituality of communion
Strengthen the spiritual life of the parish Living City Magazine of the Focolare announces the release of Called to be community — A guide to living a spirituality of communion as a new resource for those involved in adult catechesis to deepen the Gospel life of their parishes and local communities. The 88-page manual is rich in content and gives guidelines on how to implement the Gospel in daily life, thus forming the kind of “living parish communities” that were envisioned by the Second Vatican Council. It offers participants the means to deepen their faith and the opportunity to put the Gospel into practice — together! Called to be community has been specifically prepared for small groups in parishes and other pastoral environments or home places where Christians can be of “one heart and one mind” in living out a spirituality of communion — a spirituality that belongs to the whole Church. In the words of Pope John Paul II: “We need to promote a spirituality of communion, making it the guiding principle of education wherever individuals and Christians are formed.” This guide will lead one to discover God who is love, and ways to respond to his love through love of one’s neighbor. It outlines the essential points of a spirituality of communion, and offers practical exercises to make them an integral part of life. Called to be community can be a great tool for those responsible for adult catechesis in the parish and even for those who are not yet part of parish life. Its simplicity and accessibility to everyone makes this program an invaluable resource to make the parish a school of communion and contribute to the fulfillment of Jesus utmost desire, “May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you” (Jn 17:21). $11.95 per copy (88 pages), discount on bulk orders. Leader’s manual (16 pages), $2.95. To order copies, or for more information please contact Living City: Living City 202 Comforter Blvd, Hyde Park, New York 12538 tel. 845-229-0496 fax 845-229-1770 email: livingcity.ed@livingcitymagazine.com www.livingcitymagazine.com (more…)
Renata Borlone: bearing witness to joy
This year too, the anniversary of the Servant of God Renata Borlone (Civitavecchia 30/5/1930 – Loppiano 27/2/1990) was a moment of reflection on the life of a Christian and the enthusiasm for bringing the peace and joy of Christ everywhere.
The main appointment, the Holy Mass celebrated in the Sanctuary of Maria Theotókos, in Loppiano (Italy).
“The joy of the Gospel – as Pope Francis affrimed in the Evangelii gaudium – fills the heart and the entire life of those who meet Jesus”, and this was the experience of Renata.
A joy that springs forth from a soul who since adolescence had searched for God and for the beauty of His creation and who, having come to know the Focolare Movement, didn’t spare her energies and enthusiasm in bearing witness daily to love and in contributing to build that unity of the human family that Jesus had asked the Father in his prayer before the passion.
“The joy – Renata wrote in her diary – coincides with God… to possess it always means to possess God”; and still: “Joy in living for the others”, a joy that “cannot be conditioned by anything, by anyone” because “God loves me, even if I am incapable, even if I have made a mess in my life and I continue to do so”, but also that joy which, paradoxically, is “squeezed from suffering” and “drawn out from pain”.
In the twenty three years that she was co-responsible of the Little City of Loppiano that now bears her name, Renata Borlone bore witness with coherence and humility, in front of thousands of people who spent time there for their formation or even for just short periods, of the joy of the life of the Gospel, giving her essential contribution to the new sociality that the Little City is committed to generating, by being always at the service of others and living with exceptional faith the serious illness that would lead to her death. “I am happy, too happy – she would repeat in the final instances of her earthly existence. I would like to bear witness that death is Life”.
And continuing to intertwine the words of the Pope and Renata, one is impressed by how much joy can be not only a fruit but may also cause change in the world and in overcoming difficulties. Pope Francis recently said in a homily at Saint Martha: “You cannot walk without joy, even in the midst of problems, even in difficulties, even in one’s own mistakes and sins there is the joy of Jesus who always forgives and helps”
And Renata wrote: “If I had to say something, I would emphasize that the joy that there is in Loppiano is born from the decision that each one makes to want to die to him or herself. I would say that also in this way the unity of peoples is already done, because the the oil that comes from squeezed olives is oil, and you can no longer distinguish one olive from another…”
Suffering and joy, therefore, challenge and conquest always to be renewed and never closed up within oneself: “May the others be happy, so that our Heaven here on earth may bring joy to the others”, “I did not give myself to Jesus so as to be happy, but so that my giving would find its meaning in the joy, in the happiness of others, of all those whom God will put beside me”.
Francesco Châtel
Chiara Lubich And Religions. Traditional Religions
In 1966 some doctors and nurses from the Focolare entered into contact with the Bangwa tribe of “Fontem, a village immersed in the vast palm tree forests of west Cameroon. The aim was humanitarian: to help a population that was stricken with malaria and other tropical diseases with a mortality rate of 90%. Together with the Bangwa and many others, a hospital, school, church and a number of houses were constructed and the first Focolare town in Africa was begun. Chiara Lubich visited Fontem in 1966. Many years later she would recall that visit while speaking to 8,000 members of the Movement who had gathered in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in April of 1998:«I was in Fontem when the little town didn’t exist yet; now it’s very big – I don’t know how many houses there are… At that time, there wasn’t anything, there was the bush where this tribe lived. Well, I can still see this tribe in front of me on a large clearing of land celebrating my presence. … Of course, they celebrated in their own typical way; also present were the many wives of the Fon, the king, who performed a number of dances for me, and so on. There in that valley, with all those people who had come to celebrate my presence because I had sent the first focolarini doctors, I had the impression that God was embracing this large crowd of people, who were not Christians – the great majority were Animists. I thought: “Here, God is embracing everyone, he’s embracing everyone. It reminds me of what happened in the Cova da Iria in Portugal[the miracle of Fatima], the time that the sun came down and embraced everyone. God is here and is embracing everyone». Upon returning from the first trip, Chiara responded in this way to the focolarini at the school of formation in Loppiano, Italy: “We westerners are completely backward and unable live in today’s times if we don’t strip ourselves of the western mentality, because it’s half a mentality, a third or fourth a mentality with respect to the rest of the world. In Africa, for example, there is such a unique culture, so splendid and deep! We have to reach and encounter of cultures. We won’t be complete unless we “are humankind”. We will be humankind if “we have all the cultures inside.” During another visit to Africa in 1992, talking about inculturation Chiara stated: “First of all, the most powerful weapon is “making yourself one”. This means approaching people being completely empty of ourselves, in order to enter into their cultures and understand them and allow them to be expressed, so that you can embrace them within you, and have them within you. And once you have embraced them, then you can begin a dialogue with someone and maybe even pass on the Gospel message, through the riches he already possesses. Making yourself one demands inculturation, entering into the soul and the culture, into the mentality, the traditions, the customs of others – to understand them and allow the seeds of the Word to emerge.” 
Another moment that marked an important step for the Movement in its push towards dialogue with people of other belief systems was in 1977 when Chiara was awarded the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion: “We were in the Guildhall of London … I was speaking … in that large hall, and present there were people of many different religions…. I had the same impression there; it was as if God was embracing everyone”. 2000 Chiara visited Fontem for the last time. She was enthroned by the people, through the Fon, as Mafua Ndem (Queen in the Name of God). It was the first time that a foreigner, woman and white ever became part of the Bangwa tribe in such a way. At her death in 2008, she was given a royal funeral in Fontem. During the course on traditional religions, which preceded the funeral celebration and organized by the first Bangwa focolarino, the focolarini were admitted to the “sacred forest” (Lefem”), which is a strong sign of belonging to this people. During that week, Focolare president Maria Voce was also recognized as “successor to the throne”. In Africa courses on inculturation continue to promote deeper understanding of different cultures. 
In Latin America at Escuela Aurora, in north Argentina, an effort to educate and recuperate traditional cultural and religious traditions of the people of the Andes, in the Calchaqui Valleys:In Bolivia and Peru at the Mariapolises with the Aymara people, and in Ecuador with the Afro people of Esmeralda. In New Zealand, with the Maori people. On March 20, 2014, there will be an event at the Urbania University of Rome, dedicated to Chiara Lubich and Religions: Together for the Unity of the Human Family. The gathering will highlight her efforts for interreligious dialogue, six years after her death. The event also coincides with the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council’s declaration on the relation of the Church to non-Christian religions, Nostra Aetate.
Haiti: Towards a culture of encounter
After a year of preparation from a distance via internet, five experts coming from different countries (Argentina, Perù and Cuba), arrived in Haiti two days ahead of the beginning of the Seminar, so as to get to know and to immerse themselves in the reality of the people and of the local Church. “We visited Radio-Tele Soleil – they shared – which transmits from a temporary office at Port Au Prince, since the building of the Archbishop’s House, wher ethey used to have their office, was destroyed by the earthquake. In that disaster unfortunately some of their collaborators lost their life. Theirs is the most important Catholic broadcasting station, with a national coverage. We were able to visit also the city center of Port Au Prince, with the Cathedral that is sstill in ruions but which remains as the symbol of the suffering of this people. It was a strong experience, which helped us in the succeeding days to establish relationships in an adequate way with the persons we met.” “From the life of the Word to the need to communicate. Towards a true culture of encounter”. With this title, from February 17 to 23, the Interdiocesan Seminar on Communication, organized by the Office of Communications of the CELAM was held in the Diocese of Anse à Veau et Miragoane (Haiti). The 79 participants were coming from 8 of the 10 Haitian Dioceses: Les Cayes, Gonaïves, Cap-Haitien, Jeremie, Hinche, Port-aut-Prince, Port-de-Paix and from the diocese that hosted the convention. The Seminar was requested by Mons. Pierre A. Dumas, Bishop of Anse à Veau et Miragoane, and was brought ahead by a team of NetOne in Latin America (Latam), a network of communicators who take their inspiration from the spirituality of the Focolare. The Seminar went beyond all our expectations: 5 intense days, imprinted with the “trinitarian vision” of communication, with the proposal of the life of the Word even before the communicative event itself. Everyday began with an exchange of experiences on how each one tried to live the phrase of the Gospel that was proposed the day before, and then a meditation on the new phrase chosen for that day. Then, the different means of communication were tackled, through theoretical explanations and moments of specific workshops: radio, print media, theater, television and internet. The dialogue, the questions, the group work, were very much participated and inclusive. The themes were given in Spanish, the texts of the powerpoint presentations and written copies of the themes were in French, with Creole translation… Nevertheless language was not a barrier for anyone! In conclusion, the Mass celebrated by Mons. Pierre Dumas, was really a moment of joy and emotion: we felt that during those 5 days a piece of renewed humanity was built among the participants. “For us – relates the group of NetOne – it was the possibility of seeing this marvelous people in a new way, who often are not presented in this way by the means of communication of our countries. We were conquered by the simplicity, the joy, enthusiasm and hope of the Haitians. We realized that we are one family, wherein we live as brothers the reciprocity between Latin America and the Carribean. We left Haiti with the awareness thar we have received so much more that what we came to give”.
Brazil. A Focolare In Morro
The focolarini from Florianopolis write: “Last February 23, 2014 a simple ceremony was held in the presence of Archbishop Wilson Tadeu Jönck and members of the local Focolare community, during which we officially transferred the men’s focolare to the slum in Morro, favela Monte Serrat on the outskirts of the city.”
“For us who live the charism of unity,” says Lucival Silva, “we feel the importance of being there to offer our contribution, along with those from the local Church who are already working in Morro, seeking to build bridges that unite the people of the city who are often separated by walls of indifference among the middle class, the rich and the poor.”
There was joy in the eyes of the focolarini involved in this adventure, and in the local community of the Movement. It was like reliving a piece of the history of the Focolare when Chiara Lubich and the first group in Trent began by serving the poor, which led them to realise that “every person is a candidate for unity.”
Father Vilson Groh, a priest volunteer from the Movement has been living and working on a network of projects in Morro for many years: public administration and the business world; projects that open young people to new opportunities in life. One of the focolarini named Francisco Sebok works with him in a project that helps young teenagers and young adults to get out of drug trafficking, in one city quarter that is dominated by drug traffickers. Fabrizio Lucisano has already been working for some time as a doctor at the health unity in Morro; and Keles Lima has begun to teach at a school for children. The team also includes Lucival Silva, Miguel Becker and Arion Goes both married focolarini who live with their families.
The house they are renting blends in with the surrounding dwellings and has that touch of harmony which is a characteristic of focolares. “Everyone liked it,” says Francisco; “indeed, with just a few things we tried to arrange it with good taste. It has two rooms, a lounge, a kitchen and bathroom. The owners are building a second floor. In a few months it will also be rented so we can have a more reserved space for our small community and leave the downstairs for the use of the locals.”
Archbishop Wilson Tadeu Jönck blessed the new focolare and celebrated Mass in the local community chapel with Fr Vilson.. The archbishop expressed his hope that “the life of the focolarini would continue to give witness to holiness because God is holy.”
Everyone felt the joy of walking with the Church today, which through Pope Francis “continues to invite us to go out and meet humanity,” Keles added, “close to the people especially those who are most poor and in need.”
“We are well aware that we will never resolve Brazil’s social problem, not even of one city,” Lucival explained, “not even of this favela; but this experience can be a sign from our Movement to the Church and to society, to say that we want to walk with everyone, rich and poor, in order to contribute to the realization of Jesus’ testament: “that all may be one”.
Fabrizio recalled: “In 1993, Chiara Lubich had named the men’s focolare in Florianopolis “Emmaus” and she wrote: ‘Where Jesus was among the disciples. . . . Emmaus is the symbol of Jesus in the midst who illumined the scriptures. . .’ We’ve placed these words of Chiara at the entrance of our focolare so that we will always remember this.”
Bangui: beyond fear
It is two o’clock in the morning on the 5th of December, 2013. The inhabitants of Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic, are awoken by the detonation of heavy weapons. In the streets, there is an immediate general stampede in the hopes of saving oneself and one’s loved ones.
Ejovie and Amandine are two Gen3 (teens of the Focolare Movement who commit themselves to living the ideal of unity). They share about the confusion and bewilderment of those hours and in the days that followed, but also of the decision not to give in to fear inspite of their tender age.
“With the family we started to run towards the Major Seminary – Ejovie wrote – together with all those who were escaping in the same direction. In the crowd I saw a mother with her baby strapped to her back, her luggage on her head, and other small children; one of them coudn’t run and was crying, and even the mother was walking slowly because she was sick. No one was stopping to help them. A voice stopped me from going ahead. I took the small boy by the hand even if I was a bit worried because I had lost sight of my own family members”.
Ejovie’s actions didn’t go unnoticed: in fact other two youth stopped to help the woman and her small children to reach a religious institute where they found hospitality. Knowing that they were safe, Ejovie finally walked towards the Seminary where she was able to embrace her family.
Amandine too found refuge in the Seminary, together with her family. “We were all encamped in a hall with other families – the teen related. We had to sleep on the floor, on a piece of cloth, but I thought that, even in this situation, I could continue to help whoever was beside me. We are many but we share everything: food and other goods. One day I went out to wash the clothes of my family and I had already finished when an elderly lady asked me if I could also wash hers. I wanted to refuse as I was already tired. Then I listened for the answer in my heart: ‘This lady could be my mother, and if I refuse to wash her clothes, who will wash them for her?’ For love to be real it has to be concrete. I washed her clothes and I put them under the sun to dry with the others. She thanked me: ‘May God add a year to your life, my child!’. It was difficult to describe my joy!”
Ejovie and Amandine are involved in a campaign of sensibilization to hygiene, organized by the UNICEF and by other NGOs in the context of war. “We grasped this occasion to help people who have lost everything. We also shared the art of loving the neighbor. We can see that everyone is suffering very much because of the war: there is a lot of hatred, revenge is always sought. But we feel that we must help and love everyone, even our enemies. and it is only by forgiving that we can start to rebuild peace”.
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Ukraine Diary
March 5, 2014. “The situation appears relatively calm in Kiev; the violence has moved to Crimea where Russia has huge economic military interests. . . . There is great uncertainty in Kiev and throughout Ukraine. You can feel the exploding emotion in this historic moment for Europe, even if it is not clear what will happen in the coming months. . . . The people find it difficult to put together what they need to survive.
The different factions in the country are not as uniform as one might think – Russians, Cossacks, Tartars, Slavs, Ukranians, Polish – they are divided into many different religious and often conflicting groups. Therefore, recent pro-Russian nationalist flare-ups are no real surprise, which are rooted in the brutal repression and violent reprisals that occur here every ten or twenty years.
One night in Maidan Square. Notwithstanding the cold, thousands of students have not abandoned their tents. A mausoleum in the open air. . . .
Night has already fallen when I reach the square. The silence in the streets is surreal, hardly any cars, no sign of police. . . .
This is where the first students were murdered, hit by snipers posted on top of government buildings, rather than by the police. There are vigil lights and flowers everywhere. This is where these students brought down the president by their determination. The country has been split in two, but this crowd – made fertile by the blood of martyrs – does not seem to want to give up.
It’s quite cold and people gather around bonfires; they sip warm drinks offered to them by the Kights of Malta, the Red Cross and other volunteers. . . .
Maidan vibrates for Crimea. Opinions vary, but hope for a free and independent Crimea has not diminished. . . . Through an appeal launched on social networks, the population has begun cleaning the great park in front of the Parliament building, as well as Maidan Square and its surroundings. Men, women, elderly and children are working to erase every trace of the long Kiev battle. A day chasing reports coming from Crimea. . . . Now for the diplomacy and hard work. Everyone is hoping for mediation from the European Union and the United Nations.
A doctor who has been generously working at treating the wounds and illnesses in Maidan Square at an improvised hospital in the Ukraine Hotel asked me: ‘Is it truly so difficult to imagine a Ukraine that is neither Russian nor American, but only itself?’ The situation is certainly serious and everyone is aware, perhaps today more than yesterday, that the future of Europe is being played out in this historic square. . . .
But the people of Maidan remain in my heart, with their vigil lamps and flowers. Ordinary people who have come today to venerate the place where hundreds of their children were martyred. It is for these people that Europe must intervene. With diplomacy. Weapons have had their opportunity at resolving conflicts.”
By Michele Zanzucchi
Fonte: Città Nuova online
Instruments of His love
New music among us
“When I came to know the Gospel, I understood that I had to love. Where do I start? From my music teacher. who I couldn’t stand. In class I have repeatedly expressed what I thought about her and because of this she had repeatedly called my mother and complained to her about me. One day, after the lesson, I asked to speak to her. Thinking that I was going to argue with her about the grade she gave me, she refused to see me. I answered that I only wanted to ask for forgiveness and that I have understood that in life we have to try to love everyone. Even if in the beginning she misunderstood me, I continued to tell her about me, of my new relationship with God, even if I knew that she was a non-believer. Our talk continued and I was truly happy. From then on we have established a good relationship and I am discovering in her many positive things that I never imagined before”. (Veronica, Czech Republic)
The beauty of going against the current
“I work in a beauty parlour, with other hairdressers and stylists. The parlour is always full of numerous clients. There are a lot of conversations going on and sometimes one can also hear complaints or discussions. Even here I try to live what I have learned from the Gospel, I help a co-worker who is doing a heavy job all by herself, I hold the hairdryer for another. When it becomes too hot, I prepare something to drink for all the staff. Sometimes some rich ladies would come in accompanied by their maid, and they leave them outside in the heat. So I invite them to come inside and wait in a cool corner and offer them something to drink. Once in awhile someone looks at me curiously, because no one ever does this in the parlour. But the Gospel gives me the courage to go against the current. Then I see that no one has ever complained about me. Silent love does not disturb anyone”. (Razia, Pakistan)
Social Ice Cream
“Ice cream to socialize: last year everyone liked this formula! All the residents of our street were reunited around an ice cream. This year we said: why not extend the initiative to all the families around? In our neighborhood there are families coming from other countries. We are always so busy and in a hurry. But it would take so little to get to know each other, to exchange a greeting, to build a neighborly relationship.
As we were personally inviting each family, knocking from house to house, we could feel in the air the desire to get to know one another. On that evening gathering which was held in the open air on our street, more than seventy people of all ages came. Aside from the ice cream, each one brought something to share, in an atmosphere of friendship, as music played in the background, which were chosen from the melodies of the various ethnic groups pf the participants.
From then on, along the street or in the shops we greet one another with affection and knowing smiles. We know each other better, sharing news, whether beautiful or less so. One of our neighbors, when he came to know that some families needed furniture, gave them his dining set, which was still in very good condition. All it took was an ice cream to create a small community”. (Vince and Maria, Canada)
Chiara Lubich and World Religions: Hinduism
The Focolare Movement’s first contacts with Hinduism were marked by warm friendship that led to sharing life and dreams and ideals. The main protagonists of this friendship were Natalia Dallapiccola who was one of the first witnesses to the beginnings of the Focolare in Trent, Italy, and Dr Aram, a Hindu who now stands among the presidents of the World Conference of Religions for Peace (WCRP) of which the Focolare is also a member.
Following the death of Dr Aram, the Shanti Ashram and representatives from several Gandhian groups in the State of Tamil Nadu, invited Chiara Lubich to India in January 2001, to receive the 2000 Defender of Peace Award. The explanatory statement affirmed: Chiara was tireless in her role of spreading peace and love among all, continually strengthening the fragile vision of peace, for the wellbeing, prosperity and spiritual life of the world.” At the award ceremony, which was attended by over 500 Hindus and members of other religions, Chiara spoke of her Christian spiritual experience, highlighting common elements between the Gospel and the Hindu Scriptures.
“I came here today to see, to be silent as much as possible,” she wrote in his diary that day, “Above all I discovered the rules: tolerance, love! Perhaps our dialogue has a place here.”
On the same occasion, Professor Kala Acharya from the Somaiya Sanskriti Peetham Institute, was deeply impressed by Chiara. In a matter of days she decided to organize a gathering at Somaiya College of Mumbai. Six-hundred people attended. These events marked the beginning of a dialogue with Hinduism both in Mumbai and in Coimbatore.
A deep dialogue was begun with university professors in Mumbai. In order to continue along this path it was decided to hold an academic symposium. The first was held in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, in 2002. The title was: “The Bhakti and Agape as a way of love towards God and neighbor.” Professor Kala Acharya from Somaya College of Mumbay called the meeting: “a deep spiritual experience.”
In the name of this common journey, Chiara Lubich visited India again in 2003. At the Centre of Indian culture Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Natalia Dallapiccola touches one of the aspects of the art of finding love in the Gospel: “becoming one” with each other as the key to the box: unity and of universal brotherhood. And she shows what Chiara said about an aspect of the art of loving which she discovered in the Gospel – making yourself one with others – as the key to dialogue: “In the moment that we meet someone, we need to place our self on their level like a partner, no matter who they are. And this calls for detachment from everything, even from the richness of our own religion. And at the same time we need to become empty within ourselves, in order to allow our brother or sister the freedom to express their thoughts and for us to be able to understand them. This is such an important attitude, even indispensable, which has two leading effects: It helps us to enter into the world of our brother and sister, to know the language and culture, the belief system, and so on. And then it predisposes our neighbour to listen to us. Then you move on to a “respectful proclamation” where – because of your loyalty to God and sincerity toward your neighbour, always respecting what your neighbour thinks – you can say what you think and believe about a particular topic, without imposing anything, without desiring to win anyone over to your own way of thinking.”
“This marks the beginning of a journey that will take us far,” commented Professor Dave, honorary president of the institute. “There is something in her words that goes to the very roots of human thought, the very roots of our santhana dharma, the universal religion.”
This experience of dialogue highlights what was said by John Paul II when he was in India: “Through dialogue we allow God to be present in our midst, because as each of us opens in dialogue, we also open to God. And the fruit is union among men and union of men with God.” (John Paul II, Talk to the various representatives of religions in India, Madras, February 5, 1986.)”
Dialogue with Gandhian movements characterized this experience from the beginning, and it continues in Coimbatore where each year since August 2001, roundtable discussions are held to examine and discuss spiritual and human aspects of the Gandhian outlook and the spirituality of unity.
On March 20, 2014, there will be an event at the Urbania University of Rome, dedicated to Chiara Lubich and Religions: Together for the Unity of the Human Family. The gathering will highlight her efforts for interreligious dialogue, six years after her death. The event also coincides with the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council’s declaration on the relation of the Church to non-Christian religions, Nostra Aetate. Leaders from the hinduism are also expected to attend.
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Sicily: From “Neighbourhood X ” to “New Neighbourhood”
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We’ve been married for several years and have three children. A few years ago we had to move from our home because of our choice of life marked by fraternity. We decided to move to a disadvantaged quarter of the city, which was lacking in everything. We wanted to share the lives of the neediest among us, their everyday problems and needs.
The city of Gela is known for organized crime, violence and homicides. Worry and fear generate indifference and closing, leading everyone to live in isolation within the walls of their homes. Quartiere Fondo Iozza has now become our family dwelling. Dirty streets, filled with mud, without streetlights… There was need for a change. Rosa and Rocco felt it should begin with them.
One night during a storm, the telephone rang. Several garages were being flooded and a carpentry shop was about to be covered by water and debris. The landowner, who was our neighbor, was desperate. “I ventured out into the mud with the car,” Rocco explains. “We worked until five o’clock in the morning, doing everything we could to remove the water from the buildings, while encouraging the owner of the carpentry shop. Others came to give us a hand and solidarity suddenly began to make some headway. Then, little by little, we had the feeling that we had blocked the problem. If we hadn’t done something, the damages would have been much worse.”
The families of the quarter began discussing some of their problems with each other: the lack of a sewer system, which was causing serious health problems; the conditions of the roads and the water supply. “We were able to dialogue about these things,” declares Rosa, “because first we tried to create a relationship among all the families, and this made us look at the relationship with the administration also differently. With time we were able to move past the logic of protest to that of dialogue with several mayors who, from that moment, have been more open to working with us.”
A committee was formed and Rocco was elected to be its president, because of the trust he had gained “on site”. Primary objective: restore hope to people who have been discouraged by broken promises. Everyone slowly began to feel politically involved, because of their active participation in resolving issues. This didn’t go unnoticed and the group received an allocation of funds for the restoration of the quarter.
At the Fondo Iozza Quarter – previously called the “X Quarter”, many things have changed: there is water and sewer system, natural methane system and public lighting. Now they proceeding with plans for secondary infrastructure (parish church, sport area, community centre) so that the community that has been born will have a place to live. The quarter has been renamed Quartiere Nuovo (New Quarter). It is seen as a pilot neighbourhood where there are daily efforts to humanize the living area.
Conversations from a few years back with Rocco Goldini, deacon and Chief Inspector of the municipal police in Gela, Sicily, known for his efforts in promoting active citizenship. A commitment which still today, even after his death, continues to produce positive results.
Source: New Humanity online
The Church’s Challenge is Communion
“Society today is in great need of witnesses to a lifestyle from which the novelty given to us by the Lord Jesus shines through: of brothers and sisters who love each other even in their differences. . . . This witness enkindles the desire to be involved in that great parable of communion which is the Church.” With these words Pope Francis welcomed the Bishop Friends of the Focolare Movement on February 27, 2014, whom he received in a private audience in the Sala Clementina, during their annual convention. Pope Francis called the opportunity of a fraternal annual meeting, in which to share spiritual and pastoral experiences in the light of the charism of unity, “a very good thing”. Bishops, he told them, you are called to bring to these meetings the wide breath of the Church, and to ensure that what you receive there benefits the entire Church.” Quoting the Apostolic Letter Novo millennio ineunte of Blessed John Paul II, he remembered the duty of “making the Church into a home and school of communion” to ensure “the efficacy of any and every effort in evangelisation.” He then emphasised that it is necessary to promote the “spirituality of communion,” to make it emerge as an educational principle wherever a human being or Christians is being formed, and that “cultivating the spirituality of communion contributes as well, to enabling us to live the ecumenical journey and interreligious dialogue.” There was an opening greeting in the name of all the bishops by Francis-Xavier Kovithavanij, Archbishop of Bangkok, Thailand and moderator of the convention. He then mentioned their experience: “Chiara Lubich has made us discover Jesus crucified and forsaken as the ‘super-love’. In him we have an ever available source of joy for our witness in today’s world.” Like everyone, “we find sufferings in our lives, failures and setbacks, contradictions,” but we try to embrace them “as unique occasions for being similar to Christ . . . in favour of his body, which is the Church.” A long line and handshaking, brief conversations and a festive group photo concluded the audience with Pope Francis, leaving a sense of a living collegiality in all the bishops. Sixty bishops from four continents met from February 24-28, 2014 at the Mariapolis Centre in Castel Gandolfo focusing on the theme: “Mutual Love Amongst the Disciples of Christ.” Focolare president Maria Voce gave a presentation on this central point of Focolare spirituality. This was followed by an open discussion, comments and personal testimonials. The voice of the lay people was quite appreciated especially that of a family and a group of lively youths. There were two round table discussions focusing on two important topics: “Ecclesiological themes that emerge from the first year of the pontificate of Pope Francis: this was presented by Cardinal Joao Braz de Aviz, Prefect of the Congregation of the Consecrated Life and Archbishop Vincenzo Zani, Secretary of the Congregation for Catholic Education; and the presentation on “Synodality and Primacy, in the light of the teaching and practice of Pope Francis,” by Kurt Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, Bishop Brendan Leahy, bishop of Limerick, Ireland, and Bishop Cristof Hegge, Auxiliary Bishop of Munster, Germany. This dimension attracted the interest of many in the media who amplified the message, gathering testimonies of bishops who shared in the meeting – especially those from countries affected by war, political, economic and social instability – and their experience of “affective and effective collegiality”. Four days in Rome with the spirituality of unity was also an opportunity to hear about the efforts and commitment of Christians from the Universal Church around the world. By Victoria Gomez See video of the private audience and related articles
Switzerland: Muslims, Christians and Families
Oriental melodies, lines from the Koran and the Lord’s Prayer being sung with a translation in Turkish. . . . Everything was in place for the meeting on February 9, 2014 at the Eckstein Centre in Baar, Switzerland. The atmosphere was warm and inviting. Ninety Muslims and Christians had accepted the Focolare’s invitation to discuss family values as the basic cell of society.
Although living in Switzerland much of the audience had roots elsewhere: Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Madagascar, Albania, Kosovo, Iran, Syria, Somalia, Turkey, Egypt, Senegal and Sri Lanka.
The reunion began with excerpts from a video conference with Chiara Lubich in which she recounted the beginnings of the Focolare Movement during the Second World War; and the link between the words hearth or focolare and family. Through openness to different religions and cultures, this Focolare family has created a place for unity and dialogue among people of different Christian confessions and the faithful of other religions.
The testimonies – some quite painful –demonstrated the difficulty of becoming integrated in a foreign country; like the young Algerian woman whose husband had abandoned her two years into their marriage; or the Swiss couple whose son was in the grip of drug addiction; or those young parents who lost their first child.
Each story highlighted the strength that comes from faith in God and a supportive community.
During the video of Chiara speaking at the International Congress on the Family in Lucerne, 1999, she stated that “A family does not stop at the limits of kinship. A neighbour can also be a brother or sister.” Then she added: “All that happens within the family can be lived as both expectation and grace from God: just as a building has need of the foundation in order to rise, a family is consolidated through trials, but also through joys. Indeed, it is a school of love that contains within it all the shades of love: from mutual forgiveness to the invitation to constantly begin again. In summary: the family is an ongoing source of positive stimulation and vitality for both individuals and communities.”
A video link-up with a Muslim couple from the Focolare Movement in Algeria made a powerful impression. It was introduced as a personal experience of forgiveness: “In the evening I wasn’t agreeable to a decision my wife had made for the following day. But in the morning, the voice of God in my conscience: “Why are you angry with her? I’m not angry with you, even though you haven’t recited your prayers in a week.” So, “Why are you angry? I’m not outraged with you even though you haven’t said your prayers in a week.” And so, rather than having it out with my wife, I assisted her with her work.”
They went on to talk about the many other Muslim families who are committed in living the spirituality of unity.
In his concluding remarks, Imam Mustapha Baztami from Teramo, Italy, said he was convinced “that Christians and Muslims can offer a huge service to the world if they try to live together for family values.”
A conclusione, una dei partecipanti così si è espresso: «Secondo la mia educazione, era chiaro che noi possedevamo la verità e gli altri erano in torto. Oggi, qui, ho imparato ad aprirmi; ho scoperto che muri e pregiudizi devono essere distrutti».
Venezuela. Amidst Confrontation and Reconciliation
“This morning we prayed the Lord’s Prayer for peace in Venezuela and in the world” writes kindergarten teacher, C. “When we finished the prayer a child came up to me and said: “Teacher, I was home with my Mum. She was in the garden banging the pan (the cacerolazo, which is used as an instrument of protest). Then some people approached on large motorcycles. We ran because they were firing on us.” My eyes filled with tears. This couldn’t be the country where I was born and raised!” 
Indeed, Venezuela has traditionally considered itself a land of brothers and sisters. Countless immigrants have found a home in this South American nation, creating a multi-ethnic society that is open, welcoming and fraternal. “Still,” C attempted to explain to her small students, “our country is so beautiful. It’s a gigantic home where everyone is our brother and sister.” This is why the scene of violence that has taken place over the past years seems so unnatural. The distress of the people has increased together with the growing socio-economic deterioration of the country which, in recent months, has reached levels never before seen.
From Caracas they write: “On February 12, 2014, National Day of Young People, peaceful demonstrations were held by students because of the serious social and economic problems: insecurity, lack of food and medicines, repression. Unfortunately, there was no willingness to listen and the situation degenerated into violence with several deaths and numerous wounded, because of the severe beatings.”
Within such a context the local Focolare community is aware that it has something to offer toward hope for peace. “Our gaze returns to the ideal beginnings of the Movement, to Chiara Lubich and the first group people during the Second World War when everything crumbled and only God remained (. . .) The situation in which we find ourselves now must not hold us back from witnessing to our Gospel ideal. We still have hearts with which to love, forgive and begin again. With this certainty we celebrated the tenth anniversary of “La Asociación La Perla” (The Pearl Association), an alternative education project that provides concrete ways of educating children according to a “pedagogy of reciprocity”. We wondered if it was appropriate to celebrate during such times, but the community unanimously agreed that we should. We held sporting and recreational events on the streets with families in an atmosphere of hope and joy. “This was like a ray of light amidst the storm,” said one participant.”
N., who has been physically limited because of serious illness, recounts how he lives through the present situation: “I pray for all the protestors, regardless of which trench they are in, especially for those who die. I said to Jesus: “I have no physical strength, no weapons, but I pray and offer my life so that they can find you before they die.” Two nights ago there was a large demonstration in front of my house, with cacerolas, shouting and chants. They set fire in the street and smoke was filling our home. My sister took my small nephew – who is also ill – to my bedroom. I invented ways to make him smile, to relax him a bit.”
These are delicate moments we are living. Pope Francis has invited all the faithful “to pray and work for reconciliation and peace.”
March 2014
If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.
Abide, therefore, in his love. But what does Jesus mean by this? Undoubtedly, he means that keeping his commandments is the sign, the proof that we are his true friends. It’s the condition for Jesus to reciprocate and assure us of his friendship. But he seems to mean something else as well: namely, that keeping his commandments builds up in us the same love that Jesus has by nature. Keeping them communicates to us the particular way of loving we see displayed in all of Jesus’ earthly life. It is a love that made Jesus one with the Father and at the same time urged him to identify with and be completely one with all his brothers and sisters, especially with the least, the weakest, the most marginalized. Jesus’ love was a love that healed every wound of the soul and of the body, gave peace and joy to every heart, overcame every division, rebuilding fraternity and unity among all. If we put his word into practice, Jesus will live in us and will make us too instruments of his love.
If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.
How then shall we live this month’s Word of Life? By keeping in mind and aiming decisively at the good it proposes: a Christian life that does not rest content with keeping the commandments in a minimal, cold and outward way, but that is full of generosity. The saints acted like this. And they are the living Word of God.
This month let’s take just one of his words, one of his commandments and try to translate it into life. Since Jesus’ New Commandment (‘love one another as I have loved you’ (Jn 15:12)) is like the heart, the summary of all his words, let’s live it in an utterly radical way.
Chiara Lubich
First Published in May 1994
A look that truly sees
The enemy
“Our youngest daughter has a very strong character and certain attitudes that are irritating. One evening, after repeated requests for her to go to sleep, I went to the room with the intention of giving her a good scolding. While I was walking towards her I was thinking that this child is becoming a threat to my nerves, because of the relationship with my wife who cannot stand to see me agitated and nervous. Well, she was my “enemy”. But when I was in front of her bed, I changed my attitude: I bend down towards her and I start to listen to what she wanted to tell me. Then I told her a story, I sang her a song: everything seems to have disappeared. The child fell asleep and I too found the peace that comes from love” F.S. – Switzerland
In prison
“Antonio, our young friend from Paraguay, ended up in prison for drug traficking; in reality it was a companion of his who during their trip together put the drugs into his knapsack where the police found it. So he found himslef together with delinquents considered to be dangerous, without any legal assistance. We contacted his mother, we went to visit her often and we got him a very good lawyer. Finally after many months, the judicial process took place which we were following with a group of our friends. Before the sentencing, we prayed together. Antonio was serene.When the judges declared him innocent, there was an explosion of joy in the chambers. One of the lawyers had tears in his eyes. The two prison guards who accompanied him were also moved. Now we want to help him start to live a normal life once again, after the experience lived”. A.F.-Argentina
Nadine do you mean me?
“After a year of being married we found out that we could not have children. And from here the problems with the parents and relatives of my husband started., who already considered me an outsider since I come from another village. We would have wanted to adopt a child but in the town no one would have understood our choice. One day a friend called m and said: there is a newly born gorls whose parents have died in an accident; her grandparents could not take care of her… We went to get her. All our relatives were against it, but we were happy to have Nadine with us. After awhile, they too started to love her and she group up peacefully. Often I would tell het the story of Nadine with Amet and Haila: and she would say, “Nadine means me, right?” I would answer her yes. Now she is five years old and she told me: “Mama I would like a little sister”. I answered her that, as she knows, I cannot have children. And so she made it clear: “I want a little sister who has lost her parents during the war, one who is like me”. My husband and I looked at one another: she understood very well in what way she was “our child”. Now in the village, other families, like us, have adopted a child”. A.H.K. – Syria
Taken from: Il Vangelo del giorno (The Gospel of the Day) , Città Nuova Publishing House
Nigeria: a drop of fraternity
While the crisis in the Ukraine, has reached the breaking point, keeping the world holding its breath; and the media spotlights are focused on many other parts of the planet such as Syria or Venezuela, we had the possibility of talking to some of our Focolare friends who are immersed in the tensions that Nigeria is going through, the most populated country of Africa with more than 160 million inhabitants. 
Nigeria is the largest Islamic-Christian co-existence in the world, according to you is this the cause of the serious acts of violence that happen in the Country?
“Unfortunately in these last few years Nigeria has been in the headlines often due to the frequent terrorist attacks and the destruction caused, both by Muslims and by Christians; just as the painful events of the past weeks have shown in the states of Borno and of Adamaza in the northeast of the Country. Seen from the outside, it may seem that what is happening is an expression of a religious conflict, but those living in the Country can testify that this is not the whole truth. The fact is, in a great part of Nigeria the cohabitation is peaceful and full of respect for one another”.
Are there pockets of violence…?
”In some regions, especially in the north, there are continuing tensions that have caused thousands of victims. There are many reasons for this: the lack of economic resources, the wounds inflicted upon the people in the past among the various ethnic groups but, above all the destructive activities of terrorist groups”.
How do you try to react in this situation?
“The members of the Focolare Movement, together with many men and women of good will, try to be builders of peace in our daily life: to recognize in every person we meet above all a brother and sister who must be respected, encouraged and helped. We strive to have this attitude wherever we are; in our families, in our place of work, on the street, at the market or in school; starting with small acts, such as a greeting, or showing interest in what the other has in his heart, etc…”.
In front of dangerous situations, wherein one must protect one’s life or that of the other…?
”We try not to stop in front of the different ethnic or religious factions, so as to be ready to help whoever is in need. We have seen how these actions, small or big, can help to slow down and, at times, to even stop the spiral of violence. Slowly they can promote a new mentality, which is to change the atmosphere of hate and revenge into an attitude of respect and fraternity”.
You have recently opened a new center in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria…
”Yes, exactly one month ago. It was a decision made together with the local Church so as to be close to the community in the north of the Country, which is more exposed to the conflicts. In this way we can support and encourage all those who are living for peace and fraternity, inspite of everything”.
Chiara Lubich and Religions. Judaism
Contact between the Focolare and members of the Jewish community in various countries began in 1970’s.
In 1995 representatives from the Jewish community in Rome, Italy gave Chiara Lubich a symbolic olive tree in recognition of her efforts for peace between Christians and Jews. The tree was planted in the garden of the Focolare Movement’s headquarters in Rocca di Papa, Italy.
In 1996 the first international convention between Christians and Jews, promoted by the Movement was held in Castel Gandolfo, Italy. The convention focused on the topic, love of God and neighbour. It was a great surprise to discover the consonance between authentic rabbinic tradition and the spirituality of the Movement. The highpoint of the meeting was the pact of mercy, which had been proposed by Norma Lebitt, a Jew from New York, for reconciliation between Christians and Jews of different traditions.
But a more important event took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, when Chiara Lubich visited the country in 1998. She presented the spirituality of unity highlighting common points with the spiritual patrimony of Judaism. One highpoint was when she referred to the Holocaust: “That unspeakable pain of the Holocaust as well as more recent bloody persecutions cannot but bear fruit. We would like to share them with you so that they will no longer be an abyss that separates us, but a bridge that unites us; that they might become a seed of unity.” From then on a Day of Peace has been celebrated at Mariapolis Lia in the province of Buenos Aires.
Another meaningful moment was the meeting with Jewish friends in Jerusalem, 1999. Chiara could not attend the event, but asked Natalia Dallapiccola and Enzo Fondi to go in her place and read the presentation she had prepared. At that time Natalia and Enzo were overseeing the interreligious dialogue of the Movement. The audience, which included rabbis, greatly appreciated her answer to a question regarding the reason for suffering. Chiara quoted a passage from the Talmud: “Whoever does not experience the hiding of God’s face, is not one of the Hebrew people” (see Talmud: Mas Chagigah 5,b).
Four international symposiums were held between 2005 and 2011: two in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, and the third in Jerusalem, 2009. The words that were used most often by Christians, Jews and members of the local Arab Focolare community to describe this event were: a miracle and hope. Everyone was eager to embrace the challenge of unity; the gathering was entitled Walking Together Towards Jerusalem. Particularly moving was the Pact of Mutual Love that was solemnly recited at the Steps on Mount Zion which, according to a tradition Jesus walked as he prayed for unity. The Pact was recited again at the Eastern Wall, known as the Wailing Wall.
In 2011 the symposium moved to Buenos Aires. Christians and Jews from various currents – orthodox, conservative and reformed – met at Mariapolis Lia to discuss Identity and Dialogue, a Continuing Journey. The programme was enriching with presentations in several academic fields including philosophy, anthropology, psychology, pedagogy, law and communications. These days together were important not only for the rich content, but also for the mutual listening and sharing of several experiences. One Jewish person commented: “During these days of respectful dialogue different currents in Judaism were able to come together in harmony.”
Further progress was made in 2013, in Castelgandolfo, Italy, at an international gathering where everyone tried to more deeply understand the tradition of the other.
However, the main characteristic of this fruitful dialogue is not the many meetings, but life together and the ongoing exchange of vision and experience, which has been unfolding in many cities across Europe, Israel and the Americas.
On March 20, 2014, there will be an event at the Urbania University of Rome, dedicated to Chiara Lubich and Religions: Together for the Unity of the Human Family. The gathering will highlight her efforts for interreligious dialogue, six years after her death. The event also coincides with the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council’s declaration on the relation of the Church to non-Christian religions, Nostra Aetate. Leaders from the Muslim world are also expected to attend.
read: Buenos Aires, 20 April 1998. Chiara Lubich to the members of B’nai B’rith and other members of the Jewish community
Gen Rosso in the Philippines
“Move for something greater” is the title of a project of Gen Rosso that began on January 30, 2014 and will end on March 1, 2014. The project engages students from several Philippine cities in concrete gestures of sharing and solidarity, following the hurricane of last November. The arrival of the international music group has been in preparation stages for months, involving several public and private schools. 
Gen Rosso was met at its arrival in Manila, by the Philippine Minister of Education who expressed his great esteem for the project as well as his wish for future collaboration. The international performing arts group held several workshops in Manila (February 1-2, 2014) in which 210 teenagers took part and were enthusiastic to express their talents. Music, dance, choreography and lines from the musical Streetlight were channels for creating tuning in and communicating with the youths. Several of them came from marginalised regions of the metropolis. “They especially,” the band artists write, “were won over by the force of the project. They left with huge smiles on their faces and a singular sense of satisfaction.” 
Work in the workshops resulted in a presentation of two concerts in the Ynares Palasport of Manila; local young people performed together with band artists in performing the musical. Each show drew a crowd of 2,200 people, among these a group of forty Muslim youths. One of them commented on the “conviction, courage and inspiration” that was conveyed by the performance. Some impressions from the students who performed: “You’ve healed the wounds in our heart. How beautiful to return home and be able to live for others!” “Thank you for making us feel like part of a family!” “With this concert I found the desire to live again.” “I learned to be surer of myself and to have trust.” “Thank you for these days together with Gen Rosso. I have found a relationship with my father again.” Second stop: Masbate, an island to the southeast of Manila, nestled amidst tropical nature (February 7-8, 2014). “This tour,” they confide “is giving us unforgettable emotions. We’re on an island that lives on fishing and rice fields. The Fazenda, where we shall be staying, is located in the midst of the fields an hour away from the city, and the road is swarming with sidecars (tricycles). Even amidst a thousand difficulties, the people live happily. . . .” The project in Masbate was held in collaboration with the Fazenda da Esperanca, along with students from several schools on the island. Enthusiasm among the 200 students who took part in the workshop during the week really reached the stars! These teenagers have firsthand experience of many of the situations presented in the Streetlight musical. . . . It was necessary to schedule a third performance because of the many requests, with an audience of 1600 young people.”
With tears in their eyes they admit: “We leave tears of joy and deep friendships in Masbate. . . . Once again we’ve experienced that in places such as these that are so far and difficult to reach, we receive much more than we give.” The adventure continued in Davos (February 14-15, 2014) and will conclude in Manila on March 5, 2014. Ver video 1 Vedi video 2
In Search of a Divine Harmony
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Our earthly experience continually unfolds in relationship with others. When you come into contact with children, a light is unleashed from their eyes, which has its source in other constellations. So too when servants of humanity who live solely by their ideals, or labourers of every class who are enlivened by their sense of justice draw near – an atmosphere is unleashed that comes from somewhere above and beyond the material world.
Perhaps human nature unconsciously searches for Divine life. It just has to find it, and this requires searching. Search and you will find. Human life – with its virtue and blows, weariness and glad moments and experiences of every sort – is in itself a search for that good which we call God (even though we may not realize it.)
However, if we open our sight and take advantage of events in life to peer into the mystery of life, then we will find an explanation and peace in God. The way God reveals himself to the soul resembles the way parents educate a child with caresses and admonishments amid smiles and tears.
This is how it is with the Eternal Father. Intimacy with him grows as the purification grows. You feel closer to him inasmuch as you love him. The Lord says: “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God” (Mt 5:8). Purity of heart is the condition attached to the love that sees God.
People with such love are able to perceive the flow which gives life to the soul and conveys both poetry and art, knowledge and health, victory over evil, longing for affection, awareness of a vitality that is wider than the galaxies. Perhaps we don’t realize it but this is almost the breath of the Lord that raises molecules and planets, thoughts and feeling. It is the joy that breathes in the child and the peace in the old woman or man.
Someone with a pure heart is carried along by love as if by a current that endlessly draws everyone in. God takes everyone, wants everyone because everyone is a member of his generation. It’s a matter of ousting the obstacles, which are quickly removed if we love one another. By this the world will know that you are my disciples if you love one another – the requirement that Beethoven liked most because it seemed to be the most basic simplification of the Divine harmony of the universe. Of course, disagreements are always surfacing between people, but Christ teaches harmony. He asks us to stop the spiral of offences and revenge and reset the circuit of communion through forgiveness. Giving forgiveness to the people who have done us wrong is giving what is good, it is giving a gift to God who loves us. This means that living is loving, and that loving is understanding».
Igino Giordani in L’unico amore, Città Nuova, 1974
Africa: “We together with the others”
Twelve students (representatives of two Italian high schools) left for Africa accompanied by 3 teachers, 2 animators, two shareholders of Unicoop of Florence, a representative of the Focolare Movement and a cameraman. Their goal: to spend a week of sharing with the African youth of their age-group, from January 16 to 24. The venue chosen: Fontem, in the Northwest of English-speaking Cameroun. Today, this Camerunese city has 40 thousand inhabitants. The Focolare Movement has helped in its growth, together with others, starting from the ‘60s. But let us allow Stefano, one of the youth, to share his experience which was published in their school bulletin:
“…A trip to discover a different reality, at times difficult to digest, because of the poverty that we met, but it was a school of life, for all the things that we were able to learn… We discovered a different culture, that thinks differently… We started off with the idea of going there to give medicines, pens, papers, notebooks, to share about ourselves, about Europe, only to discover instead that … there are still people who would sell even what little they had just to make you feel at home; people who have never seen you and yet welcome you like kings; they are not racists as many of us are; that in a few days they have grown fond of you in a way that you would never know how to do with anyone. The meeting with the teens of the College had a great impact on us: we were welcomed with songs and dances, to our great surprise they took our hands and embraced us. After a few moments of disorientation we were brought to a different dimension, we were no longer afraid to interact with them in their way, which had already become ours. They melted our hearts with their dances and songs, we danced with them, alughed and built such a strong bond among us that was almost too hard to believe. This way of interacting also brought about a beautiful chemistry even among us Italians. Aside from the joyful moments, we also had to take in strong images, especially when we visited the village of Besalì where poverty is widespread. Along the roadside we saw malnourished children with bloated stomachs, people who were living in extreme poverty… But even there the people welcomed us with warmth. The schools of Besalì, built and sustained by the Unicoop of Florence, are a very far cry from Italian school buildings … 
Great people made us understand better what we were experiencing, starting from Doctor Tim, a focolarino originally form Trent, who has been living in Fontem for 27 years; he is a very important person for the whole community, he takes care of many people who, without him and the many volunteers at the hospital, would have found themselves facing great difficulties. We were impressed by the greatness of heart of Pia, a focolarina volunteer worker who has been living on Fontem for 47 years, who has become an icon of the Focolare Movement; she is capable of transmitting incredible energy. As the days passed a bond was created among everyone. The last day was magical. They forewarned us: “You will cry and they will cry”. In our hearts we told ourselves that this will not happen, and instead it really happened. After exchanging gifts, the greetings on the evening before we left, were really moving: everyone embracing, silent, in the total darkness along the road that lined the forest; a deafening silence punctuated only by the sound of muffled sobs, of the efforts of trying to hold back that incredible surge of emotions. Still not fully aware of what we had experienced, we are grateful for those who had made this experience possible: a trip that someone described as “The journey of life’”.
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Ecological Commitment Rewarded in Austria
“Cultivating and caring for creation is an instruction of God which he gave not only at the beginning of history, but has also given to each one of us; it is part of his plan; it means taking responsibility to make the world increase, transforming it so that it may be a garden, an inhabitable place for us all (. . .) Human and environmental ecology go hand in hand.” These words from Pope Francis on June 5, 2013 bear witness to very current environmental issues.
These are not far-off concepts at the Am Spiegeln Centre in Vienna – . In fact, the centre of the Focolare Movement in Austria was originally planned around the human person and the natural environment. Located at the foothills of the Vienna woods, ten minutes away from the Schonbrunn Palace, the summer residence of the Hasburgs and surrounded by greenery, the Mariapolis Centre is a favourite destination for conferences and conventions. But it is also much sought after as a place of rest, summer holidays and tourism, thanks to its proximity to the splendid capital. Thousands of visitors (families, children, young adults and groups) have been welcomed by the centre over the years.
The award was conferred on the Mariapolis Centre on January 16, 2014, by the Austrian Minister of the Environment, and the Chamber of Commerce. The Austrian Seal for Respect of the Environment recognizes efforts to modify physical infrastructures in order to preserve water and energy by installing appropriate systems, and sorting waste for the purpose of reuse. By using a new logistic for the collection of waste, a substantial amount of it can be recycled. In addition, there is modest use of detergents, a reduction in packaging materials and ongoing employee training. The award also recognizes using food and other resources from the local region.
The centre administrators added: “It is also important to involve our guests by providing them with good information about using the structure. This is in contrast with a throw-away culture of waste, and favours the wellbeing of both our guests and the local environment.”
In conclusion: “For us, this award highlights the witness of Gospel living that we try to offer here each day. And this translates into living in harmony with and protecting God’s creation. If you’d like to try it for yourselves, we’re waiting for you at Am Spiegeln!”
Chiara Lubich: the pedagogy of fraternity
It begins with a metaphor of the pelican, this talk of Ezio Aceti – psychologist of the evolutionary age – on Chiara Lubich as an educator, during the dedication of the kidergarten Spine Rossine to the foundress of the Focolare Movement, last 29th of January in Putignano, in the province of Bari (Italy).
The decision to name this school after Chiara, was born from the desire to have its pedogogy be inspired by the value of fraternity, that is expressed in the teaching methodology by the ability to transmit dsciplinary knowledge to the littlest ones. Chiara Lubich was a great example of this, breaking down and making it easy for everyone, especially to the “littlest ones”, to understand the values of the Gospel.
“The witnesses – Aceti affirms – are great teachers because their coherence attracts and it is for this reason that they have become sources of inspiration to the young and the old who have followed them. Chiara Lubich and Mother Teresa of Calcutta represent limpid examples of this; they attracted because of the charism they radiated, over and beyond their speeches and their words, and their presence represented for many, a reason for a great emotion and deep feelings. It is important to know that charisms are for the present and that they don’t pass away even if the founders of the Movements are no longer with us. Chiara – Aceti continues – focused on the experience of God, creating a new experience based on unity. To understand the basics of education – according to the psychologist – we must eliminate some prejudices”.
Aceti recalled great personalities, like Chiara Lubich, who knew how to live a new educative style. Simon Weil, a French philosopher, for example, indicated attention as a form of love for the neighbor who is speaking. Martin Buber, a Jewish philosopher, exhorted to put oneself in the shoes of the other, to listen following the inspirations that come from this and finally to communicate them to the other. Maria Montessori, Italian pedagogist, elaborated a system of teaching in which she showed that if it is possible to teach something to a child bearing a handicap, then it is possible to teach it to all the children. The Polish educator, Janusz Korczak accompanied the children in his orphanage up to the moment of their death in the concentration camp of Trzeblinka. The last pedagogical element indicated by Aceti was the testament of Chiara Lubich: “Be a family… love one another until all may be one”.
During the inauguration, the greetings of Maria Voce president of the Focolare, arrived wherein she wished that the dedication to Chiara of the school would become a stimulus for whoever attends the school to follow her example.
Source: Città Nuova online.
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Chiara Lubich Award for Fraternity
Lampedusa, symbol of immigration: of suffering and of welcome. The news of disembarkations never stop, just as the commitment of the Town and its inhabitants. It was here that “The Charter of Lampedusa”, was signed on the Island by hundreds of international associations and hundreds of citizens. A real and true handbook of respectful welcoming of the human rights of all the inhabitants of the world, “in all the Lampedusas of the world”, as the Mayor Giusi Nicolini affirmed.
This is the reason why the Town of Lampedusa was chosen by the Association Cities for Fraternity, as the winner of the 5th edition of the “Chiara Lubich Award for fraternity”. Inspired by the thoughts of Chiara Lubich, foundress of the Focolare Movement, the Association was born in 2008 proposed by the mayor of Rocca di Papa, Pasquale Boccia, on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the founding of the Focolare Movement. Today it is made up of 133 Italian towns, and other local authorities, who adhere to the initiative, and have expressed the desire to create a network of dialogue and discussion between the towns and the local authorities with the fundamental objective of promoting peace, human rights, social justice and above all fraternity, through their actions and administrative deeds.
The Foremost Citizen of the Island encouraged the promoters to continue their actions that reinforce fraternity, because “we need to create and cultivate the sensitivity to these very important themes”. The aim of the Award, in fact, is that of highlighting every year, a Town that has particularly distinguished itself through actions and attitudes of fraternity. The awarding took place in Ariccia (Rome) at the Chigi Palace, Saturday, February 8, 2014. Hosts of the event were, Emilio Cianfanelli, mayor of Ariccia, and Pasquale Boccia, mayor of Rocca di Papa and president of the Association Cities for Fraternity. The other promoter of the event, the Movement of Politics for Unity Italy, was represented by the President of the Italian chapter Silvio Minnetti.
Just as in the other editions, the awarding ceremony was preceded by a convention of reflection and formation. The themes that were presented this year included: “Economy and the Community rhyme with Fraternity? A comparison of the thoughts of Adriano Olivetti and of Chiara Lubich”. It was an excellent occasion to highlight the extreme relevance of some principles that are common to both Movements, the Community of Olivetti and the Economy of Communion.
The interventions of Melina Decaro, of the “Adriano Olivetti Foundation” Study Center and professor at the Luiss University of Rome; of Luigino Bruni, professor of Economics at the Lumsa of Rome and coordinator of the International Commission of the Economy of Communion; and of the entrepreneur Giovanni Arletti, Vice President of the Association of Entrepreneurs of the Economy of Communion (Aipec) generated a great interest.
Chiara Lubich and World Religions: Islam
The Focolare began to establish contact with Muslims in the 1960’s.
In Algeria a deep friendship was begun among Christians and Muslims in the 1970’s, which then spread in the city of Tlemcen. This gave rise to a Focolare community that was almost entirely made up of Muslims. This not only overcame barriers between Islam and Christianity, but also the cruelty of the civil war.
This friendship was the basis of eight international gatherings for “Muslim Friends of the Focolare” from 1992 to 2008. Now there are several thousand Muslims who are in contact with the Movement around the world.
At the end of the 1990’s in the United States a new page was turned in relations between Christians in Muslims. Chiara Lubich, a white Catholic woman was invited by charismatic American Muslim leader, Imam W. D. Mohammed, to share her message to the faithful gathered at the Malcolm X Mosque in Harlem, N. Y. At the conclusion of that day in May 1997, the Imam stated: “Today, here in Harlem, New York, a new page in history has been written.” The two leaders made a pact of brotherhood between them and their respective movements. Since then there have been regular encounters between Muslim and Christian communities who look toward universal brotherhood and have an impact on their local environments. More than forty mosques and local Focolare communities are involved in this experience in several U.S. cities.
T
he path of discovery between the spirituality of unity and Islam has had some notable moments: the meeting for Muslim friends held in 2008 in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, which was entitled “Love and Mercy in the Bible and in the Holy Koran”. The presentation by Muslim Professor Adnane Morkrani, entitled “Reading the Koran with the Eye of Mercy” was very much appreciated by the Imams and faitfhful who were present.
In 2010, 600 Christians and Muslims met in Loppiano, Italy. Many of them were presidents and Imams of Islamic communities in Italy. As Imam Layachi said, the meeting was both an arrival point and point of departure for many experiences begun and carried forward in several parts of Italy.
In Tlemcen, Algeria, which was one of the capital cities of Muslim culture for 2011, a meeting was held for Muslim members of the Focolare Movement with the title “Living Unity”. The eighty participants came from ten countries. The presence of Muslim professors also proved valuable because they were able to examine topics of spirituality from a Muslim perspective that were based on a real life experiences.
The presence of Muslims has grown in recent decades in Italy, because of immigrations. In many cities in the north and south of the peninsula a real and true friendship has begun between the faithful of Christian and Muslim communities. On November 25, 2012 in Brescia, Italy, some 1,300 Christians and Muslims joined together for a day entitled Common Paths for the Family, which was promoted by the Focolare Movement and several Islamic communities. In Catania, Italy, on April 23, 2013 there was the meeting celebration The Muslim Family, the Christian Family: challenges and hopes, in which 500 people gathered in the name of dialogue.
On March 20, 2014, there will be an event at the Urbania University of Rome, dedicated to Chiara Lubich and Religions: Together for the Unity of the Human Family. The gathering will highlight her efforts for interreligious dialogue, six years after her death. The event also coincides with the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council’s declaration on the relation of the Church to non-Christian religions, Nostra Aetate. Leaders from the Muslim world are also expected to attend.
Lithuania: Trust brings out the positive in people
“During one of our long winter evenings, following an abundant snowfall, the courtyard of our school was completely covered in snow. I realized that neither the teachers nor the suppliers of the school canteen would be able to park their vehicles. I telephoned several companies, also a few private ones but they all responded that it would take another few days until they were able to shovel the snow, and at a considerable cost. Following a few more attempts, I accepted the offer of a neighbour who was willing to lend me his truck that had a snow plough.
As we began the job, we noticed that quite a bit of snow was accumulating along the edge of the snowplow that had to be removed manually. At that hour of the night there was nobody to help us, only the elderly woman who cleaned the school. She informed me that there was a group of boys on the other side of the building, who had gathered to smoke. They were known to be the school daredevils, frequently absent, reported for thefts, fights. They were on the verge of being expelled.
When I asked her to go and ask for their help she was a bit shocked and refused. She feared that those delinquents might do her some harm. So I decided to go myself even though I didn’t expect them to help. I had already accepted that I would be the one cleaning away the snow from the snow plough.
At first the boys were a bit confused seeing me there, but they gave me a cordial greeting. I told them that they were my only hope, and that the school they also loved, would not be functioning the next day. Before I could finish my sentence, they began to shovel the snow, and they worked for over an hour! When I thanked them for their help they said: so, we’re not as bad as some teachers think. . . .
It confirmed again that there is something positive to be appreciated in every person, and it’s only a matter of finding the right opportunity for it to come out. A more trusting and open relationship has begun among us.”
This has been the experience of Paulius Martinaitis, a Focolare volunteer from Lithuania, who is director of a high school in Vilnius.
“I learnt that offering young people an area of trust enables them to come out of those cages of transgressive behavior that sometimes imprison us with the labels we give to them.”
Italy:”The Visitor” Inspires Dialogue
“It was a special evening, rich in meaning;” I felt enveloped in such a family atmosphere, also in the simple fact of sharing supper together, it made me feel so at home;” “It was a spectacular performance that responded to the needs of our time;” “My only regret is that of not having invited many more people:” “We shoot short films and know a bit about acting. The directing was phenomenal. Recitation of the lines with such quick rhythms enlivened the performance. It wasn’t heavy at all, even though the themes were very challenging!” These were but a few of many comments by actors and others who witnessed the performance on the evening of December 14, 2013 in a theatre of Prato.
Directors and actors explain: “The piece we chose is quite unique: The Visitor by the French Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt, with its humour and irony and originality that challenges every viewer concerning fundamental questions of life. And so it was quite adapted to creating dialogue.”
The performance which was conceived as forum theatre was organised by a Focolare Movement’s dialogue group for persons with no religious affiliation in Prato, along with the non-profit organisation La Sveglia, which has been in operation for 35 years and brought this performance to the stage.
“The crucial point of the play, which is set in Vienna, Austria, in 1938, is the dialogue between Sigmund Freud and a mysterious visitor who is taken to be God: a dialogue that was never banal and which everyone could identify with.”
The audience sat mesmerized for two hours, enjoying the passionate interpretation of every word.
At the conclusion of the performance the forum was opened, and unfolded in a family atmosphere with reflections on the piece. People spoke who were already involved in this type of dialogue, but also others who were new to the experience.
Also those directly involved in the presentation of the comedy described what it meant to them, the genesis of taking to the stage and their enjoyment of presenting it within such a context.
The outcome was truly the result of everyone’s effort: dialogue across the board! Some worked on publicity; some on the presentation of some thoughts from Chiara Lubich which were offered during the evening meal; some brought trucks for transporting props and scenery; a chef from the dialogue group prepared pasta sorrentino for the theatre company’s lunch; someone else took care of videotaping the event; others contacted the theatre and the SIAE (Italian Authors and Editors Society) for copyrights; not to mention those who contributed with their cultural expertise toward the success of the discussion at the end of the performance.
Given that the company has offered to give other performances, one viewer who is engaged in working with prisoners, proposed a presentation in a jail. Someone else suggested that La Sveglia stage other equally meaningful texts.
Klaus Hemmerle and His Passion for Unity
«I know that I’m not able to live alone, but only with Jesus in our midst. I strive to be part of a living cell, to be linked with other people with whom I can talk about such a way of living. I’d like to reach someone by phone, at least once a day, with whom I can feel understood regarding my life, someone who understands me so deeply that it takes no more than five minutes to know how things are going. If this isn’t possible at times, then I live the spiritual communion which is still something very valuable. I strive to weave a concrete network of relationships and to be an active part of them.
The Bishop Hemmerle with Chiara Lubich
Gen Verde in concert in Verona
“Arriving at the Isola of La Scala (Italy), on the 29th of January, 2014 – the Gen Verde wrote – we discovered that START NOW was no longer just our project, but it also belonged to the 100 youth with whom we held artistic workshops and also to the many adults who accompanied us during those days, working behind the scenes. Everyone shouted out with one voice: START NOW, Wow! 
“When we started the workshops on dance, singing, percussion and theatre, it was as if we had known each other always: we were all ready to share our talents. A young girl expressed herself in this way: “On stage I feel like I’m another person, free to express myself, different”. One of her companions answered: “Look you can be like this everyday…” “Saturday February 1, the youth and the Gen Verde together now ready to go onstage, began the traditional “Winter Meeting – Celebration of life”, organized by the Pastoral Care of the Youth of Verona, which this year saw us all working together on the frontlines with the Diocese to bear witness that there is reason to hope. The Bishop, in his homily during the Mass and before the show, encouraged all the young people present saying: “With you the future is assured!”. “Art, once again, has become an instrument of dialogue, to take on a challenge. As we sang “… peace depends on you”, we made a commitment together, taking in also the 3,500 participants who, during the concert, sang along with us. A wave of fraternity has started from Verona and who knows where it will reach!” 
The Gen Verde international music group, is at present made up of 21 young women from 13 Countries. It has presented more than 1,400 shows during various tours in Europe, Asia, South and North America. The original style of this music group evolves together with the arrival of each new member. The various influences bring a specific and rich cultural and ethnic mix and a wide array of traditional and contemporary genres. Up to the present, the band has released a total of 70 albums. While the composition of the group has changed throughout the years, the values underlying its artistic objectives have remained the same: to contribute towards creating a global culture of peace, dialogue and unity. The Gen Verde international performing arts group, has its homebase in the International Little City of Loppiano (Florence, Italy) where people from all origins and races share the creative and enriching experience of building unity in the midst of diversity.
The ideal: Jesus forsaken
“One day the spiritual director asked Chiara: ‘When in his life did the Lord suffers the most?”
“I suppose in the Garden of Olives”.
“No. In my opinion he suffered the most on the cross when he cried out: ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ (Mt 27,46; Mk 15,34)”.
He left, and Chiara speaking with Dori (one of her students, and among the first to follow her, editor’s note) and later with the others, began to focus her love – and her studies – on that cry: on that moment of anguish in which Christ felt abandoned even by the Father, for whom he had become man.
“I am convinced that Jesus forsaken will be the ideal that will solve the world’s problems: it will spread to all corners of the earth.”
Year after year, this conviction would have been consolidated in all kinds of trials, thanks to which her ideal was taking root among humankind.
Thus, Jesus forsaken became Chiara’s love. And it became the love – the ideal, the goal, the norm – of the Work of Mary (or Focolare Movement, editor’s note).
One day she explained to us: “If when I am old and dying, the youth come to ask me to define in brief our ideal, I will reply with a feeble voice: Its Jesus forsaken!”.
Source: “It was a time of war…”, Chiara Lubich – Igino Giordani, Città Nuova Ed., Rome, 2007, pp. 122-123.
1994-2014: Remembering Klaus Hemmerle
Chiara Lubich and Bishop Klaus Hemmerle. Synod of the Laity, 1987.
‘Klaus Hemmerle is timeless, because it is was not so much he who lived, but Jesus lived in him. So I see him today as I was him while was still among us. I see him as another Jesus, but with all the qualities that stood out in his personality, ranging from the astuteness of the just to the wisdom of the elect, and ranging from a fatherlike and yet brotherly commitment, given with tremendous resolve to the portion of the People of God entrusted to him, to his freedom in following a charism from the Holy Spirit and his characteristic gift as an artist. That’s what he was like.’
Asked about her own relationship with the Bishop Hemmerle, Chiara Lubich described him as ‘a person called by God to found, together with [me as] its [overall] founder, a specific part of a Work of God. Hence it is a unique relationship known only to those who were in it, a relationship of the purest friendship, full of the charity of Christ.’ Indeed, Chiara called him a ‘co-founder’, and said, ‘He helped me to bring in being two important things within the Focolare Movement: the branch of the Bishop Friends of the Movement, who share in the spirituality of unity, and the founding of the Abba School that translates the spirituality of unity, the fruit of a charism, into intellectual thought.
‘He had many gifts and they shone out from him. When you think of him, even while he is clothed in the dignity of a priest and a bishop, it is easier to see him as an angel than as a man, because of his sublime delicacy of mind, his freedom of spirit, his deep and enlightened intelligence, his constancy of temperament, his fervour, without exaggeration, when it was necessary to defend someone, and his firmness. I and we saw him as an example because of his complete detachment from himself and from all he was involved with. Only after his death, for instance, did I learn of his musical and artistic talents.
‘He was an example in his constant attention to love for every brother or sister he came across as well as for everything that, for him, represented God’s will.
‘And an example in his passionate attachment to the Word of God such that he lived it, for instance, for five years, one Word at a time for a month in depth, in preparation for the Abba School. He had heard of the experience of doing this at the beginning of the Movement before the Spirit gave us some particular intuitions, things that proved to be of immense value for studying the charism.’
A group of Bishop Friends ot the Focolare.
And with regard to being a bishop? Chiara Luibich recalled, ‘He once confided in me that, so far as he was concerned personally, he would have preferred to have been a theologian but, I think, becoming a bishop certainly made him useful to the Church, as indeed he was to the Focolare Movement, since to his immense learning he added the authority of the Church’s Teaching Office, and in this way he provided us with some important guarantees.’
From Wilfried Hagemann, Klaus Hemmerle, innamorato della Parola di Dio [Klaus Hemmerle, a Man in Love with the Word of God] (Rome: Città Nuova, 2013) pp. 288-89.
Grateful to Pope Benedict XVI
A year has passed since the historical gesture of Pope Benedict XVI – done in all conscience, with courage and great humility. That gesture changed the face of the Church and we remember him with our hearts full of gratitude.
In his last Angelus, on February 24, 2013, we were touched by his words: «The Lord is calling me “to scale the mountain”, to devote myself even more to prayer and meditation.»
Thank you Pope Benedict for having been an instrument of the Holy Spirit!
Loppiano’s First Weekend For Giving
The story of the Focolare Movement often begins with the following words: “It was wartime and everything was crumbling . . . only God remained.” That was in 1943 when the Second World War was in full swing. Many of the practices of those early days have become emblematic and are now part of the heritage of Focolare communities around the world.
One such practice was the “bundle”. Vittoria Aletta Salizzoni, one of Chiara Lubich’s first companions explains: “I remember one thing. I think it happened in 1946. Chiara proposed that we give away our extra clothing to the community. That’s how we began the practice of the “bundle” as it was called. We were poor. You can imagine! In the aftermath of the war there wasn’t anything. Our clothing was old and used, but we all managed to find something that could be added to the “bundle”. I remember that large pile of clothing in the middle of the room of the “little house”, ready for distribution.”
This practice that recalls the first Christian communities where: “there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need” (Acts 4:34-35), has become common practice among the Focolare communities across the world.
The inhabitants of the Focolare town of Loppiano decided to launch a similar proposal on February 8-9, 2014 for their entire territory. This would also be in response to Pope Francis’ upcoming Lenten Message in which he highlights sharing. The pope calls for a conversion: “that human conscience may be converted to justice, equality, sobriety and sharing.”
The solidarity project has been entitled Weekend For Giving. “It will be a full immersion in the culture of giving,” organisers explain, “that offers a space for sharing and making requests for materials in good and usable condition, also the bulletin board for posting needs and the “time bank” where you can put your time at the disposal of others.
The town’s meeting hall has been chosen as the gathering point. “All kinds of things have arrived: from used clothing for all ages and sizes, books, appliances, furniture, toys, house décor items,” they say.
On Sunday space was also provided for discussing and explaining the culture of giving as opposed to a culture of possessing, and how it can be applied to everyday life.
At the conclusion of the day, the Permanent Bundle Network was inaugurated as the collection and distribution point for all the donated materials. It will be a place open to solidarity and redistribution of goods to those who are in need of them.
In Africa, as a family
We are not going to Africa to get to know the place, to be tourists, but to encounter a people”, Flavia and Valter wrote.
She is Swiss, she studied International Relations in Geneve and had worked for a few months at Bukas Palad Tagaytay, in the Philippines. Valter is a Brazilian journalist who just finished his Masters Degree in 2012 at the Sophia University Institute in Loppiano, Italy. In 2005 he went as a volunteer to Indonesia, six months after the tsunami that ravaged Southeast Asia.
Inspite of living on opposite ends of the Atlantic Ocean, they met in 2004 and were married eight years later.
Now they are leaving their security, projects, jobs... They will be going to spend a few months together with the community of the Focolare in Man, in sub-Saharan Africa, 600 km. west of the capital of the Ivory Coast, Abidjan. “To leave everything behind is not easy – they wrote – but we feel that this experience of total detachment makes us more free to live every moment in profundity, without looking back”.
In Man they will work in the Little City of the Movement, in a center for computer science and in a center that works towards waging a war against malnutrition in hundreds of children.
“The fact that we are going there as a couple is an aspect that we would like to underline – Flavia wrote. Many people say that marriage imprisons you, forcing you to live a life based on the search for material security. We want to take up the challenge and show that it is possible together to open ourselves to the others”.
“Meeting the African people has always been our dream – Valter added – but the many relationships that we have built has transformed our trip into an adventure that we would like to share with many of our friends. For them and for all the people who are interested to know more about the African continent, we had the idea to write a book of our experiences together with the photos to document them”.
“We would like everyone to participate in our adventure– concluded Flavia – and to offer the fruits of our experience: we believe that the family is not only made by the bond of blood, but it contains all the relationships that are built together with the communities wherein we find ourselves”.
For those who would like to participate in this project they can make a donation and they will receive a “photo book” with their experience.
For more information:
https://www.facebook.com/juntosrumoaafrica.
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Chiara Lubich and Religions. Buddhism
Relationships with the Buddhist faithful have comprised a significant portion of the Focolare Movement’s history in dialogue. Although Focolare founder Chiara Lubich intuited as early as the 1960’s that it would be possible to construct genuine fraternal relationships with persons of different religions and cultures, it was not until 1979 that she personally met a leader from another religion, the Rev. Nikkyo Niwano founder of the Rissho Kosei kai. The friendship that developed between them was based on deep mutual respect. In 1981 Niwano invited Chiara to talk about her Christian experience to 12 thousand Buddhists in Tokyo, Japan. This marked the historical beginnings of an experience of genuine fraternity. The relationship continued for many years and was recently reaffirmed by Maria Voce’s visit to Tokyo in 2010. Paths of cooperation and understanding opened with other Mahayana traditions in Japan and Taiwan. Meetings with Venerable Etai Yamada from the Tendai School were unforgettable moments. Venerable Etai Yamada was fond of quoting the motto of the great Master Saicho: “Forgetting yourself and serving others is the apex of compassion-love”. These words were also cited by John Paul II during the meeting with representatives of other religions in Tokyo, 1981. Yamada added: “You can say that the Focolare puts into practice the words of the master 1,200 years later.” 
Currently there are very fruitful relationships with the Nichiren School. And there have been contacts with the Chinese Buddhist Monastary of Fo Guan Shan and with the Monastery of Dharma Drum Mountain. There are also contacts with Chinese Buddhists from the Fo Guang Shan Monastery and the Dharma Drum Mountain Monastery. Over the years, paths of knowledge and understanding have also opened with the world of Therevada Buddhism. During an extended visit to the international town of Loppiano two Thai monks – Grand Master Ajhan Thong and Phramaha Thongratana – came into living contact with Christianity. When they returned to their land, they shared their discovery and invited Chiara Lubich to present her Christian experience at a Buddhist university and in a temple in Chiang Mai. The Great Master Ajhan Thong presented the founder of the Focolare saying: “The sage is neither man nor woman. When a light is lit in the darkness no one asks whether it was a man or a woman who lit it. Chiara is here to give us her light.” From 2004 until the present several symposiums have been held. The fifth was held on 28-31 May 2012, following those held in 2004 and 2008 at the Mariapolis Centre in Castelgandolfo, Italy; in 2006 and 2010 in Osaka, Japan and Chiang Mai, Thailand, which was attended by people from Thailand, Sri Lanka, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, England, USA, Switzerland, Austria and Italy. The variety was not only geographical, but also the traditions that were represented. Among the Buddhists there were representatives – both monks and laity – from the Theravada and Mahayana traditions; and, among the Christians, representatives from the Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Communion and Lutheran Church. 
Over the years deep mutual trust has developed among the participants in these gatherings, which has allowed for open discussion on the Scriptures without any misunderstanding. The Castelgandolfo meeting was attended by His Eminence Cardinal Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and by the president of the Focolare Movement, Maria Voce. An event is scheduled for March 20, 2014 at the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome, dedicated to “Chiara Lubich and the Religions: Together on the Road to the Unity of the Human Family”. Six years after her death, the event will highlight her commitment to interreligious dialogue. The event also coincides with the 50th anniversary of Nostra Aetate, the Second Vatican Council’s declaration on the relation of the Church to non-Christian religions. It will also be also be attended by religious leaders from Buddhism. Interview to Chiara Lubich about interreligious dialogue (1998)
Refugee emergency and the challenge of integration
“They land on the Italian beaches in search of peace, a future, a life that is worthy to be called as such: in these past months they are above all the victims of the war in Syria, protagonists of a new “biblical exodus” as it is called by many”. Marigen, shares how she and the other focolarinas of Catania (Sicily-Italy) felt directly called by the faces of the refugees and the always more insistent disembarkations: “What can I, we do about it?”, they asked themselves.
From Valeria, a youth of the Movement,they came to know that everyday at the train station of Catania there is a crowd of Syrians who begin their journey towards the countries of Northern Europe. “They need everything – Valeria shared: clothes, shoes, big bags, luggages, food, medicines”.
The focolarinas immediately go into action: “We opened our cabinets and we brought out all those things that have accumulated there and that could be of use to others – Paola added. Some of us started to sew on missing buttons, to iron a shirt, others prepared bags of clothes sorted according to type. The experience of Chiara Lubich and of the first focolare in Trent during war time was very much present in our mind”.
The next day, they went to the train station and gave all that they had gathered to a young Moroccan girl who was coordinating the distribution. They discovered that a place to store all the donations received was needed. That very same evening a family offered their garage for this purpose.
They also had the opportunity to help and to get to know the migrants who were staying in the mosque, which had been transformed into a dormitory for the Muslim and Christian refugees. Lina, a focolarina from Jordan, translates their stories that is full of suffering and hope.
In the meantime, the community of the Focolare Movement of Syracuse shared with the entire city the suffering of the loss of Izdihar Mahm Abdulla, the 22-year old Syrian girl who died at sea because she could not bring with her the medicines she needed. Marigen continued: “We gathered around the refugees trying to bring them comfort and the material things they needed. We participated in the Muslim funeral rites held in the churchyard of the Cathedral. We prayed together beside the Imam of Catania, the Mayor,and the Archbishop of Syracuse. There was a sacred atmosphere. We gather around the coffin united by this great suffering. The imam gave the bishop a Koran as a gesture of friendship and communion”.
Also in the island of Lampedusa, with the tragedy of the deaths at sea of so many, the community of the Movement, together with many others, faced this emergency by offering: hospitality, food, their homes, sharing with the migrants not just their surplus but even what was indispensable.
In the nearby island nation of Malta, the Focolare community also felt they wanted to do something upon the arrival of the refugees along the coastline of their Island. “Here the challenges of migration and integration are quite strong,” Vanessa related. “For two years now, we have started to be aware of the steps we could take and so we asked for permission to enter the detention centers where many refugees are gathered”.
They organize groups to take action on various fronts. “I am part of the group which visits the detention centre,” Vanessa continued, “We have met around fifty Somalian women from 16 to 50 years old, the majority of whom are Muslim and some Christians. We gave them English lessons, teach them working skills, dance, but the most important things is the relationship with each one: to listen to them and to share their frustrations, their life stories… We came to know of very delicate situations that have even led to thoughts of suicide… We realized that our willingness to listen to them is a very important resource, and we have seen with joy how much our visits bring them comfort and hope. This attitude of welcome is what we try to live and to share with them so as to promote a culture of integration”.
Germany: Art and the Gospel
“Since I felt the call to give myself to God in the Focolare, it seemed that the world of art and many years of studying music, no longer had a place in my life. But, paradoxically, various encounters and relationships that came about were pushing me to listen to my artistic side and to follow its stimulus. I always had a great trust in my friends of the Focolare, who never tried to give me answers but instead stood by me, sharing my doubts and questions. In the meantime I was also doing other jobs, and so it seemed to me that the artistic world was like a train that had already left the station which I was not able to ride. In the meantime I disovered that what God gives us never corresponds exactly to our thoughts. For example, I looked for a job in the field of music in some of the most difficult areas in my city, among the migrants and the poorest, so as to place myself at their service. But in many years of intense searching I came up with nothing. It was one of my colleagues, instead, who told me that the school where I anm working now, was offering me a completely different challenge but just as fascinating: young people full of material wealth, but often impoverished spiritually, complete satisfaction in everything but experiencing profound dissatisfaction. So now it has been two and a half years that I have been working at the Christianeum in Hamburg High School specializing in humanities, a school of vast musical activities with choirs, brass bands and orchestras that involve about a hundred teens. I direct the two symphony orchestras of the school: one with teens from 10 to 12 years of age (at present it has 65 membrs) and that of the youth from 13 to 18 (52 members). 
This job requires above all the ability to create relationships with the teens, and also with the parents and with my colleagues. Many times it meant to learn to forgive (myself and the others), starting again each time, believing in the others over and beyond any sort of disillusionment, to commit myself without vested interests, paying attention to each single person and not just to the group. And all these with the premise of the continuous search to acquire an always greater professional competence, striving to involve as many colleagues as possible; in fact, we are three who take care of the orchestra. Before deciding on anything, we try to understand what the others are thinking, listening to each other with attention. Thus we experience the reciprocity of love with the teens and the adults. I was surprised when they noted that in the musical activities of the school “there is always more the breath of the good spirit that creates an atmosphere of friendly collegiality that takes in everyone”. I can sense that my life is unified inasmuch as I remain consistent with my life’s choices and I experience the same freshness and novelty of the times when I started to live the Gospel convinced then up to now, that only in this way, together with many others, can the world be changed”. Profile Christian Kewitsch
Swiss youth play for their peers in Cairo
On the 25th of January, 2014, the 14° edition of the annual sponsored volleyball marathon organized by the “Youth4unity”, the young people of the Focolare Movement of Switzerland, was held.
160 sports enthusiasts full of enthusiasm met in six gymnasiums belonging to the schools in Zurich Oerlikon, and not just to engage in sports. In fact, with what they have gathered from the sponsors, they are able to support, already for the third time, the Koz Kazeh (Rainbow) Foundation of Cairo.
This foundation takes care of Egyptian youth and teens who have to work to support their families and who can only study during their days off. Recently they are able to take advantage of professional training courses and special support programs for teenage girls.
Aside from the social commitment, having fun and games has marked the volleyball mMarathons that take place in Zurich. The motto “Take care; respect the one next to you; each person is important”, was the guiding thread of the tournament, making it a friendly and fair competition.
“In the game there is no battle for competition, as is the usual practice in other tournaments, because we play for another reason”, Gabriel (18) from Zurich who is participating for the first time in the Volleyball Marathon affirmed.
Aside from this, Volleyball Day has involved around twenty people who voluntarily collaborated behind the scenes for the success of the tournament.
The team “Abracadabra” was able to raise the highest amount totalling 2,376 Swiss Francs (around € 1.942,1 ) thus winning the “cup challenge”. The winning teams “D’Choncheflicker” (League A) and “Oerlikon one” (League B), each won a big basket of food items for a dinner together.
The “time out” (a minute of silence to pray for peace) and the letter that arrived for the occasion from the Koz Kazeh Foundation, helped to strengthen the relationship among the young people of Zurich and of Cairo.
The total amount collected for the 2014 Edition of 12,074 Swiss Francs (€ 9’869,30 ), has already been sent to support the microprojects in Cairo.
Maltese publication: “L-Arti tal-Imħabba”
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The day before the publication of the book, L-Arti tal Imhabba (The Art of Loving) Marisa and Mario from the Focolare community on the island comment: “We had the opportunity to present a book by Chiara Lubich translated into Maltese, and it’s made us very glad!” The book was presented in a crowded hall on January 17, 2014 in the presence of speakers from five fields of expertise: Professor Marie Alexander from the Malta University Linguistic Institute; Natalino Camilleri, General Superior of the Christian Doctrine Society (M.U.S.E.U.M.); Father Karm Debattista, well-known in Malta in the fields of music and communication; the Reverend Canon Simon Godfrey, Chancellor of the Anglican Church and Dr. J. Mifsud, lawyer, journalist and television presenter. 
The speakers highlighted how the art of loving proposed by Chiara Lubich, is drawn directly from the Gospel and summarised in five points: loving everyone without discrimination; being the first to love; recognizing the presence of Jesus in every neighbour; becoming all things to all people as St. Paul says; and loving one another. The commitment to such a way of life is a constant daily effort, but it produces a spiritual disposition that is the first step towards a peaceful revolution capable of changing individual hearts and building a civilization of love. Rev. Simon Godfrey and Dr. J. Mifsud also highlighted the parallelisms between Pope Francis and Chiara Lubich. Following presentations by the speakers, a family, a young woman and a young boy recounted experiences of living the art of loving, and the Cube of Love was introduced. At the conclusion of the evening many expressed their joy at 
having discovered a new way to face daily life: “The message is simple, beautiful and strong,” said Fr. Silvestro, “within the reach of anyone.” Others appreciated something else: “Dostoevskij writes that beauty will save the world,” Stephanie recalled, “and today we have seen a moment of beauty and harmony, because what was being said today pertains to God who is Beauty.” Miriam commented: “There was neither believer nor unbeliever: in love we all felt like a family and were free to speak freely.” Ezio: “I knew this book in Italian, but here I discovered its value. I want to become better at living the art of loving and, with my heart and mind, find many ways to render it more beautiful, more efficacious, more intense, diffusive, more creative and never taken for granted.”
Purified by the Word
A “living dead” I was in the waiting room of the commissioner, it was hot and I was very tired when a poorly dressed lame man arrived. After he greeted me in a feeble voice, having realized that I was concerned about him, he shared with me his story: he was a homeless refugee, without friends and family, without documents; he was a “living dead”, as the policemen who had stopped him called him. As I greeted him I told him where I lived: if he would come, we would welcome him and give him something to eat and a place to sleep. In fact, a few days later, he came to see us, and so we were able to help him concretely before he went on his way to Yaounde. For our family, he was the image of of the suffering Christ, a gift for us. P. B.-Ivory Coast Effects of a robbery After a beautiful day in the aquatic park with our children, in the parking lot we noticed that the documents, keys … were stolen from our car. After we reported the robbery, we prepared to go to bed putting some furniture against all the main entrances of the house. Our children thought it was quite adventurous. The next day, when we went to buy new locks for the house, I realized that the cost of our purchase was exactly the same as the amount my wife received the day before. This fact helped us to reflect together for a moment and we decided not to harbor any bad feelings towards the robbers. A few days later, as we were saying our prayers together, one of our little girls reminded us that they (the robbers) had also given us a chance to learn how to forgive. S. G. – Genoa (Italy) On the street On the street I encountered a prostitute; I stopped to greet her, I gave her the Word of Life with the comments of Chiara Lubich, explaining to her that it is a thought taken from the Gospel. “Why are you doing this?”, I asked her. “I have three daughters to raise”, was her answer. Then she told me to bring the Word of Life also to one of her companions, who was a fews steps away seated in a car. So I went to greet her too, and while I was offering her the Word of Life, I said: “It is a writing about Jesus”. She thanked me and added that she had just finished saying the Rosary; then she showed me her small book of prayers to Mary. I asked her the same question. She answered: “I am divorced and I have four children to feed everyday”. Together we recite a Hail Mary praying that she may find a more dignified way of earning a living. M. R. – Segni (Italy) Taken from : The Gospel of today, Città Nuova Publishing House.
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Sardinia in Solidarity
Ozieri, near the Sardinian town of Sassari, Italy. A group of Focolare members working in a parish wondered how they could use their talents to help the less fortunate. Learning of the Focolare’s NGO Azione per un mondo unito which assists disadvantaged people in the Third World, they decided to invest some time and energy into helping those people. The initiative that was launched four years ago has had many ups and downs. Egidia recounts: “The apartment flat we had received and furnished thanks to contributions from many people, was our sewing workshop. Then the parish priest asked us to give him the flat for a Ugandan priest who was going to be living there for a while. It seemed to be the end of our project, but then a very nice hall was given to us within the parish compound.” By then the group had broken up and they had to begin again from scratch! After a long time, work finally resumed. Women from several movements and associations began to arrive, even some who no longer went to church. They were all very enthusiastic and brought along everything needed: cloth, thread, silk, cotton, two sewing machines and even a machine for manufacturing knitted garments. 
The workshop was all there, Anna Maria recounts: “There are thirty of us working with love and enthusiasm. We’re trying to build a positive relationship among us. We decided that the profits would be donated to the United World projects in Uganda. The parish priest also became involved, and the local population is kept informed through a diocesan newsletter. The sewing group attends markets and fairs where they sell their products. Egidia recounts: “Last year as we were preparing for a Christmas sale, we heard that the organisation in charge of the Sweets Fair – a local country feast whose profits are donated to the missions – was in difficulty. We all agreed to offer our support. Our sewing workshop was then transformed into an exhibition hall. It turned out a great success. This gesture allowed us to meet many more people who came to visit the exhibition and were taken in by the cheerful and harmonious atmosphere among us.” 
Anna Maria: “This is how we decided to call our workshop Laboramor (labour [of] love) which expresses our desire to live the art of loving. The faraway Ugandans are not our only objective. We begin from ourselves, building positive relationships with one another. We share our difficulties, the steps we can take to resolve difficult situations at home and at work. We feel like a family that helps one another in many ways great and small. And we entrust everything to God, convinced that He will continue to help us to bring ahead this beautiful adventure which He has begun for us.”
The Adventure of Unity: Chiara’s Final Days
Following a period of illness and retreat in Switzerland in the early 1990′s, Chiara Lubich engaged the Focolare in a rapid opening to local society and to faraway peoples. Certainty that the Movement was fully inserted in the Church spurred an extraordinary season of dialogue, journeys and public recognitions. A number of honorary degrees, citizenships and prizes on every continent (see timeline) showed how her Ideal and its influence had reached a high point.
The period between 1994-2004 saw the start and consolidation of deeper and expanded dialogue with faithful of the Great Religions especially in the East; a large series of activities promoted by the Movement that advanced the contribution of the charism of unity in the fields economics, politics, communication, health, and more; the launching of a large scale effort engaging politics and ecumenism in giving a “soul” to Europe.
Following this long period of journeys, foundations and new frontiers, Chiara’s health began to fail. The last three years of her life on earth were perhaps the most difficult. Jesus Forsaken, her Spouse, presented himself to her “in a solemn way”, in a darkness where it seemed that God was “like the sun when it sets and is lost beyond the horizon”. Nonetheless, moment by moment Chiara continued to love person after person, one person at a time. She continued to place herself at the service of God’s design on the Movement, overseeing its development until the very last days of her life when, to her great joy, Sophia University was instated as a Pontifical University Institute.
She had spent her final month in Gemelli Hospital, in Rome. From there she still managed brief correspondence and decisions for the Movement. She also received a letter from the Pope which she re-read often because it gave her great comfort. The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I visited her in hospital and gave her his blessing.
During the final days she more than once expressed a desire to return home. Once there, she said goodbye to her first companions and close collaborators. Then, as her condition worsened and she began to fade away, an endless line of people passed by her bedside, to see her, kiss her hand, to say thank you. The emotion was intense, but so were the faith and love. The Magnificat was intoned in thanksgiving for the great things the Lord had done in Chiara, and as a renewed pledge to live the Gospel, to love in the way Chiara had always taught and done.
Chiara passed away on March 14, 2008 just after two o’clock in the morning. The news quickly spread to the members of her spiritual family around the world, who were united in prayer.
In the days that followed thousands of people, from plain working men to political and religious leaders began to arrive in Rocca di Papa to honour her. The funeral was held in the Roman Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls, but was unable to hold the huge crowd that had arrived (over 40,000 people). Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone presided at the Eucharistic Celebration which was con-celebrated by 9 cardinals, 40 bishops and hundreds of priests. Cardinal Bertone read the message sent by Benedict XVI in which the Pope described Chiara as a “Woman of intrepid faith, a meek messenger of hope and peace”.
Some words spoken by Chiara resounded among the crowd: On your day, my God, I shall come to you. . . . I shall come to you, my God. . . . with my wildest dream come true: to bring you the world in my arms. That all may be one!”
The Philippines: the faith of the littlest ones
Micha Jane and Ryan, live with their family in Tacloban, the capital of the province of Leyte, an island in the central southwest of the Philippines, among the cities most affected by the typhoon of November 8, 2013. Among the 200,000 inhabitants, more than 10,000 have been estimated to have died. These two teens who, with their family are members of the local community of the Focolare, still retain vivid memories of the tragedy: “I can’t tell you how many times we recited the holy Rosary with the whole family – Ryan shared: after the typhoon passed our house had only it’s roof that was damaged”. And Micha Jane: “My father told us to hide in the bathroom because it was the only place that had cement walls; everytime the house trembled and the things slammed against the outer walls I felt as if I was the one being hit. So I tried to concentrate more on my prayers and I felt that my fear slowly disappeared.” After the typhoon passed, night came: “We heard peop
le talking about homes being ransacked, people killed; once again we found the strength to ask God for help and, at the same time, we felt that we must be prudent and watchful”.. The days that followed were really difficult. The very strong wind blew away the roofs, houses, trees, and caused an ocean surge that in a matter of minutes submerged part of the city. There was no eletricity, water, there was no way to communicate with anyone, not even through cellular phones; the first telephone contacts were made possible only after many days. Micha Jane continues to share: “We would hear occasional gunshots, the nights were extraordinarily silent. Most of our neighbours and friends were evacuated to Cebu or Manila by military airplanes. Some relatives wanted to convince my father to do the same. Instead, my parents decided to remain. They explained to us that they wanted to take on the responsibility of helping those in need. As the days passed, we helped my father and mother to distribute the relief goods that were starting to arrive and we also visited the survivors of the typhoon”. Ryan continues: “I thought that I would be overwhelmed by the lack of internet, television … And yet I realized more and more that there is joy and life in meeting people and loving them”. Micha Jane confirms: “Our life became even more simple. My brother mops the floor, I fold the clothes that my mother has washed. We have made a schedule for washing the dishes and my turn is after breakfast and my brother after lunch. We found true joy in helping out. Our days are always more full and satisfying. I understood that true happiness lies in loving”. Up to now the emergency situation in the zones most affected has not ended: after the wave of emergency aid had passed, with the support of the AMU (Action for a United World) and the AFN (Action for New Families, onlus) of the Focolare Movement, the project to repair and reconstruct around forty housing units has begun. The faith of these families, starting from the littlest ones, in the strength of the Gospel lived and in prayer done together will do the rest. For anyone who would like to contribute financially: Associazione Azione per un Mondo Unito – Onlus presso Banca Popolare Etica, filiale di Roma Codice IBAN: IT16G0501803200000000120434 Codice SWIFT/BIC CCRTIT2184D Causale: emergenza tifone Haiyan Filippine AZIONE per FAMIGLIE NUOVE Onlus c/c bancario n° 1000/1060 BANCA PROSSIMA Cod. IBAN: IT 55 K 03359 01600 100000001060 Cod. Bic – Swift: BCITITMX MOVIMENTO DEI FOCOLARI A CEBU Payable to : Emergency Typhoon Haiyan Philippines METROPOLITAN BANK & TRUST COMPANY Cebu – Guadalupe Branch 6000 Cebu City – Cebu, Philippines Tel: 0063-32-2533728 Bank Account name: WORK OF MRY/FOCOLARE MOVEMENT FOR WOMEN Euro Bank Account no.: 398-2-39860031-7 SWIFT Code: MBTCPHMM Payable to: Help Philippines– Typhoon Haiyan Email: focolaremovementcebf@gmail.com Tel. 0063 (032) 345 1563 – 2537883 – 2536407
Loving & Serving in Japan
“I work as a civil servant in the area of fisheries and marine resources. During my 22 years of marriage I’ve moved 5 times to different regions of Japan because of my job,” recounts Nagatani Hiroshi. He is a married focolarino with three grown children. He was born into a Buddhist family but later followed his wife in being baptized a Catholic. “I thought that by doing so I would be providing my children a single religious reference in a social context that is quite diverse spiritually.” In 1993 Nagatani and his wife met the spirituality of unity and felt urged to live the Gospel by placing themselves at the service of others, especially by contributing to the spiritual formation of the laity in their parish. Family life was still filled with moves and “this brought an element of adventure. One time we went to live on the island of Tsushima where there is no Catholic church. At first we felt totally lost, but then we became friends with an Anglican priest on the island, and would attend the Anglican liturgy on Sundays. Thanks to this friendship, when a Catholic priest began coming to the island to visit us, the Anglican priest was quite willing to place the church at the disposal of the Catholics for Mass. Thus all the Catholics on the island began to unite and we were able to contribute to their spiritual growth.” Recently Nagatani and his wife were invited to join the Diocesan staff that runs marriage preparation courses for young couples. They were entrusted with the lessons on procreation and life. “My wife is a midwife, so she dealt with the technical side. I dealt more with the family relationship side, that is, the variety of issues that are involved and how they could be dealt with as a couple. In carrying out this service I find myself conveying to the young people an idea of Igino Giordani, which was particularly helpful to me. Igino Giordani would say that all the time a couple does not live out mutual love is wasted time.”
Ecumenism: A Week as Brothers and Sisters
This is a special year for ecumenism. Fifty years have gone by since the publication of Unitatis Redintegratio, the Second Vatican Council Decree on Ecumenism, which promotes unity among all Christians. The document denounces division, which openly contradicts the will of Christ, scandalizes the world, and damages the holy cause of preaching the Gospel to every creature. Many steps have been made by Christian Churches during these 50 years: asking for forgiveness; recognizing each other as brothers and sisters; efforts to overcome the thorniest issues even from a theological point of view. These 50 years have been a dialogue of life. This year’s Week of Prayer, which was prepared by Christians from Canada and celebrated in many great and small ways, acquired significance and power when considered in this larger context. 
Paco and Pilar, Catholics from Spain: “In Caceres we held an hour of prayer with brothers and sisters from the Evangelical Church. It was so beautiful to unite in praying the Lord’s Prayer. A grand experience!” Jacqueline Reyes” “Here in Ecuador we had an octave of ecumenical celebrations. There was a strong spirit of brotherhood and joy. This is a path of hope.” In Pozzuoli, Italy, it was an intense moment of encounter between Catholics and Evangelical Christians from the Baptist Church, with the unexpected participation not only of the Pastor, but also the congregation. We were all ‘the people next door’, people who knew one another from the market, the hospital, the workplace . . . it was so simple and triggered a relationship of trust. Music was provided by musicians from the various groups who formed a single orchestra, learning and playing the hymns of each other’s churches. The Offertory was very inspiring: the presentation of a Bible representing the Word; a bouquet of flowers representing the harmony and beauty of unity in diversity; a scroll with the words of Jesus’ Testament; a TAO and apron representing service.” 
In Sardinia, Italy, pastors and representatives of all the Churches in Cagliari gathered in St. Helen’s Greek Orthodox Church. There were Lutherans, Baptists, Adventists, priests from Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox and Romanian Orthodox Churches. Throughout the octave these Churches held prayer meetings according to the style of their liturgical traditions. The Baptists presented a Bible study on the Letter of Paul to the Corinthians; the Adventists a moment of reflection and song that had been proposed for the Week of Prayer; Catholic seminarians from the regional seminary did the same. The Orthodox prepared vespers and the common ecumenical celebration that had been prepared by a mixed group of members from all the Churches was held on Sunday, January 19. Anna and Vittorio write: “It was a week in which personal relationships grew among representatives of the Churches, even relationships that had been going ahead for many years.” Who knows what other (extra)ordinary things happened elsewhere in the world during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. You are invited to write us your story at: www.focolare.org!
Faith and Reason: Two Doctorates for Dialogue
© University of Notre Dame
Simplicity and professionalism are evident in the elegant but simple Great Hall of the Rome base of the American University of Notre Dame du Lac. Here on 27th January Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, and Maria Voce, President of the Focolare Movement, received honorary Doctorates in Law.
The American scholar Thomas G. Burish, Vice Chancellor of the prestigious university, opened the ceremony. He emphasized that honorary degrees are conferred on those who have given a contribution never seen before.
The President of the University, The Revd John Jenkins, giving the honorary degree to Maria Voce. Photo © University of Notre Dame
Caridinal Tauran and Maria Voce, in their respective fields, offer something unique to people today. The citation conferring the degree upon Maria Voce says: “…because of your extraordinary leadership of the Focolare Movement, and as a recognition of the incredible witness and inspiration of the Focolare Movement itself. Your work to advance the cause of unity, especially through a commitment to dialogue and friendship, is truly a salve for the wounds of a fractured world”.
Present at the sober and meaningful ceremony were various dignitaries and the entire Administrative Council of Notre Dame. ‘The Doctorate conferred today on these two persons is an award for what actually is theirs already, and so it does not add anything to them. Rather it is an honour for us who are granting it,’ Prof. Burish said.
His Eminence Jean-Louis Cardinal Tauran. Photo © University of Notre Dame
Cardinal Tauran’s speech put into light Europe’s difficult progress to recognizing the separation of faith and reason. He said, ‘The God who has been put aside has reappeared today in a world where people continue to ask themselves the big questions of life and death.’ In Cardinal Tauran’s analysis dialogue is obligatory. As he put it, ‘It is a risk because you have to accept challenging questions from someone else who believes and thinks differently.’ The key words are, therefore, identity, otherness and dialogue: a threesome that allows us not to give up our own faith, but to choose to walk together towards the truth.
During the meal offered by the university, Maria Voce gave a reflection, followed by a prayer. She said, ‘I was always fascinated by academic work. During my last year studying law I met Chiara Lubich and her charism of unity. It bowled me over and I immediately got involved, which meant that I adopted a gospel style of loving in my life. In front of me was a good carrier, as the first woman lawyer belonging to the court of Cosenza. But suddenly I was overwhelmed by the powerful call of God to follow him in the Focolare community. A week later I left everything, and I have never regretted it. I remember that some years later, when by chance I was called to give witness in a trial, I felt again all the fascination of the world I’d left behind and, the same time, the joy of being able to give something beautiful to God.’
© University of Notre Dame
She then remembered one of her university professors who called law ‘a system of limits’. Starting with this definition, Maria Voce offered a significant reflection upon the Law. ‘In the logic of gospel love lived out, a limit is the chance to experience the true being of a person who is fulfilled in giving, in self-giving, in making a gift of self. It is only in this way that we can reconcile individual liberties as part of a higher synthesis that leads to communion, in and through which the identities of persons can be protected, indeed can have their potential realized. Communion, unity – in which we can see God’s project for the human family – is not something that annihilates the person, but something whereby the person is fulfilled. And this is why being in relationship is constitutive of human beings.’
And, at the end, she prayed, ‘You came into world thanks to a young woman; in all we do, help us to be, like Mary, instruments of your love for the world. In particular make it possible in our work together, in our universities, in our communities, in all our projects and meetings, that like Our Lady we should give birth to your presence and witness the fulfilment of your promise to be with us wherever two or three are gathered in your name.’
Roberto Catalano and Michele Zanzucchi
Living the Gospel: A Contribution To Unity
Free from prejudice
We decided to join together with a lively community of Evangelical Methodists in our city, in helping out the many North African immigrants who live in our area: Tunisians who work as labourers in silk production; Senegalese and Moroccans who work as travelling sellers. . . . Many of them do not find a hot meal during the week. So we planned on setting up a canteen where they could be served hot meals when they come for the public market each week. We take turns buying the food, cooking, serving and eating with them. So many prejudices and stereotypes crumble between one dish and the next. S. F. (Italy)
A seed of unity
While in hospital for a small surgery I read a book given to me by my fiancé. It contained factual experiences of Gospel life. They were beautiful but I said to myself: “It’s impossible to really live this way.” Then my fiancé introduced me to some of these people and, speaking with them, I saw instead that it could be done. This opened a new path for us. We married with the intention of keeping our family open to others. At first I wasn’t religious even though I belonged to the Evangelical Church and Anna was Catholic. As we began to live the Gospel I began to realize that I should first go and give witness in my Church. So I did. I made contacts and now belong to the parish council. Through our lives we’d like to show our children and everyone we meet how beautiful Christianity is, making our family a small seed of unity. D. J. K. (Germany)
Peace
The many more violent clashes inside my country had produced a strong sense of anger and revolt within me. I suffered because of my helplessness in front of so much injustice and suffering. Innocents murdered, families chased from their homes and villages in ruin. I felt like I was drifting away from God, as if I were dying within myself. That night, describing to my wife the way I was feeling, she proposed that I make one more effort to leave at dawn and go to welcome some refugee families who had fled their devastated village. We went and one of the families with three boys came to stay with us. Then peace returned to my heart. J.P. (Lebanon)
Source: Il Vangelo del giorno, Città Nuova Editrice.
February 2014
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
First of all, Jesus points out the very best way to be purified: ‘You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you.’ (Jn 15:3) His Word, more than the practice of religious rites, is what purifies our inner self. The Word of Jesus is not like human words. Christ is present in his Word, as he is present, in a different way, in the Eucharist. Through his Word Christ enters within us and, provided we allow him to act, he makes us free from sin and therefore pure in heart.
Thus purity is the fruit of living the Word, of living all the Words of Jesus which free us from our so-called attachments, which we inevitably fall into if our hearts are not in God and in his teachings. These can be attachments to things, to people, to ourselves. But if our heart is focused on God alone, all the rest falls away.
To succeed in doing this, it can be useful at different times during the day to say to Jesus, to God: ‘You, Lord, are my only good!’ (see Ps. 16: 2) Let’s try to say it often, especially when various attachments seek to pull our heart towards those images, feelings and passions that can blur our vision of what is good and take away our freedom.
Are we inclined to look at certain types of posters or television programs? Let’s stop and say to him: ‘You, Lord, are my only good’ and this will be the first step that will take us beyond self, by re-declaring our love for God. In this way we will grow in purity.
Do we realize sometimes that someone, or something we do, has got in the way, like an obstacle, between us and God, spoiling our relationship with him? That is the moment to say to him: ‘You, Lord, are my only good.’ It will help us purify our intentions and regain inner freedom.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Living the Word makes us free and pure because the Word is love. It is love, with its divine fire, that purifies our intentions and the whole of our inner self, because our ‘heart’, according to the Bible, is the deepest seat of our intelligence and our will. But there is a type of love that Jesus commands us to practise and that enables us to live this beatitude. It is mutual love, being ready to give our life for others, following the example of Jesus. This love creates a current, an exchange, an atmosphere characterized above all by transparency and purity, because of the presence of God who alone can create a pure heart in us (see Ps. 50:12). It is by living mutual love that the Word acts with its purifying and sanctifying effects.
As isolated individuals we are incapable of resisting the world’s temptations for long, but in mutual love there is a healthy environment that can protect purity and all other aspects of a true Christian life.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
So, then, the fruit of this constantly re-acquired purity is that we can ‘see’ God, which means we can understand his work in our lives and in history, hear his voice in our hearts, and recognize him where he is: in the poor, in the Eucharist, in his Word, in our communion with others, in the Church.
It is a foretaste of the presence of God which already begins in this life, as we ‘walk by faith, not by sight’ (2 Cor. 5:7), until the time when, ‘we will see face to face’ (1 Cor. 13:12) forever.
Chiara Lubich
Each month a Scripture passage is offered as a guide and inspiration for daily living. This commentary, translated into 96 different languages and dialects, reaches several million people worldwide through print, radio, television and the Internet. Ever since the Focolare’s beginnings, founder Chiara Lubich (1920–2008) wrote her commentaries each month. This one was originally published in November 1999.
This monthly leaflet is a supplement to Living City, the Focolare magazine (livingcitymagazine.com). People’s life experiences as they put the monthly sentence into practice can be read in Living City or in books published by New City Press (newcitypress.com).
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Read more on this topic:
- Leahy, Brendan. “Living the Word Together,” Going to God Together, New City Press, 2013.
- Lubich, Chiara. “Enlarge our heart,” Essential Writings, New City Press, 2007, p.81.
- Lubich, Chiara. “Until love is mutual,” The Art of Loving, New City Press, 2005, p.87.
Next month: March 2014
“If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.” (Jn 15:10)