The will of God is the voice of God that continually speaks to us and invites us; it is God’s way of expressing His love to us, a love that demands a response from us so that He can accomplish His wonders in our lives. The truth that does not pass After 4 years in India and 25 years of life lived totally at the service of others, my ‘batteries’ were completely flat, I returned to Italy to try and regain the health that I feared had been irreparably damaged. During those long months of inactivity and solitude (albeit surrounded by the love of my companions in community), ‘outside’ of the life that had been so dynamic and rich in relationships on which my outgoing temperament has always thrived, something very important happened – on an inner, existential level – which is difficult to put into words: a return to my original choice, and understanding a fundamental truth that everything is a gift, and we need to thank God for everything whilst being ready to lose because it is not the truth. The truth that does not pass is something else. It is our personal relationship with Him, the only ideal of all time: God and nothing else. Contrary to what I had feared, I did regain my health. And so begins a new period in the newfound joy of working at His service, whilst treasuring the new union with God that was born from that trial in the depth of my heart. (Silvio – Italy) I used to be a nurse Struck by the fact that so many doctors and nurses were risking and even giving their lives, I decided to re-register as a reserve nurse in a hospital since I had been a nurse 30 years earlier (but had later changed jobs). Recently I was asked to help out once a week in the intensive care unit. It is a huge challenge for me (so much has changed in the last 30 years with regard to hospital equipment and hospital care), but an enormous joy for me to still be useful. The greatest reward I could have received was when my children that I try not to neglect told me they were proud of me. (Martina – Czech Republic) New essentiality In the care home for the elderly where I work as an animator I grew very fond of the guests. Understanding how best to help a patient with Alzheimer’s disease or patients with other degenerative diseases had made my service a true network of intense and living relationships. Then Covid came into the home and one by one they all became ill. It was heart-breaking for me to feel I was the link between the patient and their relative but could do nothing to fill that void. Then I too contracted the virus – maybe when I was helping a very sick elderly woman talk to her family via her mobile phone. In my loneliness I understood even more what these elderly people were going through and rediscovered the value of prayer. Every time I received news that someone had died my grief increased along with my sense of helplessness but I began to pray more intensely, often not on my own but with those who were still there. The pandemic has brought us to a new ‘essentiality’ beyond that caused by illness and old age. (G.K. – Slovakia)
Edited by Lorenzo Russo
(taken from Il Vangelo del Giorno, Città Nuova, year VII, no.3, May-June 2021)
We are all called to make this conversion within ourselves by continually beginning to love everyone again, if we have stopped; we must experience this kind of re-birth, this fullness of life. We must therefore try, as much as possible, to translate all expressions of our existence into love for our neighbor. There before me was the stupendous page on the last judgment: Jesus will come to judge us and tell us, “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me”.[1] It was as if I was reading those words for the first time. I rediscovered that at the last judgment Jesus will not ask me if I did one thing or another, the things I have to do anyway, but He will focus on love of neighbor. Like a person just beginning their ascent to God, I began to love everyone, everyone who in one way or another crossed my path during the day. And believe me, I felt as if I were reborn. I realized that my soul, above all, thirsts for love, thirsts to love, and that it truly finds its rest, its nourishment and its life in love for everyone. It’s true that I had previously tried to do many acts of love, but I now realized that some of them stemmed from an excessively individualistic spirituality, fed by small or larger penances. In spite of our good will, these can become times when we, who are called to love, focus on ourselves instead. Now, in this new effort to love everyone, I could still find opportunities to do many acts of love, but they were all for the sake of my neighbors in whom I saw and loved Jesus. And it was only in this way that I could experience the fullness of joy. Dearest everyone, we are all called to continually work at our own conversion; we must all experience this kind of rebirth, this fullness of life. Therefore, we must try as much as possible to translate all the aspects of our daily existence into charity towards our neighbor. Is it our task to look after the house? Let’s not do so for merely human reasons, but because there is Jesus in the others to be loved by dressing, feeding and serving them. Do we have any other kind of work to do? Jesus is present in the individuals and the communities whom we serve. Must we pray? Let’s always pray for the others as well as ourselves, referring to that “we” that Jesus has taught us to use in the “Our Father.” Are we called to suffer? Let’s offer our suffering for others. Is it the will of God to spend time with someone? Let our intention be to listen to Him, to give advice to Him, to console Him… in short: to love Him. Must we rest, eat, or take time for recreation? In all these actions let’s place the intention of wanting to re-gather our strength in order to serve our neighbor better. In other words, let’s do everything with our neighbor in mind. (…) For this to happen, indeed, so that such a continual conversion may take place in us (…) let’s keep in mind our commitment “to be reborn through love”.
Chiara Lubich
(Taken from a conference call, Rocca di Papa March 20th 1986) [1] Mt 25:35
Jesus is well aware of the fundamental needs of people: to be understood in their innermost depths and to have, in addition to support for their efforts, clear indications on the path to follow. Let us not miss the opportunity to relate to those we meet with the love He suggests in the Gospel. With patience and tenacity My uncle, considered “a man of honour”, had lived for years in Supramonte, a mountainous region of Sardinia. He came down to the village every now and then, and when the carabinieri came to arrest him, he was already far away. My father had tried to keep us out of trouble with the law and with my uncle’s family, from whom we were separated by inheritance issues. As a Christian, however, I was waiting for the right opportunity to make peace with them. The first opportunity came with the arrival of a cousin in the village. Regardless of the people watching us, I went to greet her. When she and her husband greeted me, I breathed a sigh of relief: the first step had been taken. Later, when I heard that my uncle was in hospital, I wanted to visit him. My mother advised against it, saying that I had no uncle. But he was a brother to me. I went and he was very emotional when he greeted me. In time, I got closer to all the other relatives. The last one was my aunt, the one who had made us suffer the most: I had not been in touch with her for 18 years, and it had taken so many years with patient and tenacious love for peace to return to our families.
(Gavina – Italy)
Others’ needs As I am going out in my car, I notice that my neighbour is trying to clean the windscreen and the other windows from ice. I go to help him, putting aside my haste. With a smile, he asks: “Why are you doing this?”. I have no obvious answer, but inside I thank God for pointing out the needs of the other before my own chores. A few hours later the same neighbour phoned me: “I was so happy with your gesture that I said to myself: I too must live by noticing the needs of others. And it didn’t take long: at work, in fact, I found a difficult situation, which I resolved quite easily by putting myself in the other person’s shoes. Thank you!”.
(F.A. – Slovenia)
Adopting a little brother We are students at a technical institute. When our teacher brought Città Nuova for us to read in class, at first certain things seemed a bit delusional… But the idea of helping to build a more united world together seemed good to us. Furthermore; as we went on reading, we realised that they were not words. The newspaper reported news that we could not find in other papers, a different way of seeing events. All in all, what were we missing by trying? We tried. Every morning, together with the teacher, we gave ourselves a little “maxim” to live by. For example: “Love everyone” … who had ever thought of that? Then we happened to read an article about adoptions at a distance. And then the idea came to us to take out one, all together. That small gesture of each one contributing a small monthly sum makes us grow as people. By now Nader, even though he lives far away (he’s a little Lebanese boy), has become very important: we talk about him, about his needs, as if he were our little brother.
(The boys from IIIB – Italy)
Edited by Lorenzo Russo
(taken from Il Vangelo del Giorno, Città Nuova, year VII, n.3, May-June 2021)
Jesus invites us to recognise how God’s love means that he is always close to us and he suggests ways in which we can respond and act accordingly: we can discover the way to reach full communion with the Father by doing his will.The Hurricane The images on the TV showed the places hit by the hurricane and left isolated. Our families lived there and so you can imagine the anxiety that we seminarians felt. The Word of Life of that month seemed very apt because it urged us to have faith. United, we prayed for our loved ones and we were given permission to leave the seminary the following day to go and find them. But that night the capital was also hit hard: flooded roads, collapsed bridges, no electricity…. But our seminary was still standing. We set off anyway: during that journey on foot or by makeshift means, in rafts or tied to ropes to overcome the resistance of the torrents, we were forced to deviate countless times. And finally, we came to our country… it was unrecognisable! Where there used to be countryside, there was now a lake. After embracing our loved ones (they had lost everything, but they were safe!), we offered our services to the parish priest to help with emergency services. The new Word proposed for that month seemed to be addressed precisely to us, to give us courage and to share it with others: “Blessed are the afflicted…”.
(Melvin – Honduras)
The umbrella I believe that Christ is behind every poor and marginalised person and is asking to be loved and so I try not to miss opportunities to do so. For example, in the café near my home I noticed a very poor person who we had nicknamed Pen: he was soaking wet because it was raining that day. I knew that that he had tuberculosis, and so, overcoming some resistance to being seen in his company, I invited him home to find him something dry to put on. My parents were amazed and incredulous. “Dad, we could use some clothes…”. Dad wasn’t very enthusiastic at first, but then he procured a pair of trousers while I found a jacket. But the rain didn’t seem to be stopping… And I said, getting back into the swing of things: “Dad, what if we gave them an umbrella as well?” We found one too. The man was happy, but I was even happier, because we had worked together to help him. But it didn’t end there. A few days later, Pen came back to return the umbrella. Actually, it wasn’t the one we had given him, it was much nicer. What had happened was that our umbrella had been stolen, and someone had given him another one. He wanted to give it back to us.
(Francesco – Italy)
Love cannot be explained with words Shortly after her birth, Mariana was diagnosed with a severe malformation of the brain. She would never be able to speak or walk. But God asked us to love her just as she was and, with trust, we threw ourselves, so to speak, into his Fatherly arms. This child lived with us for just four years; we never heard her say the words “Daddy” or “Mummy”, but in her silence her eyes spoke, with a shining light. We could not teach her to take her first steps, but she taught us to take our first steps in love, in the renunciation of ourselves in order to love. Mariana was a gift from God for our entire family: we could sum it all up in one phrase: love cannot be explained with words.
(Alba – Brazil)
edited by Lorenzo Russo
(Taken from “Il Vangelo del Giorno”, Città Nuova, VII, no.3, May – June 2021) .
The Bala Shanti Program is a project created to help abandoned women, supporting them to provide their children with the necessary care and schooling thus creating a condition of well-being, health and dignity. We are in Coimbatore, a region of south India. In 1991, the Bala Shanti Program was founded, a project that helps and welcomes the most vulnerable and needy children, aged between 3 and 5, and their mothers, who are often alone. The programme is part of the Shanti Ashram which is an international centre for cultural, social and health development serving the needs of the community in the area, inspired by the ideals and teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. “My grandmother had to live on her own all the time, which is why my mother stopped studying when she was in secondary school and she had to get married when she was 16. This happened in ’78 but today, after more than 40 years, I still hear stories similar to this one”. These are the words of Deepa, head of the Bala Shanti Program. She explains that, even today, the children of abandoned mothers experience three challenges: poverty, dropping out of school and being forced into early marriage. The Bala Shanti Program therefore aims to help these women raise their children in a state of well-being, health and dignity. According to the United Nations 2019-2020 report, about 4.5% of families in India are composed of single mothers and an estimated 38% of these families live in poverty. Deepa explains: “A woman in India alone and in a vulnerable condition can hardly hope to survive: it is not a personal choice, many of them find themselves in conditions of neglect, insecurity, exploitation”. The ultimate goal of the Bala Shanti Program, therefore, is to fight poverty, malnutrition and diseases that develop in contexts of great hardship, building a society of peace. in addition to financial aid, children and their mothers are also trained in topics such as education, peace, nutrition, hygiene and leadership. Today, there are 9 Bala Shanti Kendra – early childhood development centres – which welcome more than 200 children a year. Since 1991, more than 10,000 children have completed their education, and during the year of the Covid-19 pandemic, aid was provided to 15,000 children and families. Since 1998, the project has been collaborating with AFN Onlus, the non-profit organisation linked to the Focolare Movement, which, through distance support, helps to provide children with scholarships at the Bala Shanti Program. There are many who could testify to the importance of the Bala Shanti Program in their own lives, like Fathima now aged 45. Until a few years ago she was a lone parent in financial difficulty and did not know how to raise and educate her son, little Aarish. Since the Bala Shanti Program started to help, her life has changed. Aarish went through training courses and received a distance scholarship. She explains “I was also helped with food supplies. They put me in touch with competent doctors and invited me to shows and dances through which I could distract myself and think about something beautiful. This was very important for me”. Now Aarish has grown up, is 15 years old and has been a volunteer at Shanti Ashram for three years. Also, thanks to his help, the Bala Shanti Program will offer more and more support to abandoned women and their children. Thus, the hope remains that this chain of aid will become more and more robust and widespread.
Before each daily action we can discover which face of Jesus Forsaken we can love through it. This is what Chiara Lubich suggests so as to carry out well and perfectly all that we have to do To love Jesus Forsaken. It is this name that touches upon so many aspects of our individual and collective life, that I would also like to expound on a bit today. To be more precise, I would like to tell you something about a particular way of loving Jesus Forsaken, who is the gateway and road to our holiness. (…) Wherever we look, we have the marvellous opportunity to love Him, to comfort Him, to find solutions to specific problems which are all expressions of Him. And this is a great grace. Through our work, we are always in contact with Him, with Jesus Forsaken, and by loving Him we can become saints. However, there are different ways to love Him. We can love Him greatly, or we can love Him a little. And this means that with our love for Him we can contribute towards our holiness in a great way or in a little way. Saints have searched for and are searching for that love which renders the most benefit for the glory of God. Are we writing our personal life story in order to share our experience? Let’s do it well, very well, listening with great love to the voice inside of us which sheds light on our past and present, a light which others would appreciate hearing about because it is attractive. Let’s pay close attention to what that voice suggests to us and to what corrections it makes. Let’s pour our greatest efforts into everything we do. Let’s continue to correct our work until that voice has no more to tell us. We must never mistreat the Work of God. We must never carry out imperfect works. Therefore, let’s do everything well, very well. (…) for every work that we carry out , let’s try to discover which countenance of Jesus Forsaken we can love in doing so, and then accomplish it perfectly. Therefore, perfect actions out of love for Jesus Forsaken. This is the way to build our holiness, our great holiness.
Chiara Lubich
(In a conference call, Loppiano February 20th,1986)
The testimony of the volunteers of the “Casa de los Niños” in Cochabamba (Bolivia), a project inspired by the spirituality of unity, committed to tirelessly caring for those infected by COVID-19 and bringing consolation to the dying. We returned to the streets of our city slightly reckless and very naive. This virus is frightening everyone and encouraging us to isolate ourselves from one another but we understand how important and necessary what is urgently required of us which is why we never back down especially as we are taking the necessary precautions. The tests we carry out every week continue to give us negative results. Perhaps someone is extending a merciful hand over our naivety. The cold season has now begun here and Covid-19 infections have increased dramatically reaching unprecedented figures. Public hospitals are collapsing under the strain. People are dying in cars, waiting for beds to become available… Even in the highly expensive private clinics admissions have been suspended. Oxygen is no longer available, and there are long queues for refills at the only two places able to provide this service, for a fee. A 6m3 cylinder lasts less than 5 hours! Specialist medicines are only available on the black market with each vial costing around 1,300 euros! This year those affected by the virus are much younger. We take oxygen and medicine to whoever needs it. We have permits to travel all day and every day. Our very spacious minibus has been turned into an ambulance and often, unfortunately, into a hearse at zero cost. Time is of the essence for those in need and struggling to breathe, so we too are rushing around and have no time to think about ourselves. We are bringing oxygen and medicine but, to be honest, we are mainly engaged in sowing seeds of hope. We get to know those we visit for the first time but a kind of mutual complicity is immediately established that opens up possibilities for hope. Little by little, fear begins to melt away and we see people smile serenely. We also take rosary beads with us. It is not a magic charm. No. They are the prayer beads of those of us who wish to entrust the enormous afflictions and sufferings of these days, of so many of our brothers and sisters, to the heart of our Mother in Heaven. It is part of the oxygen treatment, giving air to the hearts of those who suffer! Every evening we meet for community prayers in our little town, outside on the lawn in front of the beautiful chapel which holds the stories of so many of our children who have already flown to heaven. We pray before the statue of the “Virgen de Urcupiña”, patron saint of Cochabamba, who carries Her Son in her arms. Ours is a prayer that goes straight to heaven wanting to fix the names of the many people we have visited during the day. We ask for the light from heaven that each one of them needs to illuminate the night of their pain.
The volunteers of the “Casa de los Niños” – Cochabamba (Bolivia)
Interview with the President of the Focolare on the decree of the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life on the turnover of leaders governing lay associations. Encourage leadership turnover. On June 3 a Decree approved by Pope Francis was promulgated by the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life that regulates the length of mandates of leadership roles within international associations. A single mandate can last at most five years up to a maximum of ten consecutive years. This is the indicated norm (with relative specific insights, including possible dispensations for founders), while a detailed explanatory note helps to understand the spirit of the measures: to foster greater ecclesial communion, broader synodality, an authentic spirit of service, to avoid personalism, abuses of power, and to increase missionary enthusiasm and a genuine gospel lifestyle. We discussed the decree with the President of the Focolare, Margaret Karram. Did the decree of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life concerning the turnover of leadership roles in lay associations come as a surprise to you? We weren’t expecting a decree of this nature at this time, but the content didn’t surprise us. A process has been under way for a number of years in the Focolare Movement that takes into account the turnover in roles of government. This applies at the international centre and in the countries where we are present, putting limits to the length of mandates. The Decree showed us once again that the Church is a mother. In taking care of associations like ours, the Church accompanies and helps every reality to find organizational forms that allow it to remain faithful to its own charism and mission, in keeping with the journey of the Church in today’s world. For this reason, we fully welcome the spirit of the Decree and all it has determined, which also chimes with the open reflection in the Movement on representativeness in the governing bodies that we have already shared with the Dicastery. The opening paragraph of the Decree states that: “The international associations of the faithful and their internal government have been the object of particular reflection and a consequent discernment by the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life”. Do you perceive therefore some concern about movements in general? And towards the Focolare Movement? I would say that the Dicastery is certainly paying particular attention to the Movements, and we can witness to this, bearing in mind that it is its particular task. Then, as they are such a varied reality, the Dicastery is sure to have some concerns. The Decree itself emphasises the “flourishing” of these associations and recognizes the fact that they have brought “an abundance of graces and apostolic fruits for the Church and the world of today”. It is not the Church’s intention to curb the charismatic drive of the movements, their innovative strength and their missionary impact. It wants to help them achieve their specific aims which are always directed towards the good of people, of the Church and of society. The Decree offers structural elements that can help reduce some of the dangers by limiting the time a person can hold positions of government. However, I do not see in these interventions a particularfocus on the Focolare Movement, also because a turnover in leadership roles is already included in our Statutes . In his address to the participants in the III World Congress of Ecclesial Movements and New Communities in November 2014, Pope Francis pointed out a method for reaching the ecclesial maturity also hoped for by his two predecessors: “Do not forget, … that to reach this goal, conversion must be missionary: the strength to overcome temptations and insufficiencies comes from the profound joy of proclaiming the Gospel, which is the foundation of your charisms”. What do you think about this? I agree fully! What the Pope has called for requires a twofold commitment: it is necessary always to return to theGospel, to the Word of God and to be aware that the charism of one’s founder is nothing more than a new and modern reading of the words of Jesus, illuminated by a gift of the Spirit, which enables them to be lived from a particular standpoint. We must therefore take into account that a spirituality, which is born of a charism, is a way of proclaiming the Gospel and therefore of working for the good of the Church and of humanity. Is healthy generational change and a turnover of people in leadership roles enough to ensure there is synodal government, carried out in a spirit of service and hence avoid repeating the mistakes of the past, from personalism to abuses of power?I would say that this cannot be enough if real, lasting and fruitful cultural change is to be achieved. I think we should first ask ourselves what is the purpose of leadership in an association like ours. Although generational change and avoiding past mistakes are important, these are not the aims. The main purpose of our leadership – as I think is true of every ecclesial movement – is to ensure that the movement goes forward and develops in the genuine spirit of its own charism, following the design that flows from it and fulfilling the purposes for which the Holy Spirit gave it life. The decree itself emphasizes that “government within the associations of the faithful be exercised in coherence with their ecclesial mission, as a service ordered to realising their own purposes and to the good of their members”. It is a work of continuous updating, improvement andrenewal which requires above all a conversion of hearts to the Gospel and to one’s own charismatic roots. Generational change in governing bodies, through a frequent turnover in leadership roles, can enable the updating of an association, and can help to avoid – as the explanatory note from the Dicastery says – forms of appropriation of the charism, personalisation, centralisation and expressions of self-referentiality, which can easily cause serious violations of personal dignity and freedom, and even real abuses.” But a turnover in leadership roles alone does not guarantee a correct exercise of power. We need other elements that we have been implementing and continuously improving for several years, such as a path of spiritual and human formation to a coherent leadership, to a gospel lifestyle and to one’s own charism. Therefore it is a style of government that highlights community discernment, with new forms of accompaniment and synodal methodologies for the choice of candidates for positions of leadership. Specifically, in three years’ time, several of the people elected atthe General Assembly last February will have to be replaced. Do you already have an idea of how to proceed, also in order to modify the current Statutes which provide for six years as the duration of office and the possibility of a second term? We are already in line with some of the points made in the new Decree, especially as regards the maximum limit of two consecutive mandates for leadership roles. What needs to be changed now is the duration, from 6 to 5 years. We had already started the process of setting up a commission for the necessary revision of various points in our Statutes, to which is now added as a priority the work of adaptation according to the Decree. It is a task that we want to do calmly and carefully, because we would like not only to accept these new norms simply as stated, but also and above all to accept their spirit and to study well how to apply them not only regarding central and international bodies, but on a large scale, also in the local governing of territorial centres. In any case, we would like to do everything in dialogue with the Dicastery, studying some specific aspects and some areas of doubt. They have specifically said that they are ready to listen to us on any issues. When Pope Francis met the participants in the General Assembly, he highlighted some issues to which particular attention should be paid: self-referentiality, the importance of crises and knowing how to manage them well, coherence and realism in living spirituality and synodality. What has been done or will be done to follow up on these points?We consider Pope Francis’ speech to the participants at the General Assembly as a programmatic document, together with the final document of the Assembly itself. With great joy we see how much the study and research of ways of applying these two documents are bearing fruit in the various geographical areas in which our Movement is present. Two central points are emerging: attentive listening to the cry of suffering humanity that surrounds us, in which we rediscover the face of Jesus crucified and forsaken, and a new family spirit in our Movement, beyond all subdivisions. This expresses the core of our spirituality: to offer the world a model of life in the style of that of a family; that is, brothers and sisters on a universal level, linked together by fraternal love for every man and woman and preferential love for those who suffer most, for those most in need. What is the style and the methods of this new leadership of the Focolare Movement? What is new in Margaret Karram’s heart? I feel it is particularly important, within the leadership of the Movement, to have an experience of “synodality”. This means conducting everything in a spirit of listening and to restore to interpersonal relationships that gospel based fraternal love, of truth and charity, that also illuminates the place that belongs to each person, that is, the central one. For example, as the General Council, we have just had the wonderful experience of listening to those responsible for the territorial areas of the Movement all over the world . They are the ones who are at the grassroots; they know the potential, the needs and the cultural and anthropological characteristics of our communities. Listening to them, what emerged was all the liveliness and creativity of “Chiara’s people”, who want to take on board the different forms of disunity and heal the wounds of humanity around them. Perhaps it is not even necessary that the International Centre should always give directives or guide the path of the Movement. What matters is that the Centre always guarantees the unity of the entire Movement and that it highlights what the Holy Spirit is gradually showing us all.
Stefano Zamagni, economist and President of the Pontifical Athenaeum for Social Sciences, recently spoke in Loppiano, Italy at the event marking the 30th anniversary of the Economy of Communion. We present an excerpt from his address in which he underlined the contribution of the Economy of Communion to the evolution of economic thought. ‘(…) I must confess that when, exactly 30 years ago, I listened to Chiara Lubich’s speech in Brazil when she launched the Economy of Communion project, I was very impressed but also shocked. Economy as a science uses many words such as wealth, income, efficiency, productivity and equity, but it does not use the word communion. I asked myself: “How could someone like Chiara whose cultural background did not include an economic element have launched an intellectual challenge of that kind?” There had to be a special charism at work and we know today that there was. This positively disturbed me. I began to reflect and asked myself: “Why, in the long history of economic thought, has this concept never been addressed?” A few years later I came across the work of Antonio Genovesi, the founder of civil economy, and I understood a whole series of connections between the Economy of Communion and civil economy. Obviously, at the beginning, there were many difficulties for the Economy of Communion. I remember that in 1994 in Ostuni in Puglia, Italy, the MEIC (Eccelsial Movement of Cultural Commitment) organised a series of cultural seminars during the summer. In a presentation chaired by a famous Italian economist, two newly graduated focolarine had the audacity to present the Economy of Communion project. This professor began to say: “This is nonsense, because it does not satisfy the criterion of rationality.” I was present and asked him: “But do you think that the gesture of the Good Samaritan satisfies the criterion of rationality? You see,” I continued, “you are a slave to a paradigm, to a way of thinking that you have sucked out of your studies without addressing the problem, because the rationality you think of is instrumental rationality, but there is also expressive rationality. Who said that instrumental rationality is superior to expressive rationality? Don’t you know that the Economy of Communion is part of the model of expressive rationality? In this case, expressive means that a charism is expressed – because charisms must be expressed and translated into historical reality.” The Economy of Communion has made it possible to recover that tradition of thought regarding civil economy that began in Naples in 1753. For example, think of the economy and the school of civil economy over which Luigino Bruni presides. In addition, the recent big “Economy of Francis” event which was really a mixture of civil economy – a paradigm, which is view of reality that is embodied in models, projects and different theories – and the economy of communion. This event took place recently, but I am sure its impact will soon become apparent. To close, I would like to use a word that has, unfortunately disappeared from use for at least a century: this word is “conation”. It was coined by Aristotle 2400 years ago. It derives from the combination of knowledge and action and means that knowledge must be put at the service of action, and action cannot be exercised and bear fruit unless it is based on knowledge. I say this because the challenge of the next 30 years, and even more, for the Economy of Communion is to strengthen the knowledge component. Up to now, priority has rightly been given to action, to achievements. But we must be aware that if action is not continually nourished by knowledge, it risks disintegrating. Chiara Lubich had a capacity for intuition and understanding, and therefore for foresight, even on subjects in which she was not a specialist. Indeed, the contribution of the Economy of Communion to the evolution of economic thought as a science has been remarkable. Luigino Bruni directs a research doctorate programme in the economy of communion and civil economy at the Lumsa (Libera Università Maria Assunta) in Rome, Italy; here in Loppiano there is the Sophia University Institute and in other universities too it is no longer forbidden to speak of Economy of Communion. I think this is a great, great outcome. (…)’ To review the live broadcast from Loppiano for the 30th anniversary of the Economy of Communion, click here
Living charity, which is the source of every virtue, brings out the figure of Christ in us, because by loving we are another Him. In spite of our love for our brothers and sisters, we still carry with us certain faults that take away something of the beauty of Christ in us. … You know how in acquiring [virtues] and in combatting their opposing vices, we, who are called by God to find our “fortune” in our neighbour, discover that it is truly by loving Him that we deny ourselves. And you know that, to improve ourselves, we do not usually aim directly at removing one fault after another. Instead, we go around the obstacles, or “change room,” as we say, by “living the others”. In this way, we place ourselves on the path of charity which is the source of every virtue. … Besides, Jesus Forsaken, to whom we have given our lives, is for us the model of all virtues. We have always said that we want to love Him not only in suffering but also in living the virtues. Charity, in fact, brings out the figure of Christ in us because when we love we are another Christ. But by loving Jesus Forsaken in living the virtues, we have the impression of chiselling that figure of Christ in us, of refining it. We notice, in fact, that despite our love for our brothers and sisters, for years we’ve still been carrying around little or larger faults, that are sometimes trivial, but which take something away from the beauty of Christ in us. … What are these faults? Everyone has their own. At times we spoil what we are doing by rushing, or we don’t do the will of God perfectly. We are distracted in prayer; we dwell on foolish things that the world enjoys; we don’t know how to moderate our appetite. We are often overcome by curiosity, or we fall into vainglory. We speak out of turn or unnecessarily. We are attached to little things, a bit dependent on television. We let our brothers and sisters serve us; we are inconsistent, and so on. What should we do? When it is a question of things that are not good, Jesus invites us to act decisively when he affirms, “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out” (cf. Mt 5:29). We too, therefore, out of love for Jesus Forsaken, while continuing on the path of love, must not waver and must remain who we are, but root out our vices one by one. … I am convinced that this is even more possible on our spiritual path. Love, in fact, helps us. Love is self-denial and burns away these things too. Nonetheless, it isn’t a bad idea to focus on some of our faults and get into the habit of practising their opposite virtues. … Let’s take courage then and get to work!
Chiara Lubich
(From a telephone conference call, Rocca di Papa 21st June 1984)
The cold season has now begun here and Covid-19 infections have increased dramatically reaching unprecedented figures. Public hospitals are collapsing under the strain. People are dying in cars, waiting for beds to become available… Even in the highly expensive private clinics admissions have been suspended. Oxygen is no longer available, and there are long queues for refills at the only two places able to provide this service, for a fee. A 6m3 cylinder lasts less than 5 hours! Specialist medicines are only available on the black market with each vial costing around 1,300 euros! This year those affected by the virus are much younger. We take oxygen and medicine to whoever needs it. We have permits to travel all day and every day. Our very spacious minibus has been turned into an ambulance and often, unfortunately, into a hearse at zero cost. Time is of the essence for those in need and struggling to breathe, so we too are rushing around and have no time to think about ourselves.
We are bringing oxygen and medicine but, to be honest, we are mainly engaged in sowing seeds of hope. We get to know those we visit for the first time but a kind of mutual complicity is immediately established that opens up possibilities for hope. Little by little, fear begins to melt away and we see people smile serenely. We also take rosary beads with us. It is not a magic charm. No. They are the prayer beads of those of us who wish to entrust the enormous afflictions and sufferings of these days, of so many of our brothers and sisters, to the heart of our Mother in Heaven. It is part of the oxygen treatment, giving air to the hearts of those who suffer! 