Page 98 – Movimento dei Focolari

Núcleo de Pesquisa Direito e Fraternidade

Feb 23, 2012 | Cultura, Focolare Worldwide, Focolari nel Mondo

Christians from a Catholic parish in Basel went to visit the community in an Islamic neighbourhood. After the Muslims had prayed they had lunch together. ‘In the afternoon, there was a football competition: teams of children, young people, grown ups and also “imams versus priests”!’ said imam Mohammed Tas from Kleinbasel. ‘We parish priests lost, but our friendship grew,’ observed the Fr Ruedi Beck with a smile. The imam carried on, ‘We had the joy of meeting together. Many things unite us. We live in the same city, we are human beings, we all have a lot of work and many worries. We pray for one another and help one another where we can.’ This was one of the examples during the day of Muslims and Christians in Dialogue, last 12 February in Baar, that showed how it is possible to build up family-like relations between different religious communities. There were 80 participants, from the three largest linguistic regions of Switzerland, 40 Christians and 40 Muslims, originally from 17 nations, among which were Kosovo, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Macedonia, the Ivory Coast and North Africa. Well-known personalities from Switzerland also participated, such as Dr Taner Hatipoglu, president of the league of Muslim organizations in Zurich and four imams. At the basis of the dialogue was the theme: Hearing and Living the Word of God. Ali Cetin, an imam from Baar, introduced people to the Muslim understanding of who God is and of his word for Muslims: ‘The one who is truly loved and recognizes it reads emails, text messages or letters from his friend word by word and more than once. He values what is written, every word, every sentence. It is like that that the Muslim honours the Koran, as a letter God has sent to humanity. Its verses are cited with love, learnt by heart and put into practice.’ In Christian thought the love of God who is one and three is central. The importance of this came into strong relief in a passage from a talk given by Chiara Lubich, at an international congress with Muslim friends in Rome, 1998. She said, ‘We believe that God loves us immensely… and in the Koran it is written: “Believers do not love in a different way from how they love God.” This is the strongest thing that can unite us. Like this we are no longer only Muslims and Christians but brothers and sisters, persons who put God in the first place.’ Imam Mustapha Baztami from Teramo in Italy, one of the speakers, who knew Chiara Lubich personally, affirmed, ‘Chiara Lubich is the first Christian, the first woman who spoke in a Mosque in Halem (1997). She managed to build a bridge between religions. She was not afraid to meet the differences between the various religions, because she made her faith in God’s Love a way of living and not an empty slogan.’ A committed Muslim woman echoed his words, saying, ‘Today we have met on the same level, as in a family, and everyone was accepted. We are a building bridge, a ‘neutral zone’ that binds everyone together.’ To conclude the meeting, Marianne Rentsch and Franco Galli, co-ordinators of the Movement in Switzerland, recalled the Golden Rule: ‘No one of you is a believer if he does desire for his brother what he desires for himself’ (The Forty Hadith of Al-Nawawi, 13); ‘Do to others as you would have them do to you’ (Luke 6:31). It was printed, in both its Christian and in its Islamic form, in the three main traditional languages of Switzerland, on a card the shape of a credit card, and given to everyone to take away as a reminder. Beatrix Ledergerber-Baumer

St. Louis, MO

Feb 22, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide

Please note: The geolocalization feature on this website – which displays cities and towns where Focolare centers are present – is only meant to be a guide. The markers on the map do not necessarily point to a specific address and they must not be relied on for navigational purposes. Avvertenza: tutte le informazioni geocodificate presenti in questo sito sono puramente indicative. Gli oggetti rappresentati (ad es. luoghi d’incontro e quant’altro) e i servizi di localizzazione o navigazione, possono essere imprecisi o errati nello stabilire indirizzi, posizioni, prossimità, distanze, indicazioni e orientamento. (more…)

Los Angeles, CA

Feb 22, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide

Please note: The geolocalization feature on this website – which displays cities and towns where Focolare centers are present – is only meant to be a guide. The markers on the map do not necessarily point to a specific address and they must not be relied on for navigational purposes. Avvertenza: tutte le informazioni geocodificate presenti in questo sito sono puramente indicative. Gli oggetti rappresentati (ad es. luoghi d’incontro e quant’altro) e i servizi di localizzazione o navigazione, possono essere imprecisi o errati nello stabilire indirizzi, posizioni, prossimità, distanze, indicazioni e orientamento. (more…)

Santiago, Dominican Republic

Feb 22, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide

Please note: The geolocalization feature on this website – which displays cities and towns where Focolare centers are present – is only meant to be a guide. The markers on the map do not necessarily point to a specific address and they must not be relied on for navigational purposes. Avvertenza: tutte le informazioni geocodificate presenti in questo sito sono puramente indicative. Gli oggetti rappresentati (ad es. luoghi d’incontro e quant’altro) e i servizi di localizzazione o navigazione, possono essere imprecisi o errati nello stabilire indirizzi, posizioni, prossimità, distanze, indicazioni e orientamento. (more…)

New York City, NY

Feb 22, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide

Please note: The geolocalization feature on this website – which displays cities and towns where Focolare centers are present – is only meant to be a guide. The markers on the map do not necessarily point to a specific address and they must not be relied on for navigational purposes. Avvertenza: tutte le informazioni geocodificate presenti in questo sito sono puramente indicative. Gli oggetti rappresentati (ad es. luoghi d’incontro e quant’altro) e i servizi di localizzazione o navigazione, possono essere imprecisi o errati nello stabilire indirizzi, posizioni, prossimità, distanze, indicazioni e orientamento. (more…)

Bethesda, MD

Feb 22, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide

Please note: The geolocalization feature on this website – which displays cities and towns where Focolare centers are present – is only meant to be a guide. The markers on the map do not necessarily point to a specific address and they must not be relied on for navigational purposes. Avvertenza: tutte le informazioni geocodificate presenti in questo sito sono puramente indicative. Gli oggetti rappresentati (ad es. luoghi d’incontro e quant’altro) e i servizi di localizzazione o navigazione, possono essere imprecisi o errati nello stabilire indirizzi, posizioni, prossimità, distanze, indicazioni e orientamento. (more…)

Mobile, AL

Feb 22, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide

Please note: The geolocalization feature on this website – which displays cities and towns where Focolare centers are present – is only meant to be a guide. The markers on the map do not necessarily point to a specific address and they must not be relied on for navigational purposes. Avvertenza: tutte le informazioni geocodificate presenti in questo sito sono puramente indicative. Gli oggetti rappresentati (ad es. luoghi d’incontro e quant’altro) e i servizi di localizzazione o navigazione, possono essere imprecisi o errati nello stabilire indirizzi, posizioni, prossimità, distanze, indicazioni e orientamento. (more…)

Pensacola, FL

Feb 22, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide

Please note: The geolocalization feature on this website – which displays cities and towns where Focolare centers are present – is only meant to be a guide. The markers on the map do not necessarily point to a specific address and they must not be relied on for navigational purposes. Avvertenza: tutte le informazioni geocodificate presenti in questo sito sono puramente indicative. Gli oggetti rappresentati (ad es. luoghi d’incontro e quant’altro) e i servizi di localizzazione o navigazione, possono essere imprecisi o errati nello stabilire indirizzi, posizioni, prossimità, distanze, indicazioni e orientamento. (more…)

Pheonix, AZ

Feb 22, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide

Please note: The geolocalization feature on this website – which displays cities and towns where Focolare centers are present – is only meant to be a guide. The markers on the map do not necessarily point to a specific address and they must not be relied on for navigational purposes. Avvertenza: tutte le informazioni geocodificate presenti in questo sito sono puramente indicative. Gli oggetti rappresentati (ad es. luoghi d’incontro e quant’altro) e i servizi di localizzazione o navigazione, possono essere imprecisi o errati nello stabilire indirizzi, posizioni, prossimità, distanze, indicazioni e orientamento. (more…)

El Paso, TX

Feb 22, 2012 | Focolare Worldwide

Please note: The geolocalization feature on this website – which displays cities and towns where Focolare centers are present – is only meant to be a guide. The markers on the map do not necessarily point to a specific address and they must not be relied on for navigational purposes. Avvertenza: tutte le informazioni geocodificate presenti in questo sito sono puramente indicative. Gli oggetti rappresentati (ad es. luoghi d’incontro e quant’altro) e i servizi di localizzazione o navigazione, possono essere imprecisi o errati nello stabilire indirizzi, posizioni, prossimità, distanze, indicazioni e orientamento. (more…)

Recebemos uma luz que nos faz enxergar e ir além de nós mesmos

Feb 21, 2012 | Famiglie, Focolare Worldwide, Focolari nel Mondo

(more…)

Gen 3 Congress: ‘The Word Creates’

Feb 21, 2012 | Non categorizzato

Know, Live, Share, Act. These were the four topics for thought and action at the root of the Gen 3 Congress from 17th to 21st February at the Mariapolis Centre of Castelgandolfo. There were 410 boys from 17 different nations, some from outside Europe: Brazil, Panama, Chile, Costa Rica and Venezuela. There was even one representative from Iraq. The theme of the meeting was: ‘The Word Creates’ and the boys looked at it in various ways in an integrated programme that went from moments in the hall, group work, moments of dialogue and space to speak ‘one to one with God’. The gen 3 did not let the grass grow under their feet. They took responsibility for the meeting and threw themselves with enthusiasm into a series of workshops. Here they were able to experiment with the theme of the ‘Word’ in various fields of communication. They split into small groups and explored the secrets of publicity, the techniques of television journalism and of the Web. They visited the centres for the gen 3 magazine, focolare.org, the Focolare Information Service (aka SIF, servizio informazione focolare). They also tested out Teens TV, Teens Radio, Città Nuova, the St Clare Audiovisual Centre and the Information Section. Some of them had some hands-on experience and went to interview the mayor of Grottaferrata (Rome), Grabiele Mori. They asked him nine questions about Chiara Lubich, the Focolare Movement, his life as a politician, how to live the Gospel and the role of young people in the life of a town. A large group of gen 3 worked side by side with the members of the international band Gen Rosso to sort out the details of a show called ‘Street Light’. The mayor of Genzano (Rome) gave the Sports Palace for it to be performed. Entrance was free. The show dealt with bullying among gangs in Chicago in the 60s and told in a creative way how bullying can be overcome by peace, forgiveness and a sense of solidarity with one another. An opponent is not an enemy. The gen 3 also have stories lit up by the Gospel in their own daily lives. Boys from Africa, Europe, South America spoke about overcoming vendettas with forgiveness and about the best approach which to is go against the current. Andrea told his story: ‘I play in a volleyball team. Some time ago, during a match, I fouled a boy and he fell over. I went to help him get up. My coach on the bench was angry because I’d helped an someone on the other side. In his way of seeing things I should not have done that. I thought, though, that I had to be concerned for that boy but also for my coach and help him see that it is possible to win even while respecting our opponent, by not thinking of him as an enemy.’

Work and the rediscovery of a social awareness

Feb 20, 2012 | Non categorizzato

PLAY VIDEO (Italian soundtrack)

“In the name of God who created them, human beings must be aware of their sociality, of their social nature, otherwise they are not completely human. In fact, another of their characteristics, according to the Bible, besides communion with God, besides being required to support themselves and dedicate themselves to work, is sociality – the interweaving of human relationships. We know what sociality means for God. It means to love others as ourselves. As ourselves, not less. Indeed, to love them with a love which, since it comes from more than one person, becomes reciprocal; and, because it is inspired by Christ, generates unity. Herein lies the meaning of what we stressed, namely that we walk through life together being one heart and one soul. Our collective spirituality, derived from the Gospel, not only can contribute to, but can be of vital importance in finding solutions to the present problems of the working world. In this spirituality, every person in the working world (from the owner to the administrator, from the director to the technicians, from office workers to laborers) in order to build solidarity with others, must love everyone in such a way that he or she becomes “one” with the others. In this spirituality, mutual love leads to reciprocal understanding, to sharing the fatigue of the others, to making our own the problems of the others and to seeking solutions together. It leads us to find common agreements for new forms of organizations in the working world. All come to share and participate together in the means of production, and in the fruits and profits. With what consequences? If, previously, for example, for individual laborers, industrialized work was synonymous with being crushed and deprived of their personality, with being unable to see the fruits of their intelligence and efforts, now because they consider their own all that regards the others as well, work cannot help but take on meaning, indeed a stimulating meaning. What is needed, therefore, is a new … vast social awareness. Indeed, since the economy of each country is so linked to that of other nations, the situation requires a “global” social awareness as the Pope has also affirmed. Who is capable of helping individuals to fully achieve this and to regard themselves as members of one great human family… “without denying man’s origins and the membership of his family, his people and his nation, or the obligations arising there from…”?[1] Who can accomplish this after human beings have shattered their union with God through sin, thus seriously compromising over and over again, communion with other brothers and sisters and therefore human solidarity? Who can do it? Only Christ can – he who is so often relegated to our private life. Only his supernatural and universal love – so often considered as something limited to people’s prayer life and is instead the indispensable leaven for the whole of human existence in all its expressions. It is only with his love that we can build confidently a world of lasting justice and peace. As far as work is concerned, it is only with his love that selfishness and hatred – often considered the law of social life – can be eliminated. It is with his love that working communities will witness how unity rather than conflict can truly improve work. With his love the life of society itself will not be conceived as a struggle against someone but as a commitment to grow together. Therefore only a new civilization based on love will be capable of offering a solution to the complex problems of the world of work.” Chiara Lubich, Rome, 3 June 1984

[1] John Paul II, Address to the International Labor Organization in Geneva. June 15, 1982, n. 10.

(more…)

Gen 3 Congress: “The Word is Creative”

Feb 20, 2012 | Non categorizzato

Castelgandolfo (Rome) 17-21 February 2012