Focolare Movement

Sanctity open to all

Nov 2, 2016

Sanctity, now an antiquated term or a possibility to undertake a journey in which every minute is a taste of eternity? Here’s an off-the-cuff discourse of Chiara Lubich with a priest during a convention held in Rocca di Papa, on 31 January 1969.

ChiaraLubich_PasqualeForesi

Chiara Lubich with Fr Pasquale Foresi. Photo credit: Loppiano archives

How can one be sure of having really chosen God, and how can this choice be implemented in daily life? «Chiara: (…) You can be sure only of what you are living in the present: at this moment I want this will of God, and I want to meet these priests who are so dear to Mary and to God. Do I want to stay here? I do, with all my heart! What if they told me right now, “Look, Chiara, you can also choose: you could die and immediately go to Heaven with Jesus and Mary, with all our members of the Heavenly Mariapolis, and with all the saints and angels. However, this would not be God’s will but your own, so what would you choose?”  I would choose to stay here with them, because I choose the will of God. (…) Ever since I started to live this way, of course I started all anew in every minute. I understood that the phrase, “the righteous man sins seven times,” means an infinity of times, because he runs away from the will of God. But we need to stay put in that, and return to doing God’s will. (…) Another experience I had by living this way, is that every act, even the smallest like washing, dressing, picking up a piece of paper, fixing something, meeting a person… everything becomes solemn and marvelous, because this is a path that all can take. And in reality it must have been Mary who suggested it, because Mary is the mother of all: priests, the laity, women and men, children, the elderly, and of everyone. She is the mother of all because she is the mother of the Church, which is why she gave us a path suitable for everyone. (…) So in such a simple path, all the children, priests, men, girls, the married people, can live. A path to sanctity has been opened and which all can access… it would suffice to want it, so that they no longer live but God lives in them. This idea is something which gives me such immense joy! I have received from Mary the secret of sanctity, a popular sanctity, and a universal sanctity for the entire people of God. For this reason, what the Council wanted was that sanctity to be open to all and not be limited to the convents, or certain categories of people, and this is the path we found. This is something extraordinary. It is one thing to say: “You can become a saint in a state of perfection” so go become a friar, a nun, etc.. But another thing altogether is to be able to say to all: there is a way for you to become a saint. Listen, you may not be able to go to Church because the circumstances do not allow you,, or you are “beyond the iron curtain” where you cannot have contact with priests. You who are in prison can also become saints by living God’s will, and losing everything: liberty if you are in prison, contact with the Church if you are “behind the iron curtain”… But you can. This is the extraordinary thing. Only Mary, and only a mother who loves all and each one personally, could have invented such a thing. Only she. I wouldn’t explain it otherwise. It is extraordinary. (…)  It is also because simplicity is one of the most difficult things to understand. Because it is unity, it is mysterious. So… how can we do this? We have to choose God once, and then set ourselves along this track (…)». Chiara Lubich Complete text Source: Chiara Lubich Centre

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