This word of life is taken from the book of Revelation, the text that concludes the collection of writings that are found in the New Testament. As the name implies, it unveils and reveals: in fact, the aim of the author was to help the reader understand the significance of the last things that will occur at the end of time: the return of Christ to earth, the definitive defeat of evil and the rising up of a new heaven and a new earth.
It is not an easy text to understand. It dates back to the years 81-96 AD when Christians were facing fierce persecution and there was an atmosphere of fear in their communities. They had begun to wonder what would become of them and the message that had been entrusted to them? Some were asking why did God not intervene?
This was the situation when the author was sent into exile by the Romans to the island of Patmos. While he was there, he began to have a series of visions and was commanded to write them down.
Behold, I am making everything new!
The book of Revelation sought to bring hope to persecuted communities: despite the difficulties and violence they were experiencing at the time and the uncertainty of the future, it conveyed the message that good will ultimately triumph and God will make all things new.
Today too, when we watch the news or read the headlines, we see so much tragedy and distress in the world that we risk becoming desensitised to it all… But there is a Father who weeps with us; there is a Father who sheds tears of infinite compassion for his children. We have a Father who waits in order to console us, because he knows our sufferings and has prepared a different future for us. This is the great vision of Christian hope, which stretches over all the days of our life, every day of our existence, and seeks to raise us up once more [1].
Behold, I am making everything new!
We cannot know when and how this will happen and there is no point in searching for the answers. What is certain, however, is that it will happen.
“The final pages of the Bible show us the ultimate panorama towards which a believer is travelling: the Jerusalem of Heaven, the heavenly Jerusalem. It is described as an immense ‘tent’ where God will welcome all people and dwell with them forever (Rev 21:3). This is our hope. What will God do when we are finally with him? He will show us infinite tenderness, like a Father who welcomes his children who have long struggled and suffered. Behold, the tent of God is with all men and women! … He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, nor mourning, nor weeping, nor pain, for the former things have passed away… Behold, I am making all things new!’ (Rev 21:3-5). 21,3-5). The God of newness [2].
Behold, I am making everything new!
How can we live this month’s Word of Life?
«It assures us that we are on our way to a new world that we are preparing and building right now. Therefore, this is not a mere invitation to disengage and escape from the world of the present. God wants to renew all things: our personal lives, friendships, married love, families; he wants to renew social life, the world of work, school, culture, leisure, health, the economy and politics… in a word, all areas of human activity. But to do this, he needs us. He needs people who let his Word live in them, who are his living Word and are like Jesus wherever they are» [3].
A young Christian woman called Alice understood that following God’s call meant that she needed to change many aspects of her behaviour and allow God to act more fully in her life and so renew it from within. She received the ‘immense gift,’ of the opportunity to spend some time in India. There, she began to understand real joy and she felt immersed in God’s grace, even during difficult times. She spent time in prayer, community life, and volunteer service. She was deeply touched by the children she met in the orphanage because even though they had nothing, they were incredibly enthusiastic and taught her a lot about life. Alice’s time in India was not just a trip, but a pilgrimage, a journey of ‘ups and downs’, where she had to ‘empty her rucksack’ but found enrichment and freedom.
Edited by Augusto Parody Reyes the Word of Life team
[1]Cf., Pope Francis, General Audience 23 Aug 2017 [2] Ibid. [3] Cfr. C. Lubich, Parole di Vita, Word of Life
Since ancient times, men and women have nurtured the desire to know what the future will bring and have used magical rituals or the interpretation of natural signs in order to do so. Great works produced by different cultures and religions in the past reveal this need. It often arises during periods of great suffering for a people or nation.
But is it really useful to know what will happen? What do we gain by knowing in advance what we will experience or how we will cope? None of the legendary traditions reveal this completely, and more often than not, symbolism hides the very concrete search for and expectation of a better tomorrow that gives meaning to today’s suffering.
We could say that we are not concerned about the future when things are going well, however, when they are going badly, we are sustained and encouraged by the hope that tomorrow will be better. It is then that many of us feel a deep need to await a new, different world, not only for ourselves but for everyone.
Today’s world expresses a “cry” that emerges from all of humanity. Even if we are not directly affected, we only need to watch the news or leaf through the newspapers to become aware of tragedies of all kinds. How do we react? Are we so accustomed to this negativity that we are immune and simply try to survive or, on the contrary, do we think deeply about the future and act accordingly? The world we imagine and desire certainly does not yet exist but, as George Orwell reminded us, it is possible that it will be. But what does this mean? What can we do? We find an answer in the thoughts of Albert Camus: “True generosity towards the future consists in giving everything to the present.” [1]
The future, therefore, is not just something to await but can be prepared and, in a sense, anticipated even now. It depends on our attitude and our daily actions. We do not know when we will see the fruit of change: it is like a silent seed that grows without us noticing and, over time, becomes a plant capable of nourishing, protecting and generating life around it.
We cannot imagine the consequences but they will certainly be new and creative. The future is unpredictable but it will develop according to relationships that have been transformed, feelings shared and solidarity that has become action.
We need courage to be a driving force for change and renewal in society; we need to allow ourselves to be challenged by people who suffer, who are aloneor need our help or advice. Even though we will encounter difficulties and inner struggles, there will also be moments of joy and real fulfillment.
Recently, an event was held in Florence to raise awareness and involve participants in a network of fraternity. There were opportunities to reflect and share experiences on how to build a future of peace in various areas such as economics, trade unions, industrial reconversion and ecology. This is an initiative that we want to spread rapidly to other cities and countries.
Take courage! We are builders and not spectators and our goal is to create a future of fraternity, harmony and peace.
In the homily of the Eucharistic Celebration celebrated on Saturday, 17th January on the occasion of the closing of the Diocesan Inquiry launched in Albano for the cause of Beatification and Canonization of Domenico Mangano, a Volunteer of God of the Focolare Movement, Mons. Stefano Russo, Bishop of the Diocese of Velletri-Segni and Frascati, near Rome said, “The Lord continues to call through His word (…) As happened to John the Baptist who, enlightened by the love of God, recognized the Son of God and pointed him out to others (…) something similar happens at the start of a path of canonization of a person when someone points out the presence of holiness, a consequence of an encounter with Christ. This was the case for Domenico. A community said: “We met him, we shared many experiences with him, participating together in a holy journey, we saw his actions illuminated by the Lord especially from the moment he met the charism of unity”.
The family of Domenico Mangano, his friends and members of the Focolare Movement were present in the Auditorium of the International Centre of the Focolare Movement while a live-stream connection allowed many people from different parts of the world to follow the event.
Who was Domenico?
Margaret Karram, President of the Focolare Movement, described Domenico’s life as, “a life marked by availability, attentiveness to others and a concrete love, lived without fanfare but with fidelity. Like the Good Samaritan, Domenico knew how to stop, to draw close and to transform an encounter with another person into a gift”.
Jesús Morán, Co-President of the Focolare Movement, said, “A Christian layman who took faith seriously in real life. A husband, father, worker, citizen deeply rooted in his community, he didn’t live the Gospel as a private matter, but as a light capable of illuminating public choices, social responsibilities and commitment to the common good. His spirituality was deeply incarnated: rooted in faith, which does not distance people from the world but is always attentive to history, to people’s problems and to the needs of society.”
Domenico felt the Gospel call to serve the community by promoting respect, dignity, social co-responsibility and a culture of participation, so that every citizen could feel that they were a living part of society. He was a man of dialogue by inner choice and Christian responsibility. For him, politics was never a place of conquest, but a space of service, a concrete form of social charity, lived with moral seriousness, clarity of judgment and a deep sense of justice. He constantly tried to unite Heaven and earth by translating the message of the Gospel into social life.
Margaret Karram, President of the Focolare Movement; Jesús Morán, Co-President of the Focolare Movement; Dr Waldery Hilgeman, Postulator of the Cause; and Monsignor Stefano Russo, Bishop of Velletri-Segni and Frascati.
Along this journey, the lifeblood flowed from the spirituality of unity and from his commitment to the “Volunteers of God” whom Chiara Lubich, Foundress of the Focolare Movement, defined as “the first Christians of the twentieth century who live to render the presence of Jesus visible wherever they are.”
Through his commitment to a lifestyle based on the Gospel, a deep spiritual dimension matured in him: he gradually learned to let God be at the centre, to guide his life and his choices and, with Him, to place the people, the community and the common good at the heart of everything. This was the source of his inner freedom, serenity and of his ability to love concretely.
Fr Andrea De Matteis, Judicial Vicar of the Diocese of Albano, Episcopal Delegate for this Cause, recalled that many have described Domenico as “a mystic of the ordinary: prayer, family, work and civil commitment formed a single reality in him. He lived a mysticism of presence, recognizable in the simplest gestures: in listening, in a discreet word or in a smile. A contemplative heart immersed in the world, a man who sought to please God in the practicalities of daily life. In his disarming simplicity, he bore witness to how it is possible to make the ordinary extraordinary, normality exceptional and to draw the divine into the fragile human condition of each person.”
Domenico also experienced the trial of illness with demanding faith, experiencing it as a time of entrusting and offering. Along that painful path, he once again recognized the presence of God who calls, transforms and leads to fulfillment.
In the photos: 1- The boxes containing the documents of the Cause – 2 – from left, Dr Waldery Hilgeman, Postulator, and then the members of the Diocesan Tribunal of the Cause: Prof. Marco Capri, Notary, Don Andrea De Matteis, Judicial Vicar of the Diocese of Albano and Episcopal Delegate, and Prof. Emanuele Spedicato, Promoter of Justice – 3 – on the left, Juan Ignacio Larrañaga, central coordinator of the Volunteers of God; in the centre, Dr Paolo Mottironi, central manager of the Volunteers of God at the time the Cause began.
The solemn conclusion of the diocesan phase for Domenico – which for a long time has involved the dedicated service of the Bishops of Albano, at first Mons. Marcello Semeraro then Mons. Vincenzo Viva, alongside the Tribunal, various collaborators and many witnesses – was an event of profound ecclesial significance.
With this official act it was declared before God and the ecclesial community, that the patient and passionate work of listening, gathering and evaluating evidence, was carried out by many with integrity, truth and fidelity to the norms of the Church and a deep awareness of the gift entrusted to them.
In Domenico Mangano we see how holiness can flourish in ordinary life, in the choices made with love and truth wherever the Lord places us, when a person allows themselves to be emptied of self in order to be filled by God.
The ‘Pre-Assembly Process’ is currently underway in preparation for the General Assembly of the Focolare Movement, which will begin on the 1st of March 2026 in Castel Gandolfo (Italy) with the participation of representatives chosen from different geographical areas, branches and movements; the members by right (those who are part of the current government, the General Council and Zone Delegates in the geographical areas), and those invited by the President.
We interviewed Prof. Vincenzo Di Pilato, professor of Fundamental Theology and a member of the Preparatory Commission for the 2026 General Assembly, about the preparation process and his personal experience.
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My name is Vida and for a few years now, I and others from the Lithuanian community have been supporting the family of Julia from Indonesia, whom I met in 2018 in Manila (Philippines) on the occasion of Genfest, the international meeting that brings together the young people of the Focolare Movement. Over this time, despite the distance, a sisterly relationship has developed between us. Her family lives in Medan and is part of the Focolare community there. We have been able to support them at various difficult moments and, it always surprised me and gave me joy that whenever they received help, they immediately thought of other people too.
Before Christmas Julia shared with me her desire to help the children in an orphanage. They needed pillows and mattresses as the flood had destroyed those they had. Since she is a very practical person, she had already worked out the amount needed. So I wrote to the Lithuanian community on our shared website, hoping that someone would be able to donate something. “I was amazed to see that in a short time we collected an even larger amount that I immediately sent to Julia who did everything she could to make the children happy. As well as the mattresses and pillows, for the first time, they also had a Christmas tree
