Every day terrible things are happening all around us and sometimes they are on such a scale that they overwhelm us and make us feel helpless: migrants are losing their lives as they undertake journeys in desperate conditions, people are experiencing the daily tragedy of war and dramatic social injustices continue to plague the planet.

“What can I do?” This question may leave us feeling paralyzed and tempt us to close in on ourselves in an attitude of resigned individualism. The first hurdle to overcome is to allow ourselves to be cross-examined by that very question. “What can I do?”

The fishermen on the shores of Lampedusa in Italy asked themselves this and then connected with generous people in the area forming a network that was able to reach out to others. They began by saving one, then ten, then a hundred and then thousands of desperate castaways who were abandoned to the waves of the Mediterranean Sea. There are also communities living in areas that border on war zones (in Europe, Africa, Asia…) who have asked themselves the same question. They welcomed people into their homes not on the basis of political or economic calculation, but because of natural human compassion. It’s in situations like this that you can see small or large daily “miracles” which are not utopian dreams but are the actions upon which the society of the future is built.

Professor Russell Pearce [1] of Fordham School of Law in New York emphasised that it is important to seek for hope and not wait for it to come to us. He conducted interviews with people from two organizations that promote dialogue and peace between Israelis and Palestinians – Parents Circle and Combatants for Peace – and sought to understand how their members managed to maintain relationships with each other in the aftermath of 7 October 2023 and during the subsequent war in Gaza.

Why have these groups sustained their ties with one another? Why have these ties even become stronger? Both Palestinians and Israelis reported that their dialogue has been transformative and described it as a dialogue of love. A Palestinian participant observed, “The change we experienced was a very “sacred journey” for each of us and left an impact and a deep bond in our souls. It was a process that transformed the other person into a brother or sister.”

An Israeli member also commented, “We worked to build trust and become a family, years of sacred work with all the challenges, dynamics and doubts.” Pearce concluded by saying that the Jewish sages teach that “if you save one life, you save the whole world”; a Palestinian who leads the Parents Circle youth programme explained, “If you change one person, you change a whole world.”

Chiara Lubich wrote, “The most visible aspect of unity is fraternity. This certainly seems the best way to counteract the prevailing norms of society (…) to reach greater freedom and equality. (…) It is a sound way for those who hold the fate of humanity in their hands but also for mothers of families, for volunteers who work for solidarity in the world, for those who share their company’s profits to help eliminate poverty and for those who oppose war. Thus, fraternity “from above” and fraternity “from below” will meet in peace.” [2]

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THE IDEA OF THE MONTH is currently produced by the Focolare Movement’s “Centre for Dialogue with People of Non religious Beliefs”. It is an initiative that began in 2014 in Uruguay to share with non-believing friends the values of the Word of Life, i.e. the phrase from Scripture that members of the Movement strive to put into practice in their daily lives. Currently, THE IDEA OF THE MONTH is translated into 12 languages and distributed in more than 25 countries, with adaptations of the text according to different cultural sensitivities. dialogue4unity.focolare.org

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[1] R. Pearce: “Dialogo e Pace sostenibili” [Ekklesia-Sentieri di Comunione e Dialogo- n.4 Octtober December 2024].

[2] C. Lubich, No alla sconfitta della pace, in «Città Nuova» n. 24/2003

©Photo: Rineshkumar Ghirao – Unsplash