{"id":292236,"date":"2011-03-23T09:24:44","date_gmt":"2011-03-23T08:24:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/the-world-in-my-arms\/"},"modified":"2024-05-13T20:42:01","modified_gmt":"2024-05-13T18:42:01","slug":"the-world-in-my-arms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/the-world-in-my-arms\/","title":{"rendered":"The World in My Arms"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a> Commemorations held in every language and by representatives of every religious creed.<\/strong> Tributes paid by Christians, Jews and Muslims, from Venezuela to Burundi, from Australia to Vietnam. All around the world people from different backgrounds- from Apostolic Nuncios to children, young people and families- gave thanks for the charism passed on by Chiara. In a family atmosphere they all renewed their commitment to bringing her dream ahead, to witnessing the fulfilment of Jesus\u2019 prayer to the Father: \u201cMat they all be one\u201d. In Caracas<\/strong> the Apostolic Nuncio commented, \u201cThe song, this hymn of joy and gratitude in Chiara\u2019s heart on her lips since that 14th<\/sup> March 2008, will last for all of eternity\u201d. During the mass concelebrated by 4 bishops and 12 priests, attended by members of various ecclesial movements, the Nuncio indicated the path to follow. \u201cIf in a city like Caracas, the fire that Jesus brought to earth was lit and if, thanks to the good will of all citizens, it resisted the world\u2019s chill, in a short time our city would be set ablaze by the love of God.\u201d Peru<\/strong>, San Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua- <\/strong>just some of the Latin American countries that held <\/strong>commemoration events. \u201cThe homilies at all the masses spoke of \u2018sainthood\u2019 and of \u2018a charism for the whole Church\u2019- a sign that by now the spirituality is well-known and appreciated\u201d, remarked Martita and Gustavo from San Salvador. This need to celebrate Chiara\u2019s life went beyond the boundaries of the Catholic Church. In Tucuman<\/strong>, northern Argentina, Christians from various churches met with Jews and Muslims for an interreligious meeting dedicated to Chiara. \u201cI didn\u2019t meet her in person but I\u2019ve seen the fruits of her work\u201d, said Rabbi Salomon Nusbaumm referring to the Focolare\u2019s founder, \u201cAnd good fruit is a sign of a good tree. May God welcome Chiara with all the righteous\u201d. The Focolare\u2019s local community in Quito<\/strong> <\/strong>(Ecuador) wrote, \u201cThe tragedy in Japan and the risk of a tsunami here were like reminders from the Eternal Father to focus on the essential\u201d. In San Jos\u00e9 (Costa Rica) the local community organised a \u201ctown fair\u201d with stalls exhibiting the \u2018fruits\u2019 of Chiara\u2019s charism with music and performance to attract passers-by. There were open days held all around Brazil for Chiara\u2019s anniversary: from Mariapolis Ginetta (near San Paolo) to Porto Alegre and Mariapolis Santa Maria (near Recife). \u201cIn 35 cities with the participation of a total of 4,273 people, we commemorated the third year of Chiara\u2019s arrival in Paradise\u201d, they wrote. Across the ocean in Cebu (Philippians) Archbishop Jos\u00e9 Palma participated at the commemoration event, attending the daylong program in its entirety. Referring to Chiara Luce Badano\u2019s recent beatification, he expressed his wish that in two years time a beatification process for Chiara Lubich may begin. Chiara\u2019s life was also celebrated in Bangkok, Vietnam and Myanmar<\/strong>. In India there were events in Mumbai<\/strong>, Bangalore<\/strong>, Delhi<\/strong> and Goa<\/strong>. <\/strong>\u201cThe Nuncio began the mass at his residence by asking for a grace for everyone: to be like Chiara, witnesses of love, with strength and courage, so as to give light to everyone as she did\u201d, wrote the local Focolare directors from Mumbai. News arrived from as far away as Medan (Indonesia): \u201cThe atmosphere was beautiful; you could feel that Chiara was alive. The joy experienced by everyone was tangible- there was a true sense of gratitude for being her sons and daughters, part of this extraordinary family.\u201d From New Caledonia to New Zealand, in Perth, Melbourne and Sydney<\/strong>, Chiara\u2019s anniversary was a \u201cmoment of God\u201d, they wrote from the Focolare Centre in Australia. Concluding this worldwide tour, we arrive in Africa. The message that arrived from Bujumbura in Burundi <\/strong>reads, \u201cChiara was with us, she was at the centre of the celebration. It was touching to see such a large number of people present, many of whom had known Chiara but lost touch with the Movement through the years. The 800 participants at the event in Mariapolis Piero (Kenya)<\/strong> were above all young people. The words on everyone\u2019s lips were \u201cjoy, renewal, a sainthood open to everyone\u201d. They wrote, \u201cWe want to continue to bring ahead Chiara\u2019s mission: that in our arms we can bring this piece of the world to God\u201d. Across Congo, Chiara\u2019s 3rd<\/sup> anniversary was celebrated by many: Kinshasa<\/strong> <\/strong>(700), <\/strong>Kikwit <\/strong>(2000), Lubumbashi, <\/strong>(400), Goma <\/strong>(200) e Bukavu <\/strong>(100). The common characteristic of these events was Chiara\u2019s strong presence and a true desire to change and sanctify everyday environments. The mayor of Nzinda<\/strong> expressed his gratitude for the invitation to the event held there: \u201cI discovered a treasure in the life and work of the Movement. It\u2019s essential to the fulfilment of universal brotherhood which can eliminate injustice and anti-values present in Congolese society\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cTo bring You the world in my arms\u201d- on Chiara\u2019s third anniversary, this dream of hers seems to be fulfilled.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[893],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-292236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-focolare-worldwide-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=292236"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292236\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=292236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=292236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=292236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}