{"id":328714,"date":"2016-11-09T04:00:32","date_gmt":"2016-11-09T03:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/to-welcome-others-is-an-opportunity-for-growth\/"},"modified":"2024-05-16T15:05:38","modified_gmt":"2024-05-16T13:05:38","slug":"to-welcome-others-is-an-opportunity-for-growth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/to-welcome-others-is-an-opportunity-for-growth\/","title":{"rendered":"To welcome others is an opportunity for growth"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"20161109-a\"The city of Como has risen to the headlines because of the notable influx of refugees<\/strong> that have been forced by barbed wire walls to divert their routes across Switzerland<\/a>, as they travel to the countries of northern Europe in search of fortune, or reunion with their family members that arrived before them. The distance is very short, but the many border controls are rigorously imposed. There is a growing number of men, women, children and unaccompanied minors who are camped out waiting for an opportunity to evade border inspections. Bishop Coletti asked everyone to accept the challenge of welcoming, <\/strong>directing his appeal especially to the Church community that it might put into practice the Acts of Mercy during the Jubilee of Mercy <\/strong>which is an occasion for sharing and growth. \u00a0<\/strong> \u201cWe took it as an appeal to us,\u201d say the members of the local Focolare community, <\/strong>\u201cand we immediately got to work, offering our services to the Diocesan Caritas that is on the front lines in organizing the assistance effort. There was a huge response from our community network that also includes people who are close to us: relatives, friends and acquaintances. We collected food, blankets and other basic necessities. We took turns covering the work schedule, providing showers and meals, distributing food, cooking and cleaning. In the evenings we serve up to five hundred meals. The faces we meet are disoriented, frightened, grateful and, at times, suspiscious. It\u2019s hard to communicate with people who speak a foreign language. But just being there, tired and sweaty, offering a plate of food with a smile, trying to understand from their gesturing whether our guests are happy with the meal \u2013 makes us feel like we\u2019re part of one big family.\u201d One person from the meal service writes: <\/strong>\u201cI was struck by the faith, the intensity of the Coptic Christians as they prayed before and after the meal.\u201d And then: \u201cIn the eyes of our refugee brothers who we accompany to the showers and serve at table, we see Jesus who responds to us: \u2018It\u2019s Me!\u201d Then; \u201cAfter an evening of serving, when we meet with the other volunteers to share our experiences, your heart is bursting with emotions and positive resolutions.\u201d On the patronal feast of the city of Como it was a special afternoon in the crowded basilica, <\/strong>with the bishop and civil authorities, with the full participation of Eritrean, Ethiopian and Somali Christian refugees, <\/strong>along with a representation of\u00a0 500 volunteers. \u00a0<\/strong> \u201cThe Gospel reading about the Final Judgement, in Italian, English and Tigrinya was very moving,\u201d <\/strong>they reported. \u201cColomban Missionary Father Claudio, who belongs to our community and spent more than 30 years in those countries and knows their languages, has been working for weeks in the camps. The bishop entrusted their spiritual wellbeing to him, placing his very basilica at the complete disposal of the refugees. Jesus came to visit us today in these refugee brothers and sisters. And we want not only to accept Him, but to respond into the future in concrete ways.\u201d   Source:<\/strong> Movimento dei Focolari Italia<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An entire community on the border between Switzerland and Italy shares an exeprience of welcoming the many refugees in search of a peaceful future. Sharing and growth.<\/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":[893,894],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-328714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-focolare-worldwide-2","category-senza-categoria-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328714","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=328714"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328714\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=328714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=328714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=328714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}