https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/gb\/files\/2016\/11\/2016-12.mp3 <\/p>\n
Word of Life<\/strong> for ages 4-8<\/a> | for ages 9-14<\/a> | for ages 15-17<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n The verb is in the present tense: \u201cHe comes \u2026\u201d We can be sure of his coming in this very moment. We do not have to wait till tomorrow, or the end of time, or the next life. God acts immediately, because love shuns both hesitation and delay. The prophet Isaiah is speaking to a people anxiously waiting for their exile to end so they can return to their homeland. For us too who are waiting for Christmas, we cannot but recall a similar promise given to Mary: \u201cThe Lord is with you\u201d (Lk 1:28), as the angel announces to her the birth of the Lord. The Lord does not come for a casual visit. His is a decisive intervention, a matter of greatest importance. He comes to save us! From what? Are we in grave danger? Yes. At times we are aware of it, at other times not. He intervenes because he sees our selfishness, our indifference to those who suffer or who are in need, our hatred, our divisions. The heart of humanity is ailing. Moved by pity, he comes towards each one he has made, who he does not want to be lost. The Lord offers his outstretched hand as if to the drowning victim of a shipwreck. Sadly these days this image is always in front us, brought to mind day by day when we see those refugees who are trying to cross seas, those immigrants crossing borders. We witness how quickly they grasp an outstretched hand or a life jacket. We too, in every moment, can grasp God\u2019s outstretched hand and follow him with trust. He does not only heal our hearts from self-absorption, which closes us off from others, but he makes us, in our turn, able to help those who are in need, who are sorrowful, who are going through trials. \u201cCertainly it is not the historical Jesus or Jesus as head of the Mystical Body who sorts out our problems,\u201d wrote Chiara Lubich. \u201cIt is done by Jesus-us, Jesus-me, Jesus-you\u2026 It is Jesus in human beings, in that specific human being (when grace is present in him or her) who builds a bridge, lays down a road \u2026 \u201cIt is as another Christ, as a member of his Mystical Body, that each human being brings his or her characteristic contribution in all fields: in the sciences, in the arts, in politics, in communications, and so on.\u201d The person thus works together with Christ. \u201cIt is the incarnation that continues, a complete incarnation that involves all those who are Jesus in Christ\u2019s Mystical Body.\u201d (\u201cJesus Forsaken and the Collective and Cultural Night,\u201d an address given by Chiara Lubich to a group of young women on January 7, 2007). This is exactly what happened to Roberto, an ex-convict who found someone who \u201csaved\u201d him and who then, in turn, became someone who \u201csaved\u201d others. He told his experience at a Focolare gathering in Villa Borghese in Rome last April. \u201cWhen my long-term prison sentence came to an end, I thought I would start life again, but as usually happens, even if you have paid your debt to society, you still seem very suspect to people. \u201cI found the doors shut in my search for work. I had to beg on the streets, and for seven months I lived as a tramp. But then I met Alfonso who, through an organization started by him, helps prisoners\u2019 families. \u201cHe said to me, \u2018If you want to start again, come with me.\u2019 For a year now I have been helping him prepare food packages for these families in whom I see a reflection of myself. I see the dignity of these women who are alone with little children, living in desperate situations, waiting for someone to give them a bit of comfort, a bit of love. \u201cGiving of myself, I have rediscovered my own dignity as a human being, and my life has meaning. I have more strength because I have God in my heart, and I feel I am loved \u2026\u201d Fr. Fabio Ciardi, OMI<\/em> Each month the Focolare offers a Scripture passage as a guide and inspiration for daily living. Ever since the Focolare\u2019s earliest years, founder Chiara Lubich (1920\u20132008) wrote her own commentaries each month. Now Fr. Fabio Ciardi, OMI, theologian and close collaborator of Lubich, heads a group of scripture experts who have been entrusted with the task of writing the Word of Life commentaries, reflecting her thoughts and her spirituality of unity. This Word of Life is translated into 96 different languages and reaches several million people worldwide through the media. This monthly leaflet is also a supplement to Living City,<\/em> the Focolare magazine (livingcitymagazine.com). For information and to subscribe to this leaflet or to the magazine, write to: Living City,<\/em> 202 Comforter Blvd, Hyde Park, NY 12538; tel: 845-229-0496; e-mail: livingcity@livingcitymagazine.com. Visit focolare.org (international) or focolare.us (U.S.). \u00a9 2016 by Living City of the Focolare Movement, Inc. Read more: Lubich, Chiara. \u201cHow I met you,\u201d Essential Writings<\/em>, New City Press: Hyde Park, New York: 2007, p. 56. Lubich, Chiara. \u201cThe attraction of modern times,\u201d Essential Writings,<\/em> New City Press: Hyde Park, New York: 2007, pp.169\u2013178.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cHe comes to save you\u201d (Isa 35:4).<\/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":[1,92],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-328760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-non-categorizzato","category-word-of"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328760","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=328760"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328760\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=328760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=328760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=328760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}