[continued]
Susan Gately
First of all I want to thank all of you for being her today to launch “Like the Sunshine”.
I thank all of you who helped make it possible – those of you, starting with Neldi, Lieta’s sister, who took the time to share stories of Lieta’s life or gave me the letters she wrote you. (like Paula and Margaret who are here today, or others far away, Bruno and Paola Grazia).
Aidan my husband (who unfortunately can’t be here) and Juanita who monitored the book through all its stages;
Brendan Purcell, Maire O’Byrne, Marian Gilligan and David Hickey who proof read and offered suggestions along the way;
Brendan Leahy who edited it, and Padraic Gilligan who advised on presentation and marketing.
Particular thanks to Tony Curtis for the great cover design and to Catherine Burke and Aurelio Cerviño Alcayag (who is also from Argentina) for organising this wonderful launch.
Finally a huge thank you to Alan Gabriel who spent hours and hours, outside his own office work time, doing the design for the book. We are all deeply indebted to you.
It is an extraordinary joy to be here today.
I remember when Lieta died in 2002, thinking almost immediately “I have to write her story”. But little did I think it would take so long. (Ten years). When I finally began seriously tackling the task, and immersed myself in her letters and started interviewing people and hearing all the stories of her, I caught a glimpse of a truly extraordinary person. I knew Lieta well, and yet learning more of her through the eyes of other people, I realised I was truly in the presence of greatness. I remember thinking that if I never did anything else with my own life but write this book, I would have achieved something important.
Lieta was such a simple person and yet such an amazing one. A divine adventure brought her from Argentina to Ireland in 1972 and for thirty years she was a pioneer of the Focolare Movement here.
She stands before me, before us, as someone who was completely committed to God, to love – from a very early age.
In a letter she wrote aged 18, she said she wanted to always follow Jesus and to look for him “crucified and forsaken” in the people suffering around her. She describes the call she has felt to follow God:
“I cried because I felt the cut with my plans, my feelings, with everything. But I cried above all because the love of Jesus is too strong and it asks for everything.”
She goes on: “I am at peace in my soul because I know that He does not betray us. The pathway I have chosen is holiness.”
Many of us here knew her and loved her. Her name Lieta, means happiness, and Just to say her name brings a smile, a joy.
Of course Lieta’s story is inextricably woven with the history of the Focolare in Ireland. The Focolare, as Cathy was saying earlier, is a movement with the aim of bringing about unity among all peoples in the world through dialogue and love. Its spirituality has touched the lives of thousands of people, both north and south, on this island. In a way Lieta embodied its spirit and values. She was completely open to everyone, she build bridges of love with everyone.
At a young age she set her course in this adventure of love, and even when she went through tough times, her trust in God, experienced in particular in the community, never wavered.
I think her being, her story has a lot to say today in a world where people find it hard to make a commitment to anything in life, and who believe that by always keeping their options open, they will be more fulfilled.
By contrast Lieta testified that real happiness lies in following the plan of love that God has thought up for each of us, a plan which is unique for each person, and which is for our ultimate good.
She also shows us that the way to find real joy is through reaching out and building true relationships with each person we meet. As she said a month before she died:
“Every meeting with each person is sacred. It is true that it is that one moment which is never repeated.”
So I’m not going to spoil the story by telling you any more!
I commend this book to you all. Please read it and encourage your friends to read it!!
My hope is that Lieta’s life may instil another generation with light and hope and wisdom, and that the love she sowed will continue to bear fruit in the land she made her own.
About Susan Gately:
Susan Gately is a freelance journalist, specialising in social, family and religious affairs. A former solicitor, she cut her teeth as a journalist writing news stories about Kildare for the Liffey Champion. She spent five years as editor of the online news service of catholicireland.net She writes for the Irish Independent, Irish Catholic, the Universe, Reality and Living City, and is the Dublin multi-media correspondent for Catholic News Service in Washington. She is author of God’s Surprise – the New Movements in the Church (Veritas 2012). Susan is married to Aidan with two sons, and lives in Prosperous, Co. Kildare.
