“Distance is not a problem because that is the thing with this movement (the Focolare) – it does not matter if you have not seen the other person in 3 months or 3 years, the bond is still the same. They still live for you and you for them.” This was the impression of one of the young people at the conclusion of a recent weekend (30th – 31st August 2014) at the Focolare centre Curryhills.
The weekend drew together teenagers and young college students, many of the teens “glowing” after their trip to Argentina. (see World Person Project –Irish Young People recall “treasures” of trip to South America).
“As always, it was an opportunity to be with each other in a way the modern world does not always encourage,” said Laura Cullen, a Social Science student in UCD, Dublin.
A highlight of the weekend was when four people who sowed the seeds of the Gen movement (the branch of Focolare for young people) in Ireland – Pat, Nora, Susan and Brendan came to share their own stories of how they lived the spirituality of unity when they were young.
“Seeing the closeness between them was a testament to the depth of friendships we are capable of forming,” said Laura. “These relationships are founded on something stronger than shared interests or similar personality traits; they are supernatural rather than natural and they are stamped with the mark of a timelessness which, despite the ebb of years or the passing of time, hearts intent on loving cannot lose.”
The Gen movement began in 1967 when Chiara Lubich appealed for the young people in the Focolare Movement to unite and come together: “Get together the biggest number possible of youth around the world and begin a large scale revolution with the cry ‘Let’s unite!’” she said. This was the birth of the ‘Gen movement’ – the second generation of Focolare.
At the weekend, Pat told the story of Eddie McCaffrey, Ireland’s first ‘Gen’, a young man who suffered from Muscular Dystrophy and showed from the beginning that “this Ideal is for everyone.” Eddie, who died in 1979, was given the name Radix, the latin word for root by founder Chiara Lubich. (His story is told in The Vanishing Root, by Maurus Green O.S.B.)
Brendan spoke movingly about the early community of young people living the Focolare spirituality in Cathal Brugha Street college, which reached out to all the students finding concrete expression in actions like Meals on Wheels, and in student politics.
“We are heirs to a terrific legacy,” was one impression at the end of the session. Buoyed up by what they heard, the young people spoke openly about their own lives and difficulties.
On Saturday evening the teenagers presented their beautiful experience of Argentina, moving those present with accounts of their journey. The night concluded with music, endless cups of tea, talking, listening and singing – even if some sounded like crows.
“These weekends show us that we reach out by coming together. We welcomed new faces that as always added extra enthusiasm and curiosity. And together we built new plans for the future,” Laura concluded.
