Jun 27, 2014 | Non categorizzato, Word of
‘Truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.’
You have probably read in the gospels how often Jesus urges us to pray, and he also teaches us how to receive what we ask for. But this prayer is truly original. For it to be answered, it must be offered by several people, by a community. Jesus says: ‘If two of you…’ Two. It’s the smallest number for a community. What matters to Jesus, therefore, is not the number, but that there should more than one believer. In Judaic tradition, as you may know, it’s an accepted fact that God takes pleasure in prayer offered together, but here Jesus says something new: ‘If two of you agree…’ He wants several people, but he wants them united; he stresses their unanimity. He wants them to have one voice. Of course, they have to agree on what to ask, but their request must be based above all upon the agreement of their hearts. Jesus affirms, in practice, that the condition for getting what we ask is our mutual love.
‘Truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.’
You might be wondering why prayers offered in unity are more pleasing to the Father. The reason, perhaps, is that these are the most purified kinds of prayer. For isn’t it true that our prayers are often reduced to little more than a series of selfish requests that make you think more of beggars before a king than of children with their father? What we ask for together with others is certainly less tainted with personal interests. In contact with others we are more likely to be open to their needs and share them. But it’s not only that. It’s easier for two or three persons to understand just what to ask the Father. So, if we want our prayer to be heard, it’s better to keep exactly to what Jesus says, namely:
‘Truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.’
Jesus himself tells us the secret of this prayer’s success. It’s summed up in those words, ‘gathered in my name.’ When we are united like this, he is present among us, and whatever we ask together with him will be received more easily. For it is Jesus, present where mutual love unites hearts, who himself asks the Father together with us for the grace we seek. Can you imagine the Father not hearing Jesus? The Father and Christ are one. Isn’t this amazing? Doesn’t it inspire trust? And make you confident?
‘Truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.’
At this point, you’re probably interested in knowing what Jesus wants you to pray for. He himself makes it very clear: ‘anything.’ He sets no limits. From now on, then, why not add this type of prayer to your daily life? Perhaps your family, or you yourself, or your friends, or the groups you belong to, or your country, or the world round about you, lack countless useful things because you’ve not asked for them. Get together with the people close to you, with whoever understands you or shares your ideals. Having set yourselves to loving one another as the Gospel commands, be so united that you have the presence of Jesus among you. Then ask. Ask as much as you can. Ask during worship. Ask in church. Ask anywhere at all. Ask before making a decision. Ask for anything. And, above all, don’t act in such a way as to disappoint Jesus by not caring after he has given you such an opportunity. People will smile more; the sick will find hope; children will grow up better protected, homes be more harmonious; the world’s huge problems will become faceable even in the intimacy of the family… And you will gain Paradise, because prayer for the needs of the living and the dead is also one of the works of mercy that will be asked of us when we are judged at the end of our lives.
Chiara Lubich
May 27, 2014 | Non categorizzato, Word of
Jesus was also thinking of all of us living in the midst of the complexities of daily life. Because he is Love incarnate, he will have thought to himself: I would like to be with human beings always, I would like to share every worry with them, I would like to counsel them, I would like to walk with them along their streets, enter their homes, revive their joy with my presence. For this reason he wanted to stay with us and make us feel his closeness, his strength, his love. Luke’s gospel tells us that having seen him ascend into heaven, the disciples ‘returned to Jerusalem with great joy’ (Lk 24:52). How could that be? They had already experienced the reality of his words. We too will be full of joy if we truly believe in Jesus’s promise: ‘And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’ These words, the last spoken by Jesus to his disciples, mark the end of his life on earth and, at the same time, the start of the life of the Church where Jesus is present in many ways: in the Eucharist, in his Word, in his ministers (bishops, priests), in the poor, in the little ones, in the marginalized… in all neighbours. Perhaps we could emphasize a specific presence of Jesus, the one that he himself, again in Matthew’s Gospel, pointed out to us: ‘Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them’ (Mt. 18:20). Through this presence he wants to be able to remain in every place. If we live what he commands, especially his new commandment, we can experience this presence of his also outside of church, in the midst of people, in the places they live, everywhere. What is asked of us is love that is mutual, that serves, that understands, that shares in the sufferings, anxieties and joys of our brothers and sisters – that love which covers over everything, forgives all things, typical of Christianity. Let’s live like this so that everyone may have the chance to meet Him already here on earth.
Chiara Lubich
(First published in May 2002)
Apr 30, 2014 | Non categorizzato, Word of
“On behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”
This faith in the love of God, however, cannot remain closed up within the inner depths of each individual person. As Paul explains very well: God has given us the ministry of bringing others to reconciliation with him (see 2 Cor 5:18) by entrusting to each Christian the great responsibility of witnessing to God’s love for his creatures. How can we do this?
Our way of behaving should make this truth credible. Jesus said clearly that before bringing our offering to the altar, we should be reconciled with our brothers and sisters if they have something against us (see Mt 5:23–24).
And this holds true first of all within our communities: our families, groups, associations or churches. In other words, we are called to break down all the barriers that block harmony among people and nations …
“On behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”
“On behalf of Christ” means “in his name.” Our aim then is to take his place, to live with him and to love one another as he loved us, that is, without being limited by attitudes and prejudices, but being open to accepting and appreciating the positive values of our neighbors, even ready to give our lives for them. This is Jesus’ commandment par excellence, the characteristic of Christians, which is as valid today as it was in the time of the first followers of Christ. Living these words means becoming reconcilers.
In this way, if our every gesture, every word, every attitude is imbued with love, they will be like those of Jesus. Like him, we will be bearers of joy and hope, of concord and peace — that is, what all creation is waiting for: a world reconciled to God.
Chiara Lubich
Mar 30, 2014 | Non categorizzato, Word of
‘I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.’
Jesus was about to die and what he said was affected by this. His imminent departure demanded an answer to one problem above all. How could he stay with his people and help the Church grow?
You may know, for example, that Jesus is present in sacramental acts: he makes himself present in the Eucharist.
But Jesus is also present wherever there is mutual love. Indeed, he said, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them” (Mt. 18:20).
In a community whose deep life is mutual love, therefore, he can remain actively present. And through the community he can continue to show himself to the world and continue to influence the world.
Isn’t this wonderful? Doesn’t it make you want to start right away living this love together with your fellow Christians?
John, who tells us of these words, saw mutual love as the Church’s supreme commandment. The Church’s vocation is precisely this: to be communion, to be unity.
‘I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.’
Jesus said immediately afterwards, ‘By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’ (Jn 13:35)
So if you want to discover the true mark of authenticity for Christ’s disciples, if you want to see their badge, you have to look for it in mutual love.
Christians are to be recognized by this sign. And, if it’s missing, the world will no longer find Jesus in the Church.
‘I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.’
Mutual love creates unity. But what does unity do? Jesus prayed, ‘May they be one … that the world may believe’ (Jn 17:21). Unity, by revealing Christ’s presence, draws the world to follow him. When the world is faced with unity, with mutual love, it believes in him.
‘I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.’
In the same farewell discourse, Jesus called this commandment ‘his’.
It is his and so is particularly dear to him.
You ought not take it as simply a rule, a precept or a commandment alongside others. Here Jesus wants to reveal to you a way of living, to tell you how to set up your life. Indeed, the first Christians made this commandment the basis of their lives. As Peter said, ‘Above all, maintain constant love for one another’ (1 Pt 4:8).
Before starting work, before studying, before going to church, before any activity, make sure that mutual love reigns between you and whoever lives it with you. If it is so, then on this basis everything has value. Without this foundation, nothing is pleasing to God.
‘I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.’
Jesus also tells you that this commandment is ‘new’. ‘I give you a new commandment’.
What does he mean? Perhaps that the commandment was unknown before?
No. ‘New’ means that it is made for the ‘new age’.
But what’s this about?
It’s like this. Jesus died for us. Therefore he loved us to the utmost extreme. But what kind of love was his? It certainly wasn’t like ours. His was and is a ‘divine’ love. He said, ‘As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you’ (Jn 15:9). He loved us, therefore, with the very same love with which he and the Father love one another.
And it is with this same love that we must love one another in order to carry out the ‘new’ command¬ment.
But you, as a man or a woman, don’t have a love like this. Yet you can be happy because, as a Christian, you receive it. And who gives it to you? The Holy Spirit pours it into your heart, and into the hearts of all believers.
There is, then, an affinity between the Father, the Son and us Christians because of the one divine love that we possess. It is this love that introduces us into the Trinity. It is this love that makes us children of God.
It’s through this love that heaven and earth are linked as by a great current. Through this love the Christian community is brought into the sphere of God and the divine reality dwells on earth where believers love one another.
Doesn’t all this seem to you divinely beautiful, and isn’t the Christian life utterly fascinating?
Chiara Lubich
First published in May 1980
Feb 26, 2014 | Non categorizzato, Word of
If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.
Abide, therefore, in his love. But what does Jesus mean by this? Undoubtedly, he means that keeping his commandments is the sign, the proof that we are his true friends. It’s the condition for Jesus to reciprocate and assure us of his friendship. But he seems to mean something else as well: namely, that keeping his commandments builds up in us the same love that Jesus has by nature. Keeping them communicates to us the particular way of loving we see displayed in all of Jesus’ earthly life. It is a love that made Jesus one with the Father and at the same time urged him to identify with and be completely one with all his brothers and sisters, especially with the least, the weakest, the most marginalized. Jesus’ love was a love that healed every wound of the soul and of the body, gave peace and joy to every heart, overcame every division, rebuilding fraternity and unity among all. If we put his word into practice, Jesus will live in us and will make us too instruments of his love.
If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.
How then shall we live this month’s Word of Life? By keeping in mind and aiming decisively at the good it proposes: a Christian life that does not rest content with keeping the commandments in a minimal, cold and outward way, but that is full of generosity. The saints acted like this. And they are the living Word of God.
This month let’s take just one of his words, one of his commandments and try to translate it into life. Since Jesus’ New Commandment (‘love one another as I have loved you’ (Jn 15:12)) is like the heart, the summary of all his words, let’s live it in an utterly radical way.
Chiara Lubich
First Published in May 1994
Jan 28, 2014 | Non categorizzato, Word of
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
First of all, Jesus points out the very best way to be purified: ‘You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you.’ (Jn 15:3) His Word, more than the practice of religious rites, is what purifies our inner self. The Word of Jesus is not like human words. Christ is present in his Word, as he is present, in a different way, in the Eucharist. Through his Word Christ enters within us and, provided we allow him to act, he makes us free from sin and therefore pure in heart.
Thus purity is the fruit of living the Word, of living all the Words of Jesus which free us from our so-called attachments, which we inevitably fall into if our hearts are not in God and in his teachings. These can be attachments to things, to people, to ourselves. But if our heart is focused on God alone, all the rest falls away.
To succeed in doing this, it can be useful at different times during the day to say to Jesus, to God: ‘You, Lord, are my only good!’ (see Ps. 16: 2) Let’s try to say it often, especially when various attachments seek to pull our heart towards those images, feelings and passions that can blur our vision of what is good and take away our freedom.
Are we inclined to look at certain types of posters or television programs? Let’s stop and say to him: ‘You, Lord, are my only good’ and this will be the first step that will take us beyond self, by re-declaring our love for God. In this way we will grow in purity.
Do we realize sometimes that someone, or something we do, has got in the way, like an obstacle, between us and God, spoiling our relationship with him? That is the moment to say to him: ‘You, Lord, are my only good.’ It will help us purify our intentions and regain inner freedom.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Living the Word makes us free and pure because the Word is love. It is love, with its divine fire, that purifies our intentions and the whole of our inner self, because our ‘heart’, according to the Bible, is the deepest seat of our intelligence and our will. But there is a type of love that Jesus commands us to practise and that enables us to live this beatitude. It is mutual love, being ready to give our life for others, following the example of Jesus. This love creates a current, an exchange, an atmosphere characterized above all by transparency and purity, because of the presence of God who alone can create a pure heart in us (see Ps. 50:12). It is by living mutual love that the Word acts with its purifying and sanctifying effects.
As isolated individuals we are incapable of resisting the world’s temptations for long, but in mutual love there is a healthy environment that can protect purity and all other aspects of a true Christian life.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
So, then, the fruit of this constantly re-acquired purity is that we can ‘see’ God, which means we can understand his work in our lives and in history, hear his voice in our hearts, and recognize him where he is: in the poor, in the Eucharist, in his Word, in our communion with others, in the Church.
It is a foretaste of the presence of God which already begins in this life, as we ‘walk by faith, not by sight’ (2 Cor. 5:7), until the time when, ‘we will see face to face’ (1 Cor. 13:12) forever.
Chiara Lubich
Each month a Scripture passage is offered as a guide and inspiration for daily living. This commentary, translated into 96 different languages and dialects, reaches several million people worldwide through print, radio, television and the Internet. Ever since the Focolare’s beginnings, founder Chiara Lubich (1920–2008) wrote her commentaries each month. This one was originally published in November 1999.
This monthly leaflet is a supplement to Living City, the Focolare magazine (livingcitymagazine.com). People’s life experiences as they put the monthly sentence into practice can be read in Living City or in books published by New City Press (newcitypress.com).
For information and to subscribe to this leaflet or to the magazine, write to: Living City, 202 Comforter Blvd, Hyde Park, New York 12538; tel: 845-229-0496; e-mail: livingcity@livingcitymagazine.com. Visit dev.focolare.org (international); focolare.us (U.S.). © 2014 by Living City of the Focolare Movement, Inc.
Read more on this topic:
- Leahy, Brendan. “Living the Word Together,” Going to God Together, New City Press, 2013.
- Lubich, Chiara. “Enlarge our heart,” Essential Writings, New City Press, 2007, p.81.
- Lubich, Chiara. “Until love is mutual,” The Art of Loving, New City Press, 2005, p.87.
Next month: March 2014
“If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.” (Jn 15:10)
