Jun 28, 2017 | Non categorizzato, Word of
“Weary and carrying heavy burdens”: these words suggest images of people (men and women, young adults, children and the elderly) who are weighed down in all sorts of ways as they journey through life, hoping the day will come when they can be freed from all this. In this passage from Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus invites us: “Come to me…” He was surrounded by a crowd that had come to see and hear him. Many of them were simple people: poor, with little education, unable to know and to follow all the complex religious obligations of their time. What is more, they were saddled with the taxes and bureaucracy of Roman rule, a weight that was often impossible to bear. They were constantly worrying and were looking out for the offer of a better life. In his teaching, Jesus gave special attention to them and to all those excluded by society because they were seen as sinners. He wanted everyone to understand and welcome the most important law, the law that opens the door to the Father’s house: the law of love. God, indeed, reveals his wonders to those with open and simple hearts. But Jesus invites us too, today, to come closer to him. He showed himself as the visible presence of God who is love, a God who loves us immensely just as we are, with our talents and shortcomings, our aspirations and failures! And he invites us to trust in his “law” — which is not a burden that crushes us, but a yoke that is easy. It fills the hearts of those who live this law with joy. It demands our commitment not to turn in on ourselves, but rather to make our lives an ever-fuller gift to others, day by day. “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” Jesus also makes a promise: “I will give you rest.” In what way? He gives us rest first of all through his presence, which becomes more decisive and deep in us if we choose him as the cornerstone of our life. Next, he does so through a special inner light that shines upon our daily footsteps and makes us discover life’s meaning, even when things around us are tough. And then if we start loving as Jesus himself did, in love we find both the strength to carry on and the fullness of freedom, because the life of God grows within us. In her commentary of the Word of Life from May 1999, Chiara Lubich wrote: “A Christian who is not always striving to love does not deserve the name of Christian. The reason is that all Jesus’ commandments are summed up in one: to love God and love our neighbor, in whom we see and love Jesus. “Love is not a mere feeling, but it translates into real life, into service of our brothers and sisters, especially those who are close to us, starting from the little things, from the humblest of services. “Charles de Foucauld says: ‘When you love someone, you are in that person in a real way; you are in that person through love; you live in that person through love; you do not live in yourself; you are ‘detached’ from yourself, ‘outside’ yourself.’ “And it is because of this love that Jesus’ light gains ground in us, just as he promised: ‘To those who love me … I will reveal myself’ (see Jn 14: 21). Love is a source of light. And by loving, we have a greater understanding of God who is love.” So, let’s accept Jesus’ invitation to go to him, knowing he is the source of our hope and our peace. Let’s accept his “commandment” and strive to love, just as he did, in the endless opportunities to do this throughout the day — in our families, in the parish, at work — responding to offenses with forgiveness, building bridges rather than walls and putting ourselves at the service of anyone weighed down by difficulties. Far from being a burden, we will discover that this law gives us wings to soar on high. Letizia Magri Each month the Focolare offers a Scripture passage as a guide and inspiration for daily living. Focolare’s founder, Chiara Lubich (1920–2008), wrote these commentaries for many years. Now an international commission continues this tradition, faithful to her spirituality of unity. Letizia Magri, an expert in marriage and family from the John Paul II Institute in Rome, is head of this commission and part of the Focolare’s center for the family. 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, the Focolare magazine (livingcitymagazine.com). For information and to subscribe to this leaflet or to the magazine, write to: Living City, 202 Comforter Blvd, Hyde Park, NY 12538; tel: 845-229-0496; e-mail: livingcity@livingcitymagazine.com. Visit dev.focolare.org (international) or focolare.us (U.S.). © 2017 by Living City of the Focolare Movement, Inc. Read more Lubich, Chiara. The Art of Loving. New City Press: Hyde Park, New York, 2010. Lubich, Chiara. Neighbors: short reflections on loving the people around us. New City Press: Hyde Park, New York, 2012. Lubich, Chiara. “In love what counts is to love,” Essential Writings. New City Press: Hyde Park, New York, 2007, pg. 82.
May 29, 2017 | Non categorizzato, Word of
for ages 4-8 | for ages 9-17 | MP3 Audio | Print
In the days following Jesus’ crucifixion, his disciples stayed indoors, fearful and confused. They had followed him along the roads of Palestine, where he proclaimed God’s tender love for each person. Jesus had been sent by the Father, not only to give witness to this love, but also to open for humanity the path to God. He revealed a God who is Trinity, who is a communion of love in himself, and who wants to gather all into this embrace. During the time of his mission, many people saw, heard and experienced Jesus’ good works, his words of welcome, forgiveness and hope … But then came his condemnation and crucifixion. This is the context in St John’s Gospel, where we are told how after he rose again on the third day Jesus appeared to his disciples and sent them out to continue his mission. “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” It is as if he said, “Do you remember how I shared my life with you? How I satisfied your hunger and thirst for justice and for peace? How I healed the hearts and bodies of so many marginalized people, the outcasts of society? How I defended the dignity of the poor, widows and foreigners? Now you must continue: proclaim the Gospel you have received to everyone. Tell them that God wishes to be met and known by all. Tell them that you are all brothers and sisters.” Each person, created in the image and likeness of God who is love, longs for this encounter. All cultures and societies strive to build relationships of community. But how challenging it is, how many difficulties and obstacles there are to reaching this goal! Every day this deep aspiration runs up against our weakness, our narrowmindedness and fears, our mistrust and judgement of each other. Yet the Lord, with great trust, goes on saying to us as he did in the past: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” How can we respond to such a bold invitation? Doesn’t the mission of creating fraternity in a fractured world seem like fighting a losing battle? On our own we will never make it. That is why Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit, as a special gift who sustains our efforts to love each person, even if that person is an enemy. In a Word of Life meditation from 1994, Focolare founder Chiara Lubich wrote, “The Holy Spirit, given to us through baptism … is the spirit of love and unity, who made all believers one in the risen Lord and with one another, overcoming every difference of race, culture and social class … Our selfishness builds barriers of isolation and excludes those who are different from us … So, by listening to the Holy Spirit’s voice, let us try to grow in this fellowship … overcoming the seeds of division carried within us.” With the Holy Spirit’s help this month, every time we interact with others, no matter what it is, let us too remember and practice the words of love: welcome, listen, empathize, dialogue, encourage, include, care, forgive, appreciate someone … In this way, we accept Jesus’ invitation to continue his mission, and we will be channels of the life he gave us. This was the experience of a group of Buddhist monks visiting the international town of Loppiano, Italy, where its 800 inhabitants try to live the Gospel faithfully. They were deeply touched by experiencing Gospel love for the first time. In 1998, Chiara remembered how one of them said: “I put my dusty shoes outside the door; in the morning I found them clean. I put my dirty clothes outside the door; in the morning, I found them washed and ironed. Others knew that I was cold, because I was from Southeast Asia; they raised the temperature and brought me blankets … One day, I asked, ‘Why are you doing this?’ ‘Because we love you, because we love you very much,’ was the answer.’ This experience paved the way for genuine dialogue between Buddhists and Christians. Letizia Magri _____________________________________________ Each month the Focolare offers a Scripture passage as a guide and inspiration for daily living. Focolare’s founder, Chiara Lubich (1920–2008), wrote these commentaries for many years. Now an international commission continues this tradition, faithful to her spirituality of unity. Letizia Magri, an expert in marriage and family from the John Paul II Institute in Rome, is head of this commission and part of the Focolare’s center for the family. 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, the Focolare magazine (livingcitymagazine.com). For information and to subscribe to this leaflet or to the magazine, write to: Living City, 202 Comforter Blvd, Hyde Park, NY 12538; tel: 845-229-0496; e-mail: livingcity@livingcitymagazine.com. Visit dev.focolare.org (international) or focolare.us (U.S.). © 2017 by Living City of the Focolare Movement, Inc. Read more: Lubich, Chiara. “The Holy Spirit, the Unknown God,” Essential Writings, New City Press: Hyde Park, New York, 2007, pp. 143–149. Lubich, Chiara. “God is love,” The Art of Loving. New City Press: Hyde Park, New York, 2010, pp. 25–31.
Apr 27, 2017 | Non categorizzato, Word of
https://dev.focolare.org/gb/files/2017/04/201705WoL.mp3
Matthew ends his Gospel with the final events of Jesus’ life on earth. Jesus has risen from the dead, having fulfilled his mission. He had proclaimed God’s healing love for all, reopening the way that leads to fraternity. Matthew sees Jesus as Emmanuel, “God with us,” the one promised by the prophets and awaited by the people of Israel. Before returning to the Father, Jesus gathers together his disciples, the group who had most closely shared in his mission. He entrusts them with continuing his work — a tough assignment! But Jesus reassures them. He will not leave them on their own. Indeed, he promises to be with them every day, to support, accompany and encourage them “to the end of the age.” With his help, they will bear witness to meeting him, to his word and his acts of welcome and mercy toward all. In this way, many others will meet him and together form the new people of God, founded upon the commandment of love. We could say that God’s joy is to be with me, with you, with us every day to the end of our individual lives and to the end of human history. But is that true? Can we really encounter him? In a Word of Life commentary from 1982, Focolare founder Chiara Lubich wrote, “He is around the corner; he is next to me and to you. He hides himself in the poor, the despised, little ones, the sick, the person seeking advice, or deprived of freedom. He is in the ugly and the marginalized … As he said, ‘I was hungry and you gave me food’ (Mt 25:35) … Let’s learn how to find him where he is.” He is in his Word, which, if put into practice, renews our lives. All over the world he is in the Eucharist. He also works through his ministers, the servants of his people. He is present when we are in agreement among us (see Mt 18:20). Our prayer to the Father then becomes more effective, and we find light for our daily decisions. “I am with you always, to the end of the age.” How much hope this promise gives us! It encourages us to find him as we go along our way. Let’s open our hearts, and our arms too, to be welcoming and to share. Let’s do this personally and as communities, in our families and our churches, in our workplaces and on festive occasions, in our civil and religious associations. We will meet Jesus, and he will amaze us with joy and with light, the signs of his presence. If we start each morning thinking, “Today I want to discover where God wants to meet me!” we too will have wonderful experiences like this one shared in Glimpses of Gospel Life: “My husband’s mother deeply cared about her son, even to the point of being jealous. A year ago she was diagnosed with cancer, and her only daughter was not able to give her the level of care and help she needed. “During that time, I went to a summer gathering of the Focolare called a Mariapolis, where I encountered God’s love in a way that changed my life. “The first fruit of this conversion was the decision to ask my mother-in-law to come and live with us, setting aside all my fears about it. The light that had been lit in my heart made me see her with new eyes. Now I knew that it was Jesus in her that I cared for and helped. “To my surprise, she responded to all I did with just as much love. Months of sacrifice went by, but when my mother-in-law passed gently on to the next life, she left us all with a deep sense of peace. “It was around that time that I realized I was pregnant, after nine years of waiting! This child was a tangible sign of God’s love for us.”
Letizia Magri
________________________________________________ Read more: • Lubich, Chiara. “Jesus in our neighbor,” The Art of Loving. New City Press: Hyde Park, New York, 2010, pp. 103-110. • Lubich, Chiara. “The Word that gives life,” Essential Writings. New City Press: Hyde Park, New York, 2007, pp. 120-128.
Mar 28, 2017 | Non categorizzato, Word of
https://dev.focolare.org/gb/files/2017/03/201704Wol.mp3
Word of Life for ages 4-8 | for ages 9-14 | for ages 15-17 | MP3 Audio | Print
This was an invitation two travellers made to a stranger, having met him on their way from Jerusalem to the village of Emmaus. The stranger had come upon them while they were ‘talking and discussing’ all that had recently happened in that city, and he seemed to be the only person to know nothing about it. So the two of them welcomed him to walk with them, and they told him about ‘a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people’ (Lk 24:19). They had put their trust in him, yet he had been handed over by the chief priests and the leaders of the people to the Romans, condemned to death and crucified. It was an immense tragedy, and they could make no sense of it. As they walked, the stranger helped them understand the meaning of what had happened, based upon Scripture. It rekindled hope in their hearts. When they reached Emmaus, they urged him to join them for supper: ‘Stay with us, because it is almost evening.’ While at table together, the stranger blessed the bread and shared it with them. This gesture opened their eyes to who he was: the man once crucified and dead was now risen! The two of them immediately changed their plans. They went back to Jerusalem to find the other disciples and tell them the great news. We too can be disillusioned, appalled, disheartened by a terrible feeling of powerlessness in the face of injustices done to the innocent and defenceless. Our own lives have their share of pain, uncertainty, darkness… How we would like to transform it all into peace, hope, light for ourselves and for others! Do we want to meet Someone who can understand us to the core of our being, Someone who can shed light upon our journey through life? Jesus, the God-man, freely accepted to experience the tunnel of pain as we do, to meet each of us in the depths of our situations. He felt physical pain, but he also felt inner pain: from betrayal by his friends to the point even of feeling forsaken by that very God he had always called Father (see Mt 27:46; Mk 15:34). Through his unshakeable faith in the love of God, he overcame such immense pain, entrusting himself once more to the Father (Lk 23:46), and from the Father he received new life. Jesus has brought all of us onto this same path, and he wants to travel with us. In the April 1999 Focolare Word of Life, Chiara Lubich wrote, ‘He is there in anything that hurts us … Let’s try to recognize Jesus in all the distress and the tough situations in life, in all darkness, in our personal misfortunes and those of others, and in the sufferings of the world around us. They are him because he has made them his own. It would be enough … to do something practical to lessen “his” suffering in the poor … for us to … find … a new fullness of life.’ A seven-year-old girl shared her experience: ‘I was very sad when my daddy was sent to prison. I loved Jesus in him, so when we went to visit, I didn’t cry in front of him.’ A young wife said: ‘I accompanied my husband, Robert, through the last months of his life, after the doctors gave him no hope of recovery. I never left him for a moment. Seeing him, I saw Jesus. Robert was on the cross, really on the cross.’ Their love for one another became a source of light for their friends, who were drawn to compete in solidarity, never letting up and spreading to many others, giving rise to an association for social development called Abbraccio Planetario (‘global embrace’). ‘What we experienced with Robert,’ said one of his friends, ‘inspired us to follow him on a real journey towards God. We often ask ourselves the meaning of suffering, illness and death. I believe everyone who had the gift of sharing a part of the journey alongside Robert now has a very clear answer.’ This month all Christians celebrate the mystery of Jesus’ death and resurrection. It is a chance to rekindle our faith in God’s love, which allows us to transform pain into love. Every detachment, separation, failure, and death itself, can become for us too, a source of light and peace. Sure of God’s closeness to each of us, in any situation, let’s repeat with trust the disciples’ prayer at Emmaus, ‘Stay with us, because it is almost evening.’ Letizia Magri
Feb 27, 2017 | Non categorizzato, Word of
for ages 4-8 | for ages 9-14 | for ages 15-17 | MP3 Audio | Print
We can live like the first Christians and witness in our lives to God’s overwhelming love. If we, his followers, are truly reconciled among ourselves, we can speak convincingly of God’s reconciling love for the world. “Be reconciled to God” (2 Cor 5:20). All over the world, there are blood-soaked wars. They seem endless, and they embroil families, tribes and peoples. Twenty-year-old Gloria told this story: “We got news of a village that’d been burnt down. Lots of people lost everything. With my friends I collected some useful things: mattresses, clothes, food. We set out and after an eight hour journey we met all those people in such terrible need. We listened to them, dried their tears, hugged them and tried to comfort them. One family told us, ‘Our little girl was in the house they burnt down. It felt like we were dying with her. Now, through your love, we have the strength to forgive the men who did this!’” The Apostle Paul also experienced this kind of forgiveness, and it completely changed his life. He, the very one who was persecuting Christians,1 met God’s free-given love. It came in a completely unexpectedly way as he was travelling. God then sent him out in his name 2 as an ambassador of reconciliation. This is how Paul became a passionate and credible witness to the mystery of Jesus who died and rose again. He spoke of Jesus who had reconciled the world to himself so that everyone could know and experience a life of communion with him and one another.3 Through Paul the Gospel message reached and fascinated even pagans, those thought to be furthest from salvation: “Be reconciled to God!” he said. Despite our failings that discourage us or the false certainties that fool us into thinking we have no need, we too can meet God’s mercy. His love is so excessive! We can let it heal our hearts and in the end set us free to share this treasure with others. Like this we will give our contribution to God’s plan of peace for all humanity and the whole of creation. This plan overcomes the contradictions of history, as Chiara Lubich suggests in this passage: “On the cross, in the death of his Son, God gave us the highest proof of his love. Through Christ’s cross, he reconciled us to himself. This fundamental truth of our faith is fully relevant today. “It is the revelation all humankind awaits. Yes, God is close to all people with his love and he loves each person passionately. Our world needs to hear this proclamation, but we can proclaim God’s love if first we proclaim it, again and again, to ourselves — until we feel surrounded by this love, even when everything would make us think the opposite.… All our behaviour should make this truth credible. “Jesus said clearly that before bringing our offering to the altar we should be reconciled with a brother or sister if they have anything against us (see Mt 5:23-24) … So let’s love one another as he loved us, without being closed or prejudiced, but being open to welcome and appreciate the positive in our neighbour, ready to give our lives for one another. This is Jesus’ main command, the mark of Christians, valid today just as it was at the time of Christ’s first followers. Living this word means becoming reconcilers.” Living like this we will enrich our days with acts of friendship and reconciliation: in our own family and among families, in our own Church and among Churches, in every civil and religious community to which we belong. Letizia Magri
- See Acts 22:4 ff.
- See 2 Cor 5:
- See Eph 2:13 f
Jan 28, 2017 | Non categorizzato, Word of
The word ‘heart’ makes us think of affections, feelings and passions. However, for the bible writers it meant much more. Together with the spirit, the heart is the centre both of life and of the person; it is the place where decisions are made, the place of our inner life, our spiritual life. A heart of flesh is docile to the word of God and allows itself to be guided by the word, giving rise to “peaceful thoughts” about others. Instead, a heart of stone is closed in on itself and is unable to listen or be merciful. Do we really need a new heart and a new spirit? It is enough to look around and see the violence, corruption and wars that are caused by hearts of stone which are not open to God’s plan for creation. If we look honestly within ourselves, we can see that we are often motivated by selfish wants. Does love truly guide our decisions? Are we guided by what is good for others? Seeing our impoverished humanity, God was moved to compassion. He knows us better than we know ourselves and he knows we need a new heart. He promised this to the Prophet Ezekiel, thinking not only of individuals but of all his people. God’s dream is to recreate one large family of peoples, as was his original intention, which is guided by the law of mutual love. History has often shown that while, on the one hand, we cannot fulfill God’s plan on our own, on the other He has never tired of getting involved, to the point of promising that he himself would give us a new heart and a new spirit. He kept his promise to the full when he sent his Son on earth and when he poured out his Spirit on the day of Pentecost. A community began – the first Christian community in Jerusalem – which was an icon of humankind living as “one heart and one soul”. All of us, you who are reading or listening to this commentary on the Word of Life and I who am writing it, are called to be part of this new humanity. Moreover, we are called to edify this new humanity around us, bringing it into the places where we live and work. What a great mission has been given to us and how great is God’s trust in us! Instead of feeling depressed at seeing how corrupt society seems to be; instead of resigning ourselves to evils that are bigger than us, and shutting it all out as if we were not concerned, let’s widen our hearts “according to the measure of the heart of Jesus. How much work that means! Yet this is the only thing necessary.” This is what Chiara Lubich asked us to do and she went on saying: “It means loving everyone we meet as God loves them. And since we live in time, we must love our neighbors one by one, without holding in our heart any left-over affection for the brother or sister met a moment before”. Let’s not trust in our own strength and abilities, which are inadequate, but let’s trust in God’s gift to us: “A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you.” If we respond willingly to the call to love each person, if we allow ourselves to be guided by the voice of the Holy Spirit in us, we will become living cells of a new humanity, builders of a new world, in the great diversity of peoples and cultures. Fabio Ciardi This month we will be living this Word, which was chosen by an ecumenical group in Germany, together with brothers and sisters of various Churches, so as to let God’s promise accompany us during the whole of this year in which we are commemorating the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.
