December 2014
In this period of Advent, our time of preparation for Christmas, the figure of John the Baptist comes into light once again. He was sent by God to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah. To those crowding around to hear him, he strongly urged a change in their lives: ‘Bear fruits worthy of repentance’ (Lk 3:8). And to those who asked: ‘What then should we do?’ (Lk 3:10), he replied:
‘Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.’
Why should I give what is mine to another? Since we were both created by God, the other person is my brother, my sister; therefore, he or she is part of me. ‘I cannot hurt you without harming myself,’ Gandhi once said. We were created as a gift for one another, in the image of God who is Love. We have the divine law of love in our blood. When he came among us, Jesus explained it very clearly in his new commandment: ‘Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another’ (Jn 13:34). It is the ‘law of heaven’, the life of the Holy Trinity brought down on earth, the heart of the Gospel. As the Father, Son and Holy Spirit live in full communion in heaven, to the point of being one (see Jn 17:11), we on earth are truly ourselves to the extent that we live the reciprocity of love. And just as the Son says to the Father: ‘All that is mine is yours, and what is yours is mine’ (Jn 17:10), so too our love reaches fulfilment when we share with one another not only spiritual goods, but also material goods.
The needs of our neighbour are the needs of all of us. Is someone unemployed? I am unemployed. Is someone’s mother sick? I help her as if she were my own. Are there others who are hungry? It’s as if I myself were hungry and I try to find food for them as I would for myself.
This is the experience of the first Christians in Jerusalem: ‘The whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common’ (Acts 4:32). This communion of goods was not obligatory, and yet they practised it intensely. As the apostle Paul explained it was not a matter of making someone go without so as to give relief to others but of ‘a fair balance’ (2 Cor 8:13).
Basil the Great says: ‘The bread you set aside belongs to the hungry; the coat you store in your chest belongs to the naked; the money you keep hidden belongs to the needy.’
And Augustine says: ‘The surplus of the rich belongs to the poor.’
‘Even the poor can help one another. One can offer legs to the other, another eyes to guide the blind, and another can visit the sick.’
‘Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.’
Today too we can live like the early Christians. The Gospel is not a never-never land. This is shown, for example, by the new ecclesial Movements. The Holy Spirit has given rise to them in the Church to help revive, in all its freshness, the passionate gospel-based drive of the early Christians and to respond to the huge challenges of present society where there is such great injustice and poverty.
I remember that in the early days of the Focolare Movement the new charism filled our hearts with an exceptionally powerful love for the poor. Whenever we came across people in poverty, we wrote down their addresses in a notebook so that we could visit them later and help them. They were Jesus: ‘You did it to me’ (Mt 25:40). After visiting them in the run-down places they lived, we invited them to share a meal with us. For them we got out our best tablecloth, our best cutlery, the tastiest food. All around the table, in that first focolare, sat a focolarina then someone poor, a focolarina then someone poor…
At one point it seemed to us that the Lord was asking us in particular to become poor so as to serve both the poor and everyone else as well. There, in the living room of that first focolare house, each one put in a pile on the floor whatever she felt was extra: an overcoat, a pair of gloves, a hat, even a fur coat… And today, in order to give to the poor, we have businesses that give employment and their profits to share out!
But there is still a great deal to do to help ‘the poor.’
‘Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.’
We might not realize it, but we have many riches that we can put into common with others. We have our sensitivity that we need to sharpen and things we need to learn so that we can help concretely, can find out how to live real fr
November 2014
And so a hymn of praise and gratitude wells up from the human heart. This is the first step to take, the first teaching to grasp from the words of the Psalm: to praise and thank God for his work, for the wonders of the cosmos and for human beings fully alive who are his glory and who alone in creation can to say to him: ‘For with you is the fountain of life.’ But it was not enough for the Father’s love to pronounce the Word through whom all things were made. He wanted the Word himself to take on our flesh. God, the one true God, became man in Jesus and brought to earth the spring of life. The source of every good, of every being and of every happiness came to dwell among us, so that we could have it, so to speak, within hand’s reach. ‘I came,’ says Jesus, ‘that they may have life, and have it abundantly’ (Jn 10:10). He has filled with himself every bit of time and space in our existence. He wanted to stay with us always, so we could recognize him and love him in the most varied guises. Sometimes we find ourselves thinking, ‘It must have been amazing to live at the time of Jesus!’ Well, his love has invented a way of remaining with us, not simply in one small corner of Palestine, but in all places of the earth. He makes himself present in the Eucharist according to his promise. And there we can go for nourishment to feed and renew our life. ‘For with you is the fountain of life.’ Another source where we can draw the living water of the presence of God is our brother, our sister. Each neighbour who passes by, if we love him or her, especially any in need, cannot be thought of as someone to whom we do good, but as someone who does good to us, because they give us God. In fact, by loving Jesus in our neighbours (I was hungry … I was thirsty … I was a stranger … I was in prison [see Mt 25: 31-40]) we receive in exchange his love and life because he himself, who is in our brothers and sisters, is its source. Another wellspring rich with water is the presence of God within us. He always speaks to us and it is up to us to listen to his voice, which is our conscience. The more effort we put into loving God and our neighbour, the louder this voice becomes and drowns out all the others. But there is a privileged moment when, as at no other time, we can draw on his presence within us. It is when we pray and try to go into depth in a direct relationship with the one who dwells in the depths of our soul. It is like a deep stream of water that never runs dry, that is always available to us and that can quench our thirst at any time. All we have to do is to shut out for a moment everything else from our soul and recollect ourselves, and we will find this spring, even in the midst of the driest desert. And we do this to the point of finding that union with him where we are aware that we are no longer alone but together, the two of us: he in me and I in him. And yet, through his gift, we are one like water and the spring, the flower and its seed…. The Word of the Psalm reminds us that God alone is the source of life and therefore the source of full communion, peace and joy. The more we drink from this source and live on the living water that is his Word, the more we will come close to one another and live like brothers and sisters. Then the words that follow in this Psalm will come true: ‘in your light we see light,’ the light that humanity awaits.
Chiara Lubich
Adapted from the version first published in January 2002
October 2014
‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.’ Jesus already sees himself as bread. In the end, therefore, this is the goal of his life on earth. He is to be bread so as to be eaten. And to be bread so as to communicate his life to us and to transform us into himself. So far the spiritual meaning of these words, with their references to the Old Testament, is clear. But later on Jesus’ words become mysterious and difficult when he says of himself: ‘The bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh” (Jn 6:51) and ‘Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you’ (Jn 6:53). It is the announcement of the Eucharist, and it shocks and puts off many disciples. Yet it is the most immense gift Jesus wants to give humanity: his presence in the sacrament of the Eucharist, which gives satisfaction to soul and body, the fullness of joy, through intimate union with him. When we are nourished by this bread, there is no room for any other hunger. All our desires for love and truth are satisfied by the One who is Love itself, Truth itself. ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.’ Therefore this bread nourishes us with him already here on earth, but it is given to us so that we, in our turn, may satisfy the spiritual and material hunger of the people around us. Christ is proclaimed to the world not so much through the Eucharist, as through the lives of Christians who are nourished by the Eucharist and by the Word. They preach the Gospel with their lives and their voices, making Christ present in the midst of humanity. The life of the Christian community, thanks to the Eucharist, becomes the life of Jesus. It is, therefore, a life capable of giving love, the life of God to others. ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.’ By using the metaphor of bread, Jesus teaches us the most genuine, the most ‘Christian’ way to love our neighbour. What, in fact, does loving really mean? Loving means ‘making ourselves one’ with everyone, making ourselves one in all the others want, in the least and most insignificant things and in those that perhaps might be of little interest to us but are important to them. And Jesus gave us an amazing example of this way of loving by making himself ‘bread’ for us. He makes himself ‘bread’ in order to enter into everyone, to make himself edible, to make himself one with everyone, to serve, to love everyone. May we too make ourselves one to the point of allowing ourselves to be ‘eaten’. This is love, to make ourselves one in a way that makes others feel nourished by our love, comforted, uplifted, understood.
Chiara Lubich
September 2014
‘Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.’
Paul’s words remind us of one of the most moving aspects of Jesus’ love. It is the love that, during his life on earth, led Jesus always to welcome everyone, especially the most marginalized, those most in need, the furthest away. It is the love that led Jesus to offer his trust, confidence, friendship to everyone, breaking down, one by one, the barriers that human pride and selfishness had built in the society of his time. Jesus was the manifestation of the Father’s totally welcoming love for each one of us, which we, in our turn, ought to have for one another. This is the first thing God wills from us. For this reason we can give the Father no greater glory than by trying to welcome each other in the same way that Jesus welcomed us.
‘Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.’
How can we live the Word of Life this month? It draws our attention to one of our commonest forms of selfishness and, let’s face it, one of the most difficult to overcome: the tendency to isolate ourselves, to discriminate, to marginalize, to exclude the other because he or she is different and could disturb our tranquillity. Let’s try to live this Word of Life first of all inside our families, associations, communities, groups at work, by ridding ourselves of our judgements, discrimination, prejudice, resentment, intolerance towards one neighbour or another. These things come so easily and so often, chilling and spoiling human relations. Like a pall of ill will, they block mutual love. And then in society in general, let’s resolve to witness to the welcoming love of Jesus to any neighbour the Lord puts next to us, especially those social selfishness most easily tends to exclude or marginalize. Welcoming the other, the one different from us, lies at the basis of Christian love. It is the starting point, the first step to building the civilization of love, the culture of communion, that Jesus is calling us to above all today.
August 2014
Because God is mother and father, he is not satisfied with just loving and forgiving his sons and daughters. He ardently desires that they treat one another as brothers and sisters, that they get along with one another, that they love one another. This is God’s great plan for humanity: universal brotherhood. Such a brotherhood is stronger than the inevitable divisions, tensions, and hard feelings that so easily creep into relationships due to misunderstandings and mistakes. Families often break up because people don’t know how to forgive. Past hatreds are handed down only to perpetuate divisions between relatives, social groups, peoples. Some people even teach others not to forget the wrongs suffered, to cultivate sentiments of revenge … Such deep resentment can only poison the soul and corrupt the heart. Someone might think that forgiveness is a sign of weakness. No, it’s an expression of great courage; it’s authentic love, the most genuine, because it’s the most selfless. “If you love those who love you, what reward do you have?” says Jesus (Mt. 5:46). Everyone knows how to do that. Jesus asks for more: “Love your enemies” (Mt 5:44). We are asked to learn from him and to have the love of a father, of a mother, a merciful love toward all those who come our way, especially those who do something wrong. Moreover, for those who are called to live a spirituality of communion, that is, the Christian spirituality, the New Testament asks for something more: “Bear with one another … forgive” (Col 3:13). We could almost say that mutual love requires that we make a pact with one another: to be ready to forgive one another always. This is the only way we can contribute to universal brotherhood. “Forgive your neighbor the wrong done to you, and then your sins will be pardoned when you pray.” These words not only invite us to forgive, but they remind us that forgiving others is the necessary condition for receiving forgiveness. God listens to us and forgives us in the measure in which we forgive others. Jesus himself warns us: “The measure you give will be the measure you get” (Mt 7:2). “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy” (Mt 5:7). Actually, a heart hardened by hatred is not even capable of recognizing and accepting the merciful love of God. How can we live these words of life? First of all, by immediately forgiving anyone with whom we have not yet been reconciled. But this is not enough. We need to search the innermost recesses of our heart and eliminate even a feeling of indifference, a lack of kindness, an attitude of superiority, of neglect toward anyone we meet. Furthermore, we need to take some precautionary measures. So every morning I look at the people around me, at home, at school, at work, in the store, ready to overlook anything that I don’t like about their way of doing things, not judging them, but trusting them, always hoping, always believing. I approach every person with this total amnesty in my heart, with this universal pardon. I do not remember their faults at all, I cover everything with love. And throughout the day I try to make up for having been unkind, for a fit of impatience, by apologizing or by some gesture of friendship. I replace an instinctive rejection toward someone with an attitude of total openness, of boundless mercy, of complete forgiveness, of sharing, of being attentive to his or her needs. Then when I pray to the Father, especially when I ask him to forgive my mistakes, I am confident that my prayer will be granted. I’ll be able to say with total trust: [L1] Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us (see Mt 6:12).
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 September 2002.