Aug 5, 2018 | Focolare Worldwide
“These words are precious to me, since they are written by Chiara Lubich: ‘I can imagine that all of you . . . feel the full weight of the violence and terrorism that even spreads across entire nations. Young people not much older than you believe that they can change society by kidnapping, killing and committing every sort of criminal act. Without a doubt they never found more positive ideals to live for and let themselves wander onto very dangerous road. Many people are frightened and unable to live at peace. What can we do? What contribution could we give?’ These words perfectly sum up what I’m going through right now. I’d like to share with you what I’m living and how abandoned I feel in this moment, perhaps a bit as Jesus felt when he was abandoned on the cross. This sense of abandonment is something I felt in all four of the detention centers where I stayed and where I found myself among teenagers who were for the most part younger than me. At first these kids frightened me. They were against me and even wanted to kill me. But I tried to get close to them and realized that what they were missing was understanding, a lack of opportunity and, therefore, a lack of love. I’m not trying to justify them, but they also need love and help, only that they looked for it by drawing attention to themselves in the wrong way. But it was the only way they knew. My parents try to live for a united world and, ever since I was a small, I did too. It’s easier when you belong to a community where everyone tries to live in that way. Whereas, for people who are afraid to let themselves love, it’s harder, especially when they see that this love doesn’t correspond to what they see around them, such as thieves and assassins. Nevertheless, it’s only love that cuts through all the limitations and this is the more precious truth, despite of everything I’m living in here. Now these guys come into my cell and ask me for advice or help, especially when they’re going through ugly moments. Some of them even want to know more about Youth for a United World (Y4UW) which I belong to in spite of my situation. Lots of them ask me how I am, if I need anything; one even calls me brother. What I’m living in prison can turn into an invasion of love that little by little spreads where violence reigns, just like gentle rain that penetrates deeper and deeper into the soil…”.
https://youtu.be/6VGaH7_g-H0
Jul 30, 2018 | Focolare Worldwide
“What shall I do in life?” one of the seven workshops held following the Genfest, focused on the theme of the choices in life, that is, one’s own “Life direction.” As the organizers recounted, “the construction of this workshop by adults and a group of young people from various parts of the world began last February, with meetings via Skype: a really edifying experience assumed by all with commitment, responsibility and creativity.” “Upon arriving in Tagaytay and getting to know each other personally, we realised the great expectations of everyone. Also the numbers expected at the workshop were high: out of the 1,000 enrollees in the seven workshops, 250 had chosen Life Direction, and came from various countries, speaking 16 languages.” The program, guided in a light and gradual manner towards ever deeper issues in which concrete experiences were the main factor, was prepared by the youths of the Asian town themselves, and the thread focused on a “daily motto: a thought to put into practice during the day. 
“The first day opened with “Open your heart”: an invitation to open one’s heart to true happiness, trying to remove what could be an impediment in living the present moment intensely. Four experiences were presented in various situations and methods on the theme of happiness discovered thanks to concrete love, or discovered after starting again after a fall, or in painful and difficult situations. The exchange sessions in small groups verified what lay in the depths and how many questions and expectations each one had inside.” “On the second day – they continued – the motto was ’What is the call’ which required our most active participation in presenting the sense of the ’calling’ with a comprehensible language to be able to be accepted, and associated to three key words: understand, listen, choose.” Then followed the story with God in five biblical personages: Samuel, the rich young man, the prodigal son, Mary, and Peter. A married couple, a religious, a woman committed in the professional world, and a focolarina were interviewed on the three key words. “In smaller groups we managed to deepen the sense of each of these callings, interacting with questions and answers.” “The third day’s motto was: ’Aim high.’ We left the word of Chiara Lubich who in 2002 recounted her calling to the youths in Barcelona. The questions, which were written, slowly filled the question box, and were the afternoon’s programme, with other interviews of our guests: each underlined the beauty of their own vocation in the perspective of the sole calling to love. The hour and a half passed swiftly!” “In these four days – the adults wrote – we saw youths who were thirsting for a relationship with God, in a profound quest, simplicity and serenity. We felt that something new had come about: an experience of light that had opened a new path of dialogue with the youths on the calling to a radical vocation.” Some of those present said: “It was exactly what I needed at this point of my life. Living the present moment, opening my doors, and taking radical steps beyond ourselves, are what I am bringing home with me.” “The youths who spoke about their choice to follow God in a total way gave me courage to make choices only out of love.” “For me it was important to understand how to answer the call: understand (that God loves me), listen (to the voice within) and decide (to follow Jesus). I am so happy about this experience. Thanks!”
Jul 29, 2018 | Non categorizzato
More than 50 countries have signed up to the International Day of Friendship, which the United Nations established in 2011 and is celebrated each year on July 30. (Some countries, such as India, Nepal and Bangladesh, celebrate it in the days just following.) The aim of the day is to encourage governments, associations and groups to promote every kind of friendship, solidarity, trust, mutual understanding and forgiveness. This is in line with local cultures and customs, with the conviction that these feelings can effectively contribute to peace between peoples and nations. The UN especially encourages young people, as future leaders, to undertake community activities that include different cultures, to promote international understanding and respect for diversity. Judging by the thousands of young people who enthusiastically took to the message of friendship and unity “Beyond all borders,” at the recent Genfest in Manila and many other countries, the encouragement has not fallen on deaf ears.
Jul 25, 2018 | Focolare Worldwide
Dear God, I remember those moments when I was younger, when I used to send you letters. Those letters were bombarded with, questions that I wanted answers immediately. I was 12 years old when I started seeing the world in a different way. I was born in a beautiful family, just like how I saw in the movies. I had a caring mom who wakes up earlier to prepare our breakfast. I had a loving dad. I had two lovely younger sisters that were always happy with the little joys of life. And just like any story in the movies, there was a downfall. One day, I just woke up and my mom wasn’t there anymore. I remember clearly, normally Sunday is Pancake day, my dad would prepare pancakes and my mom would cook bacon and eggs. But that day I just saw my dad drinking coffee by himself. No pancakes. No bacon and eggs. No mom. He explained that she left for good. My sisters were 8 and 6 years old. I pulled them both closer to me and hugged them and whispered to the universe that I will do my very best to take care of them. We were the talk of the town. The parents, teachers and kids were gossiping. There were so many moments I wanted to fight back to protect my sisters or simply just cry and complain to the world, to you. Why? Why us. I am too young to face this. Where are you? And my dad, he was the best person in this world. He did not deserve this. We moved closer to our grandparents. One day at school, I was about to eat with my friends, my sisters were rushing to me and told me that our mom was there. And in my mind, I was thinking, it’s impossible. I saw my mom coming towards us. She had a huge plastic bag filled with gifts for me and my sisters. I did not know what to feel. I ignored that she was there. Why now? Why is she back? After leaving your family? You can just come back? And you expect they will receive you and forgive you with wide open arms? And now she comes back with gifts thinking she can just replace it with all the moments she was not present? NO So I wrote to you, God, let your angels send me the message. I don’t know how, I don’t know when, but I felt in my heart you were listening to me. I remember writing to Mary as well. I told her I needed a mother. And you did answer to me. That day that I spoke with my grandmother, she helped me understand that I have to go beyond the pain my mom caused us; there is Jesus inside her. And despite all the bad things we do in life, his love for us will never change, if we fall, if we make mistakes, he will always love us immensely. It was not easy, I had to empty my heart and let her in, little by little, we began to rebuild a relationship and now my mom is a part of my life again. The love I have for my family is so huge that there will always be space for mistakes and acceptance. I may not have the family like in the movies, but I have a story that is real, and it’s better, because you God, you directed it. You wrote it. Life doesn’t stop there, I still have so many struggles to overcome, there are still so many challenges, but one thing is for sure, I trust in your plans for me. I might not understand right away, but I have this faith in my heart that you will be there for me no matter what. And for that, thank you.
Jul 20, 2018 | Non categorizzato
″You need to be young to follow Jesus, or else become young. He even asks that one becomes a child – every day and in every moment, freeing oneself from the sickness of spiritual senility. Because, if the spirit ages, it is held down and it can never soar. Therefore, one always needs to be reborn, begin again, become new: Jesus. It is often said that the youth of today are skeptical, perhaps cynical… if that’s true, it might be a case of posture or style beneath which lies the sense of amazement in front of a generation that was born in the midst of an inhumane waste of energy in the production of death. It is materialism that scares, deludes and arrests today’s youth who, by nature, react to a standard of living made up only of economic calculations and sensorial entertainment, of a singular battle for the stomach … This is the divine lesson behind this human crisis on which we pour so much makeup, tears and Coca-Cola: you can’t live without an absolute. Jesus walks by and the young people see him if the sight of him is not impeded by surgance of proud human beings, that is, people who feel that they are more than others because of their money or political power… Young people can immediately pick out the pure and divine countenance of Jesus, they leave father and mother, fiance and wealth, flattery and comfort – first on the path of the aposotolate and then Calvary. They want Christ and Christ Crucified. Christ in his entirety, all in all: only ideal. And they want his spirit, which is love: this divine blood that conquers death; which is intelligence and wisdom and bond of unity.″ Igino Giordani
