Nov 4, 2017 | Non categorizzato
Nelson from El Salvador greets Pope Francis. Photo credit: © Osservatore Romano
Nov 2, 2017 | Non categorizzato
Hers is a moving story. It began when her parents, who were still quite young, swam across the Mekong river, fleeing the regime in their country, Laos, to reach Thailand. Eventually, after enormous challenges, they landed in Italy and were welcomed by a family they hadn’t ever met who live in Loppiano, the Focolare’s international community. And it was right there at the house of Raffaella and Roberto Cardinali that Sengsoury (which means “ray of light” in Laotian) and her twin sister Sourinia came into the world on September 12, 1979. Ever since she was small, “Senny” showed a special fondness for the Gospel spirit of unity and love that fuels Loppiano. When she was 9 she asked to be baptized, choosing the name Francesca. Becoming involved enthusiastically in the Gen Movement, when she became a teen she was on the front line with Sourinia preparing Supercongress 1997. When she was 23 she achieved her dream of spending the entire year at Mariapolis Lia, the Focolare’s Argentinian little city, where young people head to from all over the world. It was an experience that brought her to a more radical choice of God, and to choose a love that was more practical and polished than ever for those she met. Sengsoury loved to write poetry and lyrics that she sang together with her sister, accompanying her beautiful voice with guitar. She enrolled in beauty school in Florence. Those who know her describe her as a girl who was fascinating because of her perceptiveness, natural grace and radiant eyes. Yet she was also a person whose determination to follow Jesus could floor you. She and her boyfriend Marco became close and began to make plans for the future. In 2004, when she was 25, a sudden, serious autoimmune disease changed her life. Four years later she dictated a letter to a friend for Chiara Lubich where she described her situation: “I have a rare disease that has made it difficult for me to get around, to use language. There’s a lot of pain – sometimes shooting pain – in my bones and muscles. “These last few years, thanks to the support of my ‘grandparents’ Raffaella and Roberto, from Focolare young people and from many from the movement, I tried to transform these moments of pain into ‘drops of love’ for Jesus, including the long stretches in the hospital, tests and medicines. “At Christmas I checked in to a facility near Florence for therapy. However, bronchitis forced me to return to the hospital. I suffered a lot, and not just physically. I asked myself why it was me in this situation. I am the youngest in the ward, I have to be fed by tube and wear an oxygen mask. I have seen many of my dreams shattered: getting married, a career, travel, guitar, singing. “Sometimes I feel that Jesus is so far away. I turn to Mary, but she too is not close to me. Yet answer always comes: from a reflection, a spiritual writing, or a word from those who come to visit me. Peace returns, and with it the strength to say ‘for you Jesus; in every situation, like a sleepless night because of the pain. I don’t want to give up, and I ask Jesus to help me make it and to fulfil God’s design for me. I want so much to become a saint!” The Focolare community got involved in many ways, from moral and economic support for her parents to taking turns at her side, even to celebrate and share. From her bed, Sengsoury spread a special love. “There is only the present!” she confided to a Gen. With her feeble voice, she started to sing “O sole mio” to Jesus. She was more and more determined to offer him every suffering and transform them – as she used to say – into ‘golden nuggets’. On September 16, 2008, she began intensive treatment. In the days before her passing on September 24, she became more than ever that “ray of light,” dispelling every darkness with many a “yes” to Jesus. Those near to her sensed it through a hint in her eye or a squeeze of her hand. For them, for the ward staff and for all the young people of the movement, Sengsoury is – as her name says – a true ray of light, a vibrant light, an authentic witness of the Gospel lived.
Oct 16, 2017 | Focolare Worldwide
Once again this year the Youth Fest that coincides with the start of spring in the southern hemisphere, has made its mark. On September 23 and 24 more than a thousand young people from Uruguay, Paraguay and several regions of Argentina took over the permanent Mariapolis immersed in the Argentinian Pampas, to have an experience of brotherhood. But this year they’re looking farther – to Manila where the 2018 Genfest will be held with young people from around the world. 
Using a video game format, the young people gradually confront some of the issues they have to face in their daily lives: appearance, individualism, choices and consumerism. These are the four levels that the four actors on stage have to pass through to overcome and reach the last level with each other’s help. The keys that get them through each level are: values such as self-acceptance, solidarity, effort with regard to what the conscience suggests to every one of us, and sharing. But often you need to take into account the past that draws you back and the future that can paralyse you. Only one option is left: to live the present and, in that moment, take control and reset your history. The inventor of the game leaves the actors and the Youth Fest participants with a question: Reset, yes or no? The answer is left open. The video game ends and becomes a metaphor for life that places the players in front of the possibility of going through the daily situations of life in order to grow and reach their personal goals. The game becomes real life. Reset your life, you’re in control is the slogan of the event which, with the help of songs that had been composed for the event, planted the message of the 2017 Youth Fest in the hearts of all the participants.
Sep 22, 2017 | Non categorizzato
“An experience of the living Church, on a journey, in dialogue, and going forth,” are the words of Paola Pepe e Jonathan Michelon (the people responsible for the International Gen Schools of Loppiano), summarizing the experience of the International Seminar on the situation of young people. This is part of a series organized by the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops in preparation for the XV Ordinary General Assembly on the theme, “Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment.” “We had an experience of profound communion, ‘synod training’ in contact with various ecclesiastical institutions. Since the summer we have been preparing, along with other youth of the Focolare from different countries, in order to send our contribution to the General Secretariat of the Synod,” they wrote, together with Leandro (Argentina), Marina (Brazil) and Nelson (El Salvador). The program of the Seminar was rich in content for the authoritative work by education providers, economists, communications experts, sociologists, and youth chaperones, all passionate about working with young people. Out of 82 participants from 5 continents, there were 21 young people present, who gave their valuable contribution to the work being done, reflecting on the proposals of method and content for the upcoming synod. It was very significant that the organizing body readily welcomed and implemented some of their suggestions regarding the methodology of the unfolding of the program, with greater sharing in plenary.
“The Biblical meditations at the start of each day led us to profound reflection. One that impressed us was the passage which brought to light that to reveal the life of Jesus to the young, one must have experienced it: how important is the testimony of life!” The various themes on young people in relation to identity, planning, otherness, technology, and transcendence proposed realistic scenarios not without their challenges but always open to hope. They talked about the importance of pastoral initiatives in which young people are the protagonists when accompanied by adults willing to live with them the search for the meaning of life. “Now we want to elaborate the experiences that we live with their educational and evangelizing value to offer to the Church.” “The seminar was a great opportunity for the Church to be open, to show what she is doing for the young; and for us to work with the Church, to change the realities of the world. The Church wants to listen to us, to know what we think, what we can do concretely, and it wants to face the difficulties with us. We did not find answers, but we proceed together,” Marina explains. The conclusions highlight the need to build the change and become generators of life in listening to each other, young people and adults. “Concrete proposals have emerged that will be presented to the Synod Fathers. Among these, a team of young people alongside the work of the General Secretariat of the Synod to prepare opportunities for discussion and dialogue during the work of the Synod among bishops and young people and firmly engage some of them in the offices of the Holy See; a Church recognized by all as ‘home – communion – family.’ Of the days spent in Rome, we bring away so many pearls, such as in the preparatory document which speaks of young people: ‘The possibility of their blossoming depends on the capacity of our care, not by the desire to change the other but to grow together.’” “The Synod of Youth – concludes Cardinal Baldisseri, Secretary General of the Synod on Youth – can represent a part of that missionary renewal of the Church, which for the apostolic exhortation Evangelii gaudium, constitutes the challenge of this age. We must address young people not only to help us understand how to proclaim the Gospel but also to better understand what Jesus asks of His Church, what he expects from it, what to cut and what to sew again for this mission.” Another “part” will certainly be the Genfest 2018 to be held in Manila (Philippines) and also the World Youth Day (WYD) in January 2019 in Panama.
Sep 12, 2017 | Non categorizzato
Thousands of young people are preparing for the Genfest by seizing opportunities to promote universal brotherhood across the globe. Not as noisy as the wars and bombings, less worth it for the crime channels, but factual and quite effective when it comes to building a world without barbed wire borders, hatred and indifference. It’s the MILONGA Project, not a place for dancing the tango, but an international volunteer programme that does have some similarities with the Latin American dance style known as tango: with its fast pace, its warmth and generous spirit. This communication network connects thousands of social projects around the world. It’s known as the MILONGA Project. MILONGA is an acronym formed by the Italian words for: a thousand non-governmental organizations in action (www.milongaproject.org) that are all inspired by the Focolare’s charism of unity. The young men and women who belong to the project not only volunteer, but also expand their hearts as they open themselves to the rich cultures of other countries. Promoted by the International New Humanity Association and by Youth for a United world, the MILONGA Project went through a pilot phase in Latin America (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Mexico, Paraguay, Venezuela and Uruguay). Now, it is also active in Italy, Croatia Jordan, Philippines, Kenya and Tanzania. 
On August 5th, representatives from the Focolare’s permanent Mariapolises around the world, and representatives from various NGOs, met for one week at the Mariapolis in Brazil to discuss strategies for further network development, examining strategic and management aspects of the program, selection and accompaniment, monitoring and reception of participants into the project; and also to offer a quality formation process that will have a positive impact on both the individual volunteers and on the host communities. Sixty young people who participated in the pilot projects will now have the opportunity to fulfil their dream of volunteering beyond their own borders. MILONGA provides training in preparation for the arrival in the host country, with an indvidualized training program for each volunteer, as well as for the host entity in the other country. It provides a trainer that accompanies the young person through every phase of the experience – training, stay and return to one’s own country. It also ensures that the young person will be welcomed by the local Mariapolis and Focolare community and have a direct experience of the local environment. Each participant has an opportunity to interact with peers on an international level by linking up with the United World Project. MILONGA’s method emerges from an experience that has matured over years, and from the impact that the volunteer experience is having in a variety of settings. It is a rather unique style of social action, in which the fraternal bond among the different actors is the main key. Fraternity is also the key in motivating the encounter of the different communities in vulnerable situations, to bring about an experience of communion with the volunteers, and experience of dialogue and real intercultural exchange, in order to discover together solutions that do not come from above, but are as much as possible shared in a reciprocal way. “It’s not so easy to put into a few words what I experienced for a month at the Casa de los Niños (Children’s Home) in Cochabamba,” says an Uruguayan volunteer at an NGO in Bolivia. “After New Year’s I was headed for an adventure that I had been thinking about for some time, saving money and getting my heart ready. I wanted to go with an NGO that had the Focolare spirit, and I was surprised by the brotherhood I experienced throughout every moment.” “I got to know a social reality that is very different from the one we live,” says a young Spanish volunteer, “a very powerful reality that helped me, not so much to be aware of certain problems, because perhaps I already had some knowledge of them, but to recognize and accept the fact that beyond where we come from, how much money we have, where we live – we’re all equal and the same.”
“We had the opportunity to build a rapport with many of the leaders attending. They were interested and asked us many questions. Two of them told us about projects that they hope to accomplish. “Raissa and I,” says Nelson, “were busy translating for a Brazilian cardinal into Portuguese. We rejoiced when they said they hoped that young people would also attend the next meetings, which was in sync with what the pope had said about the upcoming Youth Synod in October 2018. “For us it was really great to see that Religions for Peace is not really about the different faiths facing off, but a place to cooperate in favor of peace and saving the environment. To work for peace means to work for the planet: often wars are caused by inequality and poverty and produce ecological disasters. “In her address, Focolare President Maria Voce announced that Genfest 2018, ‘Beyond all borders,’ would take place in Manila. ‘Ten thousand young people will gather from all latitudes, ethnicities, cultures, religions – motivated by the idea of building a united world.’ “To see these important religious leaders together seemed like we were already participating as observers at a tiny Genfest where people work for peace and unity. “We went to carry out a service, but we didn’t expect to receive such a great gift: to greet the pope and receive, in the name of all the Gen and young people of the Focolare, such encouragement from him: ‘Adelante!’”
