Apr 17, 2013 | Focolare Worldwide
The young Pakistani who was hit by a stray bullet during clashes in Karachi. “Go ahead, with the firm decision to live our great Ideal radically, to offer the society around you the love that shines in your hearts, and that Muneeb too would have wanted to gift to many. Certainly he will continue from heaven to live and work with you and with the whole Movement, so as to give rise day after day to a new, united, peaceful and supportive people”. With these words, the president Maria Voce encouraged the gen (youth of the Focolare) in Pakistan to follow the path of Muneeb Sohail. He died after being hit by a bullet during the heavy and violent clashes last January in Karachi, while he was returning home with another gen after an English lesson. Unfortunately, such clashes frequently occur in this southern metropolis of the country. Muneeb would have turned 20 next May. Right from an early age, he had begun to live and appreciate within his family the spirituality of unity. He had lost his father as a child. When he grew up, he took it upon himself to pass on the lifestyle he had discovered to youth as well as to younger children. He used to say that in order to “deepen and understand it better”, he went to live together with other gen during the spring of 2012. He made an indelible impression on them. Speaking of him they said: “For me he was an angel. He taught me to live with God. He was a true friend for us children”; “When I first met him, he immediately shared with me his experiences and his life, and he never missed an opportunity to love concretely”. On 7th October last year, a month after the large international event in Budapest, the Genfest was also held in Karachi despite the tense situation prevailing in the city. Muneeb was at the forefront during the preparations and in the programme, adhering to and spreading the ideal of a United World. On 17th January, while greeting his mother, Muneeb said: “I’m happy to give my life to Jesus”. And now the baton passes on to all the gen in the world, to all those who support the United World Project – UWP, and to all those who feel called to build bridges of peace and brotherhood everywhere.
Mar 4, 2013 | Senza categoria
Lucila is a pretty little resort town overlooking the sea, 350 km from Buenos Aires. It is the place where “School Holidays” has been being held for the past thirteen years. Omar and Susana Zazzerini from the Parish Movement in Buenos Aires are the organizers of the event and tell us: “We began from the words of Jesus ‘Come away by yourselves and rest a while’ (Mk. 6:31). We especially had in mind families that had less opportunity to go away on holiday. We hoped that the days together would not only be restful but also like a course on living a life generated by mutual love and lived in the spiritual presence of Jesus among us. Just as in the early days of the Focolare when people would spend the summer holiday together in the Dolomite Mountains of northern Italy. There many people exprienced this Gospel lifestyle and discovered God as Love.” Most of the people come from parishes in the suburbs of Buenos Aires. The first year we were 23. This time 115 have taken part in the thirteenth edition with 115 staying the whole week. Up until now more than 1200 people have taken part in it. 
“The main thing,” says Omar, “is to love with the power of the present moment, being attentive towards others, seeing each other with new eyes in every moment.” This means forgetting about the defects or misunderstanings with those whom we have known for a long time. “Otherwise,” Omar continues, “it wouldn’t be so nice to stay together for a week in small teams that have to take turns cooking, washing dishes, serving table, and maintaining the surroundings.” “This is like a training course,” Susana adds, “in which we learn to help each other in overcoming painful situations or conflicts. Whenever we feel bothered by others, it is this living together teaches us to accept and accommodate to the discomfort we feel.” Then interpersonal relationships are brought to a new level. Spiritual deepening, sharing what we live, “also the sufferings. . .” Susana continues, “some difficult situations are resovled in this communion. The highest moment is the Mass. The rest of the day is spent on the beach, playing, taking walks, chatting and relaxing.” 
The spiritual growth of the participants and the impact on youths is something that should be mentioned: “The youths are growong in number, but also in quality. You see it in their love for the elderly and for the small children. and in their relationship with each other. Some young adults have already begun families, others have had an experiene at Mariapolis Lia or attended the Genfest in Budapest. One of the girls was able to attend WYD in Spain thanks to the support she received from everyone. Now she’s the contact person for the WYD in Rio de Janeiro. We’ve also been joined by consecrated people, members of other Churches, seminarians and several priests.” As one person put it who was participating for the first time, this is an exprience of brotherhood that continues on throughout the year in the parishes. Compiled by Carlos Mana
Feb 15, 2013 | Focolare Worldwide
The Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council for Culture dedicated to emerging youth cultures was held in Rome from 6th to 9th February. The dicastery’s president Cardinal Ravasi stated that the aim of the meeting was “to listen carefully to the youth issue” that exists in society as well as in the Church, wherein the difficulty in the transmission of the faith is evident.
The importance of this theme was reaffirmed by the Holy Father in his meeting with the participants, where he mentioned that for the Church young people are “an essential and unavoidable point of reference for its pastoral work.” He added that “there are decidedly positive phenomena” such as “the many young volunteers who dedicate their best efforts to others in need“.
Farasoa Bemahazaka
The experience of Fara, a youth of the Focolare Movement in Madagascar, confirms the pope’s words. She was invited to speak on: “Forms of participation, creativity and voluntary work”. At the age of 16, Fara attended an international meeting of the Youth for a United World, having “Project Africa’ as an on-going activity. With them she experienced that it was possible to live the radicalism of the first Christians even today. Some years later she attended the Gen School at Loppiano in Italy, where she stayed for 10 months, driven by the desire to live her faith with more intensity. During this period, she understood that “each person has something to give, even through many small actions; one gives and receives insofar as one loves. This gives rise to intercultural dialogue, which begins with an interpersonal dialogue because the dialogue is not between cultures but between people of different cultures”.
At present this young African woman is studying Economics and Trade in Florence. It was here that she came in contact with the La Pira International Centre, where she carried out civil service and was able to continue to deepen relationships with and cultures of young people from all over the world. Besides, with other friends, she promoted the Association of African students in Florence that aims to keep alive the awareness of their cultural origins and at the same time promote universal brotherhood. At the beginning of the academic year, a counter was opened to help new students. It offered them assistance in dealing with bureaucratic matters and in facilitating their inclusion in Florence’s social life.
In September 2012, she participated at the Genfest and presently is an active supporter of the United World Project, which would like to show the good that advances and highlight humanity’s slow but unstoppable journey toward universal brotherhood.
Fara has made the words of Chiara Lubich her very own: “Jesus would return today to “die for these people”, to save them from all evils. But Jesus came twenty centuries ago. Now he wants to return through us. Jesus was young: he wants to return especially through young people! “.
Feb 3, 2013 | Focolare Worldwide
The participants from the different religious families were about 150, coming from all over Europe and as well as from Lebanon, Peru and Brazil. This convention for the men religious, organized by the Focolare Movement, was held at the Mariapolis Center at Castelgandolfo at the same time as the convention for the priests and deacons who take part in the life of the Movement.
Giancarlo Faletti, co-president of the Focolare, who was travelling in those days with Maria Voce to Indonesia and Oceania, made his presence felt with a message, in which he highlighted the important role of the religious for the diffusion of the spirituality of unity in those nations: “Once again, I strongly felt a great and deep sense of gratitude towards our religious, who have brought the Ideal of Unity to these faraway lands, sowing the seed of what, with time, has become the family of the Focolare”.
The program was quite intense: the participants met with some representatives of the Focolare International Centre: with Msgr Piero Coda, Dean of the Sophia University Institute, and Marco Tecilla, the first focolarino. Besides, Father Fabio Ciardi from the Abba School (the Movement’s Studies Centre) and the journalist Paolo Loriga from Città Nuova gave their contribution to the program.
A particularly important moment was the exchange with the new generations. The Youth for a United World presented the United World Project, which was conceived and launched during the Genfest, and is now entering a very dynamic stage.
The project for the Meetings in 2014 generated great interest. Entitled “Yes we live the Gospel”, this global project for the new generations in the consecrated life will take place in various parts of the world. It has three objectives: to make known the charism of unity, to make visible the young face of the consecrated life, and to help experience the beauty of the communion among charisms.
Fr Theo Jansen explained the title, “Yes, we live the Gospel”, as follows: Yes, that is the Yes to the Ideal of unity; We, to emphasize that it is done together, not individually, and finally Gospel: the plurality of charisms that many religious families display by their very existence, charisms that flourish again in the garden of the Church when they are together. Maria Voce gave the participants of the congress a slogan, inspired by a well-known writing from Chiara Lubich, which was in tune with this program: “Look at all the flowers. The other is a flower from our garden.”
Feb 2, 2013 | Focolare Worldwide, Senza categoria
The Synod on the New Evangelisation closed its doors three months ago. It had been a universal collegial experience from which to look at and face challenges that modernity poses to the witness and proclamation of the Gospel. The fruits of that Synod have been a great stimulus for the 32 Bishop Friends of the Focolare Movement who gathered in Rome on January 29-31. At the general audience of Thursday, January 30, they received the “special greeting” and encouragement of Benedict XVI. His words truly hit the soul of the bishops as he assured them of “my prayer” and best wishes “that the charism of unity that is especially dear to you may support and animate you in your apostolic ministry.” As in all family gatherings, this was followed by a personal greeting for each bishop and a joyful group photo as a greeting that Pope Benedict wished to extend to the bishops who will “take part in other such meetings that are to be organized in several areas of the world.” This year, in fact, the usual meeting at the beginning of the year will be taking place in other cities as well, including Melbourne (Australia), Beirut (Lebanon), Seoul (South Korea), Buea (Cameroon), Ambatondrazaca (Madagascar), New York (USA), San Paulo (Brazil) and Berlin (Germany). These are occasions to meet among bishops from neighbouring nations and respond to the needs of the local Churches. For this reason the bishops attending the meeting in Rome were primarily European, mostly from Italy, with representatives from Spain, Luxembourg, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovenia and the Republic of Moldova. The presence of two bishops from the Middle East was very meaningful, expanding everyone’s hearts and bringing down prayers on that suffering region of the world. 
The three days were woven together by the spirituality of unity, reflection and testimonies embedded within the current life of the Focolare Movement in today’s Church. Topics included the Year of Faith and love for Jesus in our neighbours; the New Evangelisation and challenges of the European continent; the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council and the prophetic dimensions of the charism of unity. Significantly in this regard was the analysis of the Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops, Archpbishop Nicola Eterovic, who deepened the awareness of the crisis in the Old Continent and the need of finding new paths for transmitting the faith. His remarks were echoed by the fruits of Gospel commitment in the community of the Movement in the heart of Europe.Another reflection that added to the mutual exchange was that of theologian Fr. Hubertus Blaumeiser, on the Church in its transition seen from the prospective of its duty of being “sacrament of unity” as the Second Vatican Council states. The bishops enjoyed the group of young people who brought a breath of hope and courage to the gathering, from what they had experienced at the Genfest in Budapest: “something unusual, because it is usually the youths who sit listening to bishops; but they wanted to hear what we had to say.” Another testimony that the bishops listened to with great interest within this wave of the New Evangelisation was that of the Gen Rosso Musical Group and the impact they are having among children and young teenagers in many schools in several countries. One novelty of this year’s gathering were the many interviews performed by journalists from various news agencies. When asked about the meaning of the central meaning of the Focolare Movement’s central theme for the year, on love for Jesus in each neighbour, Bishop Anton Cosa, Bishop of Chisinau in the Republic of Moldova spoke the following words into the microphones of the Vatican Radio: “I learnt that there is no other path for evangelising, for creating bridges, for offering hope. Living alonside the brother or sister that the Lord places beside us is a challenge, but every neighbour that you meet, that you listen to is a way of living the Gospel, [it’s] an act of faith. And this is also what this Year of Faith asks of us, that we allow our faith to grow – but without love there is no faith. First we must believe that He has loved us and then we need to take our step. I as a bishop would no longer be able to fuflill my minstry if not by taking this path: the path of the neighbour.”
The young Pakistani who was hit by a stray bullet during clashes in Karachi. “Go ahead, with the firm decision to live our great Ideal radically, to offer the society around you the love that shines in your hearts, and that Muneeb too would have wanted to gift to many. Certainly he will continue from heaven to live and work with you and with the whole Movement, so as to give rise day after day to a new, united, peaceful and supportive people”. With these words, the president Maria Voce encouraged the gen (youth of the Focolare) in Pakistan to follow the path of Muneeb Sohail. He died after being hit by a bullet during the heavy and violent clashes last January in Karachi, while he was returning home with another gen after an English lesson. Unfortunately, such clashes frequently occur in this southern metropolis of the country. Muneeb would have turned 20 next May. Right from an early age, he had begun to live and appreciate within his family the spirituality of unity. He had lost his father as a child. When he grew up, he took it upon himself to pass on the lifestyle he had discovered to youth as well as to younger children. He used to say that in order to “deepen and understand it better”, he went to live together with other gen during the spring of 2012. He made an indelible impression on them. Speaking of him they said: “For me he was an angel. He taught me to live with God. He was a true friend for us children”; “When I first met him, he immediately shared with me his experiences and his life, and he never missed an opportunity to love concretely”. On 7th October last year, a month after the large international event in Budapest, the Genfest was also held in Karachi despite the tense situation prevailing in the city. Muneeb was at the forefront during the preparations and in the programme, adhering to and spreading the ideal of a United World. On 17th January, while greeting his mother, Muneeb said: “I’m happy to give my life to Jesus”. And now the baton passes on to all the gen in the world, to all those who support the United World Project – UWP, and to all those who feel called to build bridges of peace and brotherhood everywhere.
