God who is Love.

Below is part of a reflection by Emmaus Voce, President of the Focolare Movement, I found very beautiful!
You know that this is the theme of the year. Naturally it’s not a new theme, why? Because Chiara told us, but even before Chiara, St. John told us in his letter. In the Sacred Scriptures it is written that God is Love; so it’s not a new theme. We can’t even think that I will say something new, or something theological, because I won’t be able to, but not even something new because everything that God wanted to tell us, he already told us. He already told us in Scripture, he already told us through the Tradition of the Church, he retold us in a new and more personal way for us, in Chiara.

               At the same time, precisely because he is God, he is so infinite, so great, that we never discover him sufficiently, we never finish discovering him. It’s as if we enter a ground that we seem to know: we know that there are these trees, there are these flower-beds and flowers, but then we discover that there is still something that we didn’t know, that we hadn’t touched. That’s it, a ground which is known and yet unexplored because it’s God, so we can’t ever think that we have explored him enough.

               And when – Chiara was still alive – we started asking ourselves: … maybe we should start again in choosing one main theme each year, focusing everything on it. We were asking ourselves at the Centre of the Movement what theme we could choose – Chiara was still alive. At a certain point, I remember having said that it seemed to me that such a choice had already been made by God himself, in giving to Chiara the points of the spirituality one after the other, and so, if we want a guideline, we should follow God’s line. He made Chiara understand things like this and we must go ahead in the same way.

               Naturally, now that Chiara is in Heaven we feel even more… how can I say it, that a new era has started: the era post-Chiara. So, the only way that a new era can start is by going back to those ideas which began the first era, Chiara’s era, which marked the whole Movement in such a strong way. That’s why we thought: the first thing we must do is to start again. How many times did Chiara tell us that we need to start again; also us: start again, start again from the beginning, start again from the first ideas, start again but not in the sense of “remembering”… You understand that there is a difference.

Starting again means starting to live those ideas, starting to put them into practice, as if it were the first time we were hearing them, as if it were really… And we must show humanity, the world around us, through our lives, that the Ideal is really something that transforms also today, not only back in 1943 when Chiara discovered the Ideal, but also today. The Ideal enters my life, it transforms my life and transforms something around me. We owe it to humanity to demonstrate this. Chiara showed it to us, to those who were around her, together with her first companions. We are Chiara multiplied today, and we must reflect her in all our environments.

               Are we able to do this? I don’t know if we are, indeed, I would say we’re not. I must be honest, if I think of the greatness of God who is Love and the enormous revolution that this awareness of God’s love in the world can bring about. I see myself as one of many dwarves who want to walk quickly, who want to run but who have short legs, starting with me. We are all inadequate, we are all unable, but we must not be afraid because this is our limit. St. Paul had already said: “If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness” (2 Cor 11:30).

               What do our limitations do? In a certain sense, our limitations force God himself to intervene; and since he is Love, he intervenes with his Love. Therefore we shouldn’t be afraid that we won’t make it. Certainly, we must commit ourselves fully; we must be aware of what we are adhering to, who we’re saying yes to, of the relationship we must have with him; aware yes, but also calm and confident precisely because God is Love. …

               If we live God-Love, if we take this point of the spirituality, truly this point of the spirituality necessarily brings about a revolution in our life which then leads us to living all the other points of the spirituality. We’ll realize it, without worrying, we’ll realize it. to live God-Love. In the Statutes, the first point of the spirituality is described in this way: “They strive,” those who are part of the Movement, everyone, not only the gen boys and girls but everyone, “they strive to love God whom they have come to know as Love, with all their heart, mind and strength….” Meaning, God who revealed himself, whom they have come to know as Love, therefore this God whom they have come to know as Love, “and they choose… as the ideal of their lives (see Mt 22:37 and 1 Jn 4:8,16-18).” Therefore there are two things: on the one hand the discovery - we have come to know that God is Love; on the other our response. What should we do? We should choose Him as the ideal of our lives. This is what God is asking of us in this moment.

(E.Voce, nov 09)

One cannot separate Christ and the Church.

One cannot separate Christ and the Church. The grace of Baptism gives us the joy of following Christ in and with the Church.

(Pope Francis, tweet, 11//08/13)

God will always love us!

Today I have the impression that time for me have my sight is deteriorating out as it takes longer to get to normal! I can read, butt my peripheral vision is sort of rainbow haze! As if I was tripping! Perhaps I’m! At first it was an hour, then three, then five, and finally today is the first whole day. But there I discovered many signs! I am less distracted when someone talks to me! I discover the beauty of listening. Another diamond I still read and type! Today is also the first day of physical pain, in joints, muscles, on the skin, but hey, patience is the watch word! The gift is to slow down! I came across some thoughts by Chiara Lubich of how to live like Jesus on the Cross and it put me firmly in the right dimension!

Telling people: “God is Love and God loves you immensely,” and saying it with conviction, provokes a revolution.

               Some might object: how can we think of God as love today when we know that many people, even innocent children, are subjected to every type of violence?
               We know the answer: if there ever was an innocent person who God loved more than any other, it was his Son, Jesus. But there he is on the cross - God permitted this - suffering terribly, there he is crying out even the abandonment by his Father.
               Where is the love of the Father in which he had always believed? How is it possible to discover it?
               The fact is that there was a wonderful plan for Jesus which went beyond his earthly life: He would have to suffer in this way for the salvation of humanity and then be glorified, also as man, in that heaven, now opened to all those who would follow him.
               This is the meaning of suffering.
               But there is a plan of love for every person, for all of us. We must speak of this when we meet people who are suffering: You don’t see it, you don’t know, we don’t know, but we must believe it. God doesn’t permit it without reason.
… Whatever terrible misfortune or disaster, including natural disasters, might wound our brothers and sisters, or us, we must remind one another, over and over again, that God is Love.
               Certainly, in order to think in this way, one must believe in the next life. But the next life exists and we are not allowed to keep this for ourselves.
Therefore, we must believe in God’s love and live accordingly. Believe.
(Chiara Lubich, Conference Call, Rocca di Papa, February 27, 2010)

I was reminded of a saying or quote: “ nothing can come between us and the love of God!” ,because God will always love us!

The present moment:

Today I have the impression that time for me have my sight is deteriorating out as it takes longer to get to normal! I can read, butt my peripheral vision is sort of rainbow haze! As if I was tripping! Perhaps I’m! At first it was an hour, then three, then five, and finally today is the first whole day. But there I discovered many signs! I am less distracted when someone talks to me! I discover the beauty of listening. Another dono I can still read and type! Today is also the first day of physical pain, in joints, muscles, on the skin, but hey, patience is the watch word! The diamond is to slow down! I came across some thoughts by Chiara Lubich of how to live like Jesus on the Cross and it put me firmly in the right dimension!

But also in practice, the correct way to live Jesus Forsaken is to immediately pass on to the resurrection.

How is this done? I think you know the technique: when we encounter a suffering which is similar to him - something unexpected, something that makes us suffer - we say: “This is you”, it’s his face, it’s Jesus forsaken. We embrace him at once and then we must live the next moment. Why? Because a spirituality is a life, and all aspects of life are linked to one another, everything is linked. So we can’t live one point of the spirituality without living all the others.

Now, another point of our spirituality is that in order to love God we must do his will. When? In the present moment.
So we can’t embrace Jesus forsaken now, accept a suffering and just stay there thinking about it. We must pass on to the next moment and love our neighbour, or study; for you, to celebrate Mass, to hear confessions, whatever you must do.
The present moment: it is all that we have despite our illusion of appearing in control shaping the future.

Believe in the love of God

          … We know that God-Love is a truth of our faith, and a very timely reality. In our world today, God often seems to be or is believed to be far from men and women - people even reach the point of speaking of the death of God. What could be healthier and more anticipated by the world around us - including the world which calls itself Christian, but which is not completely so - than the understanding, with the help of the Spirit, of the revelation that God is close to everyone with his love, and he ardently loves each one of us?

          … To tell people that every circumstance speaks of this love?

To make them understand that we should feel enveloped by this love, even when everything would make us think the opposite?

To announce that nothing escapes the One who counts even the hairs of our head?

This short reflection is most powerful  for me this morning! Despite all the many "inconveniences" one theme shines through: GOD IS LOVE! he is it by it's nature, by it's essence! and so, all he does it is out of love for me and everyone individually! what a great gift.

Gospel a message of hope, mercy

 

 

This year, as we celebrate World Mission Day, the Year of Faith, which is an important opportunity to strengthen our friendship with the Lord and our journey as a Church that preaches the Gospel with courage, comes to an end. From this perspective, I would like to propose some reflections.

1. Faith is God’s precious gift, which opens our mind to know and love him. He wants to enter into relationship with us and allow us to participate in his own life in order to make our life more meaningful, better and more beautiful. God loves us! Faith, however, needs to be accepted, it needs our personal response, the courage to entrust ourselves to God, to live his love and be grateful for his infinite mercy. It is a gift, not reserved for a few but offered with generosity. Everyone should be able to experience the joy of being loved by God, the joy of salvation! It is a gift that one cannot keep to oneself, but it is to be shared. If we want to keep it only to ourselves, we will become isolated, sterile and sick Christians. The proclamation of the Gospel is part of being disciples of Christ and it is a constant commitment that animates the whole life of the Church. Missionary outreach is a clear sign of the maturity of an ecclesial community" (BENEDICT XVI, Verbum Domini, 95). Each community is "mature" when it professes faith, celebrates it with joy during the liturgy, lives charity, proclaims the Word of God endlessly, leaves one’s own to take it to the “peripheries”, especially to those who have not yet had the opportunity to know Christ. The strength of our faith, at a personal and community level, can be measured by the ability to communicate it to others, to spread and live it in charity, to witness to it before those we meet and those who share the path of life with us.

2. The Year of Faith, fifty years after the beginning of the Second Vatican Council, motivates the entire Church towards a renewed awareness of its presence in the contemporary world and its mission among peoples and nations. Missionary spirit is not only about geographical territories, but about peoples, cultures and individuals, because the "boundaries" of faith do not only cross places and human traditions, but the heart of each man and each woman. The Second Vatican Council emphasized in a special way how the missionary task:, that of broadening the boundaries of faith, belongs to every baptized person and all Christian communities; since “the people of God lives in communities, especially in dioceses and parishes, and becomes somehow visible in them, it is up to these to witness Christ before the nations" (Ad gentes, 37). Each community is therefore challenged, and invited to make its own, the mandate entrusted by Jesus to the Apostles, to be his "witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8) and this, not as a secondary aspect of Christian life, but as its essential aspect: we are all invited to walk the streets of the world with our brothers and sisters, proclaiming and witnessing to our faith in Christ and making ourselves heralds of his Gospel. I invite Bishops, Priests, Presbyteral and Pastoral Councils, and each person and group responsible in the Church to give a prominent position to this missionary dimension in formation and pastoral programmes, in the understanding that their apostolic commitment is not complete unless it aims at bearing witness to Christ before the nations and before all peoples. This missionary aspect is not merely a programmatic dimension in Christian life, but it is also a paradigmatic dimension that affects all aspects of Christian life.

3. The work of evangelization often finds obstacles, not only externally, but also from within the ecclesial community. Sometimes there is lack of fervour, joy, courage and hope in proclaiming the Message of Christ to all and in helping the people of our time to an encounter with him. Sometimes, it is still thought, that proclaiming the truth of the Gospel means an assault on freedom. Paul VI speaks eloquently on this: "It would be... an error to impose something on the consciences of our brethren. But to propose to their consciences the truth of the Gospel and salvation in Jesus Christ, with complete clarity and with total respect for free options which it presents... is a tribute to this freedom" (Evangelii Nuntiandi, 80). We must always have the courage and the joy of proposing, with respect, an encounter with Christ, and being heralds of his Gospel. Jesus came amongst us to show us the way of salvation and he entrusted to us the mission to make it known to all to the ends of the earth. All too often, we see that it is violence, lies and mistakes that are emphasized and proposed. It is urgent in our time to announce and witness to the goodness of the Gospel, and this from within the Church itself. It is important to never to forget a fundamental principle for every evangelizer: one cannot announce Christ without the Church. Evangelization is not an isolated individual or private act; it is always ecclesial. Paul VI wrote, "When an unknown preacher, catechist or Pastor, preaches the Gospel, gathers the little community together, administers a Sacrament, even alone, he is carrying out an ecclesial act." He acts not "in virtue of a mission which he attributes to himself or by a personal inspiration, but in union with the mission of the Church and in her name" (ibid. 60). And this gives strength to the mission and makes every missionary and evangelizer feel never alone, but part of a single Body animated by the Holy Spirit.
4. In our era, the widespread mobility and facility of communication through new media have mingled people, knowledge, experience. For work reasons, entire families move from one continent to another; professional and cultural exchanges, tourism, and other phenomena have also led to great movements of peoples. This makes it difficult, even for the parish community, to know who lives permanently or temporarily in the area. More and more, in large areas of what were traditionally Christian regions, the number of those who are unacquainted with the faith, or indifferent to the religious dimension or animated by other beliefs, is increasing. Therefore it is not infrequent that, some of the baptized make lifestyle choices that lead them away from faith, thus making them need a "new evangelization". To all this is added the fact, that a large part of humanity has not yet been reached by the good news of Jesus Christ. We also live in a time of crisis that touches various sectors of existence, not only the economy, finance, food security, or the environment, but also those involving the deeper meaning of life and the fundamental values that animate it. Even human coexistence is marked by tensions and conflicts that cause insecurity and difficulty in finding the right path to a stable peace. In this complex situation, where the horizon of the present and future seems threatened by menacing clouds, it is necessary to proclaim courageously and in very situation, the Gospel of Christ, a message of hope, reconciliation, communion, a proclamation of God's closeness, his mercy, his salvation, and a proclamation that the power of God’s love is able to overcome the darkness of evil and guide us on the path of goodness. The men and women of our time needs the secure light that illuminates their path and that only the encounter with Christ can give. Let us bring to the world, through our witness, with love, the hope given by faith! The Church’s missionary spirit is not about proselytizing, but the testimony of a life that illuminates the path, which brings hope and love. The Church – I repeat once again – is not a relief organization, an enterprise or an NGO, but a community of people, animated by the Holy Spirit, who have lived and are living the wonder of the encounter with Jesus Christ and want to share this experience of deep joy, the message of salvation that the Lord gave us. It is the Holy Spirit who guides the Church in this path.
5. I would like to encourage everyone to be a bearers of the good news of Christ and I am grateful especially to missionaries, to the Fidei Donum priests, men and women religious and lay faithful - more and more numerous – who by accepting the Lord's call, leave their homeland to serve the Gospel in different lands and cultures. But I would also like to emphasize that these same young Churches are engaging generously in sending missionaries to the Churches that are in difficulty - not infrequently Churches of ancient Christian tradition – and thus bring the freshness and enthusiasm with which they live the faith, a faith that renews life and gives hope. To live in this universal dimension, responding to the mandate of Jesus: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations" (Mt 28, 19) is something enriching for each particular Church, each community, because sending missionaries is never a loss, but a gain. I appeal to all those who feel this calling to respond generously to the Holy Spirit, according to your state in life, and not to be afraid to be generous with the Lord. I also invite Bishops, religious families, communities and all Christian groups to support, with foresight and careful discernment, the missionary call ad gentes and to assist Churches that need priests, religious and laity, thus strengthening the Christian community. And this concern should also be present among Churches that are part of the same Episcopal Conference or Region, because it is important that Churches rich in vocations help more generously those that lack them.
At the same time I urge missionaries, especially the Fidei Donum priests and laity, to live with joy their precious service in the Churches to which they are sent and to bring their joy and experience to the Churches from which they come, remembering how Paul and Barnabas at the end of their first missionary journey "reported what God had done with them and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles" (Acts 14:27). They can become a path to a kind of "return" of faith, bringing the freshness of the young Churches to Churches of ancient Christian tradition, and thus helping them to rediscover the enthusiasm and the joy of sharing the faith in an exchange that is mutual enrichment in the journey of following the path of the Lord.
The concern for all the Churches, that the Bishop of Rome shares with his brother Bishops finds an important expression in the activity of the Pontifical Mission Societies, which are meant to animate and deepen the missionary conscience of every baptized Christian, and of every community, by reminding them of the need for a more profound missionary formation of the whole People of God and by encouraging the Christian community to contribute to the spread of the Gospel in the world.
Finally I wish to say a word about those Christians who, in various parts of the world, experience difficulty in openly professing their faith and in enjoying the legal right to practice it in a worthy manner. They are our brothers and sisters, courageous witnesses - even more numerous than the martyrs of the early centuries - who endure with apostolic perseverance many contemporary forms of persecution. Quite a few also risk their lives to remain faithful to the Gospel of Christ. I wish to reaffirm my closeness in prayer to individuals, families and communities who suffer violence and intolerance, and I repeat to them the consoling words of Jesus: "Take courage, I have overcome the world" (Jn 16:33).
Benedict XVI expressed the hope that: "The word of the Lord may spread rapidly and be glorified everywhere" (2 Thes 3:1): May this Year of Faith increasingly strengthen our relationship with Christ the Lord, since only in him is there the certitude for looking to the future and the guarantee of an authentic and lasting love" (Porta fidei, 15). This is my wish for World Mission Day this year. I cordially bless missionaries and all those who accompany and support this fundamental commitment of the Church to proclaim the Gospel to all the ends of the earth. Thus will we, as ministers and missionaries of the Gospel, experience "the delightful and comforting joy of evangelizing" (PAUL VI, Evangelii Nuntiandi, 80).

Have a patient love

Today I have to be careful! My gifts today from Jesus is a new paralysis of the left arm and a spontaneous bleed on the right hand! Having a patient love means to love my best friend. I'm not complaining of gifts made for love for me! So I have to use my left arm. Despite everything I had some nice presents: Sandra, Michael and Mark! Thanks Jesus that you made me love you in the neighbours of the present moment to love! You're always a Genius!

The Lord knows that at the beginning of all creation men, except Mary, is a bad start because of original sin. Not for nothing that he became human to save us. So, what matters is to end well: train for that moment on which depends eternity. He teaches us to conduct well our affairs, to apply ourselves to everything we do in life, with a patient love that should suffer well and that knows well, that keeps alive in us control of our soul, so as to possess it. [..]

[...] This depends on the fact that we have lost control of our soul, the possession. This is because you have not been able to have the patience with which you possess your soul. Living this word changes our lives: useless words fall , everything you order in us and around us, the work is multiplied,  stable peace is acquired, you do not commit omissions, listening to the voice of God, you prevent a succession of human acts that drain the blood and turn off the light, the soul is constantly illuminated by God rather than supernatural ones.
 [...]
(Source: Chiara Lubich - Divino Equilibrio - Rome, 1950 - www.centrochiaralubich.org)

Things of heaven

Last night has been unusual for me! I was crying all the time every time I was awake! It was as if instinctively that my body and my emotions wanted to say: “I don’t want to go just yet! I am bored with yet another further limitation due to the advancement of the tumour. In fact I want to get rid of it! There was all the range of emotions from anger, depression, desperation, pleading, rage! In the morning I understood that it was a deeply natural and human thing! So I looked for some more gifts from God: I have another day to look forward to, the sun is shining, I am able to communicate, I am still able to move around! Yesterday I was able to visit the Herts countryside! Then I had the opportunity to reflect on today’s readings! First St Paul reminded me that I have only one true life in Christ!

Since you have been brought back to true life with Christ, you must look for the things that are in heaven, where Christ is, sitting at God’s right hand. Let your thoughts be on heavenly things, not on the things that are on the earth, because you have died, and now the life you have is hidden with Christ in God. But when Christ is revealed – and he is your life – you too will be revealed in all your glory with him.
That is why you must kill everything in you that belongs only to earthly life: fornication, impurity, guilty passion, evil desires and especially greed, which is the same thing as worshipping a false god; and never tell each other lies. You have stripped off your old behaviour with your old self, and you have put on a new self which will progress towards true knowledge the more it is renewed in the image of its creator; and in that image there is no room for distinction between Greek and Jew, between the circumcised or the uncircumcised, or between barbarian and Scythian, slave and free man. There is only Christ: he is everything and he is in everything

In gospel shows the futility of holding on to earthly things, including my life! Jesus, help me to prepare for my meeting with you! All I offer for Elio and the whole of  the movement

Then he told them a parable: ‘There was once a rich man who, having had a good harvest from his land, thought to himself, “What am I to do? I have not enough room to store my crops.” Then he said, “This is what I will do: I will pull down my barns and build bigger ones, and store all my grain and my goods in them, and I will say to my soul: My soul, you have plenty of good things laid by for many years to come; take things easy, eat, drink, have a good time.” But God said to him, “Fool! This very night the demand will be made for your soul; and this hoard of yours, whose will it be then?.” So it is when a man stores up treasure for himself in place of making himself rich in the sight of God.’

Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. (Matt. 25:13)

 

I reflected on this commentary of the word of Life! It really made me think about my priorities! Living inside, in union with Jesus Forsaken throughout the day! Then the many things that seem so important it makes me question: does it matter?(dim?)

Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. (Matt. 25:13)

Jesus had just left the Temple. The disciples rather proudly drew his attention to the beauty and imposing character of the Temple buildings. And Jesus replied: "You see all these, do you not? Truly I tell you, not one stone will be left here upon another." Then he went up the Mount of Olives, sat down and, looking out over Jerusalem, began to speak about the destruction of the city and the end of the world.

What will happen at the end of the world - the disciples asked him - and when will it happen? It is a question that successive generations of Christians have asked themselves, a question that each human being poses. The future, indeed, is a mystery and often frightening. Even today some people consult magicians or look up horoscopes to know what the future will be, to tell what will happen...

Jesus' reply is clear: the end of time will happen when he comes. He, the Lord of history, will return. He is the shining goal of our future 

And when will this meeting take place? No one knows. It could be at any moment. In fact our life is in his hands. He gave it to us; he can take it back even very suddenly, with no warning. All the same, he warns us: you can be ready for this event, if you are vigilant.

With these words Jesus reminds us first of all that he will return. Our life on this earth will end and we will begin a new life that will never end. Nowadays no one wants to speak of death... Sometimes people go to great lengths to distract themselves from it. They immerse themselves so much in daily life that they forget the One who gave us life and who will ask us for it again in order to lead us into the fullness of life, into communion with his Father, in heaven.

Will we be ready to meet him? Will our lamp be lit like the wise virgins who were waiting for the bridegroom? In other words, are we always loving? Or will our lamp have gone out because, caught up in so many things to do, by passing joys, by the possession of material goods, we have forgotten the one thing necessary, which is to love?

But how can we 'stay awake' and be watchful? First of all, we know, those who love are the most watchful. It is obvious to the wife who is waiting for her husband late at work or coming back from a long journey; it is obvious to the mother worried about a child not yet home; it is obvious to a man in love who can't wait to see his beloved... Those who love know how to watch and wait even when the person they are waiting for is delayed.

We wait for Jesus if we love him and we ardently want to meet him.

And we wait for him by loving in a practical fashion, by serving him for example in our neighbours, or committing ourselves to building up a more just society. It is Jesus himself who invites us to live like this telling us the parable of the faithful servant who, while waiting for the return of the master, looks after the domestic staff and the affairs of the house; or the servants who, thinking of their master's return set about working to make their talents bear fruit.

Precisely because we do not know the day nor hour of his coming, we can concentrate more easily on the 'now' that is given us, on the worries of today, on the present that providence gives us to live.

Some time ago I spontaneously said this prayer to God. Now I would like to share it with you.

"Jesus, make me speak always
 as if it were the last word I shall utter.
 Make me act always
 as if it were the last act I shall do.
 Make me suffer always
 as if it were the last suffering I have to offer you.
 Make me pray always
 as if it were the last chance I have here on earth
 to talk together with you."
(Chiara Lubich,  word of Life, Nov 2002)

 

If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.’

Everything must be love for others, praying, working, enjoying & playing, caring for others, being ill or healthy, resting or being active, suffering. I am glad that this month's Word of life gives me no excuse to love. I have to be outside myself turned to my neighbour in the present moment! What a enormous gift! Today I will offer all gifts an pains for Elio and the Mariapolis!

This month’s Word of Life is taken from Luke’s gospel. It is part of a large section of Jesus’ sayings that corresponds to the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s Gospel. As we know, in this section Jesus describes the requirements of the kingdom of God and the characteristics of those who belong to it. The source and goal of these requirements is imitating our heavenly Father.

In this verse Jesus calls his disciples to imitate God the Father in loving. If we want to be his children, we must love our neighbours in the way he does.

‘If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.’

The first and most significant characteristic of God the Father’s love is that it is absolutely free. It is totally opposite to the world’s love. The world’s love is based on getting something back and feelings of attraction (we love people who love us and people we like). The Father’s love is completely selfless. He gives himself to the people he has made however they react. It is a love whose nature is to take the initiative, giving all that it has. Consequently, it is a love that builds and transforms. Our heavenly Father does not love us because we are good or spiritually beautiful and so deserve his attention and kindness. On the contrary, by loving us, he himself creates in us the goodness and spiritual beauty of grace, making us his friends and his children.

If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.
Another characteristic of the love of God the Father is its universality. God loves everyone without distinction. The measure of his love is to have no limit or measure.
Besides, his love couldn’t be free and creative if it weren’t completely poured out wherever there is a need or a void to fill.
This is why our heavenly Father also loves those children who are ungrateful, far from him or rebellious. Indeed, he feels particularly drawn to them.
If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.
How shall we live the Word of Life this month? We should behave as true children of our heavenly Father, imitating his love, above all in those characteristics we have emphasised here: its being freely given and universal. Like this we’ll try to be the first to love, with a love that is generous, in solidarity with the other, open to all, aware particularly of the voids we find around us. We’ll try to love without looking for results. We’ll make an effort to be the instruments of the open-handedness of God, sharing with others the gifts of nature and grace we have received from him.
If we let ourselves be guided by this word of Jesus, we will have new eyes and a new heart for every neighbour coming across our path, every time this chance is offered by our daily life. And wherever we are (home, school, work, hospital and so on) we will feel urged to be distributors of this love which belongs to God and which Jesus brought to earth, the only love that can transform the world.

Jesus Forsaken, my dearest friend

Today I find it particularly difficult to maintain conversation with you Jesus Forsaken! Thank you for the wonderful gifts today, for a beautiful phone call from Salvatore from Italy! Full of love, for a visit from priest friend. Today I offer all these gifts, and also the various new pains, the temporary absence of vision, my lack of patience with my self and others, tiredness for Elio, everything for Elio, for our Mariapoli, for Emmaus and the Pope that they have peace

Today I was reminded of the “conveyor belt full of candles! If I miss some occasion to love, to be there for the other enough to start again in the present moment! And here I return to the conversation with you. Jesus Forsaken after a day living, loving our brothers and sisters whilst in pain going beyond the wound of loneliness. And I find you here with me, and I had the impression be alone, and yet I found  that you were always with me! Thanks Jesus for so beautiful a day, we spent together!

God is love

Yesterday’s reading stayed with me all day! Especially, St. John. It’s a powerful conviction: God is love, despite the rain and the cold, the tiredness, the food or the lack of it, the mistakes I  have already made this morning, the people  I already upset! Today I am in hospital first thing and then in the hospice all day. Today I offer for that we but as long as we love one another God will live in us and amongst us. What an extraordinary gift! God love us, each of us and nobody can separate us from that love! Jesus, give me strength to love today in each present moment!

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My dear people,

let us love one another

since love comes from God

and everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.

Anyone who fails to love can never have known God,

because God is love.

God’s love for us was revealed

when God sent into the world his only Son

so that we could have life through him;

this is the love I mean:

not our love for God,

but God’s love for us when he sent his Son

to be the sacrifice that takes our sins away.

My dear people,

since God has loved us so much,

we too should love one another.

No one has ever seen God;

but as long as we love one another

God will live in us

and his love will be complete in us.

We can know that we are living in him

and he is living in us

because he lets us share his Spirit.

We ourselves saw and we testify

that the Father sent his Son

as saviour of the world.

If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God,

God lives in him, and he in God.

We ourselves have known and put our faith in

God’s love towards ourselves.

God is love

and anyone who lives in love lives in God,

and God lives in him.

As a reflection in a tangible way I came across Chiara’s commentary to the Word of life below. I take it as a motto to build the day full of God’s love together with you!

           

August 2006

Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you. (Eph 4:32)

This agenda for life is practical and to the point. It would be enough on its own to create a different kind of society, more brotherly, more supportive. It was part of a broader project put before Christians in Asia Minor.

In these communities ‘peace’ had been reached between Jews and Gentiles, the two peoples representative of humanity till then divided.

The unity given by Christ has to be constantly renewed and translated into practical social action wholly inspired by mutual love. This is the basis for suggesting how our relationships should be:

Kindness: wanting the good of others. It means ‘making ourselves one’ with them, approaching them being completely empty of ourselves, of our own interests, our own ideas, of the many preconceptions that cloud our vision, to take on ourselves their burdens, their needs, their sufferings, and to share in their joys.

It means entering into the hearts of the people we meet in order to understand their mindset, their culture, their traditions, so as to make them, in a certain sense, our own, and really understand what they need and be able to discern those values God has planted in the heart of every person. In a word: kindness means to live for whoever is near us.

Tender-heartedness: welcoming others as they are, not as we would like them to be, with a different character, with our political views or our religious convictions, and without those faults and habits that annoy us so much. No, we need to expand our hearts and make them able to welcome everyone, with their differences, their shortcomings and troubles.

Forgiveness: always seeing other people as new. Even where there are the best and most peaceful relationships, in the family, at school, at work, there are inevitably moments of friction, differences of opinion, clashes. People sometimes reach the point of not speaking to each other, of avoiding one another, to say nothing of when real and true hatred towards someone who thinks differently roots itself in the heart. We have to make a strong and rigorously thorough commitment to try and see each person as though they were new, completely new, not remembering at all how they have hurt us, but covering everything with love, with a complete amnesty in our hearts, imitating God who forgives and forgets.

True peace and unity are attained when kindness, tender-heartedness and forgiveness are lived not only by people individually, but together, with one to another mutually.

And just as the embers of a fire have to be poked every now and then, so that they are not smothered by the ashes, so too from time to time it is necessary deliberately to revive the decision to love one another, to revive our relationships with everyone, so that they are not covered up by the ashes of indifference, apathy, selfishness.

Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, ...

These attitudes demand to be translated into life, into practical action.

Jesus showed us what love is when he healed the sick, when he fed the crowds, when he brought the dead back to life, when he washed the feet of his disciples. Actions, deeds: this is what it means to love.

I remember an African mother whose daughter, Rosangela, lost an eye after an aggressive young boy hurt her with a stick. He even continued to make fun of her afterwards. Neither of the boy’s parents said that they were sorry. The silence, the lack of communication with that family, made the mother feel bitter. ‘Don’t be upset,’ said Rosangela who had forgiven the boy, ‘I am lucky because I can see with my other eye!’

Rosangela’s mother told us: ‘One morning the boy’s mother asked me to go round to her house because she felt ill. My reaction was: “Look, now she is coming to me for help. With so many other neighbours she could have asked, she asks me, after all her boy has done to us!”

‘But right away I remembered that love has no limits. I ran to her house. She opened the door and fainted into my arms. I took her to the hospital and stayed with her until the doctors saw her. A week later she was discharged from the hospital and came to my house to thank me. I welcomed her with all my heart and I felt that I had finally managed to forgive her. Now we are in touch again. In fact, our relationship is totally new.’

Every day of ours, too, can be filled with real acts of service, humble and intelligent expressions of our love. We will then see brotherhood and peace grow around us.

The Pope and the people

Pope Francis referred in his farewell speech to the civilisation of love, which made me think of the Mariapolis! At WYD how many challenges there were, accommodation, no room, no electric power, misunderstandings, the rain! Despite everything there a civilisation of love was slowly emerging, through each participant following the law of love in the present moment. That’s like a mega Mariapolis! Below is the text of the Pope’s speech this morning, a true Meditation!

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Dear Cardinals and Brother Bishops, Dear Friends,

I am about to leave your country to return to Rome. I depart with many happy memories which I know will nourish my prayers. Already I am beginning to miss Brazil, this great people showing so much affection and friendship. I shall miss the natural and warm smiles I have seen in so many faces, and the enthusiasm shown by the volunteers. I shall miss the hope filling the eyes of the young people in the Hospital of Saint Francis. I shall miss the faith and joy shown by the residents of Varginha in the midst of their hardship. I know that Christ is truly present in the lives of countless young people and in the lives of many whom I have met during this unforgettable week. Thank you for the warm welcome and the friendship that have been offered to me. This too I shall miss.

In particular, I would like to thank Madam President for expressing the sentiments of the entire population of Brazil towards the Successor of Peter. I warmly extend gratitude to my brother Bishops and to their many collaborators for making this week a splendid celebration of the richness and joy of our faith in Jesus Christ. I thank all those who took part in the Eucharistic celebrations and other events, and I thank those who organized them and those who worked to broadcast them through the media. Finally, I wish to thank all those who in one way or another rose to the challenge of hosting and organizing the large numbers of young people. And not least my gratitude goes to the many people who prayed, often in silence and simplicity, for this World Youth Day to be an authentic experience of growth in faith. May God reward all of you, as only he can!

As I express my thanks and bid farewell, my thoughts turn to those who are at the heart of these celebrations: the young people! May God bless you for the beautiful witness of your lives and for your intense and joyful participation over these last few days. Many of you came here as disciples; I have no doubt that all of you will leave as missionaries. Through your joyful witness and service, help to build a civilization of love. Show, by your life, that it is worth giving your time and talents in order to attain high ideals, it is worth recognizing the dignity of each human person, and it is worth taking risks for Christ and his Gospel. It is he that we have come to seek because he first sought us. It is he who has inflamed our hearts with the desire to take the Good News to the large cities and to the small communities, to the countryside and to all the corners of this vast planet. I will always place my hopes in the young people of Brazil and in the young around the world: through them, Christ is preparing a new springtime all over the earth. I have seen its first fruits and I know that others will joyfully reap the full harvest.

Finally, my thoughts turn to Our Lady of Aparecida, to whom I also bid farewell. In that beloved Shrine I knelt to pray for the entire human family and in particular for all Brazilians. I implored Mary to strengthen you in the Christian faith, which forms part of the noble soul of Brazil, as indeed of many other countries; this faith is your culture’s treasure and serves as encouragement and support in the task of building a renewed humanity in harmony and solidarity.

As he departs, the Pope says to all of you affectionately: “see you soon”. He asks you not to forget to pray for him. The Pope needs the prayers of all of you. I offer you an affectionate embrace. May God bless you!

The Pope to the young people: be builders of a church more beautiful and a better world!

Pope Francis joined over a million young people on Copacabana beach yesterday evening, for a prayer vigil on the eve of the final Mass marking World Youth Day, 2013 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The centerpiece of the vigil was a Eucharistic procession. The event featured litanies and hymns, as well as the testimonies of four different young people.

In his remarks to the youthful pilgrims, Pope Francis focused on the image of the field of faith – the name of the venue at which the vigil was originally to have taken place, before the week’s inclement weather rendered it unusable: the field as a place to sow seed and raise crops; the field as a place of training; the field as construction site.

The Holy Father also had words of encouragement for the many young people around the world – and especially in Brazil, who in recent days and weeks have taken to the streets to call for the betterment of their societies in a spirit of greater brotherhood. “I encourage them,” he said, “in an orderly, peaceful and responsible manner, motivated by the values ​​of the Gospel, to continue overcoming apathy and offering a Christian response to social and political concerns present in their countries.”

Please find the full text of Pope Francis’ remarks, below:

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Dear Young Friends,

We have just recalled the story of Saint Francis of Assisi. In front of the crucifix he heard the voice of Jesus saying to him: “Francis, go, rebuild my house”. The young Francis responded readily and generously to the Lord’s call to rebuild his house. But which house? Slowly but surely, Francis came to realize that it was not a question of repairing a stone building, but about doing his part for the life of the Church. It was a matter of being at the service of the Church, loving her and working to make the countenance of Christ shine ever more brightly in her.

Today too, as always, the Lord needs you, young people, for his Church. Today too, he is calling each of you to follow him in his Church and to be missionaries. How? In what way? Well, I think we can learn something from what happened in these days: as we had to cancel due to bad weather, the realization of this vigil on the campus Fidei, in Guaratiba. Lord willing might we say that the real area of ​​faith, the true campus fidei, is not a geographical place - but we, ourselves? Yes! Each of us, each one of you. And missionary discipleship means to recognize that we are God’s campus fidei, His “field of faith”! Therefore, from the image of the field of faith, starting with the name of the place, Campus Fidei, the field of faith, I have thought of three images that can help us understand better what it means to be a disciple and a missionary. First, a field is a place for sowing seeds; second, a field is a training ground; and third, a field is a construction site.

1.         A field is a place for sowing seeds. We all know the parable where Jesus speaks of a sower who went out to sow seeds in the field; some seed fell on the path, some on rocky ground, some among thorns, and could not grow; other seed fell on good soil and brought forth much fruit (cf. Mt 13:1-9). Jesus himself explains the meaning of the parable: the seed is the word of God sown in our hearts (cf. Mt 13:18-23). This, dear young people, means that the real Campus Fidei, the field of faith, is your own heart, it is your life. It is your life that Jesus wants to enter with his word, with his presence. Please, let Christ and his word enter your life, blossom and grow.

Jesus tells us that the seed which fell on the path or on the rocky ground or among the thorns bore no fruit. What kind of ground are we? What kind of terrain do we want to be? Maybe sometimes we are like the path: we hear the Lord’s word but it changes nothing in our lives because we let ourselves be numbed by all the superficial voices competing for our attention; or we are like the rocky ground: we receive Jesus with enthusiasm, but we falter and, faced with difficulties, we don’t have the courage to swim against the tide; or we are like the thorny ground: negativity, negative feelings choke the Lord’s word in us (cf. Mt 13:18-22). But today I am sure that the seed is falling on good soil, that you want to be good soil, not part-time Christians, not “starchy” and superficial, but real. I am sure that you don’t want to be duped by a false freedom, always at the beck and call of momentary fashions and fads. I know that you are aiming high, at long-lasting decisions which will make your lives meaningful. Jesus is capable of letting you do this: he is “the way, and the truth, and the life” (Jn 14:6). Let’s trust in him. Let’s make him our guide!

2.         A field is a training ground. Jesus asks us to follow him for life, he asks us to be his disciples, to “play on his team”. I think that most of you love sports! Here in Brazil, as in other countries, football is a national passion. Now, what do players do when they are asked to join a team? They have to train, and to train a lot! The same is true of our lives as the Lord’s disciples. Saint Paul tells us: “athletes deny themselves all sorts of things; they do this to win a crown of leaves that withers, but we a crown that is imperishable” (1 Cor 9:25). Jesus offers us something bigger than the World Cup! He offers us the possibility of a fulfilled and fruitful life; he also offers us a future with him, an endless future, eternal life. But he asks us to train, “to get in shape”, so that we can face every situation in life undaunted, bearing witness to our faith. How do we get in shape? By talking with him: by prayer, which is our daily conversation with God, who always listens to us. By the sacraments, which make his life grow within us and conform us to Christ. By loving one another, learning to listen, to understand, to forgive, to be accepting and to help others, everybody, with no one excluded or ostracized. Dear young people, be true “athletes of Christ”!

3.         A field is a construction site. When our heart is good soil which receives the word of God, when “we build up a sweat” in trying to live as Christians, we experience something tremendous: we are never alone, we are part of a family of brothers and sisters, all journeying on the same path: we are part of the Church; indeed, we are building up the Church and we are making history. Saint Peter tells us that we are living stones, which form a spiritual edifice (cf. 1 Pet 2:5). Looking at this platform, we see that it is in the shape of a church, built up with stones and bricks. In the Church of Jesus, we ourselves are the living stones. Jesus is asking us to build up his Church, but not as a little chapel which holds only a small group of persons. He asks us to make his living Church so large that it can hold all of humanity, that it can be a home for everyone! To me, to you, to each of us he says: “Go and make disciples of all nations”. Tonight, let us answer him: Yes, I too want to be a living stone; together we want to build up the Church of Jesus! Let us all say together: I want to go forth and build up the Church of Christ!

In your young hearts, you have a desire to build a better world. I have been closely following the news reports of the many young people who throughout the world have taken to the streets in order to express their desire for a more just and fraternal society - (and here in Brazil), they have gone out into the streets to express a desire for a more just and fraternal civilization. These are young people who want to be agents of change. I encourage them, in an orderly, peaceful and responsible manner, motivated by the values ​​of the Gospel, to continue overcoming apathy and offering a Christian response to social and political concerns present in their countries. But the question remains: Where do we start? What are the criteria for building a more just society? Mother Teresa of Calcutta was once asked what needed to change in the Church. Her answer was: you and I!

Dear friends, never forget that you are the field of faith! You are Christ’s athletes! You are called to build a more beautiful Church and a better world. Let us lift our gaze to Our Lady. Mary helps us to follow Jesus, she gives us the example by her own “yes” to God: “I am the servant of the Lord; let it be done to me as you say” (Lk 1:38). All together, let us join Mary in saying to God: let it be done to me as you say. Amen!

The way of the Cross

ope Francis prayed the Via crucis on Friday evening with pilgrims gathered for World Youth Day celebrations in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Nearly 300 artists and volunteers from several countries including the United States animated the popular devotion. The meditations accompanying each of the 14 stations depicting the principal episodes of Christ’s Passion, death and burial focused on a theme of particular significance in the life of contemporary youth, including: mission, conversion, community, and vocation; others involved pressing social challenges and existential issues such as suffering, illness and mortality. The texts of the meditations were prepared by a pair of Brazilian priests, Fr. José Zezinho and Fr. João Joãozinho, both of whom are well known in their native country for their work with young people.

In remarks to the pilgrims, Pope Francis spoke of the Cross of Christ as the source of hope, to which anyone and everyone can and ought to bring his deepest joys, sufferings and failures. The Holy Father also spoke of Christ’s Cross as a challenge to all of us: an invitation to allow ourselves to be smitten by his love, as well as a lesson and a reminder to us always to look upon others with mercy and tenderness – especially the suffering, and those we meet who are in distress and need help, whether in the form of a word of encouragement, or a concrete action that could take us beyond ourselves.

Please find the full text of Pope Francis’ address, below:

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Apostolic Journey of Pope Francis to Brazil

Address of the Holy FatherVia Crucis

(Rio de Janeiro – Copacabana, 26 July 2013)

Dear Young Friends,

We have come here today to accompany Jesus on his journey of sorrow and love, the Way of the Cross, which is one of the most intense moments of World Youth Day. At the end of the Holy Year of Redemption, Blessed John Paul II chose to entrust the Cross to you, young people, asking you “to carry it throughout the world as a symbol of Christ’s love for humanity, and announce to everyone that only in the death and resurrection of Christ can we find salvation and redemption” (Address to Young People, 22 April 1984). Since then, the World Youth Day Cross has travelled to every continent and through a variety of human situations. It is, as it were, almost “steeped” in the life experiences of the countless young people who have seen it and carried it. No one can approach and touch the Cross of Jesus without leaving something of himself or herself there, and without bringing something of the Cross of Jesus into his or her own life. I have three questions that I hope will echo in your hearts this evening as you walk beside Jesus: What have you left on the Cross, dear young people of Brazil, during these two years that it has been crisscrossing your great country? What has the Cross of Jesus left for you, in each one of you? Finally, what does this Cross teach us?

1.            According to an ancient Roman tradition, while fleeing the city during the persecutions of Nero, Saint Peter saw Jesus who was travelling in the opposite direction, that is, toward the city, and asked him in amazement: “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus’ response was: “I am going to Rome to be crucified again.” At that moment, Peter understood that he had to follow the Lord with courage, to the very end. But he also realized that he would never be alone on the journey; Jesus, who had loved him even unto death on the Cross, would always be with him. Jesus, with his Cross, walks with us and takes upon himself our fears, our problems, and our sufferings, even those which are deepest and most painful. With the Cross, Jesus unites himself to the silence of the victims of violence, those who can no longer cry out, especially the innocent and the defenceless; with the Cross, he is united to families in trouble, those who mourn the loss of their children, or who suffer when they see them fall victim to false paradises, such as that offered by drugs. On the Cross, Jesus is united with every person who suffers from hunger in a world where tons of food are thrown out each day; on the Cross, Jesus is united with those who are persecuted for their religion, for their beliefs or simply for the colour of their skin; on the Cross, Jesus is united with so many young people who have lost faith in political institutions, because they see in them only selfishness and corruption; he unites himself with those young people who have lost faith in the Church, or even in God because of the counter-witness of Christians and ministers of the Gospel. The Cross of Christ bears the suffering and the sin of mankind, including our own. Jesus accepts all this with open arms, bearing on his shoulders our crosses and saying to us: “Have courage! You do not carry your cross alone! I carry it with you. I have overcome death and I have come to give you hope, to give you life” (cf. Jn 3:16).

2.            And so we can answer the second question: What has the Cross given to those who have gazed upon it or touched it? What has it left in each one of us? It gives us a treasure that no one else can give: the certainty of the unshakable love which God has for us. A love so great that it enters into our sin and forgives it, enters into our suffering and gives us the strength to bear it. It is a love which enters into death to conquer it and to save us. The Cross of Christ contains all the love of God, his immeasurable mercy. This is a love in which we can place all our trust, in which we can believe. Dear young people, let us entrust ourselves to Jesus, let us give ourselves over entirely to him (cf. Lumen Fidei, 16)! Only in Christ crucified and risen can we find salvation and redemption. With him, evil, suffering, and death do not have the last word, because he gives us hope and life: he has transformed the Cross from an instrument of hate, defeat and death into a sign of love, victory and life.

The first name given to Brazil was “The Land of the Holy Cross”. The Cross of Christ was planted five centuries ago not only on the shores of this country, but also in the history, the hearts and the lives of the people of Brazil and elsewhere. The suffering Christ is keenly felt here, as one of us who shares our journey even to the end. There is no cross, big or small, in our life which the Lord does not share with us.

3.            But the Cross of Christ invites us also to allow ourselves to be smitten by his love, teaching us always to always look upon others with mercy and tenderness, especially those who suffer, who are in need of help, who need a word or a concrete action which requires us to step outside ourselves to meet them and to extend a hand to them. How many people were with Jesus on the way to Calvary: Pilate, Simon of Cyrene, Mary, the women… Sometimes we can be like Pilate, who did not have the courage to go against the tide to save Jesus’ life, and instead washed his hands. Dear friends, the Cross of Christ teaches us to be like Simon of Cyrene, who helped Jesus to carry that heavy wood; it teaches us to be like Mary and the other women, who were not afraid to accompany Jesus all the way to the end, with love and tenderness. And you? Who are you like? Like Pilate? Like Simon? Like Mary?

Dear friends, let us bring to Christ’s Cross our joys, our sufferings and our failures. There we will find a Heart that is open to us and understands us, forgives us, loves us and calls us to bear this love in our lives, to love each person, each brother and sister, with the same love. Amen!