Lake Constance (Switzerland), 16 April 1981
In the life and thought of Chiara Lubich, the most precious moments of the year are in Holy Week.
We are now living through the most precious moments of the year. They are precious for the Church that re-lives the liturgy of Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection. They are precious to all of us in the Movement because we have a spirituality that is centered on unity and on Jesus forsaken.
Today is Holy Thursday, our feast day. Like today, many years ago, Jesus gave his disciples the new commandment, the commandment which is the fundamental law and the basis of every other rule for each of us. Like today, Jesus prayed for unity: “May they all be one.” Like today, he instituted the Eucharist which makes him present among us and in fact brings about our unity with Him and with one another. And like today, he instituted the priesthood that makes the Eucharist possible. All of this in one day.
What more do we want? It’s our feast day and we have often lived this day with great emotion in our heart, an emotion we don’t experience at any other time of year.
Now is the time to say thank you to Jesus, a huge thank you that wells up from the depths of our hearts and reaches up to heaven.
What would our life be like without the new commandment, without the Eucharist, without the Ideal of unity?
But tomorrow is another day beyond compare: Good Friday, Jesus forsaken. There’s no better day than tomorrow, at three in the afternoon, when we solemnly consecrate again ourselves to him, and renew our resolve to spend the life we have by loving him, always, at once, and with joy. When we kiss the crucifix, may Jesus receive from our hearts, from all of us around the world, this solemn promise. It will be the best way to celebrate Good Friday with him, and he will help us become saints for His glory, for the joy of Mary and as a gift for one another.
Then, after Holy Saturday comes Easter Sunday. He is risen, he is the resurrection and the life, for us too. Perhaps for the first time, let’s thank him for the life we will have later and which will not end. Let’s promise him to think about this often and to make the best possible plans, not only for this life but for the most important one.
Let’s tell him that we too want to be his glory and his joy in future, and we want to live this life so that he may have more joy and glory from very many people.
Happy Easter to everyone and to each one. I wish that this Easter be the most beautiful of your life.
May everything blossom, like this beautiful spring.
