Riccardi

February 25, 1978 Città Nuova {rokbox title=|Open Dialogue (question to Chiara) - Città Nuova, 25/02/1978| size=|fullscreen| thumb=|images/scritti/19780225_CN-p.jpg|}downloads/chi_19780225_en.pdf{/rokbox} Open Dialogue (question to Chiara) We are living through years in which human thought is rapidly changing, even the very concept of God. What is the true countenance of God that we should believe in? R.B. - Rome The true countenance of God to believe in is that of all times, but each era knows how to better explain it, to better penetrate it. To go straight to the truth, inarguable because infallible, it is best to see how Paul VI shows the countenance of God in his Profession of Faith, in his Creed: «We believe in one God... We believe that this God is absolutely one…. He is  ‘He who is’ as He himself revealed to Moses; and He is ‘Love’ as the apostle John teaches us; thus, these two names: Being and Love, ineffably express the same divine reality.»Here then is the true countenance of God in which to believe in: God-love,

Rocca di Papa, November 23, 1977 Jean-Claude: I would really like to hear about the story of the bottle of milk, which you have told many times. What exactly happened? Chiara Lubich: Something very simple. We were at home, I was with my two younger sisters and my mother. Everyday we had to go and fetch some milk, going along a big road, which means a tarred road that was a bit on the outskirts of the city. I don’t know, it must have been about a kilometre and a half, maybe two, I can’t really tell, and it was at a farm. My mother always tried not to make me do any chores around the house so that I could study like my brother Gino. Therefore she tried to get my sisters to do these things. But one day, it was a very, very cold winter’s day and one of my sisters, for a certain reason, I don’t remember why, didn’t feel like going; my other sister also didn’t want

June 25, 1999 Commetary on the Word of Life: The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it (Mt. 13:45-46) In this very brief parable, Jesus captures the imagination of his listeners. Everyone knew the value of pearls: along with gold, they were the most precious things one could possess. The Scriptures also spoke of wisdom, that is, of the knowledge of God, as something that was so valuable that it could not be compared to “any priceless gem" (Wis 7:9). What emerges in the parable, however, is the description of an unusual and surprising event: the merchant caught sight of a pearl, perhaps in a bazaar; only his expert eye could see that this pearl had enormous value. From it he could derive considerable profit. This is why, after careful calculation, he decided that it was well worth it to sell everything he had to buy the pearl.