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Naples, May 4, 1996 Chiara Lubich answered this question put to her during a press conference. Question: You have chosen God as Your ideal, and Mary as your model. In fact, you have established that the president of your Movement will always be a woman. Chiara: We think of Mary in the same way as the Church thinks of her. We are not a Marian Movement like the Daughters of Mary, for example. …Our view of Mary is Christ-centred. Certainly, ours is not just devotion; we want to imitate Mary, because devotion is not enough for us. We feel that it wouldn’t be right to have a devotion, and then to lead our lives as usual. We see her as our model. Even as a little girl, she gave herself completely to God. Then she lived as a young woman, a fiancée, a wife, a mother, a virgin and a widow. Therefore, we see her as the model for every time of life, both for women and men.Then, we consider her in

Brig, 11 August 1989 Each year, on the feast of St. Clare of Assisi, Chiara Lubich used to speak about a subject related to the life or spirituality of this great saint whose name she adopted. Here she emphasized St Clare’s “faithfulness to the charism God gave her”, inviting everyone to imitate her in living the charism of unity.  … Last year we left one another thinking about this feast day, about St. Clare and her spirituality. Having looked over the previous years and all the thoughts that St. Clare and her spirituality have given us over the years, we said: “Well, we are leaving and we want to be faithful to our charism as she was faithful to hers. Hers was poverty, ours is unity.” So, this is what I would like: for us to go home with this faithfulness. And the focolarini here have made themselves one: [we can’t want] more than that... Unity. I would like us to pursue unity on three fronts this year.First of all unity with

Castel Gandolfo, December 31, 1998 Chiara Lubich answers a question of a seminarian. … Considering today’s society, we often ask ourselves if we are sufficiently equipped to bring the Gospel to the men and women of our times.How can we offer people the Christian message in such a way that it will really answer their questions and problems? Chiara: Well, first of all, the questions that some of them will ask you are general questions, which we too know or our people who are close to them know, so they aren’t really difficult questions. In any case, the answer to everything is the Word of God! You cannot imagine what the Word of God is. It’s the answer to everything, the answer to everything. In fact, it is God who answers us through his Son.  What matters for us is that we re-evangelize ourselves by living the Words of Life month after month, that we re-evangelize ourselves, really and truly. Not every now and then, but being living Gospels, allowing the Word

Amman, December 7, 1999 In December 1999 Chiara Lubich was in Amman, Jordan, where she met a small but lively group of people forming the Focolare community there. The new millennium was awaited with both hope and fear. What follows is Chiara’s answer to New Stadt magazine to the question “What is your vision for the new millennium?” Q. What is your vision for the new millennium? A. I don’t have a vision for the next millennium. I cannot have one because I am not a prophet.  But I have a great deal of hope in my heart. Undoubtedly, this is an effect of the charism which the Holy Spirit has put there for the benefit of many. I see in the Work of Mary, the Focolare Movement, such a vast, universal and impressive work of the Holy Spirit that I cannot fail to be truly optimistic about the future. Seeing what the Holy Spirit has done with us and with many other spiritual and social “enterprises” that are at work

The Word of Life of August 1988 Chiara Lubich’s commentary on this text from one of St Paul’s letters takes us to the heart of the Christian message, which has been emphasised so much by Pope Francis during the Jubilee Year of Mercy. Be kind to one another, compassionate, and mutually forgiving, just as God has forgiven you in Christ (Eph 4:32) The Word of Life of this month is taken from the letter of St Paul to the community in Ephesus. The apostle speaks of Christian life as a life of unity and charity. After enumerating the things which Christian love makes us avoid (lying, stealing, dishonesty, etc.) he tells us what this love urges us to do. And here is one of the primary attitudes suggested by charity: kindness, understanding, compassion, forgiveness towards all. Be kind to one another, compassionate, and mutually forgiving, just as God has forgiven you in Christ (Eph 4:32) The apostle explains that we should be compassionate because we are children of God and as

Rocca di Papa, 30th June 2003 Chiara Lubich’s Message for Stuttgart From the 30th June to the 1st July the fourth International meeting of “Together for Europe” is taking place in Munich in Germany. It is the outcome of fellowship among more than 300 Movements and Communities in various Churches.  Here is Chiara Lubich’s message written as the event held on 8th May 2004 in Stuttgart was being prepared. On his recent journey to Madrid, in Spain, Pope John Paul II said words that had a particular effect on our soul.  He said he dreamed of “Europe of the spirit”. So, not only political unity in Europe, not only Europe with the euro, but “Europe of the spirit”.This is the dream that motivates us too, who belong to various Movements, Communities and Christian groups which, united in the name of Christ, are preparing the Event at Stuttgart to be held on 8th May 2004 called “Together for Europe”. Let’s do this because we love Europe as we love our own countries