Archivio SCRITTI EN

Commentary on the Word of Life: Not what I want, but what you want. (Mk 14:36) Jesus was in the garden of olives, in a place called Gethsemane. The long-awaited hour hadarrived. It was the turning point of his life. He threw himself on the ground and appealed to God, with confident tenderness calling him ‘Father’. He asked to be spared from ‘drinking the cup’, words that referred to his passion and death. Jesus prayed that that hour might pass him by… But in the end he submitted completely to the Father’s will: Not what I want, but what you want Jesus knew his passion was no chance event, nor simply a decision by human beings, but God’s plan. He was to be tried and rejected by human beings, but the ‘cup’ came from God’s hands. Jesus teaches us that the Father has his plan of love for each one of us and that he loves us personally. He teaches us that if we believe in the Father’s love and respond

From Chiara’s diary But what meaning does Lent have in our Christian life? It reminds us, among other things, that life is a struggle, a race. Saint Catherine used to say: “Run, run because time is short.” Her “run” echoed that of the Apostle: “Do you not realize that, though all the runners in the stadium take part in the race, only one of them gets the prize? Therefore run like that in order to win. Those who participate in the race willingly undergo every kind of sacrifice in order to win a wreath that will wither away, whereas ours will never wither.” There then we have the sacrifices. Call them what you want: they are those small acts against our will, our instincts, against our innate egoism that Lent proposes to draw us closer to Jesus Christ.

Rome, 1978 Oh, St. Joseph! Perhaps I have prayed to you too little… I ask your pardon.I have spoken about you, but I have not spoken with you, and yet you have said so much to us by your silence, by your readiness to carry out God’s wishes, by your daily work which teaches all people, especially the poor of the world, to offer up their own labour.You are the Protector of the Church, and Pope John XXIII gave you a special position in it.We desire to have a deep devotion towards you, because you protected Mary and Jesus and because you are a model of all the virtues.St. Joseph, we commend to you the unity of the Church; the orders, the religious movements, the families. Take care of the young people and the children so that they are not led astray by the evil of the world, but, guarded also by you, they may walk according to God’s plans. Chiara Lubich Transcription (from Knowing How to Lose, New City/London, 1981,

June 2000 Commetary on the Word of Life: "Those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God" (Rm. 8:14). This passage is at the heart of the hymn Paul sings to the beauty of Christian life, to its newness and freedom. These are the result of baptism and faith in Jesus, which graft us fully to him, and through him, to the dynamics of Trinitarian life. By becoming one person with Christ, we share in his Spirit and in all his fruits, the first of which is becoming children of God. Even though Paul speaks of “adoption” (cf. Rm. 8:15; Gal. 4:5), he does so only to distinguish it from the status of natural son, which applies solely to the only Son of God. Ours is not a purely juridical relationship with the Father, however, as it would be as adopted children, but something substantial that changes our very nature, like a new birth. This is so because our entire life is animated by a new principle,

An interview with Chiara Lubich …The Movement consi¬ders Mary to be the model of in¬spiration in doing the will of God. Why? The Movement could not but look at Mary in our desire of doing God’s will.Mary is, in fact after Jesus, the one who best and most perfectly was able to say "yes" to God.Her holiness and her greatness lie especially here. In the world, not everyone can do everything, but if we all do our part, we will participate in the good of the whole. Eyes can see, ears can hear, hands can serve things, but all the parts participate in the life of the body, finding in this their reason for be¬ing. God who sees each one of us and humanity as a whole, knows which service each one is supposed to give. For this reason, it is very important to pay the greatest at¬tention to what God wants from us. The focolarini see in Mary the person, who being faithful to the particular task entrusted to her,

January 1994 Commetary on the Word of Life: “The community of believers was of one heart and mind, and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they had everything in common.” (Acts 4:32) With these words, the author of the Acts of the Apostles offers us a sketch of the first Christian community of Jerusalem (see also 2:42; 5:12-16). That community was characterized by remarkable freshness and spiritual dynamism, by prayer and example — above all, by a great unity, which Jesus wanted to be the unmistakable sign and source of fruitfulness for his Church. The Holy Spirit, given in baptism to all those who welcome the words of Jesus, is the spirit of love and unity. He therefore made all the believers one with the risen Lord and with one another, overcoming differences in race, culture and social class. “The community of believers was of one heart and mind, and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they had everything