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Worship, Liturgy and United Community on the Second Vatican Council's anniversary.This is an excerpt of Chiara Lubich's diary of May 4, 1968. 'So if you are about to offer your gift at the altar and you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar, go at once and make peace with him, and then come back and offer your gift to God’ (Mt. 5:23-24).Divine worship and love among brothers and sisters, the love which creates and rebuilds unity, are absolutely inseparable. If a community does not 'fulfil' itself in Christ in full communion it is unfitted, according to the Gospel, to offer true worship to God... Text

Assisi, October 26, 2000 …Urs von Balthasar says that when the Holy Spirit sends one of his charisms, a little window is opened for the first time in heaven, through which it is possible to know truths which, although contained in the patrimony of the Church, appear to be new .Through the charism of unity, that little window revealed to us, for as much as it is possible for us human beings to understand, many of these mysteries which are like the two sides of the same medal: Jesus forsaken and unity. I believe that the little window of St. Francis was unity and poverty. …But generally speaking, charisms – as I said before – have something in common with one another. I feel that this is the case of our charism and that of St. Francis. I am not sufficiently prepared for this analysis. Nonetheless, I can attempt to point out some similarities, also in view of the information that was kindly given to me.Everyone knows, for example, that –

Commentary of the Word of Life: Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. (Jn 4, 13-14) In this “pearl” of the Gospel, Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman near Jacob’s well, he speaks of water as the simplest of elements, but one that proves to be the most desired, the most vital for whoever is familiar with the desert. No great explanations were needed to convey the importance of water. Well water is for our natural life, whereas the living water that Jesus is speaking of is for eternal life. Just as the desert blooms only after an abundant rainfall, similarly the seeds buried in us at baptism can bud forth only if sprinkled with the word of God. Then the plant grows, giving off new shoots and shapes that become a tree or a lovely flower, all because it

Rocca di Papa, 24 January 1978 As you can see, this was a surprise for you, but also for me. I'm still trying to catch my breath, because I ran across the lawn so I could come here to greet you.... I heard someone inside saying: go to greet them, go to greet them. (Applause)Gen, I didn't even know what to tell you - but now something will come - one idea at a time. The first idea that comes to my mind is this. The Gen Movement offers to the youth, because it is a work of God, as you know, but you will know it even more so in the future, it offers to the youth all that today's youth needs. None of us can hide the fact that the youth, both men and women are passing through a torment, a transition period of searching, which is also very beautiful because of the fact that the young people are putting aside many things, ideas, mentalities, ideologies that perhaps the

Rocca di Papa, November 6, 1996 Message for the 40th Anniversary of the Birth of the “Volunteers” To all of you who are gathered in Budapest to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the birth of the “volunteers,” I send my most cordial greetings. It is not by chance that you chose Budapest, the capital of Hungary, as the headquarters of this important meeting. This nation lit the first spark of that reality - one of the most flourishing branches of the Focolare Movement - which would soon burst into flames in Italy, in Europe and all over the world.It was our answer to that longing for freedom, suppressed in blood by those who wanted to uproot God from society and from the hearts of men and women. It was also our echo to the heartfelt appeal which Pope Pius XII launched to the world on that occasion: “God! May this name, source of every right, of every justice, of every freedom, resound in parliaments, on city streets, in homes and workshops....”It

Rome, October 1948 It was a time of war.Everything crumbled before us, young as we were, attached to our dreams for the future: a home, our studies, people dear to us, our career. The Lord was teaching us, through events, one of his eternal truths: «All is vanity, nothing but vanity...».It was that total and multi-fold devastation of everything that formed the objective of our small hearts, that brought forth our Ideal.    We saw other young women launch themselves with sincere enthusiasm into working for the salvation and better future of our nation. It was easy to talk about the Ideal in that life dead to all that could humanly attract one. We felt that only one idea was real and immortal: God. In front of that destruction provoked by hatred, the One who does not die appeared more alive than ever to our young minds. And we saw Him and loved Him wherever He was absent: «Deus caritas est.»Our thoughts and aspirations were sealed by another young girl who in