WRITINGS Collection
Collection of texts written by Chiara Lubich
In this space you will find a collection of all texts published on the site, with an image of the handwritten document when available.
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Every year the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is held in many parts of the world from 18th to 25th January. Elsewhere it is celebrated at Pentecost. The motto for the Week of Prayer in 2012 refers to Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 15:51-58) and says ‘We shall be transformed because of the victory of Christ Jesus our Lord.’ The Word of Life for this month explores and comments upon this theme. Commetary on the Word of Life: If you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. (Col 3:1) Paul is speaking to the community of Colossae. A world exists, he says, where there reigns true love, full communion, justice, peace, holiness and joy. It is a world that sin and corruption can enter no more, a world where the Father's will is perfectly done. This is the world Jesus belongs to. He has opened it up for us with his resurrection, passing
December 1955 Dearest all, prompted by different circumstances we came up with the idea to live a Word of Life every month. We feel that this practice is also suggested by the upcoming festivity that all Christians await with joy: Christmas. We would like it to be as regular as possible and wish to seriously commit our will to it. In this very important celebration we would like to seal our faithfulness to God by offering something concrete. We feel that He appreciates nothing other than the total offering of our heart to Him, so that He may impress on it His image and physiognomy, so that His life may be imprinted on it. The Gospel shows us how Jesus has a way of reasoning, loving and wanting all of His own, unique and so superior to the way of living, also of us Christians, that for all eras He will be able to make people extract “something” from the Gospel that will be useful to humanity of that era; and
Commetary on the Word of Life: Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour(Mt 25:13) Jesus has just come out of the temple. The disciples proudly point out to him the grandeur and beauty of the building. He says to them in reply: “You see all these things, do you not? Amen, I say to you, there will not be left here a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down” (Mt 24:2). Then he goes up to the Mount of Olives, he sits down and, looking over Jerusalem, he begins to speak of the destruction of the city and the end of the world. How will the end of the world come about? the disciples ask him — and when will it be? It’s a question that subsequent generations of Christians have continued to ask, a question that every human being asks. The future is indeed mysterious and it often frightens us. Even today people consult fortune tellers and look up their horoscopes to
Commetary on the Word of Life: Follow me. (Mt 9:9) While he was coming from Capernaum, Jesus saw a tax collector by the name of Matthew seated at the customs post. Matthew had a job that made him despised by the people, for it placed him in the same category as loan sharks and those who took advantage of others to amass personal wealth. The Scribes and Pharisees put him on the same level as the public sinners and criticized Jesus for being “a friend of tax collectors and sinners” and for eating together with them (Mt 11:19; 9:10). Jesus, going against all social conventions, called Matthew to follow him and accepted the invitation to dine at his home, as he would later do also with Zaccheus, the head of the tax collectors in Jericho. When questioned about his behaviour, Jesus responded that he had come to heal the sick, not the healthy, and to call sinners, not the righteous. His invitation, also this time, was addressed directly to one of
Rome, May 1978 Dearest Gen 3,I can imagine that all of you - especially in Italy and Europe as well all around the world - feel the burden that violence and terrorism place on entire populations. Young people, not much older than you, believe that they can change society by kidnapping, murdering and carrying out the most varied of crimes. They have obviously not found more positive ideals and so they have let themselves slip into the most dangerous paths. And it’s not that these things are only seen on newspapers or on the television, they are all around us and they threaten everyone: politicians, factory owners, dads, mums, girls and children. Many people are frightened and can’t live in peace. What can we do, Gen? What contribution can our Movement give to today’s society? I think that the unleashing of violence, that is so heightened today, often has its roots in hatred, set out as a way of life among people. If this is the case, the remedy against hatred
Coimbatore, January 21, 2003 Meeting at the Avinashilingan University with youth and civil and religious authorities Transcription
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