"The one who trusts entirely in God lets God himself act and... to him nothing is impossible.
          The faith that Jesus wants from his disciples is a totally trusting attitude which enables God to manifest his power. And this faith is not reserved for certain exceptional people. It is possible and dutiful for all believers. " -- Chiara Lubich Word of Life - October 1998

Quotations from Chiara Lubich

"In life we do many things, say many things, but the voice of suffering offered out of love - which is perhaps unheard by and unknown to others - is the loudest cry that can penetrate Heaven" --24th Spiritual Meeting of the Bishops-Friends of the Focolare Movement

"Love is the life of the world. We have a burning desire that whoever sees Rome may say of its citizens what was said of the first Christians: ‘See how they love one another and how they’re ready to die for one another’. Because if these words are lived out, our city would achieve its crowning glory consistent with its great vocation. Such great and radical love will be a radiant witness of the One who alone can bring this about on both a spiritual and a social plane, through us His children, because he is Man, as well as being God." -- Extract from her address at the Capitoline Hall, 22.1.2000 "

     "I dream that the Holy Spirit may continue to be present in the Churches and beyond them that he may potentiate the "seeds of the Word" for the world to be invaded by constant streams of new light, life and works as only the Spirit knows how to bring about. As a result, may a growing number of men and women set out along straight paths, converging towards their Creator, opening their hearts and souls to his service.

      I dream of gospel-based relationships not only among individuals but also among groups, movements, religious and lay associations. And among peoples and nations to the point that it becomes logical to love the other's nation as one loves one's own, logical to tend towards a universal sharing of goods, at least as the intended goal. I dream of a world with unity in the diversity of its peoples under one single alternating authority." -- A dream for the 2000

     "We have understood that the world needs a treatment of... the Gospel, because only the Good News can give back to the world the life it lacks. This is why we live the Word of Life.... We make it flesh in ourselves to the point of being that living Word....' " -- The Word of Life

Our great discovery was this:
God is Love, God is a Father!
Our heart opened up and reached out to Him
who loves us and makes of us the very object of His love,
who even "counts the hair on our head".

Nothing happens without his consent:
happy or sad circumstances acquire a new meaning.

We cannot fear anything anymore.

We find a new hope, a new strength,
a new confidence:
we experience the Love of the One who follows the history of mankind
as well as the small history of each one of us
with an immense Love.

All this is God’s gift which makes us shout: "We believe in love". -- God rediscovered as Love

"Today our society, more than ever before, needs to know the words of the Gospel and to let itself be transformed by them. Jesus must be able to repeat once again: do not become angry with your neighbors; forgive, and you will be forgiven; tell the truth, to the point of having no need to take an oath; love your enemies; recognize that we have only one Father and are all brothers and sisters; do to others as you would have them do to you. This is the sense of some of the many words from the Sermon on the Mount. If they were lived out, it would be enough to change the world." - Word of Life

"We discovered, like infants opening their eyes for the first time, that God's coming upon earth out of love for us had radically changed the world, because he had remained with us.

"As we walked about the city, or traveled to different cities and countries, it was not the beautiful and interesting things around us that attracted us. Not even Rome's wonderful monuments and precious relics seemed so important. Rather, what gave a sense of continuity to our journeying through the world for Jesus, was His Eucharistic presence in the tabernacles we found wherever we went." - from May They All Be One

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"At three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’" (Mt.27,46)

It is the climax of His sufferings,
it is His interior passion.
It is the tragedy of a God Who cries out:

"My God, my God why have you forsaken me?".
The infinite mystery of the abyssal suffering
which Jesus experienced as a man.

It is the measure of His love for man.
He wanted to take upon Himself
the separation between God and man
and men from each other.

And He bridged the infinite gap of that separation.

All human sufferings are summarised in that particular suffering of Jesus.

Those who are in anguish, who are lonely
or in a state of aridity,
the disappointed, the failed, the weak:
are they not all, in a way, similar to Him?
Is He not the image of any painful division
among the members of a family?

By loving Him, Christians
find the reason and the strength
not to escape from suffering, from evil, from division,
but to accept them, thus making a personal contribution of their own.

Jesus the Forsaken is the key to unity. -- The crucified and forsaken Jesus

“He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

The miracles performed by Jesus are an expression of his love for all those he met on his journeys. They are also “signs” of the new world that he came to announce. The healing of the deaf and mute man is a sign that Jesus came to bring us a new ability to understand and to speak.

“Ephphatha” was the same word pronounced over us at the time of our Baptism.

“Ephphatha” calls us to open ourselves to hearing the Word of God, so that we allow it to penetrate deeply in us.

“Ephphatha” is his invitation to us to be open and to listen to all those with whom he identified himself—every person, above all, the children, the poor, the needy. He invites us to begin a dialogue of love with all of them, a dialogue that leads to sharing our own Gospel-based experience. -Word of Life

Biography

           "...was born in Trent Italy, in 1920. At 23 years of age, together with a small group of friends, she began an experience of rediscovery of the Gospel, resulting in an ever growing Movement. Its goal became a world living in unity, and its spirituality has helped dismantle centuries-old prejudices. Today its members and adherents are Catholic, Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, as well as thousands of people who profess no particular religion." Chiara Lubich - Focolare Website

"In 1943 during the height of World War II, Ms Lubich, then 23-years-old, founded the Focolare Movement in Italy. With the help of some friends, she began examining the teachings of the Gospel and rediscovered its values. Thus began the Focolare Movement, now active in 180 countries and with about 100,000 members. These Focolare [or small communities of lay volunteers] seek to contribute to peace and to achieve the evangelical unity of all people in every social environment." -- UNESCOPRESS article

Resources on Chiara Lubich       

The links on Chiara Lubich given above as well as several others can be found on one of the pages of my Web site. Click here to see this page.