A Lesson of Love

The solemn funeral Mass was held in the Basilica of Saint Paul’s Outside the Walls, a place of worship rich in ecumenical tradition. Thousands of people packed the ancient Basilica to bid a final farewell to the charismatic leader, among them representatives of other Christian traditions, as well as Jewish and Muslim religious leaders.

The Mass was presided over by the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarciso Bertone, who read a message sent by Pope Benedict in which the Holy Father said there are “many reasons to give thanks to the Lord for the life of Chiara Lubich”. The Pope underlined her “silent and incisive service to evangelisation,” which was, “always in harmony with Church teaching”. He also praised her loyal response to the appeals of the popes in the course of her lifetime, and her prophetic capacity to read and respond to the sign of the times.

The twentieth century, despite its many contradictions, was also marked by many men and women who God called to tend the wounds of the ill and the suffering, the poor and the outcast. These men and women dedicated their lives to opening minds and hearts to truth, restoring faith and hope to lives broken by violence, injustice and sin. Chiara Lubich was certainly one of these brilliant stars of Divine Love.

Chiara was born Silvia Lubich in Trent, Italy, in 1920. Her father lost his job because of the Socialist ideas he upheld during the Fascist era and, consequently, the family lived for years in extreme poverty. To pay for her university studies in Philosophy, Chiara tutored other students in Venice, and during the 1940s began teaching at an elementary school in Trent.

During World War II, while bombs were destroying her native town, she made the discovery of God who is Love – the only One that no bomb could destroy. It was a powerful experience, even stronger than the bombs that were falling on Trent, and Chiara immediately communicated it to her closest friends.

On December 7, 1943, her discovery of ‘God is Love’ led Chiara, alone in a small chapel, to pronounce her “yes” to God forever. This date is considered the beginning of the Focolare Movement.

A few months later, under the most violent bombing of Trent, her house was among the many buildings destroyed. As her relatives fled into the nearby mountains to seek refuge, she decided to stay. Amid the ruins of the city, she met a woman who had lost her senses at seeing her four children dead. As Chiara comforted her she understood that she was asked to embrace the suffering of humanity. It was among the poor of Trent that the “Divine Adventure,” as she often used to call it, began. From this experience came the certainty that the Gospel, when it is put into action, gives rise to the most powerful of social revolutions.

She became an inspiration to her friends, and some of them moved together. However, group of young Catholic single women living together in the provincial Italy of the 1940s was not always looked upon favourably, and so Chiara realised that they would have to seek approval from, and protection by, the Church authorities.

Within months of Chiara’s private vow there were some 500 people following her ‘Way’, and she and her first companions were invited to speak at meetings in parish halls throughout the region, and then further afield. The archbishop of Trent had watched them carefully, and concluded, “The finger of God is here”. The movement was eventually approved by Rome in 1962.

Focolare has a number of different branches within a larger movement. There are celibate communities of men and women who observe the evangelical counsels (poverty, chastity and obedience), but do secular work; married people who identify with the ideals of the movement; and a young people’s movement and priestly fraternities who do the same. The general purpose is to change the world through the observance of the Gospel ideals. The Focolare movement is present today in 182 nations, with 140,000 active members, and an overall membership of over six million people.

In 1943 Chiara allowed God’s love to enter her life and change her, and through her others; now she is close to Him, and I am sure she is interceding for us. Along with all those who are connected with the Focolare movement, I would like to pray the following words written by Brother Roger of Taizé: “Christ of Compassion, You enable us to be in communion with those who have gone before us, who can remain so close to us. They already behold the invisible. In their footsteps you prepare us to welcome a gleam of your brightness”.