1. Red - Love is Communion

Love is Communion

Since our Statutes apply to the entire Work of Mary with all its religious and lay vocations, the aspect of the communion of goods also includes our concept of economy, work, and poverty.

Communion of Goods

We know, of course, that others in the Church have lived and continue to live this communion, but for the most part they were, and still are, selected groups of per­sons, those with a special calling, such as monks and nuns in monasteries and convents.

In the Movement it is the whole of society that lives the communion of goods, including lay people, as it was among the first Christians. To reach this goal, we seek to mirror the communion of saints and we live according to the model of the Trinity, where it is true to say Omnia mea tua sunt, "all that is mine is yours" (cf. Jn 17:10).

There are those in the Focolare Movement who live out the communion of goods in a complete way. These are the celibate men and women Focolarini,' who give to the Movement their entire salary and, by making a will, con­sign all their future capital and real estate to the poor, especially through the Focolare's formative, apostolic, and charitable activities.

1. "The focolare is, in the image of the family of Nazareth, a living together in the midst of the world of persons celibate and married, all totally committed, although in different ways, to God" (Chiara Lubich, La dottrina spirituale, p. 88).

Then there are others who give their surplus.

Saint Jerome says: "If you have more clothes and food than you need, you owe these to others." And before this Paul had said: "Not that others should have relief while you are burdened, but . . . that there may be equality" (2 Cor 8:13).

We have always lived the communion of goods in the Focolare, even from the very early days. I remember it started with a letter I wrote on the subject, which was read by the whole community, and which referred to the example of the first Christians.

The response was immediate and concrete. Month af­ter month, we put into common everything we could: what was available and what we would need, and a record was kept of everything. We continued to do this throughout all of the Movement.

Later, when distinct sections, branches, and wide-rang­ing movements came about, each part practiced it within its own ranks. It is still like this.

The "something more" in this aspect lies in the way we deal with our goods and money. Usually, we do not give away our possessions or surplus as separate individuals, but we decide together what to give, and we put it in com­mon beginning with the needy of our own branch.

Work

I would like to begin by saying that the prime source of income of our Movement is not work but the Providence of God that comes to us. It is always abundant and has covered as much as half of our financial needs.

In the Movement our constant experience is that if we seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness, all the rest comes as well (cf. Mt 6:33).

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The second source of income is our work. We give proper value to work in the Focolare, giving it

great importance. This becomes evident also because most

of our members are workers as, in the house of Nazareth,

were Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

Because loving makes us "another Jesus," we look at

work the way he did. We consider our work:

— as an opportunity to do God's will, thus always be­ing "turned toward the Father";

— as a very important occasion for finding fulfillment;

— as the possibility of being co-creators;

— as having the purpose of serving Jesus in the com­munity;

— and, finally, as a chance to share what we earn with those in need.

Considering work in this way gives a higher meaning to life, and it is a constant source of joy.

Some religious orders, as we know, also underline the importance of work. Saint Benedict, for instance, had the motto: "Ora et lahora (pray and work)."

What is the difference for us?

Many religious families do not always give to work all the above-mentioned meanings. At times work might seem to be a counterbalance to prayer, or simply something nec­essary to support oneself.

In his private life, however, Jesus was not so much a person who was consecrated to God, who withdrew to a monastery, as he was a worker. Therefore, the Focolare spirituality has a similar, if not identical, concept of work to the one Jesus had.

Given that at work we can be apprentices or experts, we have to specialize; we have to be familiar with the vari­ous rules of the workplace; we must endure the effort and fatigue our jobs demand; we need to be punctual; we have to take care of our earnings, administer our income, and so on.

To be a true worker, a member of the Focolare must look after all this and more. Love one's work, therefore.

detachment

At the same time, however, we must be detached from our work, because Christ requires detachment also from one's "fields." But here one of Jesus' promises comes true. Everyone who has left father, mother, wife, children or fields . . . will receive a hundred times more and will in­herit eternal life (cf. Mt 19:29).

And because we strive to live like this, we receive the hundredfold, a capital that does not fall short.

This capital, the effect of God's Providence for our hav­ing put aside and given up everything for him, is what we have called the capital of God. In its regard, we found that we need to have three attitudes: to revitalize a spirit of poverty; not to live off interest; to determine that the Work of Mary cannot possess anything more than the goods it is actually putting to use.

Poverty

Closely connected to the aspects of the communion of goods, economy, and work, is poverty. We all strive to live it, and the consecrated members of our Movement even make a vow or promise of poverty.

The Guidelines of our different branches specify the various ways we practice poverty, which should be lived in the image of the poverty of Jesus, and which requires that goods be administered with openness and conform to spe­cific rules.

Poverty within the Focolare is not an end in itself but an effect of love. Since we love, we give, and this makes us

poor, having only what we need. But in the same way, poverty is also a support for love, an aid to love.

The Economy of Communion

The latest endeavor in this field is the Economy a/Com­munion,² whose use of profits is intended to work together with the communion of goods. It aims at setting up busi­nesses run by competent persons, who make them effi­cient and profitable. The profits are then put into com­mon: one part to help the poor and give them what they need to live while they are unable to find work; another part to develop structures to educate persons animated by love; and a final part to develop the businesses them­selves.

We found what God told Catherine of Siena, in her Dialogue, concerning clerics who did not pay much atten­tion to such matters: "with regard to temporal goods, I told you that they should be distributed in three portions:

one for their own needs [this makes us think of the profits that are used for the businesses]; one for the poor; and one for the use of the Church [which could indicate the structures of a Movement that has the nature of Church]."³

This perhaps serves as a confirmation for us.

2. The idea of the Economy of Communion as a new way of doing business was proposed bv Chiara Lubich in 1991 in Brazil, in re­sponse to the great poverty she saw in thefavelas, the slums that circle the city of San Paolo, and which Cardinal Arns, its archbishop, called a "crown of thorns."

3. Catherine of Siena, The Dialogue (New York: Paulist Press, 1980), n. 121,p.232.