4. Green - Love Heals

Love Heals

Our previous subject was a reflection on our spiritual life and, to be more precise, on the spiritual life of each one of us personally.

Now we would like to think over the fourth aspect, a further effect of the love we seek to live out. It is the one concerning not so much the life of our soul but, rather, of our body.

The fourth aspect is about physical life, health, the whole course of human existence, including illness and death, as well as resurrection; and it is also about creation, which human beings sum up in themselves.

And because the vocation of the entire Work of Mary is love, we live all moments of human existence, in this life and the next, by loving and as expressions of love.

In this brief discussion I will be able to give only a basic knowledge of these aspects, as we understand them and as we seek to live them among ourselves. As always, I will draw from suggestions, ideas, highlights, thoughts, and illuminations that we have received down through the years, from the beginning.

What importance do we Christians usually give to the body?

Paul VI tells us: "The human body ... is sacred. . . . Yes, it is the dwelling place of the divine. . . . Human life is imbued with the thought of God. Man is his image. Furthermore, when grace sanctifies a person, his or her body becomes not only the instrument or organ of the soul, but also the mysterious temple of the Holy Spirit. ... It is like saying," continues Paul VI, "that a new conception of the human body is opening up before

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our eyes; . . . which in no way alters the vision of the physical and biological reality. On the contrary, it enlight­ens it. It enhances it with a new appeal . . . which sur­passes the appeal of the senses and aesthetics, which are so real and strong, and many times, so wicked and fatal. It is an appeal which we could call mystical, a new appeal which neither pleasure nor beauty suggest, but which the love of Christ inspires."'

On Health

If the body is to be considered in this way, how should we behave toward it?

Let us first give some thought to our health.

In our present-day society, as was also true in the past, there is sometimes an excessive concern for the human physique. In a frantic concern to satisfy current standards of beauty, for example, people are sometimes advised to adopt mistaken dietary behaviors, which can bring about serious illnesses.

But we, committed Christians, how do we treat the body? We can note in general an all-too-common defect, namely, that people are often caught up in activism even on those days meant for rest. Often, health takes second place.

Not giving the needed care to the body necessarily leads to a lack of balance between what is consumed by the mind and soul, and what is given to the body.

There is some consolation, although no justification, in the fact that the saints themselves — I am thinking of Saint Ignatius — ruined their health, even though it served as a lesson to them for regulating the life of their followers.

1. Insegnamenti di Paolo VI, I, p. 141.

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Thoughts like these have often been the object of con­cern for us members of the Focolare. That is why every now and then we have to advise that our vacations really be vacations. We should organize the days by filling them — so as not to have the temptation to work — with what­ever is good for our health. We must forget our usual com­mitments and go walking in the mountains or swimming in the sea, playing sports or rowing on a lake; playing open-air games or, in the evening, games around the table; watch­ing wholesome documentaries or relaxing films. . . .

Everything should be well ordered, with plenty of sleep, without too rigid a timetable. There should be relaxation each day, and we should eat well.

And in all of this we need to maintain and improve our relationship with God, so as to hear his voice clearly, which asks us to look after our bodies for as long as he wills, ready to offer them to him when his call comes.²

But more than anything else what is beneficial to our health is a well-ordered life, day in, day out. Many saints, whom we can take as our models, have been of this opin­ion. In the Rule of the Congregation of Saint Joseph, founded by Saint Leonardo Murialdo, we find written:

"The serenity of community life is favored . . . by a wise, well-ordered plan, which ensures each brother time for prayer, work, study, and rest."³

We for our part have the same possibility if we want it.

On Illness

And when our health fails, when we fall sick? In Eastern and African cultures, sickness is often inter-

2. Cf. Chiara Lubich, Diary of 4 August 1 968.

3. Regain, Direttorio, #15 (Rome, 1984).

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preted in a religious way, as a religious reawakening, for example. Western society, which is based above all on sci­entific and technological progress and, as a consequence, is characterized by the frantic pursuit of a better life, usu­ally loses the spiritual-human significance of illness and interprets it as the awkward weakness of an organism, which breaks down for various reasons and which medical science then cures, or hopes to cure in the very near fu­ture.

Today's medicine, with a few exceptions, is based in its anthropological principles on a certain dualism: it looks upon the body, with its organs and mechanisms, as though it were something detached from that marvelous holistic reality that is the human being.

And what do we think about all this in our Movement? We have clear convictions concerning sick persons. When someone is not well, we must seek every way and means to restore him or her to good health, because the health of its members is not theirs alone but is the heritage of the Focolare.

At the same time, those who are ill are asked to be de­tached from their health. But not only this. They are en­couraged to see even illness and death as gifts of God, because they are expressions of his will and therefore of his love. At the first signs of any illness, we are invited to believe and to say that everything is love, the love of God, recalling Therese of Lisieux, who did not focus on her in­firmity when she first spat up blood; rather, she said: "My Spouse has arrived."⁴

If illness and death are expressions of God's love, what special meaning do they have?

4. Cf. Therese of Lisieux, Story of a Soul, transl. John Clarke, O.C.D. (Washington, D.C: ICS Publications, 1996), p. 211.

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In our view, illnesses are means in the hands of God's providence, in order to carve out from the shapeless bulk of our egos, the figure of Jesus, Jesus himself.

We have always been attracted, therefore, by the expla­nation that Vincent de Paul gives of illness. "What hap­pens to us," he says, "is like what happens to a block of marble from which one wants to carve out a beautiful statue of the Virgin. What will the sculptor have to do in order to put the idea he has in mind into a form? He will have to take hold of a hammer and remove from the block all that is superfluous. And so he begins to hit the top of the block with well-directed blows . . . ; in fact, it looks as though he wants to smash it to pieces. But after he has removed the larger parts of the block, he uses a smaller hammer and then a chisel to begin shaping the figure in all its finest details. Finally, he uses ever more delicate instruments to give the statue that refined perfection he has in mind.

"God uses the same technique with us. Take the case of a Daughter of Charity or a missionary. Before God draws them from the world, their lives appear to be coarse, unre­fined, and brutal, like large blocks of marble. But God wants to turn them into beautiful statues and so he be­gins to work on them and to strike them from above with strong hammer blows. . . .

"Whoever sees outward appearances alone (in spiritual or physical trials) might be inclined to say that this Daugh­ter is unfortunate. But if one discerns God's plan, he will see that all these blows were dealt for the sole purpose of giving form to that beautiful idea."⁵

In the Focolare we also have our own view of illness and of those who are sick.

5. M. Auclair, La parola a San Vincenzo de Paoli (Rome, 1971), pp. 289-290.

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In another diary from April 1968 we find:

"In our work, in the triumphs . . . brought about by this vigorous and flourishing Movement, at times we are tempted to see people who are suffering as marginal cases to be looked after, to be visited, but to be helped if we can so that they may soon resume their activity, as if such activity were our primary duty, the center of our life.

"But this is not so. Those among us who are suffering, who are lying ill, who are dying, are the chosen ones. They are at the center of the hierarchy of love in the Move­ment. They are the ones who do the most, who achieve the most."⁶

And at another time we wrote: "Those who are ill should be seen as living hosts who unite their suffering to that of Christ, thus giving the best contribution to the develop­ment of the Work of Mary and of the Church."⁷

Pope John XXIII was of the same opinion. He wrote to a bishop who had retired: "Now your task has changed (in relation to the Church): you must pray for her. And this is no less important than action for her."

It would be beautiful and interesting at this point to examine some rules of life of other religious families in order to see how consistent the Holy Spirit is in suggest­ing to various founders norms similar to our own.

In the Rule of Benedict, for example, we read in chap­ter 36: "First and foremost, care must be given to the sick. . . ."⁸

In an early rule of Saint Francis we find: "I beg the sick brother to thank God for everything and to desire to be whatever the Lord wills, whether sick or well, because God teaches all those He has destined for eternal life ... as

6. Chiara Lubich, Unpublished Diary of 11 April 1968.

7. General Statutes of the Work of Mary, art. 52.

8. G. Turbessi (ed.). Regale monastiche antiche (Rome, 1978), p. 442.

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the Lord says: 'Those whom I love, I correct and chastise' (Rev3:19).'"⁹

Illness, therefore, is love. For Francis as for us, all that makes us suffer is love.

Moreover, we see illnesses, with their burden of suffer­ing, as trials from God for the final trial: our passage to the next life.

We wrote in the sixties:

"God, in becoming man, and therefore in being mortal, was born on this earth to die.

"This is the meaning of life: to live like the grain of wheat — whose destiny it is to die and decay — in prepa­ration for the true life of eternity. . . .

"We have to see all the illnesses that befall us as steps prepared by the love of God to help us scale the heights, as trials to prepare us for the trial. We are like small hosts, not yet completely consumed, but awaiting that moment which will come for all of us, the full 'consummatum est' (Jn 19:30).

"And so: mortals with the Mortal One, in order to rise with him and to begin a Life that will never end.

"Lord, may the doing of your will be incense that we offer in this 'mass' we are preparing."¹⁰

And the writing entitled: "His mass and ours" is well known. It speaks of suffering. It may be useful here to quote a part of it because it contains the meaning that illness and suffering have for us:

If you suffer and your suffering is such that it prevents any activity, remember the mass.

9. The Saint, Francis ofAssisi: Early Documents, pp. 71-72.

10. Cf. Chiara Lubich, Fragments of Wisdom, pp. 43-44 (translation re­vised).

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Jesus in the mass,

today as once before,

does not work, does not preach:

Jesus sacrifices himself out of love.

In life

we can do many things, say many words,

but the voice of suffering,

maybe unheard and unknown to others,

is the most powerful word,

the one that pierces heaven.

If you suffer,

immerse your pain in his:

say your mass;

and if the world does not understand

do not worry

all that matters

is that you are understood by Jesus, Mary, the saints.

Live with them,

and let your blood flow

for the good of humanity —

like him!

The mass!

It is too great to understand!

His mass, our mass."

On Old Age

One of our spirituality books contains a passage from many years ago, that expresses our view of that kind of natural illness we call old age.

"In God's sight, where is the greatest beauty: in the

11. Chiara Lubich, Meditations, pp. 36-37; cf. also Christian Living Today, pp.93-94.

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child who looks at you with innocent little eyes, so like the clarity of nature and so lively; or in the young girl who glistens with the freshness of a newly-opened flower; or in the wizened and white-haired old man, bent double, al­most unable to do anything, perhaps only waiting for death?

"The grain of wheat . . . when, slenderer than a wisp of grass, and bunched together with fellow grains that surround and form the ear, it awaits the time when it will ripen and be free, alone and independent... is beautiful and full of hope!

"It is, however, also beautiful when, ripe at last, it is chosen from among the others because it is better than they, and then, having been buried, it gives life to other ears of wheat. . . .

"But when, shriveling underground, it reduces its being almost to nothing, grows concentrated, and slowly dies, decaying, to give life to a tiny plant that is distinct from it and yet contains the life of the grain, then, perhaps, it is still more beautiful.

"All various beauties.

"Yet one more beautiful than the other.

"And the last is the most beautiful of all.

"Does God see things in this way?

"Those wrinkles that furrow the little old woman's fore­head, that stooped and shaky gait, those brief words full of experience and wisdom, that gentle look of a child and a woman together, but better than both, is a beauty we do not know. . . .

"I think God sees like this and that the approach to heaven is far more attractive than the various stages of the long journey of life, which basically serve only to open that door."¹²

12. Chiara Lubich, Meditations, pp. 113-114; cf. also Christian Living To­day.pp. 156-158.

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On Death

"We think about death," we say, "not in order to have dark thoughts, but thoughts of gold. . . .

"The more we appreciate and go into the depths of suf­fering, the more we also understand that death is the ulti­mate offering of ourselves as 'royal priests' here on earth and, therefore, the culmination of our lives."¹³

There can also be joy in thinking of death. At times in our Movement we see it as Saint Francis did, as sister death.

We find this writing: "If the mercy of God grants this, death will mean seeing Mary, seeing Jesus. How then can we surround that passage with mourning, even ... if it comes with the harsh reality of an agony, be it long or short, and in any case with the breakdown of the human shells of our lives? . . ."'⁴

It seems to us that those who see death are those who are watching at the bedside of the one who is dying. In­stead, the one who is dying has the adventure of seeing life, because death is the encounter with Christ.

It is a truth of our faith that we will see Jesus immedi­ately after we die, a truth that gives immense consolation. Paul speaks of his "longing to depart this life and be with Christ" (Phil 1:23). Therefore, he speaks of a life with Christ which comes right after death without awaiting the final resurrection (cf. 2 Cor 5:8). So in a way it is true that death does not exist; rather, it is the encounter with the Lord.

But we must prepare ourselves for death before the moment comes.

We should do what Jesus did, who lived for his "hour."

13. Chiara Lubich, Yes Yes, No No (London: New City, 1977), p. 91.

14. Unpublished Diary of 14 June 1968.

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Each one of us also has his own hour.

We should have it foremost in our thoughts as it is foremost in importance in our lives here on earth.

And we should pray for that moment, in the Hail Mary, for example, where we always say, "Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death."

So while we are still healthy, we ought to live in expec­tation of that moment, choosing even now a frame of mind in tune with it: "You, Lord, are my only good" (cf. Ps 16[15j:12).

And we should offer that hour for those things that Jesus has entrusted to us.

If we do so, nothing will take us by surprise.

On the Resurrection

But, in the end, we will rise. We will rise because Jesus is risen. We will rise through the power of the Eucharist, with which we have been nourished during our lives:

"Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day" (Jn 6:54).

Jesus himself is the resurrection: "I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live" (Jn 11:25).

We are linked to him who has been placed as our first brother at the head of us all as we go towards the Father (cf. Rm 8:29).

And how will we rise?

We will rise with our own body and not with another, because each one of us is a unique person, as John Paul II says.¹⁵ We will rise with our bodies, but they will be com-

15. Cf. John Paul II, Uomo e donna lo creb. Catechesi sull'amore umano (Rome, 1985), p. 79.

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pletely different from the way they are now. They will be spiritualized, like the body of the risen Jesus. And we will be, God willing, happy in paradise.

When a relative or a friend of ours leaves for the next life, often people say they are "no longer with us," for they think of them as being lost.

But it should not be like this for us. "Life is changed, not taken away."¹⁶

The love that our brother or sister had for us — true love because it is rooted in God — remains. Everything passes. Even faith and hope come to an end with the pass­ing of the scene of this world, but love remains (cf. 1 Cor 13:8). God is not so ungenerous with us as to take from us what he himself gave us in our brother or sister.

Those brothers or sisters continue to love us with a love that is now unfaltering.

No, our brothers and sisters are not lost. They are there, as if they had left home to go to another place.

They live in the heavenly homeland and, through God in whom they abide, we can continue to love one another, as the gospel teaches.¹⁷

The Resurrection and the Cosmos

Speaking of the resurrection, we sometimes express in the Focolare a singular idea with regard to humanity's habitat, that is, the cosmos.

Jesus in his death and resurrection is certainly the true cause of the transformation of the cosmos. But since Paul revealed to us that we men and women complete the pas­sion of Christ and that nature awaits the revelation of the

16. Preface of the Mass for the dead.

17. Cf. Chiara Lubich, Unpublished Diary of 13 December 1968.

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children of God, it could be true that Jesus also expects the cooperation of people, "Christified" by his Eucharist, in order to accomplish the renewal of the cosmos.

If the Eucharist is the cause of the resurrection of a human being, is it not possible that the body of a human being, divinized by the Eucharist, may be destined to de­cay underground in order to contribute to the resurrec­tion of the cosmos? We could say, furthermore, that by means of the Eucharistic bread, human beings become "eucharist" for the universe, in the sense that, joined with Christ, they are seeds of the transfiguration of the uni­verse.

We could say, therefore, that the earth eats us up, as we eat the Eucharist, not in order to transform us into earth but in order to be itself transformed into the "new heav­ens and new earth" (Rv 21:1).

In the Focolare we feel strongly that we should take great care of the places where our dead, destined to rise, are laid to rest. The Words of Life'⁸ that illumined their earthly existence are engraved on their tombs, to the edi­fication of our members who visit the cemetery and read them.

In addition, we would like our cemeteries to be like beautiful gardens in which the tombs convey a message. People pass from one tomb to another and perceive a love that continues. Such an experience has moved some people to tears.

And what will heaven be like? It will be like the earth, but transformed. We do not know if there will be some kind of catastrophe and then the rising of a new earth and

18. The reference is to Gospel passages that these people had taken as their personal program for living.

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new heavens, or if there will be a transformation of the existing universe. We are inclined to think of a transfor­mation of this same earth, of these same heavens.

The universe will continue, it will undergo a transfor­mation, but it will continue and will exist for all eternity. Therefore, it should be viewed in this way even now. When we admire galaxies, sunsets, flowers, pine trees, meadows, and the heavens, we should think, "This will all remain." Human work will also remain, especially if it is the fruit of love, because if it is, it is already purified. These works are made bv Jesus within us or among us, and his works last.

These thoughts also enhance the value of ecology, to which people in the Focolare are particularly sensitive. We need to conserve the earth, out of respect, given that it too has a role to play in the future.

One Family

We feel that all the people in our Movement — graced by the Holy Spirit with one of his charisms, which is like a new blood that joins us to one another — are and will remain forever one single family. In this family, some mem­bers have already left, so it is a family waiting to be re­united.

In fact, we share the thoughts of Father Alberione, founder of the Saint Paul's congregations:

"Congregavit nos in unum Christi amor (the love of Christ has drawn us into one). The same love has gathered our hearts around the heart of Jesus Christ. And so it is with every religious institute; it is not dissolved by death. Con­sequently, the Congregation can contain members in the Church triumphant, others in the Church purgant, and others in the Church militant here on earth, all of them united by the one bond of love. . . .

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"The Congregation is consolidated and perfected through death. As members of a single family in different conditions, we remain united in one goal: glory to God, peace on earth."¹⁹

On 25 December 1973 I wrote the following words to the Focolarini, and they are still pertinent:

"If I should have to leave this world today, and you were to ask me for a single word, one last word that sums up our Ideal, I would say — certain of being perfectly understood — 'Be a family.'

"Are there among you some who are suffering spiritual or moral trials? Understand them as a mother, and more than a mother would, enlighten them with your words or with your example. Do not leave them feeling the absence of the family warmth, on the contrary, let them feel it all the more.

"Are there some among you who are suffering physi­cally? Let them be your favorites. Suffer with them. Seek to understand their sufferings in depth. Share the fruits of your apostolic endeavors with them so that they may realize that they, more than others, contributed to these fruits.

"Are there some who are dying? Imagine yourself in their place and do for them whatever you would want others to do for you, right to the very end.

"Is someone happy because of a particular achievement or for any other reason? Rejoice with him or her so that the consolation may not be spoiled and that person's heart not be closed, but that the joy may spread to all.

"Is someone leaving? Don't let him or her go without a heart filled with this single legacy: a sense of the family, so that they may take it with them wherever they go.

19. James Alberione, Mese di esercizi spiritual!, IX, lesson IX.

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"Never put any kind of activity — neither spiritual nor apostolic — before generating a family spirit with those brothers or sisters you live with.

"And wherever you go to bring the ideal of Christ, to extend the immense family of the Work of Mary, you can do nothing better than to seek to create with discretion, with prudence, but with determination, the family spirit. It is a spirit that is humble, that desires the good of the others, that is not proud ... it is ... charity which is true and complete.

"In short, if I should have to leave you, I would have Jesus in me repeat to you: 'Love one another ... so that all may be one.' "²⁰

And now, in line with the new will of God expressed to us by the Church in the person of John Paul II on the vigil of Pentecost 1998 in Saint Peter's Square²¹, I would say:

Widen this family spirit to include all the existing Move­ments and Ecclesial Communities. Offer your love to all the religious families who with us represent the charis­matic aspect of the Church. At the same time, do not hesi­tate to extend it generously to Christ who lives in all those who represent the institutional aspect of the Church, so that the "Church-communion" may be a reality in the third millennium. And let us not forget those who are outside of the Church, in the world, that world for whom Jesus came and we are called to inflame.

20. Chiara Lubich, Writingof25 December 1973; in La dottrina spirituals, pp. 86-87.

21. On that day the new Ecclesial Movements and Communities, most of which had come into existence after Vatican II, gathered together for the first time. The Pope invited them to a new ecclesial maturity, and Chiara Lubich expressed her own commitment to work in a spe­cial way for communion among all these groups.

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Conclusion

The Focolare's charism of unity has always made us tend, with regard to all the aspects of our life, to think big, so to speak. In this context, for example, the charism led us to consider not only physical but also spiritual health, and not only personal but also collective health.

In fact, to this aspect of health we link such spiritual realities as the presence of Jesus in our midst and the most holy Eucharist.

Jesus in our midst is linked to this aspect because the perfect health of our soul lies in his presence among us. Our characteristic spirituality demands that we do not seek to attain spiritual health on our own. As human be­ings and as Christians, we are ourselves only in relation­ship with others. It is in relating to others, in loving our neighbors, that each of us becomes fully the person we are, that is, Jesus, another Jesus. For this reason, in order to claim to be spiritually healthy, that is, complete, per­fect, fulfilled, in the fullness of joy, we must love others to the point of generating the presence of Jesus in our midst.

The Eucharist is linked to this aspect, furthermore, not only because it is the cause of our resurrection, in which our physical and spiritual health will become perfect and lasting, but also because it is through the Eucharist that we become one body and one blood with Christ. The Eu­charist transforms us all into the Christ we receive; it makes us Christ and for this reason it is our spiritual health.

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