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Word of Life

Word of Life. February 2008. “Whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt 5:19).

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Word of Life

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  1. Word of Life February 2008

  2. “Whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt 5:19)

  3. Jesus, surrounded by the crowds, went up the mountain to give his famous discourse. His first words, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are the meek…” already signaled the novelty of his message.

  4. They are words of life, of light, of hope that Jesus entrusts to his disciples so that they may be enlightened and their life may acquire flavor and meaning.

  5. l Transformed by this great message, they were invited to transmit to others the teachings received and to translate them into life.

  6. “Whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

  7. Our society today, more than ever before, needs to know the words of the Gospel and to let itself to be transformed by them.

  8. 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 you have only one Father and that you are all brothers and sisters; do to others as you would have them do to you.

  9. . This is the sense of some of the many words from the “sermon on the mount.” If they were lived, they would be enough to change the world.

  10. Jesus invites us to proclaim his Gospel. But before “teaching” his words, he asks us to “live them.” To be credible, we should become “experts” in the Gospel, a “living Gospel.” Only then will we be able to witness to it with our life and teach it with our words.

  11. “Whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

  12. What is the best way to live these words?

  13. By allowing Jesus himself to teach them to us, drawing him to us and among us through our reciprocal love.

  14. He will suggest the right words to use when approaching people, he will indicate ways and openings to people’s hearts, so that we may witness to him wherever we are, even in the most difficult environments and in the most entangled situations.

  15. We will see the world change, that small part of the world where we live will be transformed into harmony, into understanding, into peace.

  16. What is important is to keep his presence among us alive through our mutual love, being docile in listening to his voice, the voice of conscience that always speaks to us if we are able to silence the other voices.

  17. He will teach us to “obey” even the “smallest” norms with joy and creativity, so as to “polish” with perfection our life of unity.

  18. May it be said of us one day as it was of the first Christians: “Look how they love one another and how they are ready to die for one another.” The Gospel is capable of generating a new society, and we will show this by the way our relationships are renewed by love.

  19. We cannot keep the gift received for ourselves. We are called to repeat with Paul: “Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!”

  20. If we let ourselves be guided by the inner voice, we will discover ever new possibilities to communicate, to speak, to write, to dialogue.

  21. May the Gospel shine forth again, through us personally, in our homes, in our cities, in our nations.

  22. A new life will flourish in us; joy will grow in our hearts; the risen Lord will shine forth with greater beauty… and he will consider us to be “great in his kingdom.”

  23. The life of Ginetta Calliari demonstrates this in an outstanding way. When she arrived in Brazil in 1959 with the first group of focolarini she was shocked by the sudden impact with the nation’s grave inequality. She pledged reciprocal love, living the words of the Gospel. “He will open the way for us.”

  24. As time passed, a community grew up and developed around her, a community which today counts hundreds of thousands of people of every social class and age, inhabitants of the favelas and members of the well-to-do classes, who put themselves at the service of those most in need.

  25. A small united “people” who continue to show that the Gospel is true: the dowry that Ginetta brought with her when she left for heaven.

  26. “Whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Text of Chiara Lubich

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