On Thursday, May 8th, 350 people filled the Auditorium of the Terra Santa College to celebrate the conclusion of the first year of 'togetherWEconnect,' a project sponsored by the Focolare with the goal of forming young people capable of promoting a culture of fraternity, reconciliation and dialogue – a culture of encounter.
Each school shared some of the activities they had carried out and the impact of the experience they had lived since the beginning of the project. The main topics – self-knowledge and personal development, conflict management and intergenerational dialogue – were explored through moments of formation, activities, projects and games.
The international musical groups, Gen Verde and Gen Rosso, directed three days of workshops with more than 100 young people, underlining the same values that had characterized this first year, through music, dance and theatrical performances.
The final celebration was a mosaic of color, music and testimonials: proof that ‘together we really connect'. Together we can also be a sign of hope here and now, today.
The Holy Land: charisms in communion for a new time of Pentecosthttps://www.focolare-hl.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Header-Articolo-Movimenti.jpg712350adminadminhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/95e129397f9495edb14277043dfd5e78?s=96&d=mm&r=g
May 2023 – A unique opportunity to get to know each other, to share and to rediscover the beauty of being a collective witness to the Resurrection. This is what the Ecclesial Movements and the new communities in the Holy Land were able to experience on the journey they began together at Pentecost a year ago.
Communion, participation and mission: these are the three key words related to the Synodal Pathway that was launched in October 2021. At its inauguration, Pope Francis invited followers of the Universal Church to listen and be close to others; this created the context of the local phase of the Synod. At the invitation of Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, the Ecclesial Movements and the new communities present in the Holy Land were able to meet, listen to each other and work in communion in preparing the 2022 Pentecost Vigil. This was a special occasion when many people experienced the joy of feeling they were one body in the Church, enlivened and renewed by the Holy Spirit. Within the sociopolitical and cultural context of the Holy Land, there was possibility of generating “unity,” learning from each other’s charism and putting one’s own at the service of all.
Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa said, “I think that if we are to feel that we are one body, the first thing to do is to speak, to communicate but, above all, to listen. Listening does not mean only hearing, it means expecting to receive from the other person who becomes the subject – I am not the subject, the other person is.”
Pentecost marks the time when the Church on its pilgrimage to meet the Lord, constantly receives the Spirit from him. The same Spirit gathers it in faith and charity, sanctifies it and sends it on mission.
At Pentecost 2023 we share an account of this experience of communion.
From Bethlehem lessons for the futurehttps://www.focolare-hl.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/DanceLab1.jpg1132703adminadminhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/95e129397f9495edb14277043dfd5e78?s=96&d=mm&r=g
Oct. 2022 – This is one of the pages from the diary of Irene, a young editor of Teens, a magazine of the Città Nuova publishing group, which is made by teenagers for teenagers. Through her eyes and her words we learn of a journey in a country marked by divisions and we get to know the project “Harmony among peoples”, which, thanks to art and dance is spreading beauty and hope to the new generations in Bethlehem.
Mariapolis in the Holy Land: vocation to communityhttps://www.focolare-hl.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Header-Articolo-mariapoli-in-terra-santa1.png712350adminadminhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/95e129397f9495edb14277043dfd5e78?s=96&d=mm&r=g
July 2022 – Being a community is more than just being together.It means responding to a call to build: giving life to a family sustained by the Word and meeting each other. Here, in this video, is what some people who participated in the Mariapolis of the Holy Land last July told us.
There is a light breeze which caresses the ancient ruins of the Church of St. George, in Taybeh, the only entirely Christian village in the Holy Land. According to Scripture, it is the place where Jesus came to rest with his followers before the Passion. And it was here, on 8th-9th July 2022 that adults, young people and children of the Focolare Movement gathered together to live a truly special Mariapolis, a moment of fraternity and true communion.
“Mariapolis is a time for the family to get together,” says Mayra, from Bethlehem, “It usually takes place every year but due to the pandemic we couldn’t have it. This year, after three years, we could and for me it’s like taking a break from my life and recharging myself spiritually.”
“To be witnesses of love” was the title of this two-day event that saw the participation of people from many regions of the country, from Haifa, Nazareth, to Jerusalem, Ramallah, Bethlehem and Gaza. Despite the socio-political and cultural challenges of the Holy Land, the desire to enjoy beauty and to live as a community give the strength to overcome physical and often inner barriers. The community is the place where we find the values that become nourishment, where we build a present and a future which respect the dignity of all; the place where listening to and witnessing to the other in the light of the Gospel invites us to better understand the work of God in our lives and, more than anything else, it is the place where no one is alone.
Marcell and Boulos, from Nazareth shared this with us: in their life-journey, they were able to experience support and family during the most painful moment of their lives, the death of their youngest son, Jack. And Khader, from Gaza, who despite the daily hardships to be faced in the context in which he lives, places his hope in God, joyfully recognizing the beauty of the vocation to which he is called: that of happiness.
The Holy Land: “Dare to Care” in Nes Ammimhttps://www.focolare-hl.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/SlideN-Amin1.jpg558381adminadminhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/95e129397f9495edb14277043dfd5e78?s=96&d=mm&r=g
Sept. 2022 – In Hebrew, Nes Ammim means the ‘miracle of the peoples’. This place was created to foster dialogue and understanding between Christians, Jews and Muslims. From 16 to 18 September, “Dare to Care for a Better Future” was held here, a meeting organised by the Focolare Movement in the Holy Land and open to people of every generation, nationality, religious faith or non-religious beliefs. It was an opportunity to share a few days together and discover each other as partners, through mutual understanding, in building a better future together. For testimonies of friendship between believers of different religions, see also Holy Land: stories of dialogue ( https://youtu.be/Cp9MOx5xKvA ).
