Spirituality of Unity: Loving our Neighbour

We continue with our weekly reflection on the points of the spirituality of unity. Following the discovery of God-Love and the carrying out of His will by living the Word, here is a meditation on the love of neighbour which is a logical consequence of living the previous points.

At the time that Chiara and her first companions began their adventure in Trent (Northern Italy) the town had a population of about ten thousand. The girls’ actions had a real effect on the people and also on the local Church. Both the elderly and the young were speechless on seeing the unusual life which these girls lived lived in the ‘little house’ in Piazza Cappuccini, which turned out to be the first ‘focolare’. Poor people were often invited to this humble apartment and they felt at home. In fact, these girls took upon themselves the difficult social situation of the city which was ruined by war and they were convinced that they could solve these problems by simply believing the truth in the words of the Gospel: by loving each neighbour one after the other.

Chiara wrote: ‘Among all the Words in the Gospel, our charism immediately helped us to pick out those which specifically concerned the love of neighbour. And this love was not only aimed at helping out the poor but also all the persons around us, as Jesus says in the Gospel: “Whenever you did this for one of the least important of these brothers of mine (and that means everyone), you did it for me.” (Mt 25,40). Our old way of conceiving our neighbour and loving him or her crumbled. If, in some way, Christ is present in each one, then we could neither discriminate nor have any preferences. Our normal way of reasoning or classifying people had no standing any more: fellow country man or foreigner, old or young, beautiful or ugly, likeable or not, rich or poor, Christ was present in each one, Christ was in each one. Hence, each neighbour was really “another Christ” – if grace enriched his or her soul – or “another Christ” in the making – if he or she was still far from Him.

In living so, we realised that our neighbour was our way to reach God. It seemed as if our neighbour was like an arch which we had to pass under in order to meet God. We experienced this right from the very beginning. In the evening, during prayers or in a moment of recollection, after we had loved God in our brothers all day we felt such a strong union with God. Who could have given us that consolation, that interior balm which was so new and celestial, if not Christ who said: “give and you shall be given”? (Lk 6,38) We had loved Him all day in those brothers and sisters and now He loved us in return. This inner gift was such a great benefit! These were the first experiences of our spiritual life, of the reality of a kingdom which is not of this earth. So, in the marvellous way that the Spirit showed us, love for our brother and sister was a new cornerstone of our spirituality.’

Chiara Lubich, Nascita di una spiritualità, in Enzo M. Fondi e Michele Zanzucchi, Un popolo nato dal Vangelo, San Paolo, Cinisello Balsamo 2003, p. 18