Source: Focolare
By living the Golden Rule (“Do to
others what you would like them to do to you; do not do to others what you do
not want them to do to you”in the Focolare community of Acquaviva delle Fonti
in southern Italy, people share the family spirit with others who are living
far from their homes and loved ones.
They come
from the most varied backgrounds, lands and cultures: Albania, Ukraine, Georgia,
Morocco, Senegal, Romania, Nigeria and Belarus. Like many of their fellow
countrymen and women they are leaving behind dramatic situations, as well as
their loved ones in the hope of finding work and a better future for their
lives.
They have
landed in Acquaviva delle Fonti, a town of the Bari province which, like other southern
Italian towns, has become the destination or crossing point for many who are
dreaming of a better life. The Focolare community here has for some time felt
summoned by their presence: “We had it in our hearts,” they write, “to see to
it that these many foreigners/immigrants would feel welcomed in our city.”
Personal relationships were established, bonds of friendship that overcame
barriers and mistrust. “Three years ago,” they say, “we decided to organize a
festival that we could all share during the Christmas season, so they could
breathe in a bit of family atmosphere instead of the loneliness and
marginalization that many unfortunately experience.” Our friendship became
deeper and deeper. And now the Christmas festival has become an annual
tradition. In what we call the ‘the
people’s festival’ our
friends now feel free enough to extend the invitation to other foreign friends,
and we are more than happy to welcome them.”
This year
fifty people of all ages and religious backgrounds attended: “The family
atmosphere that had been established in previous years was immediately renewed.
Spontaneously people began sharing experiences about the journey and arrival in
Italy, putting in common both the sufferings and the joys.”
The
proposal to live the Golden Rule – Do unto others as you would have them do unto
you – as a basis upon which to build universal brotherhood and as a common
point we could all share even amidst the diversity of our religious beliefs was
immediately accepted by all because we had already experienced how “mutual love
demolishes every distance. At the buffet which was served in the evening,
alongside dishes that were prepared by the local community, there were also
dishes from a variety of other countries that our friends had prepared. What
gave everyone the most joy that evening was certainly the fact that we had
experienced what it means to be a family.”
At the
end of the evening, Abdul from Senegal invited some people from the community to take
part in a prayer meeting in a neighbouring town: “Great was his joy and
surprise when he saw us arriving. There were 200 Senegal Muslims there,
barefoot and seated on prayer rugs, reading the Koran. Abdul introduced us to
his spiritual leader and, then, two days later he was again deeply moved as he
thanked us for our visit.”
Another
concrete gesture was the opening of a listening booth that is taken care
by the entire community in order to identify people’s needs and to provide
expertise, offering Italian lessons to children and their parents, for example,
or assistance in resolving bureaucratic problems, finding medical treatments,
and so on.
“This experience of family,” they conclude, “and the
fruits that have grown from it make us certain that a united world is no
utopia, but a reality already very much alive amongst us.”
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