Jean-Luc MoensI don't want to go to heaven without my wife".P. Matteo Curina: "One does not abandon one's former life for no reason: one leaves everything to follow the Lord."Antonia, 58 years old, is the fifth of six siblings. She is from a small town - Clusone - in the province of Bergamo (northern Italy), although she has been in Rome since the age of 19, when she arrived just after finishing school to study medicine.
With Christian parents, Antonia came to know the faith in a natural way in her own family and she and her siblings often went to the village parish with other children with whom they participated in sports activities and other games appropriate to their age, while receiving catechesis and deepening their knowledge of the teachings of the Gospel.
Currently working at the University Polyclinic Foundation. Agostino Gemelli as a gynecologist and is also an associate professor at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart. On a day-to-day basis she is involved in clinical practice (she directs outpatient gynecology consultations), teaching (she teaches students, postgraduates and midwives) and research (her specific area of research is the diagnosis of gynecological tumors).
In July 2022, they launched a free gynecology clinic at the Vatican City Dispensary. The Dispensary has been operating for 100 years as a service to poor children: they are offered material aid (such as powdered milk and diapers) as well as health services. The Card Krajewski then offered her the opportunity to set up a similar experience for women in need. The initiative became a reality and now, once a week (on Monday mornings), a Gemelli team gynecologist performs free gynecological examinations.
When did you first hear about the Focolare Movement?
-When we were still small, some members of the Movement came to meet the families in our area. My parents came to the meeting and were amazed by the testimony of life they gave and the message they transmitted: that it is possible to really live according to the Gospel...!
What does the word "vocation" mean to you?
-If I had to choose one word, I would say "look". A vocation is a gaze full of love that attracts another gaze. Vocation is a response to a "you", to a concrete person: it is a response to someone - Jesus - who challenges you in a personal and irresistible way and suddenly you discover in your heart the immense joy of responding with an authentic yes.
What does God's call to follow him imply in the Focolare charism?
-I think that a charism is like a "lens" through which God calls; but it is He who calls, and for a consecrated person, it is fundamental to be aware that one is choosing to live for Him, not for a charism. In daily life, each Christian can incarnate the Gospel with a particular "nuance", proper to a particular charism, but always bearing in mind that one says "Yes" to God within the universal Church. Those who serve the poor in soup kitchens, those who dedicate themselves to interreligious dialogue, those who devote all their time to prayer within the walls of a cloister... all are the expression of that one "body" of which St. Paul spoke, members at the service of one another, irreplaceable in their identity, because of the unity of the body.
One day Chiara Lubich used the example of a flower garden and wrote a meditation entitled: "Admire all the flowers", referring to the beauty of the charisms, called to mutually esteem each other.
What can the Focolare bring to the world today?
-What is specific to their charism, that is, the unity that Jesus asked of the Father: "That they all may be one". We Focolare members know that our contribution to the world comes from the witness of reciprocal love lived with authenticity that makes possible the presence of Jesus among those who are united in his name. The members of the Focolare MovementWherever they live, they try to be leaven in the dough, bringing out the positive in each person, in the most diverse areas, from the ecclesial to the political, social, economic....
We also know that unity can only be achieved by going through "the harshness of the Gospel", which even today repeats "Whoever wishes to follow me must carry his cross..." and promises the joy of the Resurrection to those who, like Jesus, in the face of absurdity, weariness and despair, know how to entrust themselves once again to the Father ("Father, into your hands I commend my Spirit").
Certainly, this lifestyle is not "fashionable", it is often not understood or even rejected. For you, does it imply a renunciation or an opportunity?
-Certainly, a radical option for God may seem challenging and "unpopular. However, it is precisely the people who undertake this "madness" who bear witness to the opposite: living for God is fascinating, takes you out of your comfort zone, leads you down unthinkable paths and opens up immense horizons. Does a consecrated person renounce having his own natural family? Does he perhaps forfeit opportunities to earn more money? All of us in life are called to make decisions that inevitably lead to renunciations, but which are fundamental to making our dreams come true and discovering new opportunities. That is why I am deeply grateful to God for calling me to live this adventure - how I wish many young people could experience this freedom...!
The Focolare Movement
The Focolare Movement was founded by Chiara Lubich in 1943 in Trent (Italy) during the Second World War as a "current of spiritual and social renewal" -as they say on their website-. In 1962 it was approved by the Holy See with the official name of "Work of Mary" and today they are found in more than 180 countries around the world with more than 2 million members.
The founder, Chiara Lubichdescribes the Movement as "a large and diverse family. It includes adults and young people, married and single, religious, priests, and people of different races and cultures. In this sense, within the Movement there are also people from other Churches and Christian communities, people of other religions and even non-believers. Everyone joins by sharing the purpose, while remaining faithful to their own Church, faith or conscience.
The main message they want to bring to the world is that of fraternity and the construction of a more united world, through dialogue, respect and appreciation of diversity. They are engaged in various educational, social and welfare activities to "build bridges and relationships of fraternity between individuals, peoples and cultural spheres".
