OUR SPIRITUALITY
Focolare is about building relationships
Focolare spirituality emphasizes relationships, and those who live it express that through love of neighbor and for all humanity. Building relationships of love and unity constitutes the heart, soul, and driving energy of every Focolare community, project or activity. When St. John Paul II visited Focolare headquarters in Rome in 1984 he noted how love is the “inspiring spark” of everything done under the name “Focolare.”
Focolare is a communitarian spirituality
We go to God together, which means we aim to give of ourselves to the point that the person we love begins to reciprocate. In the spirituality of unity, love of neighbor is not only a consequence of loving God, but the indispensable path to loving God. Love for God inevitably leads to love of neighbor, and loving one’s neighbor in turn leads to union with God.
Jesus’ New Commandment, “Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another” (Jn 13:34-35), invites us to create relationships that go beyond our personal ego and to create a culture of mutual growth. “A spirituality of unity invites us to put mutual and constant love before all church activities in order to render them truly Christian and fruitful” (from Called to be Community).
Though the spirituality of the Focolare is rooted in the Gospel there are people with no religious affiliation or tradition, as well as the faithful of other world religions, who are part of Focolare too. The original inspiration for Focolare was given to Chiara Lubich and her early friends, who were Roman Catholic. Eventually, the spirituality grew to include people from other world religions and others with no religious tradition.
Focolare spirituality is for today’s world
So Focolare is about building giving relationships with whoever we meet in daily life. Neighbors are not a roadblock; they are our opportunity to get closer to God. This is why the spirituality of unity opens a way to deep union with God for everybody, in any circumstance or situation.
“This is the great attraction of modern times, to penetrate to the highest contemplation while mingling with everyone, one person alongside others,” Chiara Lubich wrote.
Word of Life
The Focolare Word of Life is a phrase chosen each month and shared around the world that we’re all invited to live by.
Thought of the day
A short thought to reflect on, a motto to live well each moment of the day, a tweet to remind us to make fraternity a reality each day.
A life in colour
Find out more about the “cube of love” and a “life in colour” – the Focolare spirituality through every aspect of life.