Focolare Word of Life

Focolare Word of Life — August 2024   “Lord, it is good for us to be here” (Mt 17:4).

1.   In the first experience, Linda Specht shares how after a serious accident she relied greatly on Psalms 23 to help her get through her ordeal. 2. The second experience is by Camille who shares how she shepherds her “flock”, the disabled members of the L’Arche community where she works. 3. In the third experience Dennis Clifford tells us about a neighbor that he and his wife helped get back on...

Giving control to the Shepherd

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”  (Ps 23:1) Psalm 23 is perhaps the most well-known and best loved of all the psalms. It is a song of trust in God, but also a joyful profession of faith by someone who is part of the people of Israel, to whom God, through the prophets, had promised to be their shepherd. The psalmist also expresses his personal happiness in knowing that he is protected b...

The first experience is by Gary Hauk from Atlanta who shares how during his lifetime, various people have "planted seeds" in his heart, which ultimately helped him to understand his calling.  The second experience comes to us from Long Island, New York. Elisa Fontana shares about her work at a soup kitchen. The third experience is by Lucy Bujnoch from Houston TX. She shares how together with her d...

Cultivating Confidence in God

Focolare Word of Life — June 2024 “ The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how .” (Mk 4:26-27) The kingdom of God is at the heart of Jesus’ message. In fact, in his Gospel, Mark wants to announce this good news. He describes it in a parable Jesus used, in which he compared th...

1.     In the first experience, Robbie Young shares how he made himself available to serve and help a friend who suffered a stroke with many concrete acts of love. 2.   The second experience is by Stephen Thuo who, together with other young people, helped raise funds to gather supplies and deliver them to a correctional center for juveniles. 3.   In the third experience, Almie Latimore shares with...

Focolare Word of Life —May 2024 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love (1 John 4:8). The first letter of John is addressed to all people and it encourages us to restore fellowship because our society is divided by many different doctrines and ways of life. John exhorts us to keep in mind what has been proclaimed from the beginning of Christain teaching when the first disciple...

In the first experience, Javier Lurch, president of one of the chapters of Saint Vincent de Paul Society in Atlanta Georgia shares how he helped prevent a young woman and her family from being evicted from their home. The second experience is by Maggie Horton from Kansas City. She shares how the Risen Lord is made present within the community of women she is currently living in. And in the third e...

"Share what gives life"

“With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.” (Acts 4:33) This sentence, which is used in the liturgy during the Easter season, invites everyone who has received the message of the Gospel to freely witness to the great event that has changed history forever. It invites us to give witness to Jesus’ resurrection! To ful...

In the first experience, Liz Balzer from Long Island, New York shares about her effort to forgive her co-worker, and how doing so played an important role in reestablishing a good relationship with her. The second experience is by Jonathon Kelso from Atlanta GA who tells us how being reconciled with God through the sacrament of confession brought about unimaginable fruits. In the last experience,...

 "Letting the Light In" 

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me.” (Ps 51:10) The phrase of Scripture offered to us during this Lenten season is from Psalm 51. In the tenth verse, we find the poignant and humble invocation, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me.” This psalm is one of the “penitential psalms” in which David asks forgiveness for his sin...

In the first experience, Susan Staffier from San Antonio, TX tells us about the task of managing her mother’s will and a challenging time with her brother. The second experience is by John Mundell from Indiana who shares how his small act of love in the office had a big impact among his employees. The last experience comes to us from Toronto, Canada. Dick who is 98 years old and Shirley Tetreau te...

"Are you wearing love today?"

Roberto Jervis from Naples Florida shares how he recognized Jesus in a homeless man and invited him to eat with him. Gloria Avent from South Carolina shares how she made a special effort in reaching out to someone she needed to be reconciled with. Yolla Kadissi from Dallas shares how after a missunderstanding with her neighbor, she worked hard to re-establish a good relationship with them.

This month’s Word of Life is the basis for this year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. “Love the Lord your God ... and your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27). On his way to Jerusalem Jesus was stopped by a doctor of the law who asked him, ‘Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Jesus responded with a counter-question, “What is written in the Law?" He answered, “Love the Lord your G...

The first experience is from Dennis Clifford who shares how he and his wife, Joan reconciled after having a disagreement as they prepared to receive dinner guests. Ducia Dimatulac shares how she assisted her friend Maryrose during a serious illness and accompanied her until the end. And in the final experience Dennis Cali tells us about a family gathering with a 90-year-old aunt who after witnessi...

"The Confidence to Live Life"