Vic: I met this way of life through a college classmate in 1977. Different from others, he was always happy. Then I discovered his secret – a way of life, the way of love based on putting into practice the words of the Gospel. I too decided to make this experience. It was more than an ordinary friendship, because it was an experience of God we made together.
Then I wrote to Focolare foundress Chiara Lubich in 1979 to share with her the beautiful experience I made in that Focolare youth gathering. In her reply, Chiara confirmed my name Vic to mean victory, and she encouraged me to live this phrase of the Gospel: “This is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith” (1John5.4).
So I thought…”There’s a world out there to overcome, to conquer!” However, only much later did I understand this phrase. I realize now that only God can conquer the world and I should give the whole of myself to love always at home, with my family, with my friends and with my colleagues. Since God is Love, I too can become a presence of God by loving wherever I am.
Then, to conquer the world, it is also the will of God to excel in our profession and strive to make a difference. Eventually, I discovered that loving in this way helps me build relationships.
Vicki: I met the Movement in 1988 through my husband Vic. After our engagement, we were able to attend a weekend retreat of the Focolare New Families where I was really impressed and told myself, “I, too, would like to have a family where the words of the Gospel can be lived 24 x 7. We started our marriage with trials. On our wedding day, there was a major coup d’état against the government of then President Cory Aquino. Later, I had two miscarriages before I bore my first baby who survived.
At present I work in a bank where there are many employees who come from different countries. I have many opportunities to live concretely the spirituality on a day-to-day basis, as I have to make myself one with each officemate I encounter, particularly during times when the other’s style of work and culture do not agree with mine. It can get busy at times but it’s a good thing that the bank where I work espouses “worklife” balance. I try my very best to live the will of God in every present moment of the day, so as not to bring home work-related matters when I return to my family.
Vic: I am a mechanical engineer and in our company we are contractors for the installation of air-conditioning systems for commercial and building applications. Motivating others in the office becomes a natural process where my colleagues come to share my passion for service, excellence, efficiency and inspirations. Then we get satisfied customers and again new relationships are established with them.
Eventually, customers, consultants, suppliers, all become our friends. Because we are in the same field, we can work together and promote good practices in our professional organization by developing efficient air-conditioning designs and systems to reduce energy costs, and therefore relying on less fossil fuel to improve our environment.
One time, a friend in the construction industry called me up to ask if I could be nominated to a board in a government agency that regulates the licenses of contractors. I agreed with the understanding that my name would be included to complete the required number of nominees. Surprised, I then found out I had been appointed a member of a 3-man Board of the Phil. Contractors Accreditation Board, an agency attached to the Department of Trade and Industry. I understood then that nothing happens by chance. God was asking something from me. I said my yes, and asked myself how could I make a difference? Chiara Lubich had advised us only to love, and Jesus would do the rest.
The Chairman and other board members are in fact very good persons who truly want to serve the Industry and help in nation building. To love our fellow contractors, we were able to streamline the licensing process. We reduced the renewal time for licenses from as long as 3 months to only 15 days. The effect was to reduce the costs of doing business both for the Contractors and the agency. To love the public, we had to ensure safety on all jobsites and conducted seminars on safety, making them a requirement for the renewal of licenses. To love the people in the government, we had to increase efficiency so that the agency’s income increased by 58%.
To favor the industry, we had to do our share by correcting the impression that construction was a corrupt industry, and promoting the Code of Ethics and Social Responsibility among all the contractors nationwide. They are now required to attend a seminar as part of the continuing education program of the industry.
More than these accomplishments, the experience I treasured most was the relationship we had built up with agency employees who were all good and hard-working people. In the beginning, there was some challenge communicating to them this passion for service that we have among board members.
We thought of providing a 3-day value workshop inspired by the charism of unity. This would not only enhance their values but also help them build relationships with all. Soon, walls between departments started to fall down, and everyone became more open and service-oriented.
Jessica, their eldest daughter who finished Communication Arts, shares: “My siblings and I studied for 3 years in a pre-school run by the Bukas Palad Social Center of the Focolare. I realized later that my parents could have sent us to a private school. Yet it wasn’t a big problem that we barely knew enough English when we transferred to a private school for Grade 1 (as Filipino was the medium of instruction in this pre-school that we attended).
“What mattered was that this experience of spending my early formative years with classmates from poor families in the community around the social center, had taught me how to live for ‘That all may be one’ and I learned that unity knows no social class.
“I also had the opportunity recently to stay at the International Focolare Center in Loppiano, Italy where I lived and worked with girls of my age who belong to Focolare. We came from different countries all over the world and we all made this experience of unity for a year. It was not easy, at times, as each of us had our own food preferences. Then I also found it hard communicating with the others for the first month, as not everyone knew English, and we came from different cultural backgrounds. During this period, it was also difficult to live far away from my parents and siblings, but I kept in contact with them almost daily, through Facebook and Viber, sharing with them all my experiences.
“This way, I maintained unity with my family. Then, as the months went by, these girls I was living and working with, also became part of my family, and we shared both joyful and trying moments together.”
Christina, their second child who recently graduated in Psychology, confides: “Having been born into a family that lives the spirituality of unity, it comes natural for us to show our concrete love and concern for those in need. We were raised in a family that practiced the culture of giving, rather than a culture of having. From our early years, and up to now, my siblings and I would regularly go through our wardrobes to see which of our clothes could be shared with others who might need them more than we do.
“Also, many times, together with the Focolare Youth or Gen, I helped out with feeding programs and medical missions for poor children and families of the community around the Focolare Sulyap ng Pag-asa Social Center in Quezon City. I will never forget the time we went to Tacloban to help the Typhoon Yolanda victims.”
Gab, their youngest child who is taking up Business Administration and Accountancy, recounts a heartwarming experience with other classmates: “Growing up in this atmosphere of love in our family pushed me, along with my other classmates, to help this one classmate, who would not be allowed to graduate from high school unless he settled an unpaid balance that he owed the school.
“He was among the top 10 of our class and it was unthinkable that he would not graduate just because his mother, a single parent did not have the means to pay the amount due. Immediately, the whole class tried to help him out financially, but we were not able still to raise the entire amount needed.So I wrote a letter to the Principal to ask for his consideration and explained my classmate’s situation. Together with our class president, I again appealed to all our classmates for more financial help.
“It was so heartwarming to see my classmates on graduation day bringing in all their contributions, with one of them even offering all the coins in his piggy bank, his savings for a trip to Boracay. Nevertheless, we were still not able to raise the amount needed but since the principal was moved by our class spirit and my classmate was allowed to graduate. I realized that we just needed to do our part and God would do the rest.”
Miguel, their third child who is taking up Industrial Engineering, narrates his adventure in school: “I was in the varsity chess team during my high school days. I really felt the love of my parents as they supported me in my chosen sport even though it was neither as popular nor exciting as a basketball or a football game.
“My parents extended their support by ‘adopting’ my teammates who come from poor families in the provinces and inviting them to live with us at home in Makati. During the final game of the season, a member of our team, who was our best player, had to be confined to the hospital because of dengue.
“He had wanted so much to play, but my father then reminded him to live out the will of God for him very well, which was for him to stay in the hospital and get well while the rest of the team would also do the will of God by participating in the tournament. We also told him that we would play our best and offer our game for his recovery. Indeed, God cannot be outdone in generosity and we got our hundredfold during that final game. That was the year I graduated from high school, and our team became the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) chess champion again after 12 years.”
Agnes, a Focolare youth from Baguio shares her beautiful experience with the Lahoz family: “I come from a big family in Baguio and my parents could not afford to send me to college. Two years ago, the Lahoz family together with another family of the Focolare helped me with my tuition so that I could study Music Production in a private school in Manila. I am very grateful to the Lahoz family for they don’t expect anything in return from me; they even invited me to live with them as if I was a member of their own family. To reciprocate their love and concern, I try to study very well and do my best in school so that someday I can help my own family and others as well.”
Vicki: “Life has not always been easy for our family. Along the way, we have also experienced difficulties and sufferings, like many other families. But we always strive to be faithful to God’s love for our family and start again when we fall.”
Vic: Juggling my life in the family, in the Focolare, my commitments to work and my professional organization, and my service to the Sangguniang Laiko of the Philippines, can sometimes become quite a challenge.
“But I know that there can only be one Will of God for me at a time and we know the secret is to live each present moment well. After all, we are but instruments and if we allow ourselves to be used by God, each present moment can become a divine adventure lived only for God. Then we can see how our faith can truly conquer the world. .
