Rene de Jesus met the Focolare Movement in 1966, introduced by a friend to the first focolarinos in Manila. This encounter sparked a radical life change for the 19-year-old student activist. He soon joined the Focolare, was sent to Italy, and given the name “Oriens” by Chiara Lubich. He became the first Filipino focolarino, serving in Naples (Italy) and later as a Volunteer of God.[1] Now 78, Rene remains one of the Movement’s longest-serving members, a testament to the power of a single encounter.
In 1966, at nineteen, I found myself drifting through one of the most confusing seasons of my life. My father — a civil engineer, calculus professor, and registrar at the Mapúa Institute of Technology — had always expected discipline and direction from me. Yet that year, student activism was on the rise, and I was swept up in its tide. After winning a debate between Mapúa and Lyceum of the Philippines, I caught the attention of Jose Maria Sison, then a young political science professor and founder of Kabataang Makabayan (KM).[2] His charisma impressed me more than the ideology he preached, and soon I found myself drawn into the communist movement.
My school disapproved of my involvement in this activist group, and even more, my father. Out of fear for my safety and future, he asked me to stop studying altogether. Overnight, I became the family’s black sheep — idle, aimless, and unsure of what purpose my life held. I felt the weight of loneliness and confusion pressing on me.
One summer afternoon, a friend, Eugene Lohla, invited me to meet two Italian missionaries who had just arrived in Manila to begin the Focolare Movement. Their names were Fr. Guido Mirti and Silvio Daneo. Curious and with nothing better to do, I went with him to a small, bare apartment on Ycaza Street, near Malacañang.
The room was hot and humid, the furniture sparse. Yet the two men radiated a joy that seemed to fill the space more than any decoration could. Silvio translated as Fr. Guido began to speak — not about politics or ideology, but about a young woman named Chiara Lubich and the Ideal that had transformed her life.
He told us about Trent in 1943, a city under relentless bombardment. Amid the ruins, Chiara and a few companions asked themselves a question that pierced through fear and uncertainty: Is there an Ideal worth giving our lives to — something no bomb can destroy? Their answer was simple and absolute: God.
Huddled in bomb shelters, they read the Gospel by candlelight and resolved to live its words immediately. “Whatever you do to the least of my brethren, you do to me.” “Love one another as I have loved you.” These were not ideas to admire — they were words to be lived.
As I listened, something in me stirred. Three hours passed without my noticing. I felt a peace I had never known. Before we left, Fr. Guido and Silvio prepared a simple supper of boiled spinach and buttered pasta. It was humble, yet offered with such love that it felt like a feast. Only later did I understand that love transforms even the simplest acts.
When Eugene and I stepped out into the warm evening, something extraordinary happened. A surge of joy — deep, overwhelming, almost physical — rose within me. I felt as though a truth had been whispered directly into my soul: God loves me. Personally. Totally. Infinitely.
Everything suddenly made sense — my fears, my loneliness, even my confusion. I mattered to God. My life had purpose.
When I reached home, unable to contain my joy, I greeted my family with an enthusiasm that startled them. In the kitchen, I saw a pile of dirty dishes. Normally, I would have ignored them. But that night, moved by a desire to respond to the love I had felt, I washed them all with unexpected delight.
My sister peeked in, puzzled, then teased, “You’re in love, aren’t you?” I paused, overwhelmed by emotion, and finally whispered the truth forming in my heart: “Yes… I’m in love with God.”
That evening marked the beginning of a new life — one shaped not by ideology or rebellion, but by a profound encounter with a Love that changed everything.
Rene de Jesus
[1] A branch of the Focolare Movement composed of men and women from all social categories and professions who freely and radically follow God, living out the Gospel in their daily lives
[2] Filipino for “Patriotic Youth,” an underground communist youth organization in the Philippines which was active from 1964 to the early 1970s.
