Today I’d like to open my heart to all of you by communicating something I’ve been sharing with the participants of various courses here in Switzerland. It concerns our relationship with holiness.
Mother Teresa of Calcutta repeated to me in several of her letters: “Be holy because God is holy.” Although this great saint was not the one who prompted a prayer of mine that I have been saying for quite some time, surely her words were like adding fuel to the fire.
For years, in fact, for many years, Someone in my heart has been urging me to address these words to Jesus: “Make me a saint in order to give a gift to Mary.” I always felt that if I didn’t reach the goal of holiness, something would be missing in my service to the Movement: the possibility of offering it not only the care which, with the grace of God, I may have given it, but a fulfilled witness to its spirituality.
From the very beginning of the Movement, however, we never felt inclined to seek holiness just for the sake of it. This seemed to express a turning in on oneself. But to strive for holiness out of love was something else. Thus, “in order to give a gift to Mary.” Why to Mary? Because she is our mother, our “mold,” our queen, the one who guides us. Also, to Mary, simply because we love her.
More recently, however, conscious of the fact that ours is a collective way, and one that requires us to live to perfection the command to love our neighbor as ourselves, it became clear to me that, to become a saint, I would have to desire this same goal for my neighbors as I do for myself. Consequently, my prayer changed: “Jesus, make us saints in order to give a gift to Mary and to be models for many others.”
I communicated this new prayer up here in Switzerland, and it made many people happy. Together, in order to do our part, we promised one another to live a formula already known to many of us, that of the six “S’s”: “Sarò santa se sono santa subito.” “I’ll be a saint if I’m a saint right now.” (In Italian, the first letter of each of these six words begins with “S”, thus the six “S’s”.)
But at what point is our Movement with regard to holiness? We feel we can say that, for having lived the charism of unity, with the grace of God, we must have many big and small saints in Paradise. We wouldn’t hesitate to think that there are dozens of them, perhaps even more. In fact, we’ve seen in what way so many of them have left this world, and generally speaking, one dies as one has lived. Nevertheless, in our Movement, rarely have we thought of presenting these persons to the Church so that, if she wished, she could begin a process of verification.
Something is being prepared now for Igino Giordani, our Foco, and for Bishop Hemmerle (Both co-founders of the Focolare Movement). But that’s it. Rather, it’s the Church herself, through her pastors, who is showing interest and preparing to introduce a process of canonization for three of our members: two Gen girls [Focolare youth] and an adherent. Two of these persons died at a very young age in order to safeguard their purity. But were we right as a Movement not to have done anything in this regard? Perhaps the justification for this apparent omission of ours is clear today: The Lord doesn’t ask us for an individual holiness, but for a communitarian holiness in which each of us must help our neighbor to become a saint. Then our neighbor will do likewise with his or her neighbor, as in a chain reaction. This is the kind of holiness that could be verified and highlighted someday for the edification of many in the Church: a collective holiness, a holiness of the people. Isn’t it wonderful?
May heaven make it a reality. Meanwhile, let’s commit ourselves personally with utmost determination, as of now, by living the six “S’s”: “Sarò santa se sono santa subito.” “I’ll be a saint if I’m a saint right now,” and let’s help others to do the same. May the Holy Spirit, who has shown us such great predilection, carry out his work and truly generate a people of saints, also out of love for Mary, His Spouse.
Chiara Lubich
