I grew up on a dairy farm that produces milk in a town south of Munich and close to the Alps in Bavaria, Germany. In our place, there were only two houses. The nearest village was 2 kilometers away while the next little town was much further, 8 kilometers. We enjoyed this freedom in the countryside, being an energetic family with the normal quarrels among children. In spite of this, we siblings (7 boys and 3 girls) always stuck together in the end. My parents, as well as 3 of my siblings, are already in heaven. Our parents gave us a positive example of a lived out faith and followed what the Pope wrote and said. They conveyed to us the image of a benevolent God whom you could trust. Thus we followed His will as expressed in the Bible and in Church teachings. My parents were also successful farmers and we often had visitors coming to observe the new methods they were applying.
At about 14 years old, I was having doubts about my faith as my three older brothers, whom I looked up to very much, had decided to leave the Church. It was shortly after 1968, the year of the student protests, mainly in Europe and the Americas, against all that was false authority and traditionalism. I started to ask myself if I was a Catholic only by tradition and education, or by my own choice. How could I sort this out? I didn’t feel any relationship with God and my faith remained an external matter to me, something to reason about, but nothing sustainable to build my life on. This faith, it seemed, didn’t answer the modern questions and challenges of life and society.
At this time, I met the Focolare Movement. Coming to know the spirituality and life of the Movement, I was quite struck by all that I learned from it. However, though it responded so much to my own aspirations and dreams, I continued to be skeptical about whether they could be truly realized in this world with all its problems. One day, challenging God, I told Him that I would live according to his Word in the Gospel for 4 weeks and then make the decision to follow Him definitely or stop altogether. With this, I started to concretely love my brothers and sisters, my parents and grandmother and those in school. After some weeks, the presence of God in my heart became so tangible that I had the impression to have come in contact with the Truth. Faith all of a sudden was something real inside me, involving modern society and I made the choice to give God the first place in my life.
As one of the Focolare youths called Gen meaning “New Generation,” we were full of enthusiasm about bringing the Gospel to life, to live for better understanding and unity in the family, at school, in the parish and so on. In the many activities and events, I felt much joy and was able to overcome my shyness, develop my talents and skills, experience deep friendship and the impact on many others of the presence of Jesus alive in our community.
My life changed, though not without the usual ups and downs. At a certain moment, I felt God was calling me to give my life completely to Him. Feeling so much loved by Him in a personal way, I could not but answer Him with an unreserved Yes.
In 1977, while still studying social work, I entered the Focolare in Munich, finished my studies in Regensburg, then went for two years in the Focolare’s first little town, Loppiano, in Italy. Afterwards, I lived over 12 years in the Focolare in Heidelberg followed by 17 years in the Movement’s ecumenical little town in Ottmaring, always in Germany. Surprisingly, I was asked to join the Focolare in Perth in Western Australia in 2011 and for almost two years now I have been living here in Davao, in the south of the Philippines. I am glad to be here and to discover a lot of new things and, above all, many wonderful people.
All in all, this has been my part: for me, life means growing in true love, letting go of everything that would hinder me from doing so; understanding more and more that love and all that has been done out of love will be the only thing that counts in the end. And God has been doing His part. I have been experiencing His hundredfold in countless ways: having many brothers and sisters and homes in so many different places, widening my small horizons, immense joy, greater strength to overcome difficulties and sufferings and, last but not least, inspiring insights into His sublime plans for humanity and for each one of us. So my heart can only say, “Thank you, God, for having called me to this way.”
