During her first visit to the Far East, Chiara Lubich responded to a question: “We belong to the zone you described as ‘yellow‑tinged,’ more inclined toward the Yellow.[1] How should we love Jesus Forsaken, and how should we live the tension toward holiness?”

Chiara’s answer began simply saying: “Like everyone else — but with a very specific goal.”

She continued:

“When I visited Korea, I discovered something extraordinary that I did not expect: a vibrant Church, only one and a half million Christians, yet profoundly alive. There, I learned that they have eleven thousand martyrs. Then I understood why those Christians were so full of life. Their faces carried a light — the reflection of the blood of those martyrs.

The Cardinal told me, ‘We have too many vocations, too many,’ something rarely heard elsewhere.

In Europe, many think that Asian Catholics are only the Filipinos. People know there are some in Thailand and here and there, but the mind always goes to the Philippines. I said to myself: it’s not like that at all.

Once, a Gen 4 [2] came to me wearing her colorful uniform — green, red — and in Korean she repeated over and over: ‘I want to be a locomotive, not a wagon.’ Knowing I didn’t understand Korean, she started again: ‘I want to be a locomotive, not a wagon.’ In that moment, I sensed the particular maturity of those Gen 4. And I understood something about the future of that people, that Church: they are called to be a locomotive.

Then I thought of all of Asia — so vast, so much of it without Christ. I thought of you, the Filipinos, and I asked myself: what will I tell them? And this is what I would say:

You Filipino Christians — like the Koreans, the Thai, all Christians of Asia — you have a mission. Do not close in on yourselves. Conquer Asia. Evangelize Asia. Find every path to bring Jesus to Asia.

This is truly my wish for you.

But to do this, you must face demanding challenges. Asia is home to great religions, and you must be ready to engage with them. Recently, I have met Buddhists and others, and I have seen that many of them aim at something profound: eliminating desires, attachments, everything human, to reach a kind of ‘nothingness’ — a concept not far from what St. John of the Cross describes. Their founders, like Buddha, seemed to sense something beyond created things. They speak of an energy, something they believe they have touched.

This is why we need people deeply formed in Jesus Forsaken — people who make the ‘Holy Journey,’ [3] who let go of everything, who are true disciples of Christ. Only such people can enter into dialogue with these religions, recognize what is good in them, and help them see how their search prepares the way for what Jesus brought: the revelation of the true God.

So spiritual preparation is essential. And intellectual preparation too — we must study these traditions seriously. We are already thinking about how to do this concretely.

In conclusion: How should you love Jesus Forsaken?

Like everyone else — but with Asia in your heart: Asia that believes and Asia that does not believe. Pray that God will raise up many apostles from among you, capable of bringing Jesus to those lands.

And I truly hope that the Work of Mary can help make this a reality.

Chiara Lubich to the members of the Great Asian Zone

Tagaytay–Manila (Philippines), January 17, 1982

Translated from the original Italian text

Downloaded from Indy with a note from the General Archive of the Focolare Movement

[1] The color that refers to the aspect of life related to “Spirituality and Prayer.”

[2] Young people of the Focolare Movement aged 4 to 8/9

[3] Refers to the idea of “pilgrimage,” a collective journey to holiness that Chiara Lubich shared with the whole Movement in conference calls that started in 1980