Living in a way that allows Jesus to be present among those united in his name (see Mt 18:20) is a key point in the Focolare’s spirituality of unity. His presence is a gift, although it is up to us to do our part.

But how? Focolare founder Chiara Lubich was asked if trying to love one another in good faith could be enough as a condition for having Jesus in the midst.

Her response was clear: “No, it’s not enough. For him to be present, it is not enough to love one another in a way that you might intend it, because love must be understood as Jesus intends it, that is, ready to give one’s life.”

Inadvertently, our hearts can hold some small attachment to something, and God no longer has the first place in our hearts. We need to set aside what is occupying our mind, our heart and our will, so as to let Jesus reign in us and among us.

And she continued, explaining a fundamental truth: as human beings, we cannot “produce” the presence of Jesus among us. It is a grace. Chiara explains, “This grace is Jesus who reveals himself among us, we have to create the conditions for this grace. It requires that we be completely detached from everything, love others and do the will of God in the present moment. Then we can hope to have Jesus in the midst.”

“You can sense when he is there. We can never be absolutely sure, but we can perceive his presence. When he’s among us, we’re more at ease, more serene, everything makes more sense and there is light. Otherwise, Jesus is not present in our midst. Indeed Jesus says that where two or more are united in my name … Two or more; two is enough. This means a presence of Jesus that requires a collectivity of at least two people. It’s the presence of Jesus in the Mystical Body. He is present already through grace, but he reveals himself in this particular way when there are at least two.”

The pact of mercy

This is a fundamental aspect of the spirituality of unity: experiencing Jesus in our midst, which gives us strength and courage to go ahead on our spiritual journey. However, this path is not always smooth, and if we or others are not living up to the commitment of mutual love, we won’t feel that peace and light anymore, and we no longer feel his presence.
Chiara explained in 1969 to a group of young people at Loppiano, near Florence, Italy, what to do when that happens.

“If…you feel there’s something a bit off-center in your soul, you feel uncomfortable, something’s gone wrong, then Jesus is not in the midst…so you have to re-establish his presence. “Maybe it all depends on you: you arrive home, and the other members [of your community or family] have Jesus in the midst because of their mutual love. Instead, you are worrying about something. You need to overcome this right away and throw yourself into loving the others. In this way, Jesus in our midst is re-established.

“It’s comforting to think that, in fact, Jesus in the midst is always present among Christians who are united in his name, but the effects are not always noticeable. It’s as if to say, there is a light, but if it’s not switched on, if there’s no contact, you can’t see.”

Six years later, she revealed some strategies that she and her friends used in the early times when human weaknesses would come into the picture.

“We would promise to see each other new each morning, as if we had only just met, as if we were unaware of each other’s faults. We called it the pact of mercy. It meant that every night we would bury all our evaluations of others!

“We all knew everyone’s defects: one tended to talk too much, another was often critical, and so on. It took time for things to change; a huge effort was needed!

“We found ourselves making comments like: ‘You can’t get anywhere with her because she keeps interrupting you; and that other one often loses her temper; as for her, she’s already a saint so what’s the point?’ So this pact of mercy was really exceptionally useful.”

Another aspect that emerged from their practice of keeping the presence of Jesus among them was the need to avoid falling into a routine, confusing Jesus’ presence among them with an atmosphere of merely human friendship.

“Familiarity comes about because Riccardo is coming home, Mario is coming home and Alfonso is coming home,” Chiara explained. “Instead if you knew that at midday Jesus is coming home, Jesus is coming to your house, you would act differently.”

Living a Trinitarian lifestyle

If Jesus is present, miracles happen: a hardened heart softens; relationships are rebuilt; people believe in God again and dedicate themselves to living out their faith. And these things do not happen because of the talents or roles of the people involved, but because of their willingness to let God work in them.

Chiara shared this example: “If I take an apple seed and bury it, an apple tree grows because the seed contains life. If I take a nice red apple, slice it and eat it or bury it, nothing will grow.
“Therefore, it’s not a matter of being beautiful, of being many, of being puffed up with pride and disunited. What matters is to have two who are united, like the plain little seed buried in the ground, but which grows, because it contains life.”

This life, eventually, reflects the life of the Trinity, a constant exchange of love and dynamic relationships among the three divine persons. Chiara said this in Marino, Italy, in 2000:

“How can we be sure that [Jesus] is in our midst? Well, we must love one another as he loved us. But how did he love us? He loved us to the point of dying for us.

“So we must understand the meaning of ‘dying’ … If I am nothing — which implies putting everything aside to love and therefore, dying to my ego — I am love. But if I am love, I am Jesus. So for Jesus to be in our midst, we should … be Jesus first. Then mutual love comes about, and when that happens, Jesus is in our midst.

“Now you might ask: what difference is there, between Jesus beforehand and Jesus afterwards when he is in our midst, and therefore, in each one of us?

“He is present more fully, [just as] Jesus’ presence in the heart of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus was certainly fuller than his presence in some of our hearts. So we have to love one another in this way, always being ready to die for one another, being Jesus beforehand and being Jesus afterwards, even when he is in our midst.

“And we notice when he is (in our midst), because we have peace, tranquility, serenity, ardor. There’s this dynamism of Christian life … It’s the Trinitarian life.”

Susanne Janssen (Living City, USA)