Focolare spirituality defines seven areas of life, each a way of expressing love. Nothing is more or less important, more or less sacred. “Love is light,” Chiara Lubich explains. When clear light passes through a prism, or even a drop of water, it refracts into the seven colors of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. And just as that light breaks into different colors, love too has a way of expressing itself in just as many ways.
Love brings communion.
Ask any child in Focolare what “red” is about, and they’ll say it’s all about sharing. In Focolare spirituality, love is about giving of ourselves, and that naturally leads us to be generous with our time, talents, and of course our stuff. But it also leads us to detach ourselves from that stuff and even share what needs we have with others.
And when we share, we get closer and become one. We experience unity.
When love refracts like light into “red,” it shines on these parts of life:
- Our work
- Our finances
- The economy
- Business
There are more than 900 businesses worldwide that apply the principles of Focolare spirituality. Their profit-sharing activities are developing a renewed economy called the Economy of Communion.
What this means to me
A friend of mine gave me some tomatoes, and I thought of canning some for the winter. The next day a friend came by and, knowing that he was in difficulty, we gave him the tomatoes.
A few days later my mother-in-law sent me a basketful of ripe tomatoes. I again thought about canning them, but I simply could not find the time to do it. That evening my father came, and I knew he liked tomatoes, so I gave them to him. Once more the idea of canning them went by the wayside.
Two days later my sister and her husband presented us with two boxes filled to the top with tomatoes. At this point I thought: this is the hundredfold that the Gospel speaks of, and perhaps now I really should do something about canning them.
— T. Y.
(Read more stories like this one in Living City Magazine)