Bishop Michael Mulvey with Markos Gebremedhin, Apostolic Vicar of Jimma-Bonga in Ethiopia at Focolare conference at Castel Gandolfo. Contributed photo, Focolare Movement |
“It was truly an experience of affective and effective collegiality,” Bishop Mulvey said.
The pope told the bishops that they are “called to be carriers of the beauty of the church” and that what they received at the meeting “should benefit the whole church.”
The meeting’s theme was the “reciprocity of love among the disciples of Christ” based on Christ’s new commandment to “love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (Jn 13:34).
Bishop Mulvey assists Auxiliary Bishop Lisane-Christos Matheos Semahun, of Addis Ababa in Ethiopa on his presentation while conference moderator Archbishop Francis Xavier Kriengsak Kovithavanij of Bangkok, Thailand looks on. Contributed photo, Focolare Movement |
“It is you who always encourages us to live and express the joy that the Gospel life provides. This was stated right at the beginning of Evangelii Gaudium: ‘With Jesus Christ always comes and revives the joy.’ And we are witnesses,” Archbishop Francis Xavier Kriengsak Kovithavanij of Bangkok, Thailand, said to Pope Francis. The archbishop served as moderator of the conference.
In a reference to Blessed John Paul II’s call for communion, Pope Francis said “‘To make the Church the home and school of communion’ is really critical to the effectiveness of any commitment to evangelization, because it reveals the deep desire of the Father that all of his children live as brothers; reveals the will of the heart Christ ‘that all may be one’ (Jn 17:21), reveals the dynamism of the Holy Spirit, its force of attraction free and liberating. Nurturing the spirituality of communion also helps to make us more able to live the ecumenical and interreligious dialogue.”
“The Holy Father is very sincere and fraternal. Being with the pope was encouraging,” Bishop Mulvey said.
Maria Voce, president of the Focolare Movement, visits with, from left, Bishop Michael Mulvey of Corpus Christi, Bishop Paul Dennis Etienne of Cheyenne Wyomng and Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller of San Antonio. A fourth bishop from the U.S. in attendance, not pictured, was Bishop Emeritus Charles Victor Grahmann of Dallas. Contributed photo, Focolare Movement |
Bishop Mulvey is a longtime member of the Focolare Movement, which as an ecclesial movement promotes spirituality of unity and communion worldwide and across different religious faiths. He first became acquainted with the movement in 1976, the year after being ordained a priest. In 1980-81, he spent a year on sabbatical with the Focolare Movement and from 1995-99 he directed centers for Spirituality for Diocesan Priests of the Focolare Movement, first in Florence, Italy and then in Hyde Park, N.Y.
“I was struck by the message of living the Gospel in daily life. I was also moved by the spirit of fraternity and communion among the priests whom I met at that first encounter. They were from more than 60 nations-100 of them were living, working and praying together. That impressed me deeply,” Bishop Mulvey is quoted in the book “Focolare: Living a Spirituality of Unity in the United States.”
Bishop Mulvey explained that as he began to explore the spirituality itself and to actually live the Gospel, he began to experience a new sense of life within him.
“I found that the Gospel was not just a beautiful theory to talk about, to interpret, to pray over, but it was words that give life. It seemed that word-by-word, sentence-by-sentence, parable-by-parable, the Gospel came to life within me. In finding that life, I knew that it was something that I wanted to share. My homilies began to take shape around not just a theory, but an experience of truth and life. I was able to pass that on by bringing the gospel to a point of application in life experiences,” he said.
“Focusing my ministry on the prayer of Jesus for unity and communion among peoples has given me the direction for which I had been searching. I have also found the fruitfulness of living the cross. In the spirituality of the work of Mary, the cross comes alive as I recognize the forsaken Christ in each difficulty. I have discovered that he is the way to building communion,” Bishop Mulvey said.
Upon his return from Rome, on March 19 Bishop Mulvey met with priests from the Diocese of Corpus Christi interested in learning more about the Focolare Movement. He shared with them a newly published manual for parish use entitled “Called to be Community: A call to living a spirituality of communion.” The priests will continue to learn about the Spirituality of Communion at noon meetings on the first Wednesday of each month at Holy Family Parish in Corpus Christi.
On April 14, Bishop Mulvey will speak at the University of St. Thomas in Houston on “Living a Spirituality of Communion: In the thought and experience of the Focolare Movement.” The talk is free and open to the public.