The spirit of unity is at work in the diocese
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May 1, 2018Six members of the Focolare Movement will be relocating to Corpus Christi on July 16 to assist with the spiritual and ministerial needs in parishes and campus ministry in the Diocese of Corpus Christi. Bishop Michael Mulvey welcomed them and other members of the movement scattered throughout Texas at a Mass celebrated at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church on March 10.Bishop Mulvey was introduced to the Focolare Movement 41 years ago in San Antonio being inspired by a lay consecrated woman, Hortensia Lopez, he has tried to live the spirituality of unity ever since–all the while thinking–this would be wonderful in a parish and a diocese.
All the members of the community coming to Corpus Christi are consecrated single lay people, with the exception of Father René Meier and Father Darryl D'Souza. They have all have taken vows of chastity, obedience and poverty. The women will live in one house and the men in another.
“Things have matured again according to God’s time–not our time. I can say without any pride that we are the first diocese in the world where this is happening, so the spotlight is on us,” Bishop Mulvey said. “We will all do our best and all work together.”
He explained that the Focolare Movement is a spirituality that can be defined simply as unity. It is a unity that is a grace from God, achieved through love of one another.
“Love is not always easy,” he said. “The central aspect of that love is Jesus on the cross, who we worship, adore and look to for inspiration. Jesus cried out one day, ‘my God, my God why have you forsaken me’ and at that moment, you could say, he became one of us–in all of our pains, in all of our disappointments, aspirations–everything.
“Jesus helps whenever we think love is difficult. We think we can love Him [Jesus], because he helps us to go beyond and be in unity with another person who is also struggling, so that in a nutshell is the heart of the spirituality.”
Cautioning patience and discernment, Bishop Mulvey said that it is God’s plan that is important and will bear fruit–not ours. “We have the vision, we have the energy, we have all those gifts that God gives us to do good, but they are God’s gifts, not ours. To be in unity with God is to allow God to unleash the power that he wants in us is what’s important, not for ourselves, but for our brothers and sisters who are waiting to hear the name of Jesus, who are waiting to hear the truth that only God can give them.”
Members of the Focolare Movement who have consented to work for the Diocese of Corpus Christi are Father René Meier from Switzerland who is moving from the Focolare Center in Rome; Father Darryl D'Souza who has already been working in the diocese; Bea Romo from Spain from the Focolare community in Ohio; Birgit Oberhofer from Germany and Eduardo Alonso from Spain from the Focolare community in Los Angeles, CA; Cecilia Fuentes Montero from Costa Rica who has moved from the Focolare community in Bronx, New York coming from the Focolare community of Los Angeles, California; and Bob Cummings from New York from the Focolare Community of Chicago.
Origin of the Focolare MovementThe Focolare Movement is an ecclesial movement officially approved by the Catholic Church in 1968. Pope Paul VI spoke of Focolare as a “flourishing tree, luxuriant and most fruitful.”
Beginning in 1943 in bomb shelters throughout war-torn Trent, Italy, The Focolare Movement’s founder Chiara Lubich, a 19-year-old woman, and her friends watched as their hopes and dreams were being torn apart like the city they grew up in. They looked around and wondered, “Is there anything that does not pass away? Any reality that no bombs can destroy?” And the answer came from within them, “Yes, there is such a reality: it is God. God endures forever.”
Bringing a Bible with them into the bomb shelters they began reading the Gospel by candlelight. One by one, the words began to speak to their hearts–they were no longer just words they read, but words to put into practice. They started living the Gospel and after about six months there were some 500 people in their group.
In Chiara the words emanating from the Gospel of John, “As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, so may they be in us.” (Jn 17:21), were words to live by.
Today the Movement is widespread. There are approximately two million members in 182 countries in all the continents–the majority being Roman Catholic.
