Local pillar of community also honoured for her contributions
The B.C. Catholic
Members of a Catholic lay movement devoted to unity gathered for the eighth anniversary of the death of the founder of the Focolare movement.
More than 70 people came together at All Saints Church March 13 to commemorate the passing of Chiara Lubich, and to share the spirituality of the international lay movement.
“Our vocation is living for unity,” said Marjeta Bobnar, the archdiocesan coordinator for ecumenical and interfaith relations. “Chiara understood the testament of Jesus in a new way: ‘that all may be one.'”
Bobnar, a “focolarini,” is one of four consecrated laywomen who live in a community called a “focolare” or “hearth.” “Around our community there are also members that are not living in the community house,” she explained. “They bring the spirituality wherever they are: in the workplace and in their families.”
Though a Catholic organization, Focolare aims for unity among all individuals. “We (the four women) come from four different countries and four different cultures,” Bobnar said, “but this is a testimony that unity is possible.”
“Chiara envisioned a new way of life,” said Father Donald Larson, the pastor of All Saints. “She saw that there was some other way that God was proposing, and that was single and married people living in community in whole-hearted dedication to the Gospel.”
In his homily at the anniversary Mass, Father Larson spoke of Lubich’s desire to reach out to non-Catholics. “She proposed a new spirituality to reach out to the non-believer, the non-Catholic, and to the secular world, in this desire that all might somehow be gathered in the unity of God.”
Marilu Mayuga saw the Focolare spirituality mirrored in her mother, Guillerma Tinio, also known as Emma, who died on March 13, 2013. The anniversary celebration honoured Tinio, and her contribution to the local Focolare movement.
“The Mass is on Mom’s death anniversary, so that was very solemn,” Mayuga said, “but I also felt the presence of God, and it was a very special moment.”
Her family immigrated to Vancouver in 1973 from Manila, Philippines, where she had come in contact with Focolare. Tinio left in wonderment over their teachings, and resolved to bring the vocation to her new home.
“Anybody that would listen to her, she’d encourage them to come to her house and listen to the lessons of Focolare,” Mayuga laughed. “Anybody she’d see on the bus, she would talk to them and try to encourage them to come. That’s how it all started, in our den.”
Eventually Tinio invited Focolarini from New York to visit Vancouver, and the local community has grown to more than 200 members today. Mayuga, surprisingly, was not one of them initially.
“Ever since I was a teenager, Mom would push me to join Focolare,” Mayuga recounted. “I’ve always resisted because I felt it would be so hard to live the life they are living, seeing Jesus in other people, but now that she’s gone, (my feelings) have come full circle.”
“I feel closer to God, and I understand what my mother was saying. She does more wonders in heaven than she did on earth.”
