{"id":12204,"date":"2022-11-30T10:52:48","date_gmt":"2022-11-30T09:52:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gen4.focolare.org\/?post_type=wpdmpro&p=12204"},"modified":"2024-03-04T14:25:17","modified_gmt":"2024-03-04T13:25:17","slug":"01_today-i-discovered-heaven-module-n-1","status":"publish","type":"wpdmpro","link":"https:\/\/gen4.focolare.org\/es\/download\/01_today-i-discovered-heaven-module-n-1\/","title":{"rendered":"01_Today, I discovered heaven: Module n.1"},"content":{"rendered":"

God has always thought of us and He accompanies us from the time of creation <\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

to \u201cthe new heavens and new earths\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A) For the assistants. <\/strong>Ideas from Chiara\u2019s themes: to be in a relationship with God who created us.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

1) In order to pray, \u201cto speak with God,\u201d I must know that God exists. In 1988, when speaking of prayer in the family<\/em><\/strong>, Chiara had emphasized this: \u201c[\u2026] For children to learn how to pray to God, it is, first of all, necessary that this reality is revealed to them, that they discover His existence.\u00a0 They need to know that He is there [\u2026].\u201d<\/strong><\/em> \u00a0[1]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

2) Another point highlighted by Chiara in various themes is how prayer is important in the life of man, as well as how it is an essential element of man: the relationship with God differentiates man from other creatures.\u00a0 \u201cMa<\/em>n is truly such if he prays.\u201d<\/em><\/strong> \u00a0[2]<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

3) This relationship with God is found in various religions.\u00a0 Chiara highlights this \u201caffinity,\u201d speaking to different audiences, such as to the Buddhists in 1981, or to the Muslims some years later.\u00a0 Here is an excerpt taken from her talk during the meeting with Muslim friends in Castelgandolfo in 1999. \u201c[\u2026] Prayer is an essential element in our spiritual life. <\/em><\/strong>Without it, there is no true spiritual life. One can live without eating but not without breathing, and prayer is the breath of the soul. I know that I speak to believers in God who know what prayer is.\u00a0 <\/strong>Indeed, it can be said\u2014it seems to me\u2014that Islam is the religion of prayer, <\/strong>not only because it\u2014that which you do five times a day\u2014is one of its five pillars, but also because any verse in the Qur\u2019an, if recited with faith, has the value of prayer. [\u2026] Prayer is an essential component of man, precisely of his being man. Man is truly such if he prays. Prayer is relationship with God. <\/strong>Created by God in his image and likeness, man has the possibility of a one-on-one relationship with Him. [\u2026]\u201d [3]<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

4) Finally, to pray well, it is necessary \u201cto think of Paradise often,\u201d<\/em><\/strong> to be aware, not only of where we come from, but also of where we are going.\u00a0 In the same meeting in 1999, Chiara said to Muslim friends: \u201c[\u2026] In heaven, in fact, where we hope to go, life will not be so much apostolate or something else, as praise, adoration, thanksgiving to God.\u00a0 Therefore, we must learn from now on to live as we will live up there. To pray well, it is necessary to think of Paradise often. To have that desire to see God, which I also found in the life and in the writings of devout believers of Islam. <\/strong>[\u2026]\u201d [3]<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

B) Objectives of the Gen 4 Meeting<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

– To discover the relationship of love between God and man: God created me, accompanies me and I can speak with Him<\/p>\n

– To thank God for all that He has given us, for creation which bring us back to God and helps us know His love<\/p>\n

C) Gen4 Meeting Content: drops of light with the Sacred Scriptures<\/em> and with the Spirituality (answers \/ story of Chiara)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Sacred Scriptures:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

– episode of Creation and presentation of the program \u201cFrom creation to new heavens and new earths\u201d:\u00a0 There I am, too (put photo); experiences related to thanking God for everything that He has given us, on creation which brings us back to God (Attachment C1)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Spirituality:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

– Answers of Chiara (Attachment C2):<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Gen 4:<\/strong> \u201cMany children say that God does not exist. But God does exist. How can I tell them this?\u201d[4]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Chiara<\/u>:<\/strong> Oh! This is important. This is an important question, [\u2026]very important, Gen, because there are children who go around saying that God doesn\u2019t exist. So he wants to know, \u201cWhat should I say?\u201dI would tell them: \u201cDo you see the sky? It\u2019s immense. Look at the stars, they are light years away, far, far away. Look at the ocean, it is immense. Look at the mountains. They seem to touch the sky. Did you make them?\u201d \u201cNo,\u201d he will say. \u201cNeither did I. Did your grandfather make them?\u201d \u201cNo,\u201d he will say. \u00abNeither did mine. Did your ancestors make them?\u201d \u201cNo.\u201d \u201cNeither did mine!\u201d Can anyone on earth say that they made the sea, the sky and all the endless number of flowers? No, no one can say this. But someone must have made them! For example, I might tell you, \u201cI have this model of a very beautiful little house.\u201d Then it disappears and so I say, \u201cSomeone came and took it.\u201d So then I say, \u201cIf the sky exists, if the stars exists, it means that someone made them. Who made them?\u201d God made them! It\u2019s logical! It\u2019s the logical answer!They might say, \u201cBut we can\u2019t see God. How can you say that he exists if we can\u2019t see him.\u201d Well, you can\u2019t see air either, but it exists because I can breathe, all of you can breath. If we didn\u2019t have air, we would all die, and yet we can\u2019t see it. There are things that we can\u2019t see but that exist, and that\u2019s how it is with God. So you have to convince everyone! (Applause)Here in this slide, you can see a little bit of the ocean, which I certainly didn\u2019t make. Then there are the mountains that seem to touch the sky. It must be the Matterhorn, I think, and then\u2026 and here there are many flowers, many flowers that only God could have made! [\u2026]<\/p>\n

Chiara:<\/strong> Another Gen 4, Samuel. Oh, Samuel, hello.<\/p>\n

Eli<\/strong>: \u201cGod made everything, but who made God?\u201d [5]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Chiara:<\/strong> This is a beautiful question. Look, Samuel, look, I will tell you just this. Come here, Samuel, so everyone can see you. Come here, Samuel. So you say, \u201cGod made everything,\u201d and you are right. You have understood this, because I didn\u2019t make the stars, you didn\u2019t make them, your father didn\u2019t make them, not even your grandfather made them. And yet someone made them. God made them. But you ask, \u201cAnd who made God?\u201d No one. God has always existed. Do you understand? Then remember it. [\u2026]<\/p>\n

Andrea:<\/strong>\u00a0I\u2019m Andrea from Grottaferrata. \u201cDear Chiara, how could God exist when heaven wasn\u2019t created yet?\u201d [6]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Chiara:<\/strong> \u00a0But God is the one who created heaven, also the blue sky that we see, even when there are clouds, even when a storm comes and everything is dark or when the sun is shining. God created it. He made everything. God is not the blue sky. He is a spirit so we can\u2019t see him, just as we can\u2019t see air. We can\u2019t see air, but it exists. I wouldn\u2019t be able to breathe without air, I would die, and you would too, of course. We would die if there were no air.<\/p>\n

So air exists even though we can\u2019t see it. And even though we can\u2019t see God, he exists. He is spirit4, he is pure spirit. And because he is spirit, he also lives deep in our hearts. He is inside there. That\u2019s why, when we pray, we can go inside our heart where there is Jesus and talk to him. Remember this, all right? (Applause)<\/p>\n

-Story of Chiara <\/strong>(Attachment C3)<\/strong><\/span>:\u00a0 I too was your age, Gen 4<\/strong><\/p>\n

Narrator: <\/em>Chiara was born in Trent, in the north of Italy. Her first name was Silvia, and that was how her parents called her; her father\u2019s name was Luigi and her mother, Luigia; her older brother was called Gino, and her sisters, Liliana and Carla. But we have always known her as Chiara, the name she chose at 23 years of age when she wanted to love God the way a young girl from Assisi did, who then became a Saint: St. Clare (\u201cChiara,\u201d in Italian) of Assisi. Since her childhood, Chiara loved [7]<\/a> <\/span>the beautiful things of nature and hearing about God who created them. She often went to listen to Sister Carolina who gathered many little girls and spoke to them about God and about Jesus\u2026 And Chiara also said that, when she was 7 years old, Sister Carolina used to take her and her little friends who were 4 or 5, or 6 years old, to a church in Trent, where there was the adoration of the Most Holy Eucharist for an hour. Chiara liked to kneel right in front, to see without being distracted and speak with Jesus in the Sacred Host that was exposed: \u201cListen Jesus, you created the sun; the sun has light and warmth. I will fix my gaze on you and please will you put spiritual light and warmth into my soul.\u201d Chiara said this to Jesus every time she went there, staring at him, hoping that he would illuminate her, warm her heart.<\/p>\n

And Sister Carolina also [8]<\/a><\/span> taught Chiara to do acts of love, giving her and the other girls a small dress made of paper for Baby Jesus. This dress had many tiny cuts in the form of \u201cV\u2019s\u201d. For every act of love made, the tiny \u201cV\u2019s\u201d were folded up so that in the end the small dress seemed all embroidered by their many acts of love. When the whole dress was embroidered with love they brought it to Jesus.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

D) Ideas and other material for conducting the meeting: Attachments D<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

_________________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/a><\/span> C. Lubich, Faenza, April 10, 1988, to the families, \u201cLa preghiera in famiglia\u201d.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> <\/span>C. Lubich, Castel Gandolfo, December 24, 1998, to the focolarinos, \u201cV\u00b0 tema della spiritualit\u00e0 collettiva \u2013 III\u00b0 aspetto: ‘L’amore eleva'\u00bb.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

[3]<\/a><\/span> C. Lubich, Castel Gandolfo, October 25, 1999, meeting of Muslim friends, \u201cLa preghiera, la meditazione e l’unione con Dio\u201d.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> <\/span>C. Lubich, Castelgandolfo, June 18, 1988, Gen4\u00a0 Congress, \u00a0answer no.17.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

[5]<\/a><\/span> C. Lubich, Loppiano, May 5, 1989, to the Gen4 boys, answer no.7.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> <\/span>C. Lubich, Castelgandolfo, June 8, 1996, at the Gen4\u00a0 Congress, answer no.10.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

[7]<\/span><\/a> <\/span>See<\/em> C. Lubich, Rocca di Papa, July 4, 1967, to the little Gen:\u201cHer story as a child\u00bb.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

[8]<\/a><\/span> See<\/em> C. Lubich, Castelgandolfo, April 28, 1992, Gen 4 Congress, answer no.1.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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