Word of life march

March Word of Life

26/02/2023

‘Live as children of light: for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true.’ (Eph. 5:8-9)

Listen Audio | Word of Life March 2023 Download

Paul is writing to the community in Ephesus, a large and imposing city where he had lived while baptizing and evangelizing.

He is probably imprisoned in Rome in about the year 62 AD. He is in distress and yet he writes to these Christians, not so much to solve problems within the community, but to proclaim to them the beauty of God’s plan for the developing Church.

He reminds the Ephesians that through the gift of baptism and faith, they have gone from ‘being darkness’ to ‘being light’ and he encourages them to behave in a way that reflects this.

For Paul, it is about pursuing a journey, an experience of continuous growth in the knowledge of God and his will of love.  Furthermore, it means starting again each day.

Therefore, he wants to encourage them to live always according to the call they have received: to be ‘imitators of the Father’ as ‘beloved children’: holy and merciful.

Live as children of light: for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. 

We, twenty-first century Christians, are also called to ‘be light,’ but we may feel inadequate and conditioned by our limitations or overwhelmed by external circumstances.

How do we walk with hope, despite the darkness and uncertainties that sometimes seem to assail us?

Paul continues to encourage us: it is the lived Word of God that enlightens us and enables us to ‘shine like stars’ in this lost humanity.

In a Word of Life commentary of 2005, Chiara Lubich wrote: ‘As another Christ, every man and woman can make a contribution … in all fields of human activity: in science, in art, in politics. … If we welcome his Word we become more and more attuned to his thoughts, his feelings and his teachings. The Word illuminates our every activity, straightens and corrects every expression of our life… But our ‘old self’ is always ready to affect our personal private lives and, consequently, we may be drawn to cultivating our own interests and forgetting about the people who pass us by.  We may even remain indifferent before the common good and the needs of humanity around us. Let us therefore rekindle the flame of love in our hearts and we will have new eyes to look around us.’

Live as children of light: for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. 

The light of the Gospel, lived out by individuals and communities, brings hope and strengthens social bonds, even when calamities like Covid cause pain and exacerbate poverty.

Jun, who lives in the Philippines, recounts that at the height of the pandemic, a community he knows was devastated by fire and many families lost everything: ‘Even though we are poor, my wife Flor and I really wanted to help. I belong to a motorcycle club, and I told the members about this situation, even though I knew they too were struggling as much as we were. This did not stop my friends from taking action; we collected tins of sardines and packets of noodles, rice and other food which we donated to the victims of the fire.

‘Often, my wife and I feel discouraged at the thought of what the future may hold, but we always remember the phrase in the Gospel that says, “For those who want to save their life will lose it and those who lose their life for the sake of the gospel will save it.” (Mk. 8:35) Even though we are not rich, we believe that we always have something to share out of love for Jesus in the other person, and it is this love that motivates us to continue to give sincerely and to trust in God’s love.’

It is therefore a matter of allowing this light to shine out from the depths of our hearts. The fruits of this way of life – goodness, justice and truth – are pleasing in the eyes of the Lord and bear greater witness to the Gospel than any words we may use.

And let us not forget the support we receive from all those with whom we share this Holy Journey of life. The goodness of others, the mutual forgiveness we experience, and the sharing of material and spiritual goods are a valuable source of help that enables us to be witnesses of hope.

Jesus promised, ‘Remember, I am with you all days, until the end of the age.’ (Matt. 28:20)

He, the Risen One, the source of our Christian life, is always with us in prayer and mutual love, warming our hearts and enlightening our minds.

Edited by Letizia Magri and the Word of Life team

“Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” (Mt 6:12)

By Letizia Magri

This month’s Word of Life is taken from the prayer Jesus taught his disciples, the Lord’s Prayer. It is a prayer deeply rooted in Jewish tradition. The Jews also called and still call God “Our Father.”

At first glance, this phrase seems to challenge us. Can we ask God to cancel our debts, as the Greek text suggests, in the same way that we ourselves do with people who are indebted to us? 

Our capacity for forgiveness is often limited, superficial and conditioned. If God were to judge us according to this measure, we might be found guilty!

“Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”

These are important words that first of all express an awareness of needing God’s forgiveness. Jesus himself shared them with the disciples, and therefore with all those who are baptized, so that they could turn to the Father with simplicity of heart.

Everything stems from discovering that we are children in the Son — brothers and sisters and imitators of Jesus who made his life a journey of adhering constantly and totally to the loving will of the Father.

It is only after accepting God’s gift of boundless love that we can ask everything of the Father. We can even ask for the grace to become more and more similar to God, to be able to forgive our brothers and sisters with a generous heart, day after day.

Every act of forgiveness is a free and conscious choice, which needs to be continually renewed with humility. It is never a habit, but a demanding path. Jesus has us pray for it daily, just as we pray for our daily bread.

“Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”

How many times have the people with whom we live — at home, in our neighborhoods, work or school —  offended us, making it difficult for us to relate positively to them? What can we do? 

This is where we can ask for the grace to imitate the Father, as Focolare founder Chiara Lubich explained in a Word of Life commentary in December 2004. 

“Let us get up in the morning with total ‘amnesty’ in our hearts, with that love that covers everything, that knows how to welcome the other person as he or she is, with his or her limitations, his or her difficulties, just as a mother would do with a son who makes a mistake: she always excuses him, always forgives him, never loses hope in him… 

“Let us approach everyone by seeing them with new eyes, as if they had never had those faults. Let us begin again each time, knowing that God not only forgives, but forgets. This is the measure he requires of us too.”

Trusting in the help of prayer, we can journey toward this lofty goal.

“Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” 

The whole of the Lord’s Prayer, the Our Father, has the perspective of fraternity. It speaks of “us” — I ask not only for myself but also for and with the others. 

My capacity for forgiveness is sustained by the love of others, but at the same time, my love can in some way be affected by the mistakes that my neighbor has made. 

Perhaps even this depends on me — maybe I have not done all I could to make the other person feel welcomed and understood.

In Palermo, Italy, some Christian Churches are going through a profound experience of dialogue, which requires overcoming various difficulties. 

“One day a pastor friend invited us to meet some families in his Church, people who didn’t know us,” explain Biagio and Zina. “We had brought along something to share for lunch, but those families made us understand that they were not exactly in favor of this meeting. Very gently Zina offered them a taste of the specialties she had cooked, and, in the end, we ate together. 

“After lunch, they began to point out the faults they saw in the Catholic Church. Not wanting to get into an argument, we asked instead what defects or differences between our Churches stop us from loving each other? 

“The group, which was accustomed to verbal disputes, was amazed and disarmed by our proposal. We began to talk about the Gospel and what unites us, and this is certainly much more than what divides us. 

“When it was time to say goodbye, they didn’t want us to leave, at which point we proposed praying the Lord’s Prayer together, during which we felt the presence of God very strongly. 

“They made us promise that we would visit again, because they wanted us to get to know the rest of their faith community. So, it has continued for years now.”

Read more:

Lubich, Chiara, Essential Writings, New City Press: 2006, pp. 79–80

Lubich, Chiara, God loves you immensely, New City Press: 2010

Next month:

“And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” (Mt 6:22)

Presentation on theme: «Word of Life March 2018.»— Presentation transcript:

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Word of Life March 2018

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“Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
teach me your paths” (Ps 25, 4)

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King David, who was also a prophet, wrote this psalm at a time when he felt weighed down by anguish and poverty and in danger from his enemies.

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He wanted to find a way out of his painful situation but realised he was completely unable to do so.

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Therefore, he looked up, with hope, towards the God of Israel, who had always protected his people, and implored him to come to his aid.

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This month’s Word of life draws our attention to the fact that he was asking to know the ways and paths of the Lord, to shed light on the choices he had to make, especially at difficult times. .

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“Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
teach me your paths”

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Sometimes in life we too have to make decisive choices
Sometimes in life we too have to make decisive choices. It can be totally absorbing to have to do so and can make us think deeply about what our consciences suggest is the right way forward.

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It could be that we have many paths from which to choose and are uncertain about which is the best.

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At other times, we feel there is no path at all …

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Wanting to find a way ahead is a strong human need and so sometimes we ask help from those we consider our friends.

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Christian faith makes us become friends with God
Christian faith makes us become friends with God. He is a Father who loves us; he knows us through and through and wants to accompany us on our journey.

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Every day, God invites us to set out freely on an adventure in which our compass is unselfish love for him and all his children.

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The ways and paths are opportunities to meet other travellers and find new goals that can be shared.

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Christians are never isolated individuals,

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but part of a people travelling towards the fulfilment of the plan of God the Father for humankind. Through all he said and did, Jesus revealed God’s plan to bring about universal fraternity, the civilisation of love.

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“Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
teach me your paths”

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The Lord’s ways can be daring and, at times,
may seem too challenging for us, like rope bridges joining high rock faces.

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They challenge our selfish habits, our prejudices and false humility and instead, create opportunities for dialogue, encounter and commitment to the common good.

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Above all, they call for a love that is ever new and capable of forgiving, because it is founded on the rock of God’s love and faithfulness to us.

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This ever-new love is essential if we are to build just and peaceful relationships among peoples and nations.

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Even the witness given by a simple kind deed,
done with love, can give others the light to see their way forward.

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At a meeting in Nigeria, when both children and adults were sharing their experiences of loving according to the Gospel, a little girl called Maya said,

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‘Yesterday, when we were playing, a boy pushed me and I fell over
‘Yesterday, when we were playing, a boy pushed me and I fell over. He said “sorry” and I forgave him.’

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Those words touched the heart of a man whose father was killed by Boko Haram. ‘I looked at Maya. If a little girl like her can forgive, it means that I can do the same.’

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“Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
teach me your paths”

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If we want a sure guide on our journey, let’s remember that Jesus said, ‘I am the Way…’ (Jn 14: 6).

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When Chiara Lubich spoke to young people gathered in Santiago di Compostela during the 1989 World Youth Day,

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she encouraged them as follows:

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‘By describing himself as “the Way”, Jesus was saying we must take the same way as he did. We could therefore say that the way Jesus followed has a name: it is love.

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The love that Jesus lived and brought on earth is special and unique
The love that Jesus lived and brought on earth is special and unique. It is the same ardent love that burns in God…

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But who should we love?

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Our first duty of course, is to love God
Our first duty of course, is to love God. Then, to love our neighbour, every neighbour…

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From the moment we wake up in the morning until we go to sleep at night, every relationship with our neighbour should be lived with this love.

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Whether we are at home, at university, at work, on a sports field, on holiday, in church or on the street, we should take advantage of every opportunity to love, seeing Jesus in our neighbours, neglecting no one, indeed, being the first to love…

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It means entering as far as possible into the minds and hearts of others, truly understanding their problems, needs and troubles — as well as their joys, so that we can share everything with them… In a way, we have to become that other person,

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like Jesus, who was God, became a man out of love
like Jesus, who was God, became a man out of love. Then our neighbours will feel understood and supported because someone is helping them bear their burdens and pain and share in their joys.

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’Living the other person’, ‘living the others’ – this is a great ideal, this is amazing.

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published in New City magazine www.newcitymagazine.co.uk
Text by Letizia Magri published in New City magazine Graphic design : Anna Lollo in collaboration with Fr. Placido D’Omina (Sicily, Italy) * * * This commentary on the Word of Life is translated every month in 96 languages, and it reaches millions of people throughout the world through the press, radio, TV and internet – for more information visit It is also published on * * *