Clear Light to Follow: Chiara Luce Badano, a yount Servant of God

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By Emanuele Emiliani

How is it that certain people, even after death, are still capable of touching the hearts of many,urging them to change direction and follow their example of faith and fortitude?
Chiara Luce Badano: welcoming friends from her hospital bedOctober marks the eighteenth anniversary of Chiara Luce Badano’s death. This young Italian woman, whose earthly journey ended after a two-year battle with bone cancer, was gradually robbed of her strength, but not of her joy of living.

Just 22 days shy of her nineteenth birthday, Chiara Luce smiled toward heaven and concluded her last moments of life.

Not many photos were taken of Chiara Luce while she was alive, and those that exist are not exceptional in quality. Yet she is unforgettable. However ordinary her life, she brought certainty to the existence of love—the kind that Jesus proved on the cross.

On the day of her First CommunionChiara Luce drew her physical energy from the sports she loved so much. She drew her spiritual energy from the Christian life she lived at home, in her parish and especially at the many Focolare youth activities.

On July 3, she caught the media’s attention when Pope Benedict XVI proclaimed her venerable.

Bishop Livio Maritano, bishop emeritus of Aqui Terme, who first opened Chiara Luce’s cause for beatification in his diocese after years of championing her exemplary life, provides some insight into the pope’s proclamation of her heroic virtues.

What was your first reaction to this long-awaited news?
With great joy and deep gratitude, I welcomed this enormous gift of the Pope, well aware of its significance. The official pronouncement of the Church—the fruit of a long study in which information and relevant testimonies were observed and evaluated—possesses an authority that goes far beyond people’s perception of Chiara Luce.

What do these studies take into consideration?
These studies evaluate a person’s practice of Christian virtues and examine the constancy of virtuous behavior even under difficult situations. Completely superior to the normal way other moral people behave, such virtuous behavior reveals a person’s constant determination to conform in every way possible to the will of God.
With young girls at a Focolare congressThe Church proclaimed Chiara Luce venerable. Why is that important for the Christian community?
The Church encourages us to imitate Chiara Luce, who through her life presents a concrete way to live the Gospel. It is a further confirmation that Christianity is truly practiced today and by young people in life’s ordinary situations. Making her life known could be very beneficial to people of every age and social background.

And for those who never got to know Chiara Luce while she was alive?
Now that Chiara Luce has been deemed worthy of being called venerable, the Church invites us to begin or continue a special dialogue with her and invoke her intercession for the growth of our personal Christian life and for the care of all those persons who are close to us.

HAVING ENCOUNTERED GOD
Vice postulator in Chiara Badano’s process of beatification, Maria Grazia Magrini, continually receives news of anecdotes and memories of the 18-year-old. Following are some of these accounts.

Chiara lived saintliness in a simple, yet profound way. She is one of us: she dressed like us, she listened to the same music and she lived in this same world of ours. She can help us find Christ today.
—Pietro, Italy

I feel so little before the greatness of Chiara Badano. I would like to have her strength and courage in facing suffering. I wish I had her innocent heart, then perhaps I wouldn’t be afraid anymore. Unlike her, I am not able to give up morphine. To my son who comes to cheer me up with his love, I need to be a smiling mom, and the medication helps me not to show my sufferings to him. I pray that God increase my faith and have mercy on me and all those who waver in the darkness of uncertainty.
—Francoise, Switzerland

I belong to Mother Teresa’s order. Before receiving God’s call to this life, I read a book on Chiara Luce. Through this important instrument, God helped me find my faith. Something urged me to choose her name as my own, which our new superior general, Sr. Nirmala, approved. What helps me, and what unites me to Chiara Luce, is her saying, “I have everything.” Nothing could be truer after having encountered God.
—Sr. Chiara Luce, Armenia

via livingcitymagazine.com

Posted via web from Am Mijares