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Chiara Lubich

Chiara Lubich
  • Founder of Focolare
  • Winner of Templeton Prize in 1977
  • UNESCO Peace Education Prize in 1966
Chiara Lubich, the founder and spiritual leader of the Focolare movement, was born Silvia Lubich in Italy. She took a Catholic vow of chastity at age twenty-three in the midst of Allied bombings of Trent, where she lived. In honor of Clare of Assisi, she changed her name to Chiara. When her house was destroyed, she chose to stay in the city and minister to others suffering there. During this time, the Focolare, a movement made up of small communities of people seeking to achieve peace and unity within their social surroundings, was born. Today there are around 2 million people associated with Focolare, with about four thousand core members taking vows and living in community. Lubich was awarded the Templeton Prize for her “exceptional contribution to affirming life’s spiritual dimension” in 1977 and the UNESCO Peace Education Prize in 1996. She wrote several books and traveled and spoke widely throughout her lifetime. Chiara Lubich died in March 2008 at the age of 88. 

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Acclaim

  • This book is both informative and practical – written with a short chapter for each week of the year. Designed to spark conversation within a group devotion setting, readers can dive deep into community together.… This book delves into the nitty-gritty details of Christian community living and encourages readers to confront the dissatisfaction stirred up by its challenging pages. Though not a light text by any means, this book is ideal for those seeking to approach Christian community more intentionally and comprehensively.

    Evangelical Church Library Association

  • …Drawn from the full sweep of church history and an impressive range of ecumenical voices.

    Mennonite Quarterly Review

  • A 2016 Englewood Honor Book – one of the thirty best books of the year for the life and flourishing of the church.

    Englewood Review for Books

  • This is a stellar contribution to our understanding of the whys and wherefores of Christian community. The 52 selections seem perfect for a year of weekly group study and the detailed discussion guide in the appendix is particularly useful for this purpose. Called to Community: The Life Jesus Wants for His People is a thoughtfully compiled and well edited guide to the subject.

    Nancy Roberts, Catholic Sentinel

  • To listen to those who have lived community across the centuries is to drink at a deep well of wisdom. The call to community is challenging, and yet the recognition of the real challenges of community both tempers naive enthusiasm and offers wise counsel to those who pursue intentional communities out of faithfulness to Christ.

    InterVarsity Emerging Scholars Network

  • Called to Community is an extraordinary and welcome addition to personal reading lists, as well as church, seminary, community, and academic library Christian Studies collections

    Midwest Book Review

  • As with the Bible, this book is not to be read alone, or lived alone, but embodied in community. Will we take up and read – and live?

    Paul Louis Metzger, Patheos

  • This book functions as a guide to community: to understanding the true nature of community, to cultivating a spirit and heart that is prepared to live in community, to learning how to desire the right kind of community, in the first place.

    Kyle Roberts, Patheos

  • This is one meaty, yet very accessible, book for those who love the Church enough to give it some serious thought, knowing that serious thought can lead to serious action. Whether in small groups or individually, as we read Called to Community, we will be hearing voices from the road, people with trail dust on their faith. They know what they’re talking about. And this invitation to come alongside them is a great place to start finding some new roads in an old faith of our own.

    David Swartz, Patheos

  • I can only hope that it will be widely read, because I am certain that contained in this book is the future of being Christian.

    Stanley Hauerwas

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