May 14-15, 2020 – Manila, Philippines
“We were on the verge of separation. Being locked down with just the two of us we felt we had to confront our issues, set aside our differences and start again. The On-Line Mariapolis gave the Mariapolites the venue to share and process their thoughts and feelings. Thank you for all your love OLM team”. This is just one of the many feedbacks we got from those who registered and participated via ZOOM for the first ever Mariapolis done Online.
How did this idea of having an Online Mariapolis came about?
The sudden and unexpected Enhanced Community Quarantine in the entire island of Luzon due to the widespread of the infectious disease covid 19 pushed us to look for means to make our people connected and provide them a venue to get nourished by the spirituality of unity. The whole idea was an offshoot of the online Mass we started to transmit privately with the small group of focolare members, but soon it resulted to be a daily appointment looked forward to by around two thousand people. The simple Messenger Video Chat of a small group of focolarini has now been transformed into a big circle of people from many parts of the world, who just desired to be in profound unity with all, in this time of great crisis, through the online celebration of the Holy Eucharist.
We felt that if God closed the possibility to do our big plans to “celebrate and meet” Chiara on her centenary, He opened this way, through our daily online Masses, to do the same, in small bits, in these past 2 months! From the outpouring of our Mass attendees, expressed via the chat text on Facebook – of gratitude, of a moment of God – it was crystal clear that even in a short 30 minutes online, people are able to make an experience of God! This was where the first ideas of an online Mariapolis came about.
In the meantime, because of the preparations for the General Assembly of the whole Work of Mary, we had our first experiences with Zoom. Then came the Gen2, making full use of the social media to help frontliners, via The Noche Buena Project (TNBP), then the Holy Week Gen School, then the United World Week, and the Run4Unity. We felt we have to go for the Mariapolis, in order to be with, & beside our people, in this very difficult moment, to assure them unity, to console them, and with Jesus in the midst with them, make sense of all the uncertainty and anxiety we are all in.
We are against very big odds: the “Mariapolites” will be at home, with all the distractions, and most probably even multi-tasking: as there are children to look after, meals to cook, chores to do, etc. The internet disparities in a developing country like ours is also a major challenge. Because of this our Mariapolis had to be for 2 days only, and only 2 hours each time.
We also considered to call it another name, not Mariapolis, so as to manage the expectations of people. But in the end, we all wanted it to be Mariapolis, a profound experience of God, 100%, just like every other Mariapolis we have had.
We wanted a MARIAPOLIS, not a webinar, not anything else, because we needed Mary today. We need Mary now. We felt like Chiara in 1957. Lost, afraid, unsure, stricken, we too are asking Jesus: Why didn’t you find a way to leave Mary with us? We have always needed Mary, but we need her now, more than ever! And we saw ourselves in Mary, under the cross. We also ask: Where are you God? Why? Why have you abandoned us? And Jesus Forsaken on the cross, and Mary Desolate under it, are telling us: Say your Mass!
Our pain, our suffering, our cry, will have no answer. We will consume it, drink it to the last drop, in our love for Jesus Forsaken and Mary Desolate. In them, we offer ourselves, we celebrate our Mass. We felt that, like for Chiara, Jesus turns to us and says: “because I want to see her in you”, ‘in all of you! I want you to be other Marys! I want you to continue Mary in the world today.’ And as many little Marys living for unity, we will offer him, Jesus, Jesus in our midst, back to the world.
Thanks to God, the Online Mariapolis 2020 was a very beautiful gift from God! We believe that Mary gave God, Jesus-in-our-midst, to our people, so that this experience may help give light to their experience of the pandemic. As a wrap up, here are some data: we got the Zoom for 1000 participants, and registered Mariapolites were at 950+ not only from all over the Philippines, but also from several Asian Countries, Latin America, Canada, United States and some from Europe. The program was entitled “I want to see her… in you” and it was made available on FB Live-Streaming for an endless number of participants.
The 2-hour program was varied, with songs, profound gospel-based experiences related to this current pandemic situation, the hundredfold and the modern multiplication of “loaves”, the courage to face the depression and stress caused by the lock down, a brief presentation on mindfulness in times of crisis zeroing in on living the present moment, the theme on Mary and Jesus in the Midst and an hour of deep communion during the break out groups.
Looking back now at how this Online Mariapolis was conceived, we can say that it was truly an inspiration coming from the Holy Spirit. And this how one of the participants has put into words her experience of the two-day Online Mariapolis: Thank you very much for this year’s Mariapolis! For me it was really a very concrete sign of Mary’s love for all of us! As our mother, she really knows our personal and shared needs. Through the well-chosen theme, talks, experiences, and songs, she nourished us with the right food and vitamins both for the body and the soul. In these two days, I felt it very strongly that more than anything else, Mary wants us to be united—particularly in our Love for Jesus Forsaken, our key to unity! It is our faithful and joyful love for Him that will make us authentic little Marys! Grazie!!!
