The youth, the music and more

   Filipinos have a natural talent for music. They sing at parties, in church, or at funer- als… It seems that everything in life may be connected to a particular song, a special piece of music.
   Federico Knudsen, an Argentinean focolarino, was assigned to Manila in 1967 because… he could play the violin! If one looks over the program of early meetings, one can find that after a talk, there was often the word “violin,” to mean some violin music, and after the sharing of an experience, “violin” again.
   The Focolare has always had a special love for music, and probably this helped many people to feel involved in the family atmosphere that unity creates. Almost immediately, a native choir sprang up. On the buses bound for the Tagaytay Mariapolis in 1966—there was a typhoon, once the engines overheated, and another time, the bus broke down at the gate of the SVD compound in Tagaytay—but people arrived at the gathering already familiar with Focolare songs.

   Very soon, the Gen—the Focolare youth—were composing their own songs, with such talent and passion that they also became known worldwide. Along the years, this talent was never lacking and has reached far beyond the movement. Joy Bellarmide, Marcy Bautista, Nunzia Inocencio, Ancilla Manonto, Ima and Tess Medrano, Embo Rodriguez, Billy Funk, Noel Castro and more recently, Fr. Mimo Perez, Mark Marquez, and Fr. Carlo Magno Marcelo, just to mention a few, have composed many of the songs still sung today not only in Focolare meetings, but also elsewhere in many parishes, churches and organizations.
   In February 1966, there was still no Gen Movement—it would be founded by Chiara in September 1966—but many young people were already living the spirituality of unity. When they heard of the birth of Gen, they felt they had found their place. And so an extraordinary adventure began.
   Gen Gloria and Gen Giallo, the two musical bands setup in the sixties, went around to share their life with Jesus in the midst everywhere. For many young people, to see some of their peers singing on stage not because they wanted to become famous, nor from a desire for recognition, but because they wanted to share their lives, to witness to the Gospel, and ultimately to love, was something of a shock.
In the Focolare, in fact, music has never been considered mere entertainment, but a powerful means to give witness to God, through the life of unity among singers, and musicians, and their relationship with the public.
   When the movement’s international bands came to perform in the Philippines—Gen Rosso in 1979, then Gen Verde in 1989—journalists who attended the concert recognized not only their artistic talents, but above all the fact that those on stage “sang what they lived, danced what they believed in,… captivated the audience with their songs, but even more with the witness of their joy and unity.”

   Eddie Tesorero, one of the very first Gen boys, used to be a gang leader in his barangay. “One day,” he shares, “together with my friends we decided to disrupt a religious procession. When the time came for me to take action, my eyes met those of a statue of Our Lady. She seemed to cry and telling me: ‘Why are you doing this?’ I almost fell down on the ground… That night I couldn’t sleep. I decided to leave my gang and started attending a church organization. Some months later I met a group of the Word of Life organized by Fr. Taschner. When the focolarinos arrived, I was in their house almost everyday. I was fascinated by their lives, their reciprocal love, and their unity.”
   Eddie would later not only be part of the first choirs in the Mariapolis, but also of Gen Rosso. Now married to Vicky, a judge, they have three children who are very much involved in the Gen life. “Who knows what would have happened to me if I hadn’t met this life,” he exclaims.
   In fact, many of the very first Gen now sing together with their children at Mariapolises and gatherings. Their families have grown up in that special atmosphere of reciprocal love which have allowed them to overcome many difficulties and trials, and transmit the same values to succeeding generations, through the witness of their own lives.
   The parents share their lives with their children, but at the same time, learn so many things from their children’s enthusiasm and authenticity.

   However, the Gen have not limited themselves only to singing. Many of them coming from poor backgrounds, they know that if they want to have a say in the future they not only have to start changing their lives, but also the lives of those around them.
   With them, several of the many social activities of the Focolare were born—Bukas Palad was one of them. Today they visit prisoners, abused girls, orphans, and of course the poor in their shanties. And around them hundreds of other young people, called the Youth for a United World, have gathered together to work and build a universal brotherhood.
   Not to be outdone, the youngest among them—dubbed Gen 3, for third generation—organize spectacular gatherings for their peers. The recent Run4Unity, a marathon for peace, has attracted thousands of teenagers in Manila, Cebu, and Tagaytay. As the mayor of Trece Martirez said after the race which he participated in: “Our future lies with these teenagers, and their values are those which will build tomorrow’s society.” Not bad about young people who are often described as passive, attached to their playstations or the latest music fad…