COMMUNION AND LIBERATION FOR UNIVERSITY STUDENTS [CLU]

Communion and Liberation is an ecclesiastical movement, whose purpose is education to Christian maturity, of its adherents and collaboration, in the mission of the Church in all the spheres of contemporary life.

It has its origin in Italy (1954) when Fr Luigi Giussani, established a Christian presence in Berchet high school in Milan with a group called Gioventù Studentesca (Student Youth), GS for short.

The current name of the movement, Communion and Liberation (CL), appeared for the first time in 1969.

It synthesizes the conviction that the Christian event, lived in communion, is the foundation of the authentic liberation of man. Communion and Liberation is today present in about seventy countries throughout the world.

There is no type of membership card, but only the free participation of persons. The basic instrument for the formation of adherents is weekly catechesis, called “School of Community.”

OBJECTIVES

1. To propose the presence of Christ as the only true response to the deepest need of human life in every moment of history.
2. To generate in the person a movement of conversion and witness, thus leaving a mark on the environment in which he or she lives (family, work school, neighborhood, society etc.)

FACTORS OF THE CHARISM OF C.L. MOVEMENT

1. First of all, the announcement that God became man, the companion in history on our human path.
2. Second, the affirmation that Jesus of Nazareth is present in a sign of harmony, of community, of unity: the Church, the mysterious body.

From these two elements arises the missionary passion that he may be known and be recognized as the Lord of history and of time.

ACTIVITIES (FUNDAMENTAL GESTURES)

1. Prayer

• Attention to acts of personal and community prayer is one of CL’s distinguishing traits.
• Prayer also expressed through publications, with ecclesiastical imprimatur, of Book of Hours reproducing part of the Breviary prayed by the universal Church, through attention to songs for the liturgy, and learning of hymns and canticles from tradition.

 

2.School of Community

• • The movement invites its members and anyone else who wishes to participate in a moment, usually weekly, of discussion and Catechisis.

School of Community aims at being a true school which, through the reading and discussions of texts indicated by the movement’s Center, help participants to come to a clearer understanding of the nature of the Christian fact and of the Church. The indicated text usually comes from Msgr. Giussani’s writings or from the teachings of the Church. Recently we have been working on a very important question on the journey of life, “Is there hope?”

3.Charitable Work

• The terms indicate the performance of an act of charity or of unpaid dedication to charitable work at regular interval.
• *As for now we can’t have a physical one one but it is possible to live it by extending the gifts we have received to our friends of the community and sharing the education we’ve received…

 

 

4.Student Holiday

• Vacations, especially those taken together in some place in the mountains, have always been one of the most important moment for the discovering the joy of Christian companionship and attitude of wonder and respect to which it educates in the face of the reality of creation.
• Because of covid we have not been able to have the gesture.

 

5.Reading

• CL educates its adherents to a critical sense, to a discovery of human dignity and true face of the Church, in an invitation to the reading of books and cultural work, urging them not to neglect the value of beauty as it emerges in certain masterpieces of classical music, painting, and cinema.

 

6.Singing

• Group Singing is one act that marked the birth of the movement
• The songs may be liturgical or songs resulting from the experience of CL members.
• In songs the community expresses its unity in a synthetic and persuasive way, and the gladness and new awareness that arise from that unity.

 

7.Traces

• Communal editing of the movement’s official magazine is one of the acts making up CL life.
• Litterae Communionis- Tracce(Traces), besides offering an issue once in two months (lately)with articles and in-depth studies of current events and social issues,is the instrument through which the life of the movement is recounted.

 

8.Common fund

• This is a fund whose aim is the furthering the movement’s work through support of missionary, charitable or cultural activities.
• Anyone can give freely to this fund, contributing monthly a percentage of income. The emphasis is not on the amount but on the faithfulness with which it is given. is then channeled to the national CL secretariat.

 

9.Supper together

We usually meet for supper together on Mondays at 7pm where we share freely about ourselves in an open way.

WHERE DO WE MEET?

The group meets at the Seminar Room every Tuesday from 6.00pm to 7:30pm for the weekly school of community (refer to list of activities). With the reality of COVID-19 we also have online connection for the friends who are not able to attend the school of community physically. The online link is available for everyone who’s interested. We  also have a monthly general Assembly at Cardinal Otunga school every last Sunday of the month where we meet with other friends from different communities among them, adults.

One can also access the www.clonline.english.org to get more about Communion and Liberation on a worldwide dimension.

Communion and Liberation is a way of life and all are invited to be part of us.

You can contact

Mercela- responsible

0798307450

Timothy-ppc

0790739133