Focolare girl to be beatified

Focolare members in Perth are set to celebrate an historic moment. They’d like everyone to join them.

By Tess Lee
We all know of many saints. Priests, Nuns, Missionaries, Martyrs, Visionaries – most of whom lived hundreds of years ago. Is it possible for a saint to be an ordinary normal person?  Someone just like us?   Yes!
Chiara Badano was born in Sassello, Italy, in 1971 to parents who had all but given up hope for a child after 11 years of marriage. She was an only child and grew up in a loving family where she received a Christian education.  Even as a child, she had a generous spirit. Once, when she was four years old, Chiara’s mother suggested that Chiara might like to give some of her toys away to the poor children. Her immediate reaction was ‘No’.  Chiara’s mother left, but only a few minutes later returned to the room after hearing some noise. She saw Chiara sorting her toys to find the ones to give away. Chiara explained ‘I can’t give broken toys to children who don’t have any’.
At the age of nine, Chiara and her parents met the Focolare movement at a large family gathering in Rome. This was a major step in the life of the family that now followed the Focolare ideal of unity.  Chiara became a Gen (the second generation of the Focolare movement) and found a new relationship with God.
Chiara also began corresponding with Chiara Lubich, the founder of the Focolare Movement. Not long after her twelfth birthday, Chiara Badano wrote, ‘I have discovered that Jesus Forsaken (when on the cross He cried out – “my God, my God why have you forsaken me”) is the key to unity with God. I want to choose him as my spouse and get ready for when he comes – to prefer him. I have understood that I can find him in those who are far from God, … and I have to love him in a very special way’ At the age of 12, Chiara had made the radical decision to love Jesus in all the difficulties that would arise in her life.
Chiara had many friends and interests. She loved music, swimming, tennis and hiking. She was also involved in her parish community. Like many teenagers, she sometimes argued with her parents, like over the time of curfew, but these issues were resolved through discussion and compromises on both sides.
At the age of 17, a painful shoulder was found to be bone cancer – the prognosis