The Common Fund: “With Grateful Gladness”

At first, they were called “tithes,” and they partly covered the expenses of the first missionaries. Now, the purpose remains the same: that everything, even money, may be in service of the Kingdom of God, as witnessed in the following five letters.

In the late Fifties, Fr. Giussani was already inviting the first GS kids not to “receive any money without deducting part of it, little or much depending on individual generosity, as concrete witness of a concern for the world and its happiness, which means the spread of the Kingdom of God.”
These were "tithes,” a simple and immediate way to educate oneself to the missionary lifestyle, meaning being useful to the world. Some of that money was used to support the first young men who went to Brazil. Tithes eventually turned into the “common fund,” a concrete and recurring gesture meant to teach how to live poverty. As Fr. Giussani himself said at the first Fraternity Exercises of 1982, and as Fr. Julián Carrón reiterated these past Exercises, “Poverty does not mean not having anything to administrate: poverty is administrating, having as our supreme purpose that everything be to further the Kingdom of God, to further the Church. The sign that we conceive of our whole life—including our money and the things we possess—as furthering the Kingdom of God lies in this participation to the Fraternity’s common fund.”
It’s a simple gesture of belonging that helps us face life in a fuller way, as we can see from the following letters.


Dear all,
It’s with embarrassment, but also with grateful gladness, that I respond to the message I received over a year ago, now. No, my contact information has not changed…but I really believe my awareness of belonging to the movement and to the Fraternity have. On the threshold of 55, I have to acknowledge that my encounter with Christ and with the Church through the GS community determined all of my existence, from my years of “crisis” in college, my coming and going, my often-negative criticism, up to my marriage 29 years ago, and my encounter with a CL parish priest. Along the way, the Lord always preceded me with the movement’s presence, be it at work, during my first years of married life, and in my friendships. This is where the gaze I have today—mainly on myself—was born, the same gaze that serves as a starting point to look at and live all of my life, my being a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother, a grandmother to a small child, and my ecclesial belonging to my parish and its community. Today, I have to—gladly—give in to the evidence that the charism Fr. Giussani gave us is the “shape” of Christ’s love that reached me and still reaches me in a tangible place, which is the community of the movement.
This is my “home,” where my heart experiences the grateful awe of a correspondence, awaited, recognized, and desired in the very instant it occurs. “Christ present to me, and I present to Christ.” So, after picking up School of Community again a few years ago, after returning to the Meeting for a couple of days for the first time since 1982, this year I “returned” to the Fraternity Exercises. (My last time there was in 1993!) After a few years, I now also wish to begin contributing to the common fund once again. I had interrupted my donations in a time of financial struggles. I remember communicating this via letter, too, but I see now that my struggle was more of a struggle with meaning and reason. I decided on a small amount as a gesture that may serve as a criterion to face our family’s expenses and the charitable gestures that my husband and I both partake in. This is a gesture that my husband’s freedom also embraced, which is another sign of our marital communion.

Laura

The 2018 Fraternity Exercises in Rimini, Italy.

Dearest Julián,
Last month was the 25th anniversary of my priestly ordination. A few days before I was ordained, I had the chance to tell Fr Giussani, who said to me, “Pray to Our Lady that she may help you understand how lucky-- to use a mundane term--you are.” No one had ever told me anything like that. In fact, it seemed as if, in front of the step I was about to take, many were overcome by their respect for me or for the radical nature of the life I was going to embrace. But I didn’t see anyone with the warm awareness of how lucky I was for what had happened to me and what I still had to discover. I didn’t even see this in myself because, at the time, even if I had no doubts regarding my vocation, I still had this secret fear that, along the way, I would lose my initial enthusiasm. It was as if it were something that I had to try to preserve and upkeep myself. Now I can only say that Giussani was right. Christ truly fulfills the promise He makes, so much so that the beginning does not even compare to my current enthusiasm, freedom, and certainty. Filled with gratitude for the movement to which I owe everything, I decided to give to the Fraternity what was gifted to me for the anniversary of my ordination.

Fr. Agostino


Dear Fr. Julián,
Shortly before attending the Exercises, we received our share of inheritance from the sale of a small flat. On our way back, filled with gratitude for the Exercises, we decided to tell our children about our decision to make an extraordinary donation to the Fraternity: a tenth of the money we had received. They asked us why we wanted to do this, and, with no indifference or automatism, they said, “Yes, we agree with you. This is the greatest things we have too.”
In fact, we had told them about our three days in Rimini, about what struck us, and about our immense gratitude to God for showing such a huge preference for us. We owe all of this to “that particular history” and never before has our life truly been a continuous unexpected gift. Just like you said at these Exercises, everything is a gift! The financial contribution we are giving aims to be a small support to our dearest journey that continuously educates us in our given circumstances: this is the promised and fulfilled hundredfold.

Stefano and Maura


Dear Fr. Carrón,
In the past few years I barely ever paid the common fund, mostly out of negligence. I found myself thinking about it as we approached the Exercises, but I never had the full amount to be able to make up for my negligence. So, I basically either didn’t pay, or I only paid a few months.
This year, I thought about taking seriously what I often hear you say: one Euro is enough. So, I set up a lower a monthly fee and I made a transfer that I think should allow me to start over and try to be faithful to this gesture. I desire for this simple reboot to be a possibility for me to learn how to be faithful.

Cristina


Dear friends,
With my heart still moved by the Fraternity Exercises and, in particular, by the witnesses of those among us who, in spite of difficulties, live this gesture deeply and with all the required seriousness, I couldn’t help but make an extraordinary donation. Recently, I was pleasantly surprised to receive arrears from my job that I didn’t even remember I was owed. It was a providential sign. I could maybe give more, but the heart is not totally converted, and the concern for my kids’ and grandkids’ financial stability in their adult life begs for a little discretion.

Roberto


Dear Fr. Julián,
I retired prematurely due to serious health issues. I recently received my first settlement, but even before that, I was thinking about giving to the Fraternity. The Exercises were such a gift of Grace that, if I could, I would have donated much more. For different reasons, however, I cannot do that. The Fraternity is the place that educates me, supports me, safeguards my humanity, and helps me face everything, including my limits and pain. The Fraternity is my home. Who wouldn’t give to such a place?

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