The Word of Life is a phrase taken from the Christian scriptures every month. Almost every month from April 1978 Chiara Lubich (right) has written a commentary that shows how the phrase can be put into practice in everyday life. This commentary is now translated into 90 different languages and dialects, reaching more than 14 million people worldwide through the press, radio, television, and the internet.  Around the world people gather in small groups to share their experiences of putting the Gospel into practice in their everyday lives.

On Friday 14th March 2008, at 2 o’clock in the morning (CET), Chiara Lubich at 88 years of age, concluded her earthly journey in a serene and sacred atmosphere. She passed away in her home at Rocca di Papa (Rome), where she had returned after having been discharged from the Gemelli hospital the night before. This had been her desire during the last days of hospitalization. The last farewell to Chiara Lubich took place on Tuesday 18th March in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome. The ceremony was presided by the Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone who was joined by 16 other Cardinals, 100 bishops, several hundred priests and about 40,000 other people including representatives from other Christian churches, and other world religions.

Chiara had written several 'Word of Life' commentaries in advance, so that the archive continued until June 2008. After that Chiara's earlier commentaries have been used.

To read this month's commentary, click here.

The Archive

An archive containing earlier Word of Life commentaries is also available. The current contents are listed both in scriptural order and chronologically. It is almost complete, and aims to contain all the Word of Life commentaries that Chiara Lubich has written between  1978 and 2008, along with some earlier and later commentaries written by close associates.

Some are missing. If you can help to complete the archive, the missing entries are listed here.

News: Thanks to the generosity of the staff at New City Magazine, I have now received a large collection of photocopies of the Word of Life going back to May 1966. I am now slowly scanning these and adding them to this archive, beginning with the oldest.

Feedback

Any comments or suggestions about this web site would be greatly appreciated, especially if you have any experience of how living out a particular phrase had made a difference to everyday life. Please email . Thank you.

This site was last updated 04 Jan 2009.