Home2017JuneLearning about the pedagogy of the Cross

Learning about the pedagogy of the Cross

“Now I know that to be a Christian is to be happy (there is no lonely saint…).” This was how Rudy expressed himself in a letter to Chiara Lubich on November 25, 1966, shortly after meeting the Focolare Movement. Rudy had wanted desired to live a Christian life based on the teachings of Jesus, to follow his commands, such as “love your enemy.” However, putting this desire into action was something he perceived to be difficult, until he discovered the gospel-based life being lived in the Focolare.  The meeting with this “new way of life” made him declare: “Now, I look at life from a different perspective – I see Jesus as someone alive, and indeed is living in our midst.”

The “unfortunate” event

In a handwritten letter from 1966 Rudy narrates how he met the Focolare Movement, through an “unfortunate” event: “To think that it [was] because I missed the 4:00 o’clock bus (to Lucena) and had to take the next bus back home [on] that fateful day of June 10, and that was how I got to know the Movement, and of course about you, too. I was telling myself that it was indeed my unluckiest day, for I had intended to reach home early in the evening… It was the will of God that made me sit beside Nestorio, who knew the Movement and invited me to attend a Focolare gathering to be held the next day in Lucena.”

When Rudy attended the meeting, he realized that he wasn’t unlucky after all! He affirmed:

“I was not very unlucky after all. [Now,] I consider it as the day [when] I fully grasped the real meaning of Christianity.”

Rudy Dealo 2
“I resolved to be more and more like Jesus, because I want to present myself as a pleasing
sacrifice to God…” (Rudy Dealo)

Called to follow Jesus in a radical way

In the book “My Life Across the Oceans”, Silvio Daneo fondly recalls his memory of Rudy and of a small group of young men who had come to know the movement which had just arrived in the Philippines. He writes: “Rudy was studying at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila but he was coming from the city of Lucena, in the Quezon province, southeast of Manila. He was a very profound young man, serious, faithful in every duty. He would also take care of the details. From the very start he was a real gift and a great help to us.”

In awe, Rudy saw his life taking a new direction and began to wonder what God had in store for him. He expressed himself in this way: “Thinking about all these good things that had happened to me and [are] still happening to me, I sometimes wonder what God’s plan [is] for me… Maybe in the near future God would make it clear what He wants me to do.” He asked Chiara: “Do pray for me, please.”

And Silvio adds, “Rene, Rudy and Eddie were incredibly different from each other… Fascinated by our way of life, these young men soon became a remarkable help in so many ways. It seemed incredible; they manifested the same vocation, and wanted to offer their life to God in a most radical way.”

Right from the beginning of this new vocation, Rudy had a clear vision of the life that God was calling him to: the Focolare, in which Jesus is present in the midst, Jesus, who sanctifies those whom he calls, together. And for this end, he gives his all by living every present moment concretely. He says: “For my part I will try with my entire will and soul to live well and fully, the present moment, the only thing that has value… every person, every circumstance that presents itself, is God who wants my yes, my total love.”

Life rooted in his love for the cross and for the “Spouse

In March 1970, while awaiting his departure for Boston, Rudy lived a special period of grace which made him discover his vocation more deeply and he wrote to Chiara Lubich: “Now I have found my vocation – Jesus Forsaken, my Spouse. Recently, He made me understand even more who He is… Yesterday, during my meditation, I resolved to be more and more Jesus, because I want to present myself as a pleasing sacrifice to God… I want to be small and nothing, the way Jesus [was] when he became flesh, to save us with his love. And with love I have to die to myself so that He may live.”

Rudy Dealo
“I want to be small and nothing, the way Jesus was when he became flesh, to save us with his love.”
(Rudy Dealo). In the photo: Young Rudy (third from the left behind the small children).

With the desire to faithfully and concretely live out his love for Christ crucified, Rudy asked Chiara for a phrase from the scripture. Some days later, Chiara replied with the phrase she had chosen for him, a phrase from the first letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians: “We preach Christ Crucified” (1 Cor. 1:22). Chiara assured Rudy that it would certainly help him to remain faithful to his choice of Jesus Forsaken.

On December 7, the feast of Chiara’s total consecration to God, he communicated to Chiara in this way: …I have received many: graces, joy, peace, and above all the biggest grace, which is that of knowing and of living Jesus Forsaken. What a great vocation! I no longer think anymore of who I am…God has called me to live like this… For God, everything is possible; those things that would have seemed impossible for me, I now try to see them with God’s eyes and everything becomes simple.

Rudy Dealo

We will never be able to narrate everything about how Rudy lived the many years of his life as a focolarino. But we know how he faced the many small and big trials he encountered, and we are certain that these have prepared him all along, up to this last stage of his earthly life.

Love for the cross, the “passport” to enter paradise

The seriousness of Rudy’s illness came to him as a surprise, but his love for Jesus Forsaken made him see this moment as an expression of God’s love for him. When the medical results were communicated to him, Rudy exclaimed: “How good this is!” and asked: “what is good about it?” and Rudy answered, “Jesus! He truly loves me!” After a while, he cried out: “This is beautiful!” “What?” he was asked again, and Rudy answered calmly, “Jesus has sent me a beautiful surprise!

In March, Rudy sent a personal video message to Emmaus, president of the Focolare Movement, to tell her how he was living this experience of illness. He thanked Emmaus and the whole Focolare Movement for its unity and prayers. Rudy truly and faithfully lived out his love for the One he had chosen, Christ Crucified, up to his last breath. Those persons around him can testify how he was able to peacefully embrace his Spouse at the moment of his passing to the next life.

Emmaus sent everybody a message on the day of Rudy’s funeral. Among other things, she said: “I followed closely the development of his sickness and in the last few days he was still able to send me a video message. The joy I saw on his face was a confirmation of his union with Jesus Forsaken, matured over time. Already in 1971 he wrote to Chiara: “The passport to enter Paradise at the end of my life will be the love for the cross that I have lived and borne witness before the others.” And Emmaus concluded her letter in this words: “We think he has now entered paradise with this passport, accompanied by our Lady whom he had loved so much. Extraordinary in his supernatural simplicity, Rudy is a luminous witness of his word of life: “We preach Christ crucified.”

Rudy Dealo
“The passport to enter Paradise at the end of my life will be the love for the cross that I will have lived and borne witness to before the others.” (Rudy Dealo)

DONATE TO NEW CITY PRESS PH

New City Press Philippines offers all its articles for free; we would appreciate a small donation to help us continue serving you with relevant content.

For donations please click the donate button. 
Previous article
Next article

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here


Must Read