Chiara Luce Badano was born in Sassello, a small village in Italy. She was a beautiful girl full of joy, who loved sports, outdoor activities, hanging out with friends. You could simply say that Chiara loved life.
Chiara was very popular. She had a lot of friends, she played sports, and she loved to sing and dance. But when asked, she said she did not try to bring Jesus to her friends with words. She tried to bring Jesus to them with her example and how she lived her life. When she was 17, Chiara learned she had a very serious form of bone cancer. Treatments were painful and unsuccessful. She became paralyzed. One day someone asked her if she hoped to walk again, and her answer was no. When she suffered, she felt closer to Jesus. She even refused to take pain medication that would make her too sleepy to continue to live her life.
Chiara died in 1990 at the age of 18 and yet today her life, lived to the fullest, continues to deeply touch people throughout the world – especially young people – who are transformed by her light.
Within nine years, the bishop of her diocese began the work on her cause for canonization. Pope Benedict XVI declared her “Blessed” in 2010. “Only Love with a capital L gives true happiness,” and that’s what Chiara showed her family, her friends and her fellow members of the Focolare movement, the pope said.
Feast day celebration – October 29 – prayerful reflection – 8pm ET.
All links: https://linktr.ee/ycna