LETTERS

LETTERS

To Be a Witness
Dearest Alberto: I’m sending you the pictures of our kids. Last year, after a thirty-minute meeting with Carrón, some of the them told me they weren’t baptized and they expressed their desire to receive Baptism. I asked some of them to attend catechism, even though I thought they were just joking. I was wrong, and during the Easter Vigil celebration the Secretary to the Apostolic Nuncio to Uganda baptized them. I ask myself, “What is it they saw during those thirty minutes?”  Thirteen boys and a girl had their Baptism, First Communion, and Confirmation, and two of them wrote to Carrón. We were all in a state of disbelief. A lot of people came to the International Meeting Point, so I ask myself, “What did these kids see in Father Carrón?” I too want to stay in front of the Mystery like these kids do, and I too want to see the Beauty of the Mystery attracting me to Him through a witness. I am certain that the Spirit blows wherever It wants. Christ, in His beauty, draws me to Him.
Rose, Kampala, Africa

Christ’s Claim
Dearest Father Carrón: I want to tell you what happened in response to the provocation of the elections. Since I received the flyer about the elections, I have been greatly stirred by one of the points: “Is faith really relevant? Do we really expect everything from the fact of Christ, or do we just expect from Him what we decide to expect?” The question–that acquired greater depth in reading “Page One” in the Traces March [Vol. 10, No. 3] issue, becoming utterly unescapable–was, “How can these people say that everything comes from the fact of Christ?” Because saying that we expect everything from the fact of Christ is tantamount to saying that Christ has something to do with everything: with my work-related choices, with the way I stay with my fiancée, with the way I think about my future, down to the elections! This means, as we said in my School of Community group, that the criteria to look at politics is not political, the criteria to look at marriage is not marriage, the criteria to look at work is not work, but something else–an Other! As I focused on this thought, I was initially tempted to say that this is insane. This reaction of mine made me understand that I truly think that Christ doesn’t have anything to do with my decisions. At the same time, when I find myself in a tight spot or facing a dizzying choice (about work, about vocation, etc.), I don’t know where to start from and what criteria to use, I don’t have a sure footing that allows me to stand my ground. It never seriously occurred to me that Christ might have something to do with those circumstances. At most, He was a pious thought, like, “I hope He will help me out.” On the contrary, you say that the fact of Christ is a factor of reality, like money, family, work, vacations, the small or great gain one gets out of something, the small or great satisfaction one gets out of work.... a factor of reality! Becoming aware of the claim that Christ introduced in the world has been something incredibly new to me, and made me ask, “Who is this man who has such a claim on my life?” What was really unexpected in this new awareness was that I was neither shocked nor bothered by it, because, at the end of the day, I can no longer believe that there are areas of my life that are only my own, where I “rule!” This time, helped by the impressive witnesses I saw lately (the story of Cleuza and the Landless Workers Movement, and the great witness of my aunt in front of her husband’s illness), I started desiring  a greater understanding of the fact of Christ. I want to become more and more attached to Him, because I have seen with my own eyes that when I don’t start from this attachment I get lost, and that what happens to me, even when beautiful and exciting, ultimately stays small! At the School of Community assembly, I understood that the awareness of the disproportion between my everyday life and this new perspective, and the desire to grow in my understanding of and attachment to the fascinating fact that happened to me, coincide with the deepening of my faith in front of the beauty I encountered. Like when you say, “How great is this? I would like this for me, too, but what is it really?” And by asking this question you start getting to know more and more about it, as happens when you are passionate about something and every day you discover something more. To make a long story short: my limit, becoming aware of something missing in my life, and witnessing great events, all of this leads me to ask, “Who is this man?” and at the same time it makes me say, “If I leave this place, where will I go?” For this reason, I am happy. It is the beginning of an adventure!
M. Cristina,
Macerata, Italy

Surrendering to Christ
First of all, thank you to all the people of Attelboro who came with us to see the Pope. Since we met early in the morning, it was clear that everybody was there with great anticipation for the day to come. And then the meeting with the Pope really warmed our hearts. We would like to tell two things that the Pope said that particularly touched us. First of all, the Pope acknowledged the impressive growth of the church in the U.S. Within only two centuries, there have risen up so many new dioceses, churches, catholic schools, hospitals, social and charitable works, and so many people dedicating their lives totally to Christ. This is not the fruit of somebody’s efforts, but the self-surrender of a people to Christ’s love and to the miracle of the unity of His Church. Indeed, we are not stopped by our mistakes, sins, and scandals, because Christ is here and His Church is here now to embrace us again and again. Christ and His Church are really our hope, so we can indeed live our humanity fully and fearlessly, certain of this gratuitous love, which the Pope was here to witness to us. Second, in our society that is so divided in terms of private life (family, religion, etc.) and public life (work, society, etc.), the Pope urged us to direct everything (thoughts, words, actions...) to serving God’s Kingdom and the Gospel. That is offering. Only in this way “will we be happy,” “our lives will find ultimate meaning,” and what we “build is something that will endure.” The supreme offering to Christ is our lives. At the end of the Mass, a group of us spontaneously ran to greet the Pope as He was passing by in his car, and most of our trip back to Boston we sang, even though we were very tired, because we were more happy than we could have possibly imagined–happy to have met a real father and friend, and happy to be witnesses of a new unity among us. This is really a starting point; the understanding and the judgment about his visit will be clearer and more decisive as we start seriously living and verifying this proposal he made to us!
Gabriele and Lorenzo, Boston, MA

Looking at Life
as a Task
Eleven years ago, the Lord called our daughter Elena back to Him, when she was one month old. I don’t need to say how this fact left a mark on both my wife’s life and my own life, and still continues to do so. On top of this, there is the worsening of the illness that has afflicted my wife since the first year of our marriage. Adoption was not successful either.  Therefore, after fifteen years of marriage, we find ourselves childless and carrying many open wounds. For sure this is not what we had hoped for when we got married. What kind of life is this? Is life really “a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury?” Then, what kind of justice is there in this world, where millions of women reject their children? However,  thanks to the education we received from the Movement and the Church, we never doubted the Lord’s love for us, even though His methods appeared absurd. We know that His ways are not our ways; we always say, “Your will be done,” but this is not enough. What bothers me is that this could boil down to resignation, or mere consolation, which would not excise from my mind the idea of having being gravely wronged, and of living a crippled life. I notice that the memory of our daughter is progressively fading. I can’t make do with “hanging out” or freshening  up the Movement’s discourses with my friends. One needs all of God’s patience for something to change. With the passing of time, remaining within the story that we have encountered, in an almost undetectable way, the presence of Jesus has become ever more certain. For example, during a School of Community assembly, someone asked what is the relationship between beauty and sacrifice. I don’t remember the exact words of the answer, but it was said that beauty is the splendor of truth. Suddenly, I realized that our daughter’s life had been something uniquely beautiful and pure, within this ongoing suffering. She came into the world and walked swiftly toward Destiny.  That says it all. I discovered that my daughter’s story is a fact that keeps re-happening; it is like the paradigm of my life: every time I think about her and miss her, Christ is asking me to say yes. Our whole lives are like this: a constant struggle between self-affirmation and dependence on God. We can either depend on God and be free from circumstances, or be free from God and enslaved by everything. Which is more fulfilling? Life has a task, and it is not what you decide or what you think God has given you. With my wife, with the kids at school, with everybody, within everything, there is always a scheme that needs to be broken, a wall that has to be torn down... not by myself. I don’t necessarily have to be the center of attention. I can benefit from things that I don’t do myself–this way I can say, as the gardener friar said at the end of Milosz’s Miguel Mañara: “But my heart is joyful…. For I know that everything is where it is supposed to be and goes where it is supposed to go: to the place assigned to it by a Wisdom that–heaven be praised–is not our own.”
Riccardo, Verona, Italy

A Great Friendship
A few months have passed since Rosanna’s death. Rosanna was a friend of mine, a thirty-seven year old mother of three. Two and a half years ago, she was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. She was supposed to have about three months left. For two years, Rosanna’s life has been a miracle–not only because the disease surprisingly came to a standstill, but most of all because during that time Rosanna showed everybody how to live with a certain, strong faith, one that is attached to the presence of Christ in a simple and yet concrete way.  This would come through in the way she raised her children, in her love for her husband, and in her passion for her students, as well in the affection with which she welcomed all those who would visit her. During these two years, Rosanna bore witness to the fact that, whatever your circumstances, you can live loving life for what has been given to you. In August, the first signs of a rapid worsening of her condition appeared, and the witness of what she held closer to her heart became even more evident. It wasn’t a heroic willpower, but a faith attached to the beauty of a Presence found within the whole human experience. For example, she would admit she was having a tough time, not so much because she could not see her recovery, but because she could not see that Presence: “Because even if I were on my way to recovery, but I didn’t have meaning, what would I do with it?” By  November, she was in and out of the hospital. A really tough and yet moving agony started, and it brought to light her human position, as well as that of all those around her. In her case, this position was to hold on to every instant of life to affirm the great task she had been given, such as when, at the hospital, during the increasingly rare moments of lucidity and strength, she would grade her students’ papers. Some of us were in the position of becoming  unable to ask for a miracle. That is when Rosanna taught us that in order to start anew one needs a friendship that re-awakens desire. She let me in on the fact that she no longer had the strength to ask without the witness of her friends. Her faith was exactly like this: totally supported by the witness of those who have been true friends to her. On Christmas day, she went back home. Her husband wrote to us: “Last night, while praying with our children, we thanked God for the gift we received during this Advent: we understood very well what is means to “wait for” something.  This afternoon, Rosanna will come back home.” At her house, with her children around her bed, this was their prayer: “First of all, let’s thank God for the gift He gave us today, then let’s ask for mom...” On December 28th, with a few friends, we started to recite the Rosary every day.  This way, thanks to Rosanna and to all the friends that accompanied me, I discovered a bit more about the most beautiful thing that ever happened to me. In the words  of Rosanna’s husband: “Do you know why our friendship is great? Not because of something we expect should still happen, but because of what is present among us!”
Chino, Buccinasco, Italy

A Bona Fide Secretary
We all still remember the moment when Graziella became part of our School of Community and our lives. A blond and bubbly woman from Brianza (an area north of Milan) of almost seventy years of age, of Genovese heritage, she was coming back to Liguria after her retirement. She had responded to our friend Patrizia’s invitation to join School of Community. Her husband’s death had awakened in Graziella the need to find a non-banal reason for this loss, and a consolation for that great trial. In front of Graziella’s request for help, Patrizia found she didn’t have anything better to propose then what she herself had resisted for so long. So it came to pass that, together, they appeared on the threshold of our companionship. Graziella immediately understood that what we proposed suited her, and she quickly resolved to join the Fraternity. Her life was totally invested in this decision, and her change became tangible in concrete facts: she was determined to learn from her friends and from the initiatives offered by the Fraternity, and she wanted her faith to entirely permeate her life. Some readings and quotes were a bit obscure for her, but she wouldn’t give up in front of these difficulties. She would ask for explanations, and on their way back from School of Community, she would bombard Father Batti with questions. School of Community was never over for her. One of her granddaughters told us that each day her Grandma’s wall calendar had commitments and appointments related to the life of the Fraternity penciled in, which she not only attended, but reminded the rest of us about. We spontaneously decided to make her the secretary of our group, taking advantage of her past experience as a receptionist. Text messages were her specialty, and she was able to condense all the essentials into just a few words. The worsening of the disease that had stricken her three years ago made it necessary in December for her to move in with her children in Brianza.  This circumstance did not sever the link with our companionship.  On the contrary, it revealed all of its authenticity.  Persevering in her task as secretary, she kept communicating with us through text messages:  “Brianza alert:  Tuesday 29 SoC @ Sacconi on the new book.  Ondina brings books & passes for Sunday, you bring $!  Got it?  Kisses, Gra.” “I’m behaving, I’m strong, I’m with you tonight, and whatever God decides will be.  I am bona fide CL and proud of it!  Kisses to all...”  “Thank you!  You are my great treasure!  With the help of God and the love of my children, my daughters-in-law, my grandchildren, and our Fraternity, I will successfully overcome this ordeal.  I send you a love-filled embrace from the bottom of my heart.”  Graziella died at the end of February.  Looking at her life in the past six years, we are helped to concretely understand the five passages on faith, as described in School of Community:  starting from the encounter, through the correspondence of its exceptionality to her heart, came the birth of a wonder which continually gave rise to an asking and that became responsibility.
The community of Lavagna, Italy

Correspondence
to the Heart
I am Paola from Rio de Janeiro.  I’m sending you a letter that a friend of mine wrote to me after a community vacation.  She added this comment:  “These lines are a small thing, compared to what I would need to describe what the companionship is for me.” 
Despite having participated several times in School of Community, and having read some of the texts and books, I have always found it difficult to understand  what the Movement really is.  Because of a personal difficulty that I was going through, I realized that I was surrounded by the right people, who welcomed me and helped me to face my difficulty.  I started to ask myself who these people were, how they were able to live so intensely, and where that energy came from, and I understood what we say about our humanity, and the importance of a companionship that can help us keep sight of it.  At that point in School of Community, we were working on the text: “Friends, that is, Witnesses.”  I read it several times, and the words in it made sense and gave me strength. “Even the hairs of your head are numbered.”  It was in front of this sentence that I realized I wasn’t alone, and I experienced a personal relationship with Christ, loving and being loved through those people who had become a point of reference for me.  I was reawakened to a new Christian life, truer and more intense,  capable of giving meaning to everyday matters. The encounter with Christ through the Movement gave birth to the desire for understanding, verifying, and progressively deepening this religiosity.  I feel the need to stay close to these people, to listen to what they tell me, because only this gives meaning to my life.  It really is something different; it’s like a dependence that makes me be more myself.  During this vacation, I once more verified that my desire is to truly live every moment, whether good or bad, because I now know that I am not alone, and I never was. I want to be open and available to Him, Who loves me and Who has loved me before I was in existence.  I know that this doesn’t come easy, because I am weak;  I need to make an effort to keep this movement within me awake.  Since I have come to know what really corresponds to my heart, nothing is enough anymore.  I had the experience that correspondence depends on an Other, and this Other reaches me through this companionship which, for this reason, I want to follow.
Sandra, Rio de Janeiro

The Gift of Unity
Dear friends: I am happy to have lived with you an experience of Christian life as brothers and sisters.  It was very generous of you to give me the opportunity to partake of your beautiful companionship.  The heart of Christianity that I saw among us made me understand that we always belong to each other.  I am happy I have met the Movement, and I have felt it inside of me.  Fr. Giussani proposed the companionship of Christ to many youths and adults, and left us a method, which is “culture, charity, and mission” in unity.  The unity among us is the most precious gift that is born out of welcoming this initiative. In 2003, while I was still an Adventist, Ernest came back from Italy carrying new religious ideas. We remained friends, but his ideas were very different from mine.  One day, going back home, I asked him, “Ernest, we are friends, but why did you change so much?”  Ernest answered, “Because I am a Christian.”  I told him, “I’m a Christian too, but you are different!”  Ernest then explained to me, “I met the truth, the reality of Christian life through the Movement of Communion and Liberation.”  Then he talked to me about Fr. Giussani, and about what the Movement is.  The Movement of Communion and Liberation is the light of truth, and the reality of Christian life.  Because of what I have seen and lived among us up to this point, I would like to join the Fraternity.
John, Sierra Leone, Africa