new world
colorado

The Imprint of
His Presence
“What kind of friendship is ours if we do not really enter into the questions of everyday life with it?” This question marks the journey of a small American community that over the years has seen an unprecedented growth. From confronting tragedies to meeting with the philosophy club, the face of a faith that becomes public is revealed, in the 25 years since an “historical” visit from Fr. Giussani.

by Suzanne tanzi

On July 20th, details of the nearby Aurora “Batman” shootings that killed 12 and injured 59 were only just being released on the national news when Jonathan was already meeting his closest friends at his house: “We were shocked and saddened... Everyone had a different take on it and we wanted to understand it better, and more than ever to be together.” Ultimately, they agreed that this incident could not be filed away under the heading “Psycho Killer Opens Fire.” Instead, it was a real and disturbing sign of the nihilism in which they too are immersed. A flyer was proposed to friends, passed out to parishioners at the downtown cathedral, and given to the recently arrived Archbishop Samuel Aquila. They organized an assembly on the flyer and discussed questions raised by the massacre with the 50 people who attended. How did they move from shock to meaning–instead of apathy or nihilism? Jonathan explains, “It began from our deepening friendship and desire to walk together, undeniably the work of Another. For several years, we’ve been following a clear road. Fr. Michael encouraged us along this path in asking what we wanted in life, in taking risks, and especially in judging our own daily nihilism–which is connected to that of the killer–and experiencing the conquering presence of Christ.”
It was more than coincidence that these friends and 60 others had just participated in the annual Communion and Liberation “National Young Workers Vacation” in Colorado entitled, “The Time of the Person Has Come,” which addressed the very real challenge of nihilism for each of them. During these explosive five days, in one of the country’s most breathtaking natural settings, this challenge was faced, and old and new friendships demonstrated that the concrete presence of Christ in this companionship is the only solution to nothingness.

Invitations on a long road. Introduced to Colorado in the mid-1980s with the Barstad family as the backbone for years, the Movement in Colorado was quiet until the untiring faithfulness and desire of new arrivals Tommaso and Valeria Curto generated countless encounters with visitors and new move-ins from 2004-2009, which were “infallible signs of the care and preference of Christ in our lives,” says Valeria. The decisive step of starting a Fraternity group in 2005 proved crucial to the life of the Movement in Denver, giving birth to yearly family vacations and weekly Schools of Community marked by the signs of continued growth: the cries of babies and the antics of increasingly numerous small children.
Initially, Archbishop Charles Chaput wasn’t sure what to make of CL, but on occasion he enjoyed sipping whiskey and smoking cigars with these new friends. The smoke cleared when he read Together on the Road by (now) Bishop Massimo Camisasca, founder of the Fraternity of St. Charles Borromeo (FSCB). Chaput then invited the priests of the FSCB to take responsibility for a parish in Denver in 2009 (see Traces, Vol. 13, No. 3 [March] 2011, pp 42-44). Fr. Michael recalls: “His surprising invitation for us to take on an entire parish–we, a relatively unknown order–was the sign of his great esteem and trust in what he saw among us.” The fecundity of this invitation reveals an amazing journey.
Since 2010, the unity and sense of mission in the Fraternity and Diaconia has grown to the point of bursting its seams to be shared with others. Says one Diaconia member, “Fr. Michael was always challenging himself and us: What does this companionship mean in your life? What does Christ mean? Moved, we began to risk more and to work for things that excited us: in this past year alone, we began six new Schools of Community, a local Crossroads Cultural Center, the CL Choir, the Way of the Cross, and the Advent and Lent retreats. Many of these initiatives had been attempted before; however, this time the question was not, ‘Can we do this?’ but, ‘What is Christ asking of us?’”–because, more than anything else, they wanted to be with Him.

Without complex analysis. And so it was His presence that drew so many others to this unique group of friends. Doreen, a girl from China who knew nothing of Catholicism, describes how such questions were infectious and persistent among them: “This past year, every time I met new friends at School of Community or at the Young Workers Vacation, I was asked why I was there. I really did not understand why. It still amazes me that I chose to follow without complex analysis and rationalism. Coming to the U.S. from China, I would have never imagined such a beautiful encounter for my life. I have become more certain, more at peace, and more confident in the positivity of reality, especially in front of the seemingly impossible mission, which is living.”
Speaking to a crowd of 250 during his visit to Denver in the summer of 2011, Fr. Carrón described what was happening among them: “What is Christianity? You can see the difference between reading a book about love, and falling in love–the difference between a treatise about God and meeting Him. To be so struck by the imprint of His presence that everything is different after that... Falling in love means that everything is united in an experience. This is the Christian event.” But we cannot expect miracles–only a journey–insisted Fr. Carrón: “This means that you need to follow a proposal. All the life of the Movement is this proposal, again and again and again, offered to your reason and to your freedom, in order that this life you see in another can become yours.” This inspired 22 people from Denver to fly to the annual New York Encounter, a three-day cultural event held in Manhattan in January. Jonathan explains the trip in light of their recent challenges in the local Church milieu, including the fight against a prevalent Catholic “moralism and orthodoxism”: “In an Archdiocese that is so wonderfully Catholic like ours is, one can attend many different Catholic events but remain following oneself or, at best, a theology or a ‘virtue program.’ It was vital for us to keep following a concrete companionship in order to ‘depart on a journey in which the One who measures is not yourself,’ as Giussani says.”
After the 2012 New York Encounter, “many people took the need for judgment seriously, as well as the need to run the risk to propose what we learned in the Movement through personal initiatives and works.” They began asking each other, “What kind of friendship is ours if we do not really enter into the questions of everyday life with it?” The Denver CL Choir had just been born at Advent, and in February, the Denver chapter of Crossroads Cultural Center was also born “over pizza and beers” while again contemplating the words of Fr. Giussani: “The greatest friendship is two people working for, following something else.” Since March, they have hosted five fascinating (and packed) events, ranging the interest spectrum from Christianity to Islam; from discoveries in science to the November elections.

Occupying one’s humanity. “I wish I could stay, but I have to get back to the office!” exclaimed a businesswoman during the Way of the Cross. People in downtown Denver were surprised on Good Friday, but none so much as the members of CL, witnessing the response of the bystanders who joined the procession. Says Matt McGuiness, “The spontaneity of the impromptu add-ons to our group [which grew to well over 100] told me that in the midst of all this commerce and hurry, people saw Him. When we were walking along Colfax, someone asked me, ‘What are they protesting?’ I responded, ‘Nothing,’ but her question made me ponder: By proclaiming Christ crucified and risen, we are ‘protesting’ the nothingness that surrounds us. Occupy Denver? No, just trying to occupy my own humanity!” Lorenzo Patelli, a Memor Domini, adds, “Our presence there was something of a disorder, pointing out, like Peguy says, a great ‘disorder,’ without which nothing is in order, nothing is in its right and meaningful place.” One woman was astounded by the change in herself: “I would never ever have walked a Way of the Cross before, but on that day I was incapable of not going!”
A presence was being felt in the city at large, as well as in even more intimate encounters. When Dan and Mari Welch suddenly lost their son Alex, a college student, to meningococcal sepsis, they were not even attending Mass anymore. A friendship with Father Accursio of the FSCB accompanied them: “Through all of your guidance and patience with us we have gained a faith, with reason and evidence, that our son is in Heaven and that life is still a gift we have. This has allowed us to reach an acceptance of our loss. But this didn’t really come to us until our amazing adventure to Italy and introduction for us to the Communion and Liberation movement.”

The philosophy club. While this same Fr. Accursio takes 8th graders annually into the mountains in search of beauty and Christ, seminarian Joe Grady announces “study days” to his friends at the University of Denver, to deepen their understanding of the work they are doing there. And Matthew Gear, a high school teacher, instead of taking time off over the summer, continued to meet with his philosophy club (at their insistence!). “I gave them Fr. Carrón’s address to the National Diaconia in 2007, to begin to see what truly fits the needs of their hearts. I was astonished by how engaged they were with the text and with us. These particular students are not necessarily the ‘nice Catholic kids’ in the school. It occurred to me then how this proposal in the Church is truly for everyone.” Doreen explains this attraction from her own experience: “In this new life among the friends in Denver, I started to understand the essence of self-awareness and realize Christ’s love is the only way to conquer our nihilism.” It seems that the anniversary of Fr. Giussani’s visit does not mark a happening of the past, but his vibrant presence in Denver–now, more than ever.