LETTERS
edited by Paola Bergamini
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Classroom Readings
With my third-year high school students, I’ve been addressing the theme of the religious sense, trying to show how it constitutes the fundamental characteristic of human nature, how it clings to the depths of our being. A few days ago, I used some testimonies of high school students contained in Luigi Negri’s Saying Christ to Young People. All the students were very struck, but this didn’t impress me too much, because they’re a very involved and committed class. What touched and moved me, instead, was the reaction of a very special student in this class, an autistic boy who only communicates by computer, with the help of a colleague, technically defined a “communication mediator.” When he puts his hand on the boy’s shoulder or back, the boy begins typing words on his keyboard, communicating with the external world. At the end of the reading, this student came to my desk and took the little booklet I had just put down. Then, as he does, he crouched on the floor and began turning the pages rapidly, from the first to the last, including the table of contents (it’s one of his “different abilities” that enables him to photograph the pages and memorize them). This is the first time in three years that something of this kind has happened, that he would show such strong interest in something said in class that isn’t related to history or the classical world (his great passions). I invited him to write a reflection on what we had said, and he assured me that he would do so as soon as he was a bit less stressed from the intense activity of these days.
Signed Letter

Something Within Something
Dear Fr. Carrón: After the meeting of GS responsibles in La Thuile, we returned to Livorno, where our annual book market had already been open for a few days. In the atrium of the room open to the public, we had set up the exhibit on freedom, so that it could be seen, and, as needed, explained by one of us. One fine day, Simona, a 17-year-old Swiss girl with impaired vision, who was in Italy to improve her Italian, came by, and during a lull in the work we began talking. Conversation shifted to the exhibit, and as we read and explained it in detail, between the sixth and seventh panel, Simona said, “If there were a friend like this, he would be someone you would never let go,” and, on the panel entitled “Christ and freedom,” she said, “This is a provocation.” (She said she was Protestant.) From then on, it was a rapid-fire succession of questions about everything, and so it continued for the rest of the week. At the end of the dinner celebrating the close of the book market, two new girls who had gotten involved with us at the market got up, and unexpectedly thanked everyone for the welcome they had received, as if “we had been friends forever.” Before leaving, Simona gave me a letter: “When I came to Livorno, I didn’t think that I would meet a person like you! I didn’t think that I would meet Jesus Christ in such a way. I didn’t think I would find ‘Something within something;’ something within myself, something in my heart. Friendship, what a wonderful word! My dear friend, it’s been one of the greatest pleasures to meet you, to meet all those friends, and all these things, and, above all, ‘Something within something.’ I am sure that this friendship will remain, that I will have many more occasions to find Something within something.” The encounter with this girl has made me revise how I am with the GS kids, at school, with my colleagues, with my family… with reality. Simona, vision impaired, saw what I did not see. Her apparently dulled eyes had seen, and told me: Jesus is here; look, you too.
Pierluigi, Livorno

The Hundredfold Now
Dear Fr. Carrón: In June, our first child was born, Riccardo, a Down’s Syndrome baby with serious heart disease. In the fifth month of pregnancy, the doctor had found some anomalies. “You ought to do an amniocentesis,” he told us, “so we can understand better what this is.” Notwithstanding our repeated and decisive “No,” he even set a date for the exam. We switched to another doctor. We met Dr. Vergani, who accompanied us with maternal love in this adventure, day after day. She never hid the truth from us, but what a difference! What love for us and for our son! Riccardo was born on June 3rd. Things didn’t go as we had in mind for him or for us, as we had hoped, up to the end. Not only did he have Down’s Syndrome, but other problems that necessitated his having heart surgery when he was only a few months old. We felt totally betrayed in the promise of happiness that had been made to us. In front of this fact, where was the hundredfold? We only saw a great contradiction. The first days were truly hard, desperate, I’d say; reality, what had happened to us, was crushing us. Then, day after day, things changed a bit. Jesus asks a lot, but never leaves us alone. Never. A series of relationships, people, our friends, all were gathered around us, concretely and through prayer. In the evening, when we would return home late from the hospital, we would find dinner ready, brought by friends taking turns cooking for us. One day, the friends of the Fraternity thought of having the monthly meeting at the bar in front of the hospital so we could be there too. This is how Jesus never left us alone. He made Himself seen; He was with us through all these people. We continued, and will continue to have moments of weariness, of anger, but the final word is not blind desperation. Instead, it is a continuous entreaty: “Jesus, You are asking a great deal of us, everything, but now You are with us. Don’t leave us alone.”
When Riccardo was 3 months old, he underwent delicate surgery on his heart. We had an emergency baptism in the hospital, so that he could be more accompanied in that difficult trial. An entire people was praying for us. Keeping this in mind during those terrible moments was truly liberating. The surgery went well, and Riccardo came home 10 days later. Looking at him and accompanying him every day is moving. The mother of a child in the hospital with Riccardo, hearing that we had had Riccardo baptized, asked that her child receive the sacrament too. At the beginning of this adventure, we did not understand what the hundredfold could be for us; in fact, we almost doubted that it existed at all. Now, we are living it. Riccardo is our child, but it’s as if he were the child of all our friends. What has happened to us is, and will remain, a mystery, God’s will for us, but looking at Riccardo, we are truly certain that the Lord has won.
Elisa and Andrea, Milan

Graffiti Crying
out for Happiness
I work for a firm that manages public housing, handling technical issues and security inspections. I often move around in the basements of these buildings, and one day, doing an inspection with my team, my gaze fell on a sentence written on the wall in a corner where young people meet to smoke and take drugs. “I don’t want Paradise when I’m dead; I want it while I’m alive on earth.” Suddenly, a cry tore out of my chest: “Me too!” This cry, so strong and true, profoundly moved and touched me; this desire for truth and happiness is stronger than everything. The heart of these young people couldn’t help but express the urgency that constitutes them in their innermost depths. Society and cynical adults can talk and live as if they don’t expect anything anymore, but the heart does not settle for this. A living heart, the heart of a young person, cannot help but let out this cry, inscribed in his deepest person. Everyone says, “What are you looking for? What’s missing? Be happy with what you’ve got! It’s not worth it; you already have everything. Don’t make false problems for yourself!” And again, “Are you really sure you have a desire, a question? Take what you can, because everything dies!” However, everything makes us desire life! I thank these young people, their heart-rending and sincere cry; what wouldn’t I give in exchange for my life, for happiness, for my own self? I want to look everywhere and encounter Happiness; I can’t live without it, I can’t! These young people are like me; they’re my companions in the quest. When we encounter Life, we can no longer settle for anything less!
Elena, Paris

Letter to the Pope
Dearest Fr. Carrón: Here is the letter we gave to the Holy Father when we participated in the General Audience in Saint Peter’s Square on October 12th, and his response.
Most blessed Father: We greet and honor you as the spiritual children of Fr. Giussani, thanking you for everything you are testifying to us in these dramatic and fascinating times for the very life of the Church. We also thank you for the comfort you gave us on the day of the funeral of our beloved Fr. Giussani. He is our father! In the moment of extreme separation, Your Holiness sustained and encouraged us, presenting us Fr. Giussani, in those hours so intimately united with beloved John Paul II through the mystery of suffering, as the faithful servant of Christ, as a useful doctor of the Church, whom he loved, accompanied and served in thought and in action, announcing Christ, defender of reason, freedom, and happiness; Christ and Christ alone, in the very difficult, constantly recurring moments when the “valley of darkness” becomes great, that is, “the temptation to transform Christianity into a moralism, and moralism into politics,” falling into “ideological and false dogmatisms.” Thank you, Your Holiness, for having made us hear the deeper “note” of our dear Fr. Giussani. How moved we were when you said, “He grew up in a home that was poor in bread, but rich in music.” Fr. Giussani left us (but he hasn’t left us) on the day the Church celebrated and honored the Chair of Peter, almost as a testimony of his love for the Church and for “the sweet Christ on earth.” We come from the Church in Salerno, where the Apostle Matthew and Pope Gregory VII rest. Fr. Giussani rekindled this great tradition in us, educating us to an experience of fully human and reasonable faith in the present. May Our Lady–surety of our hope–deign to make us docile in following you, for the human glory of Christ and the happiness of men. Our entire people, all over the world, obeying the indication of Fr. Carrón, prays to Our Lady, happily, for Your Holiness. A kiss from us and our children.
A Group of the Fraternity of Saint Riccardo Pampuri,
of Communion and Liberation, Salerno

Most Esteemed Sir: The Holy Father has received the fervent message of devotion, strengthened with special prayers, which you, in the name of your Fraternity, sent to him on October 12th, in the memory of Monsignor Luigi Giussani. His Holiness, who cherishes your sincere resolutions of good, expresses cordial gratitude for your solicitous thought of spiritual closeness and, as he encourages you to honor the memory of your late-departed Founder, he entrusts you and those united in this delicate thought to the celestial protection of the Immaculate Virgin, and sends each of you his Apostolic Blessing, pledge of hope and serenity, willingly extending it to your loved ones, with special thought for the littlest ones. With expressions of distinguished esteem,
Monsignor Gabriele Caccia, Assessor, Secretary of State, Vatican City

The Companionship of the 4 Stones
Dear readers: I want to tell you about my personal experience in the little group of the “Knights of the 4 Stones.” Everything began a year ago. I was heading for the coffee machine when a boy I knew slapped me on the shoulder and said, “Listen, Giacomo, Friday we’re meeting with the 4 stones. We’re having a pizza and then watching a movie. You want to come?” I didn’t know what to say; I had to think about it, as usual, but unexpectedly, I blurted out, “Count me in.” In this way, I adhered to a proposal of friendship, because this was what it was about: being in a companionship of friends. After all, if a companionship isn’t made up of friends, what kind of companionship is it? The first few weeks, I didn’t feel very comfortable. It was not that I was excluded by the group, but I felt a bit out of my element–all the guys except one were older than me. I had to create a space for myself. Pretty soon, I succeeded. Before long, we had to face a demanding test: “the promise.” It is a strong gesture to say in concrete terms, “I’m in.” The promise, like the various little vacations we take during the year, helps us to know each other better. One of the best vacations is the summer one, because I meet up with old friends from elementary school, too. We get together on Fridays with Fr. Carlo. We have fun and play soccer, then have a moment of reflection, and finally, study and do our Saturday homework. Fr. Carlo and our leaders are helped out by some kids who have lived our same experience and now are living an even greater one: the GS students. I wish all kids my age could participate in one of these companionships, because it’s truly beautiful. Don’t think that you have to be “special” to participate. Look at me: I’m just a simple kid from the second year of middle school, like millions of others. A true companionship doesn’t welcome you for what it wants you to be; it welcomes you as you are.
Giacomo, Milan

David’s Life
My dearest friends:
I am sure that some of you are very aware of my constant questioning of the purpose of CL in David’s life. (I would like to say our lives but I am being honest here.) Some things have been different here the last few months and I have been able to take a step back and look at things anew. I think I may finally have an understanding of CL for David. It can be summed up in one word–passion. CL creates in David a spiritual passion for everything surrounding Christ. My eyes are now opened to see that the spiritual passion Christ lived with on this earth and in His human body is actually present in my husband and only through CL can he fully live out his passion. I can see now David’s passion to be everything for Christ as a soldier, husband, father, friend, and Christian. This humanity in David was not real before the presence of Father Giussani in his life. And now, look at this man who I get to call my husband and father of my children! Does this mean that I still will not be a little grumpy when I hear of yet another conference call, or planning of another event, or trip to Italy? Of course, it is still me, but I may just find a sitter more frequently and tag along. I would like to see this passion grow inside of me also. So, to all who have been this driving force of fraternity for David, on behalf of my children and myself, thank you.
Becky Jones, St. Louis

Hope Does not
Disappoint
Dear Traces: I am a parish priest in Aberdeen, South Dakota. I met CL through my friend Fr. Jerry Mahon about eight years ago, and have found myself more and more drawn to follow Fr. Giussani’s charism. It seems, too, that the stronger the attraction, the stronger the distractions which would lead me to forget Christ’s gaze, which is for me. Studium Christi at Fr. Jerry’s place in Rochester for the past five years has been wonderfully refreshing. There, it seems, I do not feel so “responsible” for everything. Being with these true friends and priests, gathered around the charism, I receive the freedom that Christ’s companionship gives–for me. However, when I initiated School of Community in Huron, South Dakota, I always felt so “responsible” that I sometimes lost sight of His gaze for me. I wondered why more people didn’t come, and why I was doing this when it did not appear big and successful. The answer came in the recognition that every time School of Community met, I was brought again to the event of Christ who draws me. So, every time, I became “real” again, and took fresh courage. Since I was changed, everything was changed. As Fr. Pino said at the U.S. National Diaconia a couple of years ago, if this charism is not for you, it is not for anyone to whom you are trying to bring it. Now that I have initiated School of Community in Aberdeen, the same thing is happening. We meet on Saturdays–just in time to get me ready for celebrating the Eucharist and preaching. I always ask, “What would Fr. Giussani say about these Scripture readings?” The School of Community helps answer that question–in the flesh. So people tell me, “Father, when you preach, it is always something new, unexpected, not predictable. What is it?” I say, “It’s Communion and Liberation.” It happened again at our Beginning Day in Aberdeen on October 29th. I was exhausted, “stressed” (as they say), wondering why I took on one more thing–hosting Nick and Missy, Gary and Joi, from St. Cloud–and the folks from Huron, and trying to put together witness talks, music, a Eucharistic procession, and so on. As I spent time with the Minnesota visitors, then the Huron folks, and then my own people from Aberdeen, I knew. They brought the remembrance of the gaze that draws my heart. When Joi, Helen, and Rita gave their witnesses, I was moved by a strong affection for these people and the others in the circle. It was an affection stronger than the fact that I like them. It was Christ. Watching them visit with each other and sing, I recognized their desire–and my own. My hope was not disappointed.
Then I had the strength to celebrate Mass and preach–a strength I thought impossible a few hours earlier. This is why I follow, because Christ is for me. If He is for me, He can be for them, too.
Fr. James Zimmer, Aberdeen,
South Dakota