LETTERS

Dear Editor: On September 26th, the TV news reported the story of Vincent, the tetraplegic, blind, and deaf young man in France, who died from an injection of tranquilizers administered by his mother. “You gave me life, now help me die,” he had said to her. On the wave of emotion aroused by this event, French public opinion is now asking the European Union to move to legalize euthanasia, as is already the case in Holland and Belgium. What struck me is not so much this foreseeable development. We all live in a mentality that does not readily accept disability and suffering and would only like it to end. What really impressed me about the statement was the certainty with which the origin of life was indicated: the mother, she alone. Who knows if today, as Christians, we are not being called to rediscover and witness to the fact that life has a higher and more mysterious origin, and that it is therefore wrong to think it is all determined by immanence, even when its concrete conditions are dramatic, as in this case and many others.
Laura, Milan

Every time this year when I have visited the place where Fr Virgilio is buried, at the foot of the Serra da Piedade in Belo Horizonte, the question that I carry within me ever since his death wells up powerfully. It is the question about being and nothingness. Are we perhaps sliding towards nothingness? The encounter with Fr Virgilio was the encounter with manifestation; it was the embrace of being as love, as relationship. Friendship with him was not just mutual comfort or immediate harmony; in the relationship with him, recognition of the Mystery was easier, evident. Something greater than he or I passed through this relationship: the Mystery of Christ, whose embrace we had answered with a “Yes” in the impact with the charism. Because of this greater Presence that was the reason for our friendship, death does not interrupt this relationship, it does not win, because this Presence that vanquishes death and nothingness already lives among us. The relationship continues in the surrender–full of confidence–to the good design of the Mystery made flesh. “Whether I stay or go, everything is for Christ, for the glory of Christ,” he wrote to me when he discovered his illness. Thanks to this offering, a people was born, that continues to live and grow. The Virgilio Resi Foundation is a sign of the fecundity of the “Yes” said to Christ, that in this way reaches people of every sort, even those farthest away, in one sole embrace.
Archbishop Filippo Santoro, Rio de Janeiro

Dearest Fr Giussani: Our daughter will be married in a few days. It will be a civil ceremony; her fiancé is divorced, and in any case she moved away from the practice of religion several years ago. You sent us these three messages: “Don’t be scandalized; respect her freedom because God gives it to her; pray to Our Lady.” This has helped us enormously; it has expanded our hearts. Even in the effort to accept this fact that we would never have wanted, we are finding great help in prayer to Our Lady. We have asked everyone who knows and loves our daughter to pray, and we feel truly sustained by a friendship that is not just form. We do not have much to say. We are at Our Lady’s feet. To her we have entrusted the new couple. We ask her to give us the hope that the glory of Christ may be manifested also in this fact. We trust also in a little prayer from you, and we hug you with enormous gratitude.
Two readers

Dearest Fr Giussani: After the meeting with you yesterday in the CL headquarters, your question about our work keeps coming back to my mind, “How can you come up with everything you do in Traces?” Since you repeated the question a second time, despite my attempted answer, or rather non-answer, I kept thinking about it. In effect, it is truly a miracle that with our limited strength we manage to do everything. Today, your “Letter to the Fraternity” fell into my hands again, and the answer came to me: it is Being that makes it possible. Thus, your question in that brief meeting was for me the entreaty for that recognition of which you speak in the Letter: Being who asks to be recognized; Being, in flesh and blood, who asks to be recognized. Without this recognition, it is as though work remained in nothingness–and me too with it–even though it might produce great results. Your recommendation of devotion to Mary–moved by the Infinite (like me!)–is already the prayer for that simplicity of heart with which to recognize His presence. It is true that nothing ever happens by chance. Thanks for stopping by the office! Hoping for many meetings like this one…
Davide, Milan

This is a letter from a friend to Mike Eppler:
It was good to see you and it was exactly what I needed. Kate said it perfectly in her testimony: “We share a common desire.” I needed to be with the people who share the same desire for Him that I have. It all started to make sense when she said that, about a common desire. That was what I was (and still am) missing with my friends here. And I couldn’t figure out what it was by myself; I needed Kate to tell me. But that was where I think I was struggling with understanding belonging and community. It’s not just about being a part of something, it’s about sharing in Something that is greater. And while things with my friends here at school haven’t changed, I certainly feel better about everything. I realized that the more I stressed out about my problems and my struggles, the less I allowed myself to be open, and the less I recognized Him in the people around me. I failed to see the Infinite, and only saw their shortcomings. So, I’ll wait for freedom. I beg for patience, and mercy, and I wait on them. In their freedom, they’ll listen to this proposal and I can share with them this Man that I met. And until then, I’ll come home as often as possible, and stay close to those with whom I do share the desire for Him.

Dearest Friends: A friend of mine wrote me an e-mail that made me really depressed. It said, “Don’t walk behind me, I might not lead. Don’t walk in front of me, I might not follow. Don’t walk beside me. Just leave me alone.” I wrote him back and said, “I will always walk beside you, if you want to walk with me.” But how can I not be crushed knowing a friend who has never been loved? Thinking of this makes me want to die. And this is why I want to start a CLU [CL University Students]. Not because I have an answer for him, because I don’t know anything. But he was aware that you loved me. He noticed this, and said, “You are loved by Veronica.” And in return, I love you, Veronica, but I also love all the science guys–in the same way and for the same reason, and whether or not they accept it. I need to affirm to my friends that this is the reason why I love them, because there is something else present. But everyday I forget this; every hour I forget this. Throughout my life I have had many great friendships, but I moved often and the friendships, in a way, broke. I need to see that friendship and love are not ephemeral, because if they are, I stand with my friend who wrote me the e-mail. Instead, friendship and love are eternal because they are sustained by an eternal principle, THE principle which is my origin. I want a CLU here, not only to remind me, but also so I can learn more from this presence.

We have got together, small and great, so that the instant of living be truly ours for ever. The capacity to be together, as one, is the greatest prospect for our life: the eternal capacity. We have got together so that the form that we give to what we do may be truly useful, beautiful, and sure. This is why our unity is divine–that is to say, with Christ. May our Lady protect you as she protected Jesus. This morning, as I was writing these few lines to our community in Puglia, which is celebrating thirty years of life, it struck me that they express succinctly, but passionately, what the whole movement of Communion and Liberation has learned from the magisterium and missionary energy of John Paul II. May the faithful wonder that fills everyone’s heart become a communal prayer to Our Lady that the teaching of such a great pontiff might determine the whole expression of our daily life: at home, at work, and before the whole world. In humble entreaty, I ask a fatherly blessing for everyone.
Fr Luigi Giussani

ost Reverend Monsignor: On the occasion of your 81st birthday, it is my heartfelt desire to join with all those who are sending you their best wishes on this occasion. I shall remember you today during the Holy Mass, asking the Lord and the Blessed Virgin Mary to continue to fill you with their abundant gifts and to make it possible for you to see the immense fruits of good that the Holy Spirit has generated through you. As always, yours most devotedly in the Lord,
Bishop Paolo Romeo

Dearest Fr Giussani: Happy birthday! While we, with the John Paul II Foundation for the Sahel, are trying to arrest the advance of the desert in the sub-Saharan region, you with your friends (and the help of the Holy Spirit) are managing not only to arrest the advance of nothingness in the world, but also to build real oases of humanity! May your beneficent witness of lived charity continue to bring forth sprouts in the Church for many years. Thanking you for your thoughtful closeness to us, I repeat my affectionate good wishes for this 81st birthday.
Bishop Paul Josef Cordes President of the “Cor Unum” Pontifical Council

Dearest Monsignor: As I send you my heartiest good wishes for your birthday, I wish to assure you that I shall remember you today in a special way in my prayers, that Our Lady, “the living fountain of hope,” may continue to accompany you with the tenderness of a Mother. Thank you for the note you sent me by way of Professor Jesus Carrascosa. Your words touched me deeply.
Yours in Christ, Archbishop Stanislaw Rylko President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity

Dearest Fr Giussani: The joy of knowing that you are still with us, in order to introduce us discreetly and wisely into the Mystery that came among us by Mary’s obedience to the Father, fills us with tenderness and affection for the gift of your life and your friendship. The journey towards holiness with you as “friend and guide” becomes ever more desirable and fills with faces and names the company of the Saints to whom the Lord entrusts us. Along with the Holy Father, you are for each of us the most shining proof of the Father’s mercy, the “sweet Presence” of Christ.
With deepest gratitude and friendship, H.E. Giuliano Frigeni Bishop of Parintins (Amazonia)

Dear Fr Giussani: Your birthday is drawing near. As for all of us, that day brings us even closer to the moment when we shall be able to contemplate “face to face” the Face that determines our being and our daily actions. I remembered you to the Lord and raised special thanks to Him for the gifts of the Spirit that He has given you so abundantly and that you have known how to place constantly at the service of the Church. In these days, what the Holy Father said to us, among other things, on the thirtieth anniversary of the Movement, September 29, 1984, resonates in me in a special way: “We believe in Christ who died and rose again, in Christ present here and now, who alone can change and does change, by transforming them, man and the world.” This faith, that has brought us so close to the life of the Holy Father through the charism that the Lord has given us, has trained us, by sequela, to a real love for the Church and an operativeness aimed at making it possible for everyone to encounter Christ in every situation. Thank you, Fr Giussani, for everything that you are to us and for everything you have taught us.
Msgr Gianni Danzi General Secretary of the Governatorate of Vatican City

Dearest Fr Giussani: The Caritas workers of the Diocese of the Transfiguration wish you a happy birthday. In accordance with Christ’s testament He gave to the Apostles, you have dedicated your life to the unity of all men in Christ and thus also to the unity of the Christian churches, because this unity is glory to God. Thank you for your testimony of faith, which illuminates the hearts of people in the whole world. We pray to the Savior to give you good health and a strong heart.
Yours in Christ,

Dearest Fr Giussani: We are deeply moved today as, in remembrance of your birthday, our chapel resounds with the joyousness of the drums, celebrating the Holy Mass for you, your life, and the life of the whole Movement. In the heart of this Africa that suffers unspeakable pain and a tragedy that seems to have no end, the remembrance of the one who educated us to hope and to living in the Presence expands our hearts to horizons of mercy and peace. My entire community was happy to hear my account of the episodes that have marked my life in the encounter with you… my youth in Uganda at your urging, entering the Trappist monastery in Vitorchiano, the return to Africa, here in Mvanda as a missionary nun… the Communion of Saints has always comforted and borne me. Today, more than ever, I feel myself to be a “daughter” of this Church that witnessed my birth and nurtured me. Thank you for the support you give with your indomitable witness and the strength of your prayer. From the heart of darkest Africa, praise is lifted also for you and those who share the same charism with you. May your blessing be on this group of women tenaciously rooted in the Cistercian tradition and the whole Church and may it bring forth fruits of holy and lasting Congolese vocations… in the tenderness of Mary our Mother. We embrace you.
AnnaChiara and the Trappistine sisters of Notre Dame de Mvanda-Kikwit (Congo)

Pascoli, like you, came upon, by surprise, the Milky Way forming a bridge over the sea. What in him is the brilliant insight of an instant, in you has become a normal gaze on being: true poetry is virginity. Thank you, Fr Giussani, for letting us take part in this humanity. Best wishes!
Mariella, Debora, Jennifer, Valentina, Raffaella, Angela, Paola, Elena, Federica, Silvia, Brenda, Julie, Emanuela, Letizia, Tina, Manuela, and Claudia of the Memores Domini house on Via Spano in Florence

The first condition that the truth and beauty of what we are saying and the lovingness of life that is propelled from the heart all the way to the farthest horizon demand be respected is unity, that unity among us in which authority is affirmed… the unity with those who guide us. ” This is what you said to us in September [Traces vol. 5, no. 9, (October), page one], and this is why we are giving you a tandem, You, or On Friendship, in which the unity with the one who guides is evident, just as the unity you have with us is evident. Thank you, and happy birthday to you, champion and conqueror of the world, because, first and foremost, conqueror of our hearts.
A hug, CLU [CL University Students]of the medical school in Milan

Dearest Fr Giussani: We thank God for the gift that you are in our life. Just as through Our Lady, so also thanks to you, we experience a familiarity with the Mystery that seemed impossible. Because of your witness, you are present here in Washington, DC. Filled with affection and gratitude, we send you best wishes on your birthday. We pray for you.
Lorenzo, Andrea, Tobias, Mark, Dino, Patricia, and Francesco Washington, DC

Dearest Fr Giussani: All the friends at the International Center are thinking of you on your birthday, grateful to be working in this “house” at your service and that of the Movement in order to live and communicate to the Church and the world the beauty of our history and our friendship. Therefore, today we are praying especially for you, for your health and responsibility. A big hug,
Carras, Jone, Fr Andrea, Riccardo, Marta, Carmela, Alberto, Gabriela, and Sara at the CL International Center, Rome

Dear Fr Giussani: Greetings to you in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. I write, on behalf of the entire CLU-Nigeria, to wish you a very happy birthday. Your life has been a great encounter, not only for me but for all my friends in the companionship, most of whom are writing their exams during this period. This is so because your gaze on reality is so intense and all-encompassing that it touches what is human in us. Our companionship educates us that reality, though sometimes “not clear,”is always beautiful and corresponds to the desires of our hearts. This affirmation of reality helps me to go on in the face of the difficult challenges I face everyday and to seek for a total meaning in the things that happen. I thank you for this charism which has been given to us through you, and pray to our Blessed Lady to give you the grace to generate real men whose lives are not a “passive reaction” but an “active response” to “Another” who asks us to acknowledge Him in all things.
Once again, tanti auguri a te!

Dearest Father Giussani: A blessed birthday greeting for your heart and a remembrance for your lovely parents who gave you life with the Mystery of their love. I desire want to profoundly thank God for the gift of your life and the life you bring to me with Christ through the gift of your charism. Recently, a friend of mine said, “God sent an arrow from Italy to pierce your heart with love through the charism of Father Giussani....” He went on to say, “God has tried to get your attention for years in countless ways and the only way it could really happen for you is this dramatic call through the charism.” This is true, and I desire to express my gratitude for your “Yes.” I love your reflection about the co-extension of the Being through the “Yes” of Mary, and I can taste and experience the co-extension of the Being through your “Yes.” Happy Birthday!
Father Jerry
Rochester, Minnesota