EDITED BY PAOLA BERGAMINI
pberga@tracce.it

BEIRUT
Among the Cedars of Lebanon
Giuseppe, Isabella (with their children Giovanni and Elisabetta), and Iolanda came to help us live the first vacation of the CL community in Lebanon. After a few disconcerted moments due to what was happening, with one ear cocked to hear the news from the United States, and fear for what might occur here in the Middle East, we decided not to give up a gesture that was so important for all of us and our Lebanese friends. We had previously arrived here on February 11, 2000, and found waiting to welcome us a community of seven or eight persons, with whom friendship was born and grew, beginning with the weekly gesture of School of Community. At the beginning of August, we were joined by Robert, who is working on an AVSI agricultural project. As summer drew near, some of our Lebanese friends began to feel the desire to spend some vacation days together. Thus, twenty-five of us gathered in Hasroun, a town in the mountains of northern Lebanon, facing the Valley of the Saints. Not everyone knew each other, and it was immediately evident to us that, especially among some of them, it seemed they had nothing in common. Precisely because of this, the unity that came about among us seemed a miracle. As André said, “Even though in the beginning I did not know 90% of the people there, I had a great experience of freedom, and I found ‘good ears’ ready to listen to me.” The first evening was devoted to learning some songs of our tradition in French (Cocagnac), English, and Italian, thanks to Isabella and Giuseppe and to Thérèse and Cessine, who had prepared the song booklets with the translations in French, the language everyone in Lebanon knows. The days began with the recitation of Lauds in French, under the curious gazes of the managers of the nearby hotels. The morning of the second day was given over to games. In the afternoon, we went to visit the birthplace of St Charbel, one of Lebanon’s best-loved and most “active” saints, who lived during the 19th century in these mountains. After dinner, Iolanda told us how The Tidings Brought to Mary had touched her life from girlhood, making her understand how all the events of life make it clear that man’s limit exists so that he may recognize the Mystery, or else it is a tomb. This is a wonderful provocation for persons who have experienced sixteen years of war and have always had the strength to start over again, not ultimately determined by the drama of the events. Also in the face of the attacks in the United States, we found ourselves among surprisingly broad-minded and open people. And the risk, in the short time when we were glued to the TV to hear the news from America, of falling into a position of pessimism or cynicism for the future found no room in the companionship among us, even in Lebanon, where it would be “humanly understandable” to be without hope. Then came the day of the big field trip: we went into the Valley of the Saints, as far as the Church of Our Lady of Kannoubine, where, as Cessine told us, in the 14th century, Maronite monks, led by their patriarch, took refuge to flee from the invasions of the Mamluks first and then of the Turks. They lived here for more than 400 years, building houses, communities, and schools, and working the fertile land of the valley. The last evening, of course, included songs, skits, and Arab dances, and by acclamation, pasta at midnight masterfully prepared by Roberto! There was great wonder among us as we came together on Sunday morning for the final assembly and heard each other say: “It was the discovery of another way of living the Church, a more real way for me,” as Michel told us; or that “even though maybe I did not agree with everything we read, I saw the possibility for a comparison with my life and of concreteness toward it,” as Christiane said. Or again, “The anxiety I felt before every gesture–which was preceded by the thought, ‘Oh God, who knows what we will be able to do!’–always yielded to wonder at seeing that what happened was greater and more wonderful than what I could have imagined and was not the result of our organizational abilities,” as Paola said. Thus, we returned home with the certainty expressed by Cessine, that these seeds that have been planted will have the opportunity to grow and bloom when we return to our everyday life, at work, at school, during our School of Community, etc. In the face of what is happening in the world, it is evident once again that the only possibility is to start again from the Fact that reoccurs continually in the history of each of us, “almost” by miracle.
Emilio

VILNIUS
Like John and Andrew
Dear Fr Giussani:
I am a Lithuanian university student, and I am writing to thank you and at the same time to share my joy with you, because during this summer my life has changed completely. No, it is not my life that has changed, but I myself. Now I see things differently, I think differently, I feel differently. I was born and grew up in a family where the name of God was never mentioned. By this, I don’t mean to say that my family was a bad one; I love them very much. But I grew up with the idea that God was not there. In my childhood, this did not bother me, but later, when I began thinking about my future, looking for the meaning of life, willy-nilly the question of God came up. I wanted to believe, but I couldn’t, I didn’t know how. Last year, through my closest friend Rasa, I got to know the Movement. At first I met three Italian girls who were studying in Lithuania and lived with Rasa. As time passed, I met more and more people who took part in the Movement. I was close to them, I listened to them, I watched how they prayed, how they stayed together, how they sang. I was fascinated by this simple, natural relationship with God. I wanted to be among them, I wanted to be just like them. I was among them, but I was different: a secret weighed on my heart that I had never dared reveal to anyone, which was that I had never been baptized! I felt I was different from the others; I thought that probably I could not even be in the Church. But everything changed in one day, during the Movement vacation. I felt comfortable among the people around me. I thought that there maybe I would dare to talk to them, but I didn’t have the courage. One afternoon, we read a text about John and Andrew encountering Jesus. Many ideas were buzzing around in my head, but I didn’t say anything; I was afraid to share them with others because I would have had to confess that I wasn’t baptized. After the meeting, I was sitting in the courtyard on a bench when David, an Italian university student, came up to me. He asked me what I thought of the meeting. Since both of us had trouble expressing our thoughts and feelings in English, we called Rasa to translate for us. I confessed that I did not have the courage to speak in front of everybody, that I kept all my thoughts to myself, and when David said that I was not the only one with this problem and that he too felt the same way, everything became easier for me. I had the chance to tell what I thought to two friends, and this did not seem so frightening to me. I said that what seemed to me the most important thing about the meeting was that it told of how John and Andrew happened to encounter Jesus and were changed only because they desired it a great deal. Then David asked me very simply, “What is it like for you?” It was a very simple question, but it frightened me. So I said that for me it was very difficult to acknowledge, but that I was trying hard and I wanted it very much. I saw their eyes supporting me, and I told them what was weighing on my heart, I told them that I had not been baptized and that this made me feel bad. They were not surprised or concerned, but reassured me that I was just like everybody else and God’s house is open to all. And thus, completely spontaneously, I asked them to be my godparents at Baptism. They agreed. We decided to keep the secret until the last day of the vacation. After we told it, everyone was very happy. I saw some tears and felt great support and warmth. It was much more than what I could have expected. Then we went to Mass all together. That day in church, for the first time I felt calm and loved.
Gaila

MILAN
Living the Instant
Dearest Fr Gius:
Going through my husband’s papers, I found this note addressed to you shortly before his death, that I had never read. I want you to have it! It is difficult to talk about my and my children’s suffering in these past eight months: grief saps your strength, and at times it seems that you are no longer able to taste anything. But then, however, I come to evening, and I realize that the step has been taken, and when I wake up in the morning and say, “Lord, help me, I offer to You,” the energy is given me to live the instant, today, minute by minute, hour by hour. In this experience, everything has become more real, just as has the gesture of offering myself for you and for the Movement and for all men. I thank you for everything, for having encountered you in my life and for having told me things that now “I am forced to live.”
“Dearest Fr Gius: I am writing you just a few lines because I do not want to tire you out, but I wanted to express to you my thanks for being close to me. I have, posted in front of me, St Paul’s saying to Timothy, which you said to Fr Manuel. This suffering, mine and Nicoletta’s, is with you and is for you, Father, because you have caused to be born in me, you have revitalized in me, in us, faith in Jesus, that makes us live, that gives meaning and purpose to this story of ours, even in this suffering. My Yes, tremulous like Peter’s, is the Yes to His will, so that, as you recalled to us at Opening Day, what happens to us be God’s will. With Him everything is possible! These days are for me even days of gladness and wonder, because of the persons, our friends, who are keeping me and my family company, down to the most minute concreteness of life, the living expression of His love for me. And they are even days of joy, because I see again persons who have gone far away (do you remember Woro?) and that my illness has caused me to meet once again! Sincerely, Bobo.”
Nicoletta

A True Answer
My wife Rose and I have recently experienced miraculous spiritual renewal and our lives have taken on a new turn which we are excited about as Christians. We are Catholics and until a year ago we had never read the Bible–as Catholics we were not taught to read it in our childhood. A series of events in the last three years or so got us introduced to the Bible and the true meaning of prayer as a way of communicating with the Lord. The person who brought the Bible into our home was a member of one of the mushrooming born-again Christian sects. For a while it looked as if we were bound to cross from Catholic to born-again Christian. This was a very difficult decision for both of us, having come from strong Catholic backgrounds. Two of my sisters and their families have since been converted to born-again and they have been urging us to follow. For some reason, Rose and I felt it was not right for us to abandon a faith that had nurtured us since childhood. I am 51 years old and my wife is 40! For the past year, we have battled with this decision and asked the Lord to guide us. Yesterday, I bought a copy of Traces magazine at Christ the King Church in Kampala, and for some reason I feel that the Lord has finally sent us His answer through the Communion and Liberation Movement.
Yours truly in Christ,
Lenny, Kampala

The Fulfillment of a History
Dear Fr Giussani: Our friend Elena, from Moscow, is Orthodox and encountered the Church through Fr Men’. Then she encountered the Movement, which seemed to her to be the natural fulfillment of her experience of faith. She is in the Fraternity and in the Fraternity of Saint Joseph. A year ago she had two strokes, which have left her paralyzed. She has three children, of whom two are still living at home (one of them is an unwed mother, with a five-year-old daughter). I am transcribing for you here her testimony at Opening Day in Moscow: “For me, the words Fr Giussani said during the meeting of the Pope and the movements have become the ‘creed’ of my religious life: ‘Christ who begs for man’s heart, and man’s heart that begs for Christ.’ A year ago, I had a brain hemorrhage which left me paralyzed on my left side. Right then it became clear to me that ‘I am You who make me’ and that this ‘You’ is my friends, the companionship that enables me to understand who I am and what vocation is. Then every aspect of life becomes embraced and there is nothing that is not part of the plan–the operations, rehabilitation… all this is possible only with Christ. Otherwise, we crumble, and then we understand in our very flesh that precisely in Christ is the fulfillment of the history that had its beginning in Abraham. Elena.”
Giovanna, Moscow

Press Review
I work in the CL headquarters, and part of my job is to read the newspapers, to put together our daily press review. Here are my thoughts concerning the articles about what happened in America. Where does so much evil come from and what can man do? These are the questions that synthesize the disappointment in the face of what happened. The judgments that emerge do nothing more than reformulate these questions in a thousand ways, but no answer can be found anywhere. By contrast, the Pope said, “The human heart has depths from which schemes of unheard-of ferocity sometimes emerge, capable of destroying in a moment the normal daily life of a people. Christ's word is the only one that can give a response to the questions which trouble our spirit. Even if the forces of darkness appear to prevail, those who believe in God know that evil and death do not have the final say.” I asked myself: How is our judgment different from that of all the others? What does it mean to be Christians in the circumstances in which we are living? I believe it means to hope, which for everyone means to desire something that seems impossible, that is, that seems not to follow naturally out of current events. To whom can we tell this “impossible” desire? In whom can we hope? The ideal of goodness and justice does not change things, just as they are not changed by that “work of the soul” that Galimberti spoke of in an article a few days ago. Only a Presence greater than what we are can answer. We too are “present” in this world, but we are limited, sinners; the evil of which we are capable is evident. To affirm a presence greater than we are–that instead of destroying us because of our evil, died for our evil and is named Jesus–is, I believe, our judgment that goes against the current.
Paola, Milan

Dinner with the Bishop
Dear Traces friends: This story would be a long one to tell, but one thing we can say: something has happened in Ecuador. We repeated this to each other last night, after the day spent with the archbishop of Portoviejo, Msgr José Mario Ruiz, who left the Synod in Rome for two days in order to come visit us at our home. Some of us had been to Ecuador this summer, working in the mission of Fr Dario Maggi, our friend and fellow townsman, on the occasion of the consecration of his new parish church, designed by one of us. We had been Msgr Ruiz’s guests. He amazed and moved us, at the end of the homily during the Mass of consecration of the church, when he reminded everyone that the architect belonged to Communion and Liberation, a movement that “from today will have its headquarters in this church.” When we found out that he would be in Italy in October, we took the liberty of calling him, inviting him to come see us. This was a Monday. On Wednesday he phoned, saying, “I shall arrive in Bergamo Saturday afternoon.” During dinner he asked us about Giussani, how he was, and he gave us a gift: a liturgical vestment woven by the Indios of his land. At the final toast, our children sang some songs in Spanish: Pon tus manos en la mano del Señor and Estes es el dia del Señor, and he was very glad because, with all those children, is seemed “like at home.” The next morning, during the homily, he said: none of us is good, only God. We can only open our hearts to what He gives, gratuitously. The gratuitous gift, which we Christians usually call by the name of “grace”, is the gift of His Son. We can only ask for and welcome Jesus Christ. Only faith in Him can change us and change the world. After the Mass we had him meet with some of our AVSI friends, who are overseeing a project of long-distance adoptions in Portoviejo, and with some friends from the national health service of the province, who after meeting Dario this summer, had set about preparing a health project in collaboration with the university there. At lunch he said that he is following with great attention and satisfaction the presence of our friends within the university and the vicariate of Education, because the only possibility for renewal in their country–drained by a severe economic crisis–can arise from an educational and cultural effort. We took him to the airport loaded with gifts (many books and some chestnuts, which he loves). This morning, there was this message on the answering machine in my office: “This is Archbishop Ruiz, I wanted to thank all of you for your generous hospitality. I greet you all again, in a communion of prayer.”
Cesare and all the friends from Brignano Gera d’Adda, Italy