Even in the
most religiously indifferent environments people are still senstitive to
disinterested love, they rediscover the face of God-Love and generate the
Christian community
The
beginning
It was
February 2001. I was transferred to a new parish: the church and the house were
still under construction. The priests in my region who live the spirituality of
unity had suggested a few simple points to me which I considered essential and
began to practice right away.
Since the
rectory was not yet ready, I was invited to rent an apartment. I found a small
one and during the first 20 days, I thought to do some decorating, putting
order and adding harmony. No parish member ever came to visit me, but it was
important for me to start with the unity of my fellow priests.
There were
many adverse situations – the church that was not yet functional, my transfer
that could have seemed like a demotion, a difficult situation that I was living
in that period, not having a place where I could celebrate Mass for seven
months, not even on Sundays – all things that could have made me close in on
myself. Thanks to the ideal of unity and the choice of Jesus crucified and forsaken,
this did not happen. A sentence that a priest friend had once said kept coming
back to me: “Don’t stop to analyze the situation,” Jesus forsaken has to be
loved without any self-interest, right away, stepping outside of ourselves to
love others.
The bishop in
asking me to change parish had warned me that my new assignment would be a
difficult place, with all the typical problems of the periphery: that “neighborhood
of De Vittorio” was unfortunately always written up in the newspapers.
I began to
visit the families and each day began by renewing my choice to see Jesus in
each person and to love him or her, listening without any reservations. As soon
as I entered into a home and I was invited to take a seat, I was simply there
to listen, with my mind free of prejudices, of reproaches. I also tried to
mirror this serenity in my appearance, and I refrained from looking surprised
when they at times told me ugly things.
I never
experienced such trust in my life, nor have I gotten to know such diverse and
painful family and personal situations, but also sincere ones and with a lot of
detail as one would tell old-time friends. The voice had spread and the
parishioners looked forward to my visit, since no priest had visited or blessed
their homes in over 20 years.
In the evening, coming home with my head loaded with their stories, still seeing their expressions, I bore within me their deep desire for a different life, even though their lives were impacted forever by their situations. How could I possibly think about myself?
These were
four months full of light, but also, because of other circumstances, filled
with darkness.
While in the
diocese there was fervor for the Pope’s upcoming visit, I, in my small world,
was entering into the real life problems of people, carrying in my bag the
crucifix that the bishop had given me during my good-bye from the parish I
left. He had said to me: “I am giving you this crucifix that John Paul II had
given to me” (exactly in these words!). I never took this cross out of my bag and
still carry it today. During the home visits to all the families, it helped me
to remember Him who had been forsaken in every circumstance.
October
2001: the inauguration of the church.
I asked
myself: How should I set up the pastoral program?
All my
preceding experiences did not help me in any way.
I felt as
though I was being tested, and the people, since they did not know each other,
were suspicious of one another.
This is how I
began: I welcomed each with a smile and listened to their suggestions and
requests.
Someone took
courage: “I don’t come to Mass just for Mass; anyway, it’s the same no matter
where you go. I come to listen to what you have to say; I like hearing it, it
gives me something.”
I remembered
the desire that Chiara had expressed in speaking to the seminarians’ congress:
“When will the homily become attractive again?”
In this
regard, I want to share three amusing things:
·
They listened to the homilies above all
when they took part in funerals (the only time that everyone goes to Mass);
·
I began to be liked by everyone for the
simple and clear way that I tried to speak, delivered more in a conversational
style rather than a lesson;
·
Contrary to what they were used to, they
heard only positive proposals to be more open and committed, not admonitions
and reproaches.
One
step after another, the community was born.
A
few girls began a small choir, they met and practiced, and so they
got to know each other. They soon got to liking each other and then we began to
reflect together on the Word of God. Some of them asked to have a private colloquium,
to confide their lives, to express their desire to know more, to get more
involved.
A
woman who worked in the police force: first her
mother came to the parish, then her sister. Both of them made her curious to
know what it was all about and finally, she too drew close. We had a long
conversation together, and after having spoken about how difficult it was to
bring the Gospel spirit in her job, I suggested that she read Città Nuova which in that very issue had
an article on a policeman who succeeded in changing his work environment by
drawing from the Gospel.
A few days
later, she came back struck, enthusiastic, but also disbelieving that the content of the article could be true. I
suggested to her that the secret lies in living as a body and I spoke to her of
new models of holiness in the Church today.
She also
aroused the enthusiasm of her husband, involved her daughters, some friends,
and also lived through the difficult period, giving in to discouragement but
then getting back up. Now they are adherents of the Focolare Movement and her
oldest daughter is in close contact with the focolare.
In the parish
at this point there was a group of people committed to living the Word of God
and they got together to deepen it and to exchange experiences. After two and a
half years, one evening we were in 25. We realized with surprise that no one
had known each other previously and that our meeting together was therefore
like a personal and communitarian call from God.
In order to
avoid the risk that the small group would become too connected to me, in
agreement with Fr. Domenico, a priest who was living a similar experience, we
invited our friends to discover the source of the life that was attracting
them: the focolare. Despite the distances, their participation increased as
well as their interest.
October
2004: visit to Loppiano the small city of the Movement close
to
Following this
trip, our monthly meetings of the Word of Life were always attended by more
than 60 people (including youth), up to the most recent one held in these days.
One Friday
during February, at 9:00 in the evening, surprised to see how many had come out
despite the bitter cold, one woman, without thinking about it twice said: “If
we had been in prison, we would not have come,” to say that the experience we
were living was more attractive than freedom for a prisoner.
By now certain
activities of the Focolare, like the Mariapolis and the meetings for the
adherents, are normal activities for the whole family.
And
now a few small episodes
Two years ago,
Christmas was drawing close and in making the last announcements at the end of
Mass, I said: “Today, I would like to ask you a favor: greet everyone that you
do not know and not all those that you already know.” Their was a real reaction
and a joy, a satisfaction in speaking to those beside them who they did not
have the courage to greet, to go beyond the usual formal gestures.
I then
received Christmas greetings from a man who had come to the Word of Life
meetings from the beginning.
“Dear Dante, I
am writing this brief note to you and with nostalgia, I remember the Christmas
letters that I used to put underneath Dad’s plate. There is a book of Chiara
entitled ‘When God Intervenes.’ I firmly believe that He was the one who made
us meet. You know that from the moment I began to understand what you want to
share with us, my way of acting has completely changed both in the family and
with others. Now I finally know what the goal is: to bring within me, where ever
and to whom ever, this fire that you have enkindled in me. Thank you!”
In July: A
child came back to Mass after having made his First Communion the previous
Sunday. It was very hot out and I was putting on my stole. He looked at me and
said: “Dante, what are you doing?” And I responded “I am preparing to celebrate
Mass.” And he replied: “But it’s hot, how can you put up with it, leave it
alone!” It wasn’t little respect for the liturgy, but for him, I was the
priest, and with or without the stole for him the Mass would have the same
value.
A little boy
in third grade happened to come to catechism; his parents are separated;
before, he never went to Mass, then feeling welcomed every time, he began to
bring his mother too, and finally, to my surprise, he showed up with his father
who said: “All my son ever says to me is: ‘Come to Mass so you can get to know
Dante, the priest.”
But this is
not all! The following Sunday I found him in the sacristy ready with the other
children to serve Mass (it was the first time for him). Right away he called me
and said: “Dante, today I brought Marco with me who has never been to Mass
because he always goes to play soccer. Today he came with me.”
Even a child
knows how to live the apostolate!
But
there is a secret, a source of life.
From December
2002, two other priests have come to live in the rectory: Fr. Franco, recently
appointed pastor of another parish in the city, and as our guest, Fr. Natale,
an 86-year-old priest who had lived alone for the last 50 years and having left
his pastoral duties, did not know where to go and live.
The presence
of Fr. Natale has shown that our speaking about living the Gospel and love is
something concrete and has increased the respect and esteem from everyone for
various reasons:
Our home is
open to other priests, of other nationalities, guests who are stopping by, or
seminarians from the colleges in
We have been
and continue to be witnesses to an extraordinary and surprising experience of
providence: our life in common has been going ahead for more than 3 years and a
day does not go by that a gift of food, clothing, money, or other help,
arrives… One evening, at
I will never
cease to thank God for the possibility he has given me to live together with
others in mutual love, with Jesus in our midst. The freedom, wisdom, light and
joy that we experience are priceless. Without him, everything in life is empty;
with him among us everything is fullness of life.