Since Faith and Light took its first steps, it has traveled far—not only across the world, but within the Church and within itself, gradually becoming aware of who it is and what it's called to do, discovering the fragile and precious gift it has become for our world.
For me, as Spiritual Assistant, my encounter with Faith and Light began during my seminary years at an end-of-year celebration. It was a gradual discovery. I'd been asked to welcome this rather unusual group into the seminary building. But when they arrived, something unexpected happened: I wasn't the one welcoming them. I was welcomed. Simply, without roles or labels, in the simplicity of being together. More than thirty years have passed since then, and I've never left.
I don't think it's an exaggeration to speak of the "gospel of Faith and Light." What we live in our communities is both a beautiful experience of friendship and encounter, and an experience of the gospel. And when we talk about the gospel, the issue isn't grand theories. It's simply about life.
The gospel isn't a doctrine or a theory. It's a life—the life of Jesus. At Faith and Light, we've discovered that it's possible to live it in simplicity and in the everyday rhythm of our relationships, in moments of encounter, in celebration, and in prayer.
But what is the gospel of Faith and Light? Saint Paul, writing to the Christians at Corinth, says: "Consider your calling, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God." (1 Cor 1:26–29)
These words describe perfectly what we live at Faith and Light. God's choices always run against the current. Our world chooses and prefers what deserves a pedestal—strength, beauty, competition.
But God chooses what the world calls "foolish, despised, worthless."
At Faith and Light, where there are no wise ones, no powerful ones, no nobles, we discover that every human being has great worth, always. There is no one without their own poverty, their own wounds, their own limits. Yet each person is loved and welcomed as they are, without hiding, without pretense, without shame. Each person has the right to be themselves. And it matters that each person's beauty be revealed to them.
This is the gospel—the good news of God's love for all his children. But at Faith and Light, we don't just announce this in words. We try to make it happen every time we gather, with the joy of welcoming one another and being together, allowing each person to feel truly welcomed.
In today's Church and world, everyone must find their place—especially those who are smallest and most fragile. This is why Faith and Light carries real prophetic weight. It reveals to all the face of a God who chooses the small and confounds the wisdom of this world. And within the Church, it reminds us all what lies at the heart of the gospel and how to proclaim it.
We believe—perhaps with some boldness—that Faith and Light is a sign of the gospel, and that the Spirit has entrusted it to us today as a gift and a task. We may not always live it or bear witness to it as we should. But of this prophecy we are fully aware. And with all due humility, we are also a little proud.
Father Marco Bove, National Ecclesiastical Assistant, Milan – A River of Peace