Dearest friends of Fede e Luce, I am deeply glad to meet you here in Assisi on this pilgrimage marking twenty years of your work in Italy. This pilgrimage brings back memories of another one, years ago now, when you were here as well—and I think many of you remember it. That, too, was a beautiful moment in Fede e Luce's Italian journey. Today, as we gather to celebrate two decades of your service in charity and love across our peninsula, we ask ourselves: what has composed this journey? What fruits has the Spirit brought forth in you? What gifts emerge even in a pilgrimage like this one, demanding such effort in preparation, such care, such love, such patience, such dedication?
I would like to read together with you the two passages we have just heard—from the Acts of the Apostles and the Gospel of Luke—to find there listed some of the fruits of your twenty-year journey.
I begin with those words from Acts describing the Christian community as people who had "one heart and one soul." Here is an ideal that defines your two decades: a journey of communion and fraternity. One heart and one soul among people very different from one another, people who met almost by chance, carrying such different struggles, yet able to hold their sufferings and their gifts in common, creating a great communion—a fraternity that stretches across all of Italy. A testimony to fraternity. In Italian society as it is now—lost, divided, confused in this historical moment—you stand as a point of reference. Small, yes, but important and significant.
A second mark emerges in this same passage. It says: "With great power the Apostles bore witness to the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus." With great power—and it was not easy, for everything seemed to conspire against them. Well, a second fruit you have spread across Italy in these twenty years is spiritual strength. You have approached so many people who suffered, weighed down, sometimes afraid, occasionally in despair, and you have taught them what strength of soul means: how this simple quality spreads, how it is passed on, how it is a gift from God. You have strengthened the souls of many. You have made this rare good circulate through so many families, so many situations.
A third mark I read in this passage from Acts, one that applies to your twenty-year work: "There was not a needy person among them," meaning each one knew how to help the other. You have spread through our parishes, our families, our dioceses what we might call a culture of mutual aid: each person does what they can to be useful to the other, and you are useful to one another. Once again, in a situation marked by conflict and division here in Italy, your testimony does honor to the Gospel. I, too, as an Italian bishop, wish to acknowledge it with gratitude as your important contribution to the Church's journey these past years.
There is another mark you are living out especially here in these Assisi days, described in the Gospel passage that says the Apostles "were so full of great joy that they could scarcely believe it and were amazed." The gift of the Resurrection is so great that it stirs immense joy, and you have made yourselves known in families and communities above all as sowers of joy. Precisely where it was most needed, where joy had grown scarce, where fatigue and sadness and frustration threatened to take over each day—there you have stood with great strength of soul as planters of joy. This is a fundamental Gospel value. Our communities and parishes are grateful to you for it. This is your badge of honor. See that no frustration, no weariness, no organizational difficulty, no inner or outer emotional block, dissolves this joy you are spreading through our communities—joy that is needed so desperately.
Here is the Gospel miracle you have abundantly accomplished in these twenty years. I remember the joy of that pilgrimage to Assisi years ago. I remember the joy of that international pilgrimage to Lourdes a few years back, where thousands upon thousands of people from all over the world were present. This capacity to draw joy from difficult circumstances—this is a great force, a great gift you offer not only to yourselves but to the entire Church of God.
I want to emphasize one final gift mentioned in this Gospel passage. "Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures," and he said: "Thus it is written, that the Messiah should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead." Here, perhaps, is one of the greatest gifts you are called to bring: understanding of the faith.
There are so many situations in which suffering closes a person off, blocks them, prevents them from grasping the meaning of life. Dark, difficult, sometimes despairing thoughts crowd in. Then the great gift is the opening of the mind to understanding God's plan—grasping that if Christ had to suffer and rise, then those who pass through suffering are also destined for Resurrection and Glory. This requires a heroic act of faith and hope. It is precisely this gift that I have always admired in your groups: the capacity to transform situations by offering not only familiarity, fraternity, strength of soul, and joy—but also faith and hope. An unbeatable perspective, because it is grounded in God's own promise, able to shed light even on the difficult moments of our daily journey.
How might we compare your twenty-year journey as a movement, keeping Gospel parables in mind?
To me it seems you can be compared to that tiny grain of mustard seed which, sown invisibly in the earth, grows and becomes a tree where many birds make their nests. So it is with your movement. It began modestly, in humility, in simplicity. It grew without pretense, always taking Gospel values as its point of reference rather than worldly values. And little by little it has grown into a sturdy little tree that can offer shelter and a home to many people seeking fraternity, support, comfort for themselves and their children. So I say to you as a final word: have confidence! This little tree, born from a tiny grain of mustard seed, has grown by God's power. It is small, but it bears witness to the Gospel and offers hope. Know that you carry great responsibility—not only for the young people, for the sick, for those who suffer, for families in difficulty, but for an entire society searching for life's meaning. You hold the keys to that meaning. You have been given the grace, the gift, to bring smiles even to those who are sad and weeping. For this mission of yours we invoke Saint Francis, the saint of smiles, of joy, of fraternity, of Gospel power.
We invoke the Madonna of the Angels, venerated here for centuries, venerated by Saint Francis, and we ask that Mary send her Angels upon each one of you, upon each of these young people, so that they may understand the power of their mission in this Church, in this society. May the Madonna intercede for all of you and grant you to enjoy this moment of fraternity—may it become a witness for our entire nation, for the whole Church, and for the world.
(Text not reviewed by the author)