Nearly thirty years ago, the parish of San Giuseppe della Pace became the first in Milan to welcome Fede e Luce. A bond with the parish community that has never been broken, yet like all long-standing relationships, has known its seasons of triumph and struggle.
The Lent season this year brought a moment of deep communion—a chance for the Fede e Luce community to entrust itself to God's love and to the care of the parishioners. Much of that grace came from the inspired pastoral creativity of the parish priest, Don Vittorio De Paoli.
The timing could not have been better. That Sunday fell within a wider parish initiative: a Franciscan mission that opened the entire neighborhood—the liturgy, the homes, the streets—to a path of conversion.
And how could we remain unmoved by the Scripture that came to us that day? "Rabbi, who sinned—this man or his parents—that he was born blind?" The disciples' question was our own. They asked the Lord to settle once and for all the question of suffering and its meaning, to lift from our hearts this weight we all carry.
What more could one ask for? A clear, radiant day—one of the rare gifts Milan offers—as if the Lord himself reached out with a tender caress to let us feel his love as a Father.
The heart of the day was the Eucharist. Members of the Fede e Luce community, representing all eleven communities from Lombardy, gathered in the front pews around the altar, alongside the children preparing for Christian initiation.
Around us, the parishioners listened with gratitude to the Word of the Lord. He tells us again today that he loves us, that the gaze he turns upon us is the gaze of a Father who cherishes us as we are—even more, perhaps, because we are fragile and limited.
Our very limitation, we seemed to discover together that Sunday, is not a flaw or absence. It is the threshold, the meeting place between ourselves and God's love. There, in our limitation, we are welcomed. There we are healed.
Words alone could not carry this truth. During the Gospel reading, young people, parents, and friends brought the story to life through mime of remarkable spiritual power. They made visible to all the encounter between the blind man and God's love.
Don Vittorio reinforced the message in his homily, calling everyone to let themselves be healed by God's love—the only power that can save us from the blindness of our own hearts.
From the prayers of the faithful through the offertory, the Fede e Luce community served the prayer of all, offering simple gestures that created communion among us. In this spirit the day unfolded: a shared meal, an afternoon of games with the young people from the parish youth center, a snack offered by our elderly friends. As the celebration drew to a close, the Esagramma orchestra offered a concert in the church—musicians of all kinds, disabled and non-disabled alike, sharing the joy of music together.
For those of us who were there—and we hope for you as well, hearing this story—it was a gift. We left with singing hearts, knowing that God tenderly sustains the steps of Fede e Luce, and places new friends along our path to meet and to love.
L.B., 2008