A River of Peace – North
Families and young people wait all year for our vacation week—and so do we volunteers. In summer 2014 we're heading to the mountains at Saint Oyen and to the seaside at Andora. Last year we had some seventeen-year-olds with us who brought exactly the breath of fresh air we'd been longing for. They had a wonderful time, but they also reflected on how we live life as a gift—and how we try to savor all the beauty it offers. Talking with these young people, I realized how much sensitivity and depth they possess. They search for what matters most, and in their time with our kids, something remarkable happened. I was especially moved by the joy and lightness my brother Ettore brought home after spending the week with them. These young people got him to laugh, joke, dance, play, swim—and the same "miracle" happened with so many others!
Faith and Light is a constant miracle because each of us in this large circle of friends can be ourselves. Where our weakness lies, there God's power shines through!
Valeria
Kimata – Center
In January we held a provincial council meeting—intense and fully engaged—which concluded with a Casetta gathering. Before that, we attended the Pope's Angelus. Francis seems to speak directly to each one of us…
"Don't you think our time is crying out for a deeper measure of fraternal sharing and love? Don't we all need more charity—not the kind that offers occasional help without real involvement or commitment, but the kind that shares burdens, that takes on the suffering of our brother or sister? What meaning does life take on when we let ourselves be flooded with God's love!"
What we do in Faith and Light is live out this "deeper measure" of charity. It isn't always easy. The suffering and struggles of our brothers and sisters can seem overwhelming. They expose our limits and our difficulty in moving beyond surface help. But these words accompanied our Center2 communities' weekend, a time set aside to elect our new coordinator—an experience itself of the deeper charity God gives us. To Enrico, who has taken Pietro's place, I wish a life lived always with passion and profound love for each person's face, that he might always be surprised, always moved to tears.
Stefano
Sea and Volcanoes – South
In 2012, the Diocese of Bari's Catechesis Office, disability section, launched an opportunity for Faith and Light and those willing to take part. They proposed that parish communities identify people ready to work in teams and deepen their formation. The project, "Educating Ourselves to Educate," offered monthly meetings on how to welcome a child with special needs into ordinary catechism classes—and everything connected to that: the importance of community, family, the role of movements serving parishes, and much more. For Faith and Light, Don Vito Palmisano spoke on the theme of Community and Family. Now we're running a more practical cycle in small groups, testing what we've learned. This opportunity confirms our path forward. It makes our sharing real and active. It widens our vision to the universality of Christ's message and our belonging to the same Body—the Church—where diversity is a gift, where fragility lived together becomes strength, where the Holy Spirit's genius guides and sustains us, where God's mercy reaches all, especially the smallest among us.
Luisa