The Most Beautiful Work
I became a subscriber to your magazine years ago—I'm not sure how. I already sent in the completed survey from the last issue, but I wanted to write and tell you how much I admire what you do. I'm retired now, but I spent 40 years teaching children with learning difficulties. I even taught special education classes—an unfair system, but such beautiful work that I still keep in touch with those kids from back then. I always say I had the most beautiful job! Your magazine speaks to me because it reflects my values. Keep up the good work.
Paola Focherini
Carpi (MO)
Thanks Again
A wonderful magazine in every way, full of memories. Reading about Roberto brought such emotion. I'm 87, and my husband passed away ten years ago. I'm sending a donation for 2008, and the rest is for the renovation of the building.
Anna Rosa Casinghini
From China
I continue to live in a shared house with a small group of people with mental disabilities. Recently, the apartment—which was in poor condition—was renovated thanks especially to help from the Caritas office of the Como diocese. A wonderful "mother" looks after the young people and me in the house. From her, I've learned how hard life is for so many people who leave their homeland and family and stay far from home just to earn a few dollars. [...]
I'm a witness to China changing at a rapid pace. Everyone here shows a strong will to work, to get things done, to earn. Canton is like an enormous construction site in constant motion. Could you imagine in Italy crews of workers building structures or paving roads late into the evening under electric lights? China's economic success comes partly from this work ethic.
But problems abound. The wide, elevated highways built recently in the city are often choked with vehicles that increase by the day. There's a sharp divide between the wealthy—about 10 percent of the population—and everyone else. You see people pushing bicycles loaded with heavy goods, or searching through trash bins for cardboard and plastic bottles to sell for a few coins. [...] Environmental awareness is unfortunately low. I see it every day in my poor neighborhood, where people throw garbage everywhere—in the streets and ditches. Many come from rural areas and have lived this way for centuries. It will take time before people understand the importance of respecting the environment the way Hong Kong does now.
I see my work with Huiling as a small contribution to helping this country grow in its care for those in need. [...] But the greatest gift we can give our Chinese friends is to help them know Jesus and his Gospel. [...] I ask for your prayers for the suffering Church of China—a Church under countless restrictions, abuse, and persecution, though the regime's propaganda claims it is free. And pray for me too, so that "God will open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ" (Col 4:2).
Fr. Mario Marazzi
PIME Canton, China
Walking Distant Roads
As a missionary in China, where religion remains under state "protection" and expressions of "faith" are censored, I try to "bear witness through my life to the joy of encountering Jesus." [...]
With this spirit, this faith and energy, I walk the distant roads of China. I meet many people who suffer from disability, yet at the same time, Christian example shows me that many work hard to improve the lives of the disabled—lessons from which I learn much. Let me give you an example. Some time ago, a young woman with a mild intellectual disability was able to marry, have a home, a job, and even a child. One day she came to visit us. The workers and the young people with disabilities were filled with joy at seeing her cheerful, delightful son—until it came time to change him. At that moment, everyone stepped back. Even the workers distanced themselves, debating who should take on this difficult task. But his mother, without hesitation, immediately cared for her child, teaching us all a lesson: "true love knows no sacrifice."
I believe that Joseph and Mary, faced with the miracle of their child's birth, forgot all the hardships they were enduring. In the same way, when we feel the power of love and the presence of "God with us," we do good without thinking of sacrifice at all, and we know a joy that cannot be contained.
Fr. Fernando
Books by Michele Ferrero
Cardinal Zen: Red Hope. Elledici Press
This year China is the world's focus as host of the Beijing Olympics. News reports and television show, once again, the tireless work ethic of this nation. For anyone wanting to know this country better—its history and traditions—an unusual perspective can be found in accounts of missionary experiences, especially in the story of the Salesians present in China over the last 100 years.
Following this historical survey, we come to the life and calling of Giuseppe Zen, a Chinese man elected cardinal by Benedict XVI in 2006. A man who, as the author shows, embodies in his person the finest qualities of his people: patience, industriousness, love of family, dedication to learning, respect for tradition—and at the same time, the gifts of the Salesian charism that meet Chinese culture: temperance, optimism, joy, a sense of Church, and union with God.
This book recounts the missionaries' adventure through curious anecdotes, but also through the persecutions, humiliations, and abuses they suffered and accepted with deep faith—especially in the early years of the totalitarian communist system established in 1949.
Religious freedom does not exist in China even today. But Cardinal Zen does not hesitate to voice his views whenever laws contradict respect for fundamental human rights. His role serves as a bridge between the Vatican and China, building dialogue.
Laura Nardini