Help Us Search
We are the parents of Arnaldo, a young man who has faced challenges since birth. We currently live in Carrara (Ms.), where we have bought and fully renovated a small house with a garden and comfortable spaces for Arnaldo. Our son—now 27—has been attending the Carrara Center of PA.N.F.F.A.S. for about nine years. Before that, he lived at the "Angelo Custode" Institute near Bergamo.
When we moved ten years ago from Monza to Carrara, we thought we were securing a good future for our son. Unfortunately, the reality here has disappointed us. We feel more isolated than ever, especially since everyone close to us still lives in Monza.
We would like to contact either a Family Home or a Small Cooperative, or something similar—a place where we can turn for help and, in case of emergency, ensure our son's future. We do not wish to abandon Arnaldo in any way. We simply want to put his situation on legal footing. If necessary, we would be willing to move for a trial period. It is clear that everything we own belongs to Arnaldo and therefore to those who will care for him in the future. We hope to remain at his side for many years to come, as we still have our strength. This step we wish to take is only prudent.
We should add that we would like the search to be conducted in northern Italy, ideally in the area between Milan, Varese, Bergamo, and Como.
We wish Ombre e Luci continued and growing readership. Your magazine gives hope to all of us struggling to escape isolation. Thank you for the work you do.
Federico Celati and Franca Soldati
My Calling
I am grateful to receive Ombre e Luci because it makes me feel part of the Faith and Light community even here in the monastery. In fact, I feel more connected to you now because it is the Lord who unites us. The Lord draws to himself those he wishes and chooses in the most unexpected and wonderful ways.
This has been true for me. I can say with certainty that my vocation began in Faith and Light. I discovered the community when I was still small, and there I had my first real encounter with the Lord Jesus. Over the years, he showed me his presence in suffering people: the richness of the poor, of the little ones, their extraordinary capacity to love, to give their friendship without holding anything back, their ability to welcome both plenty and want and to find joy in the simplest and most ordinary things. I also came to understand the great gift of community—the gift of sharing.
I remember being struck, again and again, at prayer gatherings by how the "young people," in their simplicity, always grasped what was essential.
The strongest moment for me came when we gathered after the celebration to take part together in the Eucharist. Each of us presented ourselves to the Lord, offering him our misery.
As I grew older, my desire deepened to give my life in service to my brothers and sisters—people wounded in body, but even more in heart, from feeling unloved and unwelcome.
Over time I heard the Lord's voice with increasing clarity, inviting me to follow him in the footsteps of Saint Clare. It was the little ones, the poor, who led me to Jesus.
… A life returned to the Lord so that he might empty my heart further, make it poorer, and therefore always more capable of welcoming and embracing all the suffering of the world and of the human heart; a life given to strengthen the weak and faltering members of the Body of Christ that is the Church. With affection, Sr. Chiara Maria di Gesù povero e crocifisso, Poor Clare Sisters, Monastery of Saint Lucy, Via S. Lucia, 5 - 06034 Foligno (PG)
Thank you for your letter; your words will comfort all who read them. We are certain, above all, that the offering of your life to the Lord will bear rich fruit—especially for those parents who live in anguish over the future of their severely handicapped child.