Like cool water to the thirsty...
...so it is when good news arrives from a distant land.
This English phrase hangs in the central post office in Hong Kong. Carved into a wooden board, it was placed there in the old postal building, when letters took weeks to reach their destination. Things have changed now. Still, I hope this letter to my Italian friends arrives like cool water—carrying a message of joy and hope. It may be the last circular I send. Nothing surprising in that. Jean Vanier wrote recently to his friends: "This is the cycle of life. We are made to grow, but also to weaken and then to die." (...)
Not long after becoming a priest, I arrived in Hong Kong. It was as if my family, my parish of origin, the PIME seminary where I was trained, had entrusted me to the Catholics of Hong Kong, saying: "Now it's your turn to take care of Fr. Mario." (...) I thank them for welcoming me, helping and supporting me in so many ways. And when seven years ago I began working in mainland China, that friendship extended to the mentally disabled and the staff of Huiling, to the Christians—priests and sisters—of the Church in Guangzhou, and many others. (...)
I especially want to thank the people of Mandello (and those who may wish to contribute further) for completing improvements to Huiling's integrated kindergarten, which was already off to a good start thanks to concrete help from the Sandro Pertini school at Christmas 2009. Some may wonder: why send money to China, now the world's second-largest economy? The answer is simple. Not everyone shares equally in the nation's growing prosperity. Vast numbers still live on society's margins. And so nonprofits like ours don't receive regular state funding. Huiling balances its budget through modest tuition from families, distance sponsorships, and contributions from organizations and individuals. (...)
Since I've been living in the interior of China, I have more time and can stay in touch with many people by email. When someone sends me a message, I reply. Writing a short letter in Chinese on a computer isn't that difficult. Now that I no longer work in a traditional parish, my correspondents have become, in a sense, a "virtual parish." (...)
I often think of the struggles priests face in Italy—the challenge of a society grown sick, one that has lost its taste for the Gospel. My work here consists of small things: living with a group of disabled people and trying to offer them some affection, providing care and rehabilitation, greeting and smiling at the people I meet each day. Small things that I try to do with love, trusting that "God needs small people, with all their flaws and failings, to bring peace."
Pope Benedict XVI asks all brothers and sisters of faith scattered throughout the world to pray for Chinese Christians. I believe those of us present in China are called to do something more. Intercession does not simply mean "to pray for someone" as we usually think. It means "to step in between," to place ourselves alongside someone, to walk together. To let Chinese Christians feel our friendship and solidarity, to stand with them in joy and sorrow, to offer our encouragement and help where we can: this is our small contribution to a Church that welcomes us and of which we are honored to be part.
Best wishes for your precious service. With affection,
Fr. Mario Marazzi
(PIME, Guangzhou)
Destination Lourdes
For members of Faith and Light, 2011 marks an important year. Every ten years since the movement's birth at Lourdes in 1971, we celebrate the milestones of our journey. The new territorial reorganization, with the creation of Provinces, led our Province of Seas and Volcanoes to choose a pilgrimage to Paola. This meant abandoning the plan for an international gathering at Lourdes—a disappointment to all the communities. The wait had stretched ten years. Lourdes holds a special power over all who have already knelt at the grotto. The longing to return, to live that moment of shared faith—it had been a dream.
Then Fr. Vincenzo Aloisi, spiritual guide of the New Sprout community in Mazara del Vallo, proposed that we organize a pilgrimage to Lourdes for the Faith and Light communities in the Diocese of Mazara del Vallo: Rainbow, Seed of Hope, and New Sprout. Hope flared back to life. After many obstacles and complications, on September 12 we boarded a chartered plane. Destination: Lourdes.
One hundred seventy-nine people from our communities departed, along with others from the parishes where these communities are rooted.
Organizing the pilgrimage was not easy. Yet we never lost confidence, knowing that our Heavenly Mother would grant the wish of her children who longed to visit her at the place of her appearance to Bernadette—a place of profound meaning for us.
Two hours later, four buses waited in Lourdes. One hundred forty-four people were taken to the Citè Saint Pierre, a Caritas Internationalis facility for pilgrims; others went to a hotel near the sanctuary.
The next morning, we stood before the grotto of Massabielle, where the Virgin seemed to wait with her maternal, reassuring gaze. A timid sun accompanied us throughout our three days in Lourdes.
In such a crowded place, our Faith and Light group was easy to spot. Everyone wore a white cap—a landmark for anyone who might lose the way—and carried colored flags marking membership in smaller groups.
To move about more easily, we divided the pilgrims into groups of thirty, each with its own colored flag.
Our stay unfolded in the rhythm and spirit of our community camps—moments of deep intensity. The program included participation in the sanctuary's various services: the International Mass, the candlelit procession, the Stations of the Cross, the penitential liturgy followed the next day by immersion in the healing pools, time for sharing, evening vigil, and—not to be forgotten—celebration and joy!
The pilgrimage carried the theme chosen for all of 2011 at Lourdes: "Making the Sign of the Cross with Bernadette." Like every other pilgrim group, our Faith and Light communities left their mark, planting a cross on the Esplanade behind the Coronation statue—a cross bearing the symbols of our communities.
Pilgrims met at the Citè Saint Pierre, whose facilities provided space for prayer and silence.
Standing in silence at the grotto, each of us had time to reflect on what had drawn us here: the desire to reread our lives in light of the Gospel, to meet the Lord in the Sacraments of Confession and Eucharist, to pray to the Immaculate Virgin at the Grotto of Apparitions—entrusting to her our struggles, our sorrows, our petitions for grace on behalf of those present and all who had asked us to remember them.
We lived those sacred days in the company of Saint Bernadette, who made Jesus the center of her life—her only teacher and friend, her only joy, treasure, and destiny.
To have lived the spirituality of Faith and Light in those holy places left an indelible mark on each pilgrim's personal history. The emotions of following in Saint Bernadette's footsteps, of seeking the origins of our movement—these will remain forever.
Alda Mangiapane, 2011
