I Chose to Be an Altar Server
Giovanni Grossi — When I was at Assisi, at the Church of St. Francis, at the Porziuncola Convent in Santa Maria degli Angeli, I thought: I want to be an altar server, since no one else was stepping up. So I seized the moment.
A friar asked me: You're taking on the role? I said: Yes! Not now—after. First we tour the place, then I choose my group, with Don Andrea as guide. He explained beautifully the works and history of St. Francis and St. Clare. St. Francis lived in Assisi, spoke with the animals, and contemplated nature, looking down from above at the valley. You can see houses and three famous monuments we didn't get to, for lack of time. There's a green, fertile, lush valley.
Then came the moment of Mass. I went to the room to get the proper white vestment.
I put one on, and some friars told me: You can't wear that. That belongs to the priest—it's a chasuble, only the priest wears it for Mass. Put on this simpler one instead. I set down my black shirt, my jacket, and my bag with the keys, and I put on the vestment. Then I walked into the sanctuary.
I waited at the altar, standing with them, dressed in white. Then everyone arrived. Don Piero said Mass, speaking a lot. I watched him—he even stayed at our hotel at Valle Assisi to sing, and his voice sounds like Francesco Guccini's, the same voice. I sing with them. The Mass goes well. I'm sitting quietly beside them, and I'm a bit moved, because I've never done this before. Usually Angelo Patrizi or Roberto Luciani did it—they're from Fede e Luce, my true friends.
We talk, then comes the moment for intentions, for Communion. Don Piero gives out the hosts. Enrico Zampetti is talented—he'll go far, because he's determined and knows what he wants to achieve. Besides acting and playing guitar beside us and the singers, I sing too and I love it. You don't have to be a professional singer to do it among us. It's a life I've lived at Fede e Luce. We're people who live in contact with handicap and we try to be well with the young people who need us, like family and friends.
And they are welcomed in church, in a community, with other nice young people. Then the celebration ends and I can go back to being in regular clothes, no longer an altar server. I shake hands with everyone in the sign of peace. Then we play outside with the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of Mary, who are in another place. They give us food. Then we return to Rome because we have work there.
Goodbye from Giovanni Grossi
What I'm Going Through
I'm Laura, mother of Matteo, a disabled young man of 40 who has been known in the Fede e Luce community of Santa Melania for nearly 25 years. With the community, Matteo has attended many small gatherings, some summer camps, and has been loved by everyone for his affectionate and sweet nature. I'm no longer young or energetic. I'm 73, diabetic, and depressed. In 2011 I had surgery on my right leg, but the professor at the hospital made a mistake—or was drunk—and after a year I had to be operated on again. As a result, I had to ask the City of Rome to place my son in a group home. Today he's happy to be with his friends during the week, and also happy to come home to his mom on Friday nights. Since 2004, when I lost my husband, helping Matteo move forward has been hard. Until a few years ago, friends from FL were close to us, but in recent years they've all disappeared. Our community had no generational renewal over the years, so it scattered and became fractured. Work and family problems don't stop, but the communion between families has been lost. When Matteo was born, doctors gave us no hope. They said he'd remain at a vegetative level. But we parents fought against the odds, and with God's help, today we have a young man who has reached a good level of independence. He's at peace and happy to be alive. The united family reassures him, supports him, and he knows it. Everyone at the group home loves him because he helps them all. He's always joyful and has brought so much joy to his companions. After my husband's death, I founded the association "Il nostro focolare onlus" with another family, but the community always ignored our invitations to parties and events. I never knew why. When I placed Matteo in the group home, some criticized me for sending him out of my life, they said. But none of them knows what I'm going through, how much I suffer from loneliness and more. We read your magazine together, and he's happy about it. I'm sending you a photo of him—please publish it. It would make him so happy. Thank you for the beautiful magazine. Matteo will continue to send his contributions.
Laura
The Bread of Emmaus in China
Let me repeat: Jesus loved us and saved us not with an idea, but by becoming human. And He didn't come to show Himself for a moment of glory like the great ones of the earth. Jesus stayed with us until He died of love, then rose again for us. Even in becoming human, He remained God until the very end.
Whoever meets Him cannot help but be filled with enthusiasm and joy—so much so that we have to tell everyone. That's what we missionaries try to do as well. From this encounter with Him comes all our energy. This year too, I'm happy to share with you the many signs of growth at Huiling, where I've been working for several years. Beyond opening the "Emmaus Bakery," which provides work for a group of people with intellectual disabilities, we've also started a large wood-fired oven on the farm. A new center has opened that welcomes young people with disabilities in Hangzhou (near Shanghai), and we held a show at the Hangzhou Grand Theatre with more than 1,330 people in the audience. We also received recognition for a short film we sent to the "New Cinema Festival" in Gorgonzola. And we had the joy of seeing one of our former staff members ordained as a local priest! Here you really feel that faith, hope, and charity break through the "eclipse of God" and show that meeting Him transforms a life.
Fr. Fernando Cagnin, Hong Kong
We Anchor in Naples to Continue Our Journey
The three Italian regional teams met last September in Naples at the Camaldoli Hermitage of the Brigidine Sisters for their usual annual National Assembly meeting.
Along with the three teams, the Board of Directors and Lucia Casella, representing the international organization, were present.
Like a large family that gathers at least once a year for celebration—whether Christmas or Easter—the three teams came together in a spirit of joy and cheer. When a large family meets after a year, after all, it's a celebration to embrace, to greet one another, and to exchange gifts of warmth, affection, friendship, esteem, and happiness—along with those famous food gifts.
Once the greetings were over, each person began to share stories and experiences from the year that had passed, in an atmosphere of listening, dialogue, and prayer.
Like any self-respecting family, the last day was set aside to discuss programs and future projects. Among them, the go-ahead was given to organize the great celebration for the 40th anniversary of Fede e Luce Italy in 2015.
The presence of a special guest, Bishop Lucio Lemmo, enriched the Sunday gathering with his simplicity and attentive gestures toward the young people. In his words and his exhortation, we felt loved, and in particular, we felt supported and encouraged.
At the end, after the customary goodbyes, each crew climbed aboard their own boat. Loosening the moorings and hoisting their sails, they resumed their navigation to continue the wonderful adventure of messengers of joy, messengers of Fede e Luce.
Paolo Tantaro