I was invited to a summer camp in Marzocca in 1994. At that point, I had no real sense of what Fede e Luce was. I went because my spiritual director thought I needed to take a leap forward in my faith. I came from GiFra, where everyone is young and mostly interested in having fun, so you can imagine my frame of mind when I arrived at that camp! The first person I met was a boy from my community—someone with severe disabilities.
My first instinct was to turn around and leave. I couldn't imagine surviving ten whole days in that place. I told people I'd already made other plans, that this would just be a quick visit. That was more than two decades ago. Now, I can hardly believe I almost walked away. I met Chiara, who became my wife, because of Fede e Luce. It has become woven into the fabric of our marriage and our family life.
Our children, young as they are, look forward to our Sunday gatherings with real joy. For them, it feels like home. The weeks can be exhausting, but Sunday with the community feels like grace—something that restores us from the weight of routine. My wife and I experience these gatherings differently, shaped as we are by our different temperaments, yet each time we're moved in unexpected ways. A glance, a smile touches our hearts, and we're reminded how fortunate we were the day we received that invitation to become part of this large and tender family.
We experienced this again recently when the new communities in Terni and Santa Maria degli Angeli gathered for our first Spring Festival—an Umbrian celebration that brought together people who have lived Fede e Luce for more than twenty years and those just beginning to discover this strange and colorful family. It was moving to share our stories and to recover that enthusiasm and energy that sustained us in our early years—the kind we often forget we carry.
Francesco, Community Coordinator, Il Cammino, and Chiara, 2016