The shadow of the wars, starting with the Middle East, and the joy of meeting. THE‘topicality of faith. The torments and anxieties of the first similar disciples, in many ways, to today’s young people. A group of boys raises the signs with the writing “The young people of Gaza with us”. Prayer and party. The choirs for Pope Leo and the memory of Francesco with some guys who wear the t-shirt of the GMG of Lisbon Where three years ago Bergoglio had given everyone an appointment here in Rome for the Holy Year. And then, the anthem of the 2000 GMG, Jesus Christ you are my life, which makes many move when it is intoned by the symphonic orchestra of the A. Casella dell’Aquila conducted by Maestro Leonardo De Amicis. But also the 883, Lucio Dalla, Rino Gaetano, Lucio Battisti and Franco Battiato. Light music and rock notes.
It is the feast of the Italians present in Rome for the Jubilee of young people. But among the crowd there are also many British, American, Brazilian, Filippini and Portuguese boys.
A party to reflect on Peteron his compelling and tormented path of Apostle, on the call received by Jesus but also on his fear during his passion when he said he did not know the teacher and denied him three times before bursting to cry. To give him the voice is Giorgio Pasotti While Peter’s identity and life are traced through music, words and testimonies.
Like that of Don Antonio Loffredo, former parish priest of the Rione Sanità who has invested in young people and their social redemption capacity: «In Naples we say that “If little Campà without Sapé Pecché, but not if little Campà without Sapé Pecchì …”“He says to the boys,” you can live without understanding the reason for your existence, but you cannot live without knowing for those who live. We know for sure for whom…. One day we told Christ “I love you” and we committed ourselves to grazing his sheep, trying to give them a life that has the flavor of hope and the scent of infinity “.
Life is celebrated, in this sunny and colorful square. The bitter sings in the beautiful interpretation of the song That it is blessed by Fiorella Mannoia. Tells it Laura Lucchinthe mother Sammy Bassothe young 28 -year -old Biologist who has disappeared on 6 October last: «My life has always been colorful: I have always had a lot of fun with him, he was/is cheerful, sunny, positive, funny, He has always been a dispenser of joy and happiness, always, even when he was not well“, He says to the boys,” we have always spoken so much and everything, he wanted to have our point of view and our advice, always ready for the constructive confrontation, but also some clashes if he then grows. He has always loved talking to everyone, from young children, to the boys, to adults and the elderly, because he learned something from everyone and knew how to get on an equal footing. After the first moments of embarrassment in finding themselves in front of a natural person, everyone felt at ease and, after the first words, the disease disappeared. Our house has always been full of friends, our doors have always been open to everyone, another important lesson … Learn to look at people directly in the eyes to discover the beauty and the truest part inside everyone, leaving out the envelope that the soul uses for this earthly life ». Laura says she had “the great privilege of living true love, unconditional, pure and donated with open arms, without reservations: embracing Sammy and feeling in peace, welcomed and loved … Sammy and his faith lived in concrete, felt and sought after daily as a starting point of each day and testified with courage». And he greets the square with the same words that he used Sammy with his friends: “I love you.”
The other testimony is entrusted to Nicolò Govoni, writer and founder of “Still i Rise”, Humanitarian organization in the front line for the education of refugee and vulnerable children in various areas of the world: «Do you know what is the most subversive thing you can do nowadays? The strangest, most crazy, the most revolutionary? Have hope“He says to the boys,” look around. We live in a world that focuses on pessimism. On diffidence. On the division. And do you know why? Because it sells. The disillusionment sells. The company that surrounds us is thought to generate dissatisfaction, so as to make us crave what we think we miss you. We chase distraction on distraction to escape the void we feel inside. They convince us that nothing can ever really change, and therefore why try? We like to think that the problems of the world are others’s competence, that someone else will come, a superhero of any kind, to solve them, to fight our battles, to do the dirty work. Why? Because we are not good enough, strong enough, quite rich … ».
Govoni tells his personal experience with a teacher who told him he was a failed and an incapable, but then, he explains, “I met another, of prof. “I believe in you,” he told me. “You are better than that. You can do it.” His name is Nicoletta, and he changed my life forever. It is thanks to her that I found the courage to leave everything and leave for India as a volunteer. Over there, surrounded by twenty orphans, now twelve years ago, I discovered my call. Being there. Be at the forefront. Being what he feels, even when anyone else would give up. Be confident that the world can really change. Being there. Remain. Dedicate life. As a man much wiser than me said, “be the change you want to see in the world”. I was twenty years old. Today, I am thirty -two years old. I made that called my life mission. I opened schools between Greece, Syria, Kenya, Congo, Yemen and Colombia. The secret », he concludes,” It is all here: you find something that fills your heart, and dedicate life to him. This is how you will understand the most important thing: the superhero that taught you to wait, the strong and good one and capable enough to solve the problems of the world, will never come. It is already here ».
The last testimony is that which comes from the patriarch of Jerusalem, the Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballawho in a video message welcomed by a long and moved applause of the square tells the dramatic situation in the Middle East, starting with the Gaza Strip: “I was asked to say a word from the Holy Land: the first of the Apostles, San Pietro, started from here, to get to Rome, communicate the message and experience of Christ to the whole world and keep faith in the Church”, says Pizzaballa, ” complex, very difficult: LAnd they are not counted, the lack of medicines, the lack of food, hunger are not a theory, they are a concrete reality that directly affects thousands and thousands of people in an unimaginable way. Everything seems to speak of death, hatred, destruction, violence, it seems a night that never ends. Unfortunately at night, the darkness seems to really be the reference criterion for many. But it is also important to say a word of faith, to have a look of faith, a free look that does not start only with pain: The pain is and we cannot deny it and we must be there, to be inside those situations of pain, to bring comfort and consolation. So we cannot deny the evidence, but we cannot stop at pain. We need this gaze of faith that helps us to find, to see the points of light inside this endless night ».
But the Holy Land is not only a sweat of blood and death, of pain and misery but also hope, light, concrete love: «There are many people who, still today, in Gaza, Israel, throughout the Holy Land, are ready to give life for the other, to get involved, risking their lives Because in Gaza it is dangerous to go out on the street and in Israel to do something in support of Gaza is not always understood and, therefore, many misunderstandings are encountered “, he marks Pizzaballa,” there are many people who, in this incredible sea of distrust and hatred, are still able to get involved to do something for the other, because they believe in the other and do not give up this situation of “I and no one else”, This is the future of the Holy Land, you want it or not: we will all stay here, we will all have to find a way to start again and to resume. People, who give life, make the presence and consolation of god concrete and visible through their testimony, through the priests, with the sacraments, through the many volunteers of the various associations, Catholics and non -Catholics, of all faiths. Let’s not forget that the first greeting of the Risen One is “peace to you”. This risen today we see it in the many people who still believe that peace is not a mirage or just a slogan, but something concrete that can be built. All together, each in their own context, we must become operators of peace, capable of saying with the risen: peace is with you. A peace that is not only a wish, but it is life and experienced. Here it is still possible, I am sure that it is in Italy or everywhere, just want to, just believe it and get involved, like many men and women of all time and everywhere, even in the Holy Land».
Mr Rain sings Superheroi, the song where he cites Don Tonino Belino on the angels with a wing only who need others to fly.
