On the one hand, children and young people anxious to begin the new time of summer. On the other, parents, infinitely relieved by knowing that at least for the first few weeks of the long Italian summer they will not be alone in facing the problem of problems: get by until mid-September. The Catholic Church’s summer proposals for children and teenagers begin today in many dioceses, relieving thousands of families from the main worry of the season: when school is over, who are the children with?
The target is mid-September, but in between there are three months, more than 100 days. And if some territories are trying to ground the “School open in summer” project, promoted by the Ministry of Education and Merit, or other initiatives such as the early opening on August 31st for primary schools in Emilia Romagna, today too many mothers and fathers are still struggling with impossible balances and blankets that are too shortbetween alternating holidays, support from grandparents (if present, if healthy, if, if and if…) and paid campus.
For this reason, whether they are called Grest or summer oratories, in summer the open doors of the Christian community are always a godsend. For those who constantly attend the parish as well as for those who only come there in June and July. For those who could not afford other solutions and for those who choose it as a value proposition.
Widespread throughout the area, at a cost incomparable to other private solutions and, above all, with a load of “good experience” that is priceless, Grest are a lifeline. Better yet, they are a boat with which to learn to sail when school is closed. Because the summer oratory is nourished by friendship, sharing and the Spirit. It is a training ground for life, relationships and coexistence.
Of course not everything is perfect, but the beauty of the experience also lies in trying together. How nice, even for the little ones, to see that many very young animators give away their free time to play with them. How nice to see the don and the catechists getting involved with walks and chores. Perhaps the magic of the summer oratory lies precisely in the gratuitous happiness of fraternity. And if colored t-shirts, group dances and ice lollies are the small-big joys of every day for children, for mothers and fathers there is no greater joy than meeting their tired and dirty children in the evening, but already ready to start playing again the next day. An ode – we imagine – rises from their hearts:
Blessed be you, summer oratory,
who saves families and keeps them alive,
Guardian of children from morning to night,
between games and true prayer…
