“TRAVERSE LIFE”
“Traverse Life” is the title of the popular mission on the Word of God experienced by the animators of the In the Footsteps of Paul team of the Pauline Family with 16 young people from different areas of Italy in Guardia Piemontese, in the province of Cosenza, from 18 to 25 August 2024.
The first part of the week was characterized by moments of reflection, prayer and training. Retracing some episodes of the life of Saint Paul we asked ourselves how to go through the moments of our life, especially the most difficult ones and what sense-direction we want to give to our journey.
Through various activities and listening to some testimonies we questioned ourselves on what it means to be missionaries.
Recomposing a puzzle with the face of Jesus, we remembered that, as Pope Francis says, "Each of us is a mission in the world, because it is the fruit of God's love. Those who love set themselves in motion, are pushed out of themselves, are attracted and attract, give themselves to others and weave relationships that generate life".
And starting from this awareness in the second part of the week we animated various moments of adoration, sharing of the Gospel, activities and games for children, young people and adults. "The Lord lights the light bulbs forward as we walk... he does not waste the light... but always gives light at the right time". (Blessed J. Alberione)
sr Irene Tollini, sjbp
The words of some young people express well how the experience has illuminated their path:
"Is it possible that by going out to meet others, running from one side of the city to the other, keeping a very busy schedule, is it possible that by doing all this one finds oneself?
I can't help but ask myself this question since, having returned from the mission, what I have left most are not the after-effects of tiredness but the serenity in my heart. I return home full of faces, stories, sometimes very personal, of the people we met, people who perhaps wanted in their hearts to be met by someone, wanted to open the drawer of their memories, their fears, their wounds, and in the face of this extreme act of trust, one cannot remain indifferent. We listened, sometimes without adding other words. And these encounters did not take away our energy, on the contrary, they filled us with joy and peace. We do not know and will never know what the effect of our presence there will be, it would be presumptuous to pretend to know. Humbly we put ourselves at the service of God, for a few days we were instruments in His hands. We sowed and by opening our arms to others, we let God enter even more into us. We met our neighbors but we also met God and who knows, maybe our neighbors also met God". (Cecilia)
"The Popular Mission was the place where I was able to rediscover some aspects of my spiritual life, but also where new horizons and reflections opened up, thanks to my missionary companions and the animators of the Pauline Family. There were many questions within me, especially about my life perspective and my vocation, to which the meditations gave me the opportunity not to give answers, but rather to understand in which direction to orient my life in order to identify that "place where I am happy with God". All this represents, in my opinion, the basis for being able to reach out to others and bear witness to what one really perceives, such as God's love for one's life, so as to sow the seed so that it can also bear fruit in the lives of others. Taking part in the Mission therefore meant a real conversion for me, thanks to which I was able to experience, together with my companions, the courage of faith and be a little more of a witness of what touched and transformed my life". (Claudia)
«I started with a phrase by Chiara Lubich that resonated in me: “Have a big heart that loves everyone". The days of mission were privileged days in which I could start and end the day by encountering the Word of the day, not alone, but with other young people like me. They were days in which I experienced that the Word runs where it wants and that I can lend it my timid voice to make it go faster. Above all, I truly saw that treasure that the Lord continues to entrust to me every day. That Church that I want to love and serve was there, it surrounded me, and it inexplicably needed me. It was not only in the Eucharistic Celebration, in the Word, in Adoration but especially there in the people I met and by whom I let myself be met. The Lord seemed to say to me: “Do you want to serve and love the Church? That is who the Church is. Those people, stories and desires. You will serve and love Me in them.” I bring home many new brothers and sisters who, between a walk by the sea or in the silence of the night, have told me part of their lives, their dreams and their efforts. I return with this great baggage to continually entrust to the Lord! A baggage that will keep me united with them even now that each one is in their own home on the other side of Italy. So that phrase that resonated in me has taken on a special meaning. Having that big heart means meeting and serving those brothers that the Lord places next to me, discovering that it is there that he is waiting for me and there he will teach me to love". (Lucia)
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