On
the afternoon of Sunday the 3rd, more than 100,000 members of the
Neocatechumenal Way attended a Vocational
Meeting for Families in Milan, with Kiko Argüello and Carmen Hernandez, the
initiators of the Way. Under a gray north European sky, the Neocatechumenal
families are not afraid of the rain. They’ve experienced it in Madrid, in
Toronto, and in many other pilgrimages around the world, following the Pope. All
forecasts say that is going to rain, and if it has to rain, then let it rain. But
the joy on the faces of the children, tired but still smiling, encourages their
parents to face any odds.
100,000 members of the Neocatechumenal Way came to Milan from all around the world, to testify to their calling to form a Christian Family. In a time of economic crisis, why spend money on a pilgrimage? Why leave everything behind, facing the difficulties of a weekend abroad, traveling with little children – which we all know are sometimes not that easy to guide? It is the Sunday of the Holy Trinity, a week after Pentecost, and maybe it’s the work of the Holy Spirit, that gentle breeze which can be strong as a tornado when it brings everything and everyone in movement.
Buses are coming from all
European countries. Many have traveled during the night, their eyes bearing the
marks of an uncomfortable ride. Yet they are here, marching together towards
the area of the new Milan Fair, singing. In every family there are one or two children
who carry a guitar, proud to imitate their father, the cantor. Every group bears a cross and
an icon of the Virgin Mary, painted by the initiator of the Neocatechumenal
Way. On the painting, Mary is looking in the same direction as her Son, while
whispering these words, written on the canvas: “Make Christian communities like the Holy Family of Nazareth, that may
live in simplicity, humility and praise, where the other is Christ”.
During his homily on this
same Sunday morning, the Pope addressed these families with words of
encouragement that confirmed them in this mission: “Dear married couples, by means of a special gift of the Holy Spirit,
Christ gives you a share in his spousal love, making you a sign of his faithful
and all-embracing love for the Church. If you can receive this gift, renewing
your ‘yes’ each day by faith, with the strength that comes from the grace of
the sacrament, then your family will grow in God’s love according to the model
of the Holy Family of Nazareth”. In the third millennium, the New Evangelisation needs the testimony of the Christian family, especially in those countries in whichsecularisation has caused the Church and Christian values to disappear from the horizon of people’s lives. The Christian family that “grows in God’s love according to the model of the Holy Family of Nazareth” is an icon of the Church herself, making the love of God present and visible .
Kiko Argüello, the initiator of the Way together with Carmen Hernandez, rejoices at the sight of the crowd. Many are the bishops and the cardinals that want to participate in this vocational meeting; among them is the Archbishop of Pretoria William Slattery, happy to join the Neocatechumenal families that came with him: Dino and Roberta Furgione, responsibles of the Way for Southern Africa, together with their six children; and Michael and Natalie Eckard from Belhar, Cape Town, with their six children. After a liturgy of the Word, and the proclamation of the Gospel, the crowd listens attentively to the words of the Cardinal of Sydney, George Pell: “The Way is showing us that a family can’t live its faith alone, isolated, but needs to be inserted in a community of families”.
While the sky turns to dusk,
the emotion of the families grows deep and the silence is stunning. After some
words of encouragement, Kiko asks all the families who feel the call to follow
the Lord in the New Evangelisation, to stand up and confirm this calling by
coming on the stage, to receive a blessing from one of the bishops. An unbelievable crowd of 2,000
families, together with all their children, begins a procession to the stage,
some in tears, some struck by an incomprehensible joy. It is like a river,
flowing on the stage. Among them, also the South Africans Michael and Natalie
chose to give their ‘yes’ to the Lord. These young families are willing to go
in mission to the earth's remotest ends to live their faith in the midst of
today’s secularised society, announcing the good news without fear.
These families are going to
undergo a profound discernment of their vocations, and when the time is ripe –
and especially when the parents will be in communion with all of the children –
the family will sail away towards the ports of the New Evangelisation, the
mission ad gentes (‘to the nations’)
of this new millennium. The South African Delegation with Arcbishop William Slattery OFM in front of Duomo
Archbishop greeting children before leaving Milan for Ireland ( Eucharistic Congress )
Che belli!
RispondiEliminami mancate!! non vedo l'ora di vedervi!
Voglio una di quelle maglie della famiglia!!!
Un grande abbraccio!
P.S. Dino gran bel blog. Ma 1 consiglio: se si può elimina il "The Missionary" dopo il nome! diventa tutto più reale. Tanto il fatto che sia un blog per descrivere la vita con gli occhi della missione è tutto ristretto nel titolo "in mission" che è molto più lungimirante e accogliente. Un grande abbraccio,
MARCO.