On Wednesday 17 August 52 young people – from the dioceses of Fossano, Cuneo and Mondovì – reached the famous abbey of Montecassino on foot, after having traveled about 170 km. The journey began with Orvinio on Wednesday 10 August. The itinerary – traced and led by Don Paolino (Cuneo), Don Pucci, Don Giordy and Don Buet (Mondovì) – crossed the Lazio Apennines with its characteristic villages, its mountainous paths and fascinating places full of history and spirituality , in the footsteps of St. Benedict.
The many steps have not only been oriented towards the south, but have represented for each and for the whole group an intense journey into the depth of one’s own experience of faith, becoming a profound opportunity for growth and a bridge for new friendships. Way and life have gradually become confused, perhaps because the first offers words to tell the complexity of the second: life in fact “It’s a journey to do on foot”.
Deciding to start the journey was first of all accepting to become pilgrims, questioning oneself, that is, tracing a path step by step towards a hoped-for and dreamed destination, accepting what the journey will gradually offer. In that long journey between the start and the finish line, it soon happens that you notice everything you need to live: the motivation to walk, a backpack with the few things that matter and someone walking with you.
The first steps (often wet from the rain) were marked by the question: what am I doing here? What am I walking for? Seeking motivation was the way for everyone to come to terms with themselves and with what lives in their hearts and minds today, putting their hand to their lives. Doing this involved the effort and joy of pulling the strings, similar to the fatigue of the steps and the joy of having reached the stage and there of finding a welcoming place (a gym, a school, a monastery or a convent) and a meal. carefully prepared.
In this intertwining of effort and joy, the few things in the backpack began to become essential: a little water to share, some clean clothes, a mat on which to rest and then leave again, the faith with which you live everything. this. Reflecting and letting ourselves be surprised by what was happening, we found ourselves preceded by a Word capable of illuminating the sores of the feet, the shadow areas of one’s life, but also the deepest desires and the gestures of mutual care and generosity that began. gradually weaving.
Through that Word it was then easy to try to reorient the gaze and grasp the presence of God in a surprisingly new way, through the eyes and hands of those who walked with us: the cooks and Sponge who, like silent and generous sentinels, preceded us. and followed and – it goes without saying – each pilgrim for the other. There is no motivation, there is no project to do something good, if first there is someone who, with acts of care, encourages us to leave for that goal and during the course does not stop accompanying. We grow always and only thanks to the acts of care of others, met almost by chance and then chosen every day, at every step.
With this awareness, the growing fatigue in the legs was accompanied by an equally growing enthusiasm: songs, dances, village festivals, shared life stories and intense Eucharistic celebrations pushed the group towards the destination dreamed, desired and expected so much, that – once we arrived – it almost seemed to already know it, it almost seemed to be at home, precisely because it was inhabited by faces that from unknown and distant soon became family.
The return journey by bus was the way to let all this settle, aware that everyone has their own journey of life once they return to the province, but that together it is easier or at least more promising.
B.C
A destination to reach, a backpack and many travel companions – The Fidelity