{"id":1697,"date":"2015-02-23T11:30:42","date_gmt":"2015-02-23T16:30:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nuntiatura.ca\/en\/?p=1697"},"modified":"2015-02-25T15:46:56","modified_gmt":"2015-02-25T20:46:56","slug":"10th-anniversary-of-the-death-of-fr-luigi-giussani","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/10th-anniversary-of-the-death-of-fr-luigi-giussani\/","title":{"rendered":"10th Anniversary of the death of Fr. Luigi Giussani"},"content":{"rendered":"

Homily of the Apostolic Nuncio, Msgr Luigi Bonazzi<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ottawa, February 20, 2015<\/p>\n

Dear brothers and sisters,<\/p>\n

If \u2013 as affirmed by the evangelist St. John \u2013 God is the Word, the Word who creates and gives life, the eternal Word that gives meaning and value to all being, I like to think that every human being, created in the image of God, is like a small word in the Word.\u00a0 By calling us into existence the Lord wishes to say in us and through us one of his words.\u00a0 A unique word, irreplaceable.<\/p>\n

That is why, on this day when we evoke the memory of the 10th<\/sup> anniversary of the birth into heaven of the Servant of God Don Luigi Giussani, there springs up spontaneously within me \u2013 and perhaps also in you \u2013 a question, a holy curiosity:\u00a0 \u201cWhat is the word, what is the message that God wanted to say with Don Giussani and that Don Giussani proclaimed by his life?\u201d<\/p>\n

Thinking upon the experience I had in my younger years \u2013 I am speaking of the years 1965-1968 – , having met some young people of Don Giussani (they were then called GS:\u00a0 Student Youth) who had come from Milan to spend their holidays in my village, I find an answer that I would like to share with you.\u00a0 It seems to me that the \u2018word\u2019 that God wanted to highlight in the life of Don Giussani can be found in the question and answer of Psalm 8:5:\u00a0 \u201cWhat is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you even care for him?<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 It is, moreover, among others, the title of one of Don Giussani\u2019s books:\u00a0 \u201cWhat is man that you care for him?\u201d<\/p>\n

Struck by the grandeur of the human person, Don Giussani had the grace to understand with all his being what St. John Paul II in his first Encyclical expresses in this way:\u00a0 \u201cIn reality, the name for that deep amazement at man\u2019s worth and dignity is the Gospel, that is to say:\u00a0 the Good News.\u00a0 It is also called Christianity<\/em>.\u201d (cf. Redemptor Hominis, no. 10<\/em>)<\/p>\n

As you know, the essence of the Christian message does not consist primarily in the commandment to love God, but in the invitation to allow oneself to be touched by His redeeming Love through Jesus, in the gift of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 It is God, in fact, who loved us first:\u00a0 the initiative is absolutely his own, totally free, infinitely merciful.\u00a0 We can only love him in return (cf. 1John 4:10; 19<\/em>).<\/p>\n

That is why Don Giussani has always said \u2013 to fully imprint it into our heart \u2013 that \u201cChristianity, before being a set of doctrines or a rule for salvation, is the event of an encounter<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 The encounter, he said, between two beggars:\u00a0 \u201cChrist, who begs for man\u2019s heart, and man\u2019s heart that begs for Christ<\/strong><\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 When this encounter happens, the two beggars become the real protagonists of history. \u00a0When the encounter fails, the light goes out and the cold spreads over the earth.<\/p>\n

We know that the citizens of heaven continue to care for and focus on the things of earth. And I wonder:\u00a0 \u201cWhat is Don Giussani doing in heaven?\u201d\u00a0 He certainly works! In particular, I think that he works to facilitate and foster here on earth, the encounter between the two beggars. This thought strengthens us and gives us confidence.\u00a0 But it also challenges us:\u00a0 what am I doing so that the two beggars, Christ and man, can meet?\u00a0 What are we doing so that the heart of Christ the beggar can meet the heart of man the beggar, thereby beginning a unique love story?<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s Gospel (cf. Mt. 9:14-15<\/em>) provides us an aid to live well the daily encounter with Jesus.\u00a0 \u201cWhy do your disciples not fast?<\/em>\u201d the disciples of St. John the Baptist ask Jesus.\u00a0 Fasting is an ascetic practice that certainly has its value.\u00a0 Many religions praise and recommend it.\u00a0 I have known people who, confronting important moments in their lives, have prepared for them by fasting.\u00a0 A friend of mine, for example, when he knew he was going to meet the Pope, fasted the day before.\u00a0 But afterwards, when he was meeting the Pope, there was joy.<\/p>\n

To the question of the disciples of the Baptist, Jesus answers:\u00a0 \u201cCan the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?<\/em>\u201d (cf. Mt. 9:15<\/em>)\u00a0 The Bridegroom, that is Jesus, the Crucified and Risen One, is always with us.\u00a0 \u201cI am with you always, until the end of the world\u201d (cf. Mt. 28:20<\/em>).\u00a0 There is no day, no moment when the bridegroom is not with us. Therefore the ordinary atmosphere in which the Christian lives is one of festivity:\u00a0 \u201cWith every morning, joy re-awakens within me<\/em>\u201d Don Giussani used to say.<\/p>\n

The Lord\u2019s presence, however, is a gift, and not a possession. His gifts are free and the liberty of the giver must be respected.\u00a0 We must attach ourselves to God, and not to the gifts of God, and that means leaving the Lord free to come to us when and how he wants, keeping ourselves open and available to the Lord\u2019s continual surprises.\u00a0 Every day the encounter with Christ is new.\u00a0 It must be new; otherwise, it is not a true encounter.\u00a0 A prayer springs up within me:\u00a0 \u201cDon Giussani, help us to embrace \u2013 as you did embrace \u2013 the Christian adventure knowing that it is something new every day!\u201d<\/p>\n

In concluding these simple thoughts, I like to recall what Don Julian Carron, the successor of Don Giussani has invited us to ask of the Lord on the occasion of the 10th<\/sup> \u00a0anniversary of the birth of Don Giussani into heaven and in preparation for the audience the Fraternity \u2018Communion and Liberation\u201d\u00a0 will soon have with Pope Francis in Rome:\u00a0 to ask for the grace to \u201cpreserve the freshness of your charism\u2026always renewing the \u2018first love\u2019\u2026always on the way, always in movement, always open to God\u2019s surprises\u201d (cf. Speech of Pope Francis to Movements, November 22, 2014<\/em>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Homily of the Apostolic Nuncio, Ottawa, February 20, 2015<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[45,22],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1697"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1697"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1697\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1704,"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1697\/revisions\/1704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}