The hidden but ever-present question on the virtual Motus Christi of Saturday, April 24 was: “Do you want to be loved? A question present above all in each of the hearts of the seventy-something young participants and which has marked the rhythm of a continuous Motus of young people and which was centered on the plea of the apostles: “Lord, teach us to pray!.
And so, guided by the words of Father Jesús Fernández, president of the Idente Missionaries, we enter into this microclimate of closeness to the Heavenly Father, in his embrace which is love, tenderness, trust, serenity, and peace. We enter, step by step, into the daring prayer that Christ teaches us, a prayer composed of seven questions, clear and direct.
Questions that symbolize fulfillment (seven is a significant number in the Bible). Love is the key to the Lord’s Prayer, the love of a Father who calls us to be children, and we really are, here and now. The Father bows down to us, comes to us so that we can say, like Peter, beyond our sins, “You know that I love you!
Only by allowing ourselves to be immersed in the atmosphere of grace that is our filiation will we be ready to say: My food is to do your will. Christ knows that we do not always respond to the demands of his will, but he taught us forgiveness, and this is enough for us.
- Jesus Fernandez concluded by saying that the Our Father is a constant invitation to conversion: the Father forgives us and asks us to forgive. And if we forgive, everything disappears? No. Slowly in prayer it begins to disappear. We are in a spiritual battle. He, the grace, transforms evil into good, gives us the strength to overcome it.
This was followed by the fascinating testimony of a young missionary, Irene Sciffoni, who grew up in Nomadelfia, a community of families living like the first Christian communities. She entered the common life in Bologna and now lives in Rome. Irene guided us in the intimacy of her search and in the discovery of a close and personal God, a God who is love that illuminates the truth that you are and transforms you, a proposal of love sculpted in you, that cannot be forgotten and for which it is worth giving everything.
The impressions that followed were very rich, in the silence of the words that entered the hearts. Christ is within us, he makes us understand something, he takes us by the hand. “I have a group inside that makes me participate week after week,” said a very faithful young Tuscan woman.
In the following reflections, the desire to be a child resonated, the difference between being and feeling as a child. To feel disturbed by the affection of a Father who loves us without reservation. “It is difficult to find someone in this world who loves us in spite of everything,” confessed another young woman.
There was also the profound sincerity of a young man from Bologna who testified to his feeling pampered by the Heavenly Father who always, he recognized, was close to him. In recent times, in particular, it has helped him in his relationship with his earthly father who, at first cold and closed, is now opening up, filling his heart.
Two young people concluded by expressing their willingness to trust Christ, to put His will before our selfishness, because He has the key to understanding how to be happy. Christ tells us, “Do not be afraid, I am here,” and He always takes us by the hand.
And so, feeling like children and brothers and sisters, we left each other, giving each other a date for next week, because as one girl wrote in the chat remembering the testimony: “Beauty comes if you persevere”.
Thank you all and to the next Motus Christi, the movement of Christ in us.
