On September 8, in the retirement home «Maria Bambina» we celebrated particular events: the Nativity of Our Lady, the feast day of our house and the feast of the sisters of Maria Bambina. Is it possible not to celebrate? Covid-19 has changed our everyday life, has hindered the carrying out of various activities and has upset many of our programmes but it has not turned off in us the desire to be together, to share the joy! We have celebrated the feast of Maria Bambina with a Holy Mass in the garden of the house, decorated for the occasion. All the precautions for safety and health protection, especially the health of our guests, were respected. Above the altar, the simulacrum of Maria Bambina was placed among compositions of fresh flowers and the necessary things to make the celebration more solemn, also because it was the first Mass celebrated for our guests and lived directly since March. Besides, we had the honour to have the bishop, Mgr Claudio Cipolla, as our celebrant.

We would like to share some reflections of the homily on the readings of the day. «Every Christian is invited to conform to the image of Jesus, in the conditions in which he finds himself, from feelings to faith, to words, to the gestures of the Lord Jesus, so that he may become the lifeblood of our lives. Conforming to the image of Jesus means relying on God the Father as Jesus did, also and especially in the moment of fragility and difficulty. Some seasons of life, such as aged life, require exactly this abandonment, this trust in God the Father, this ‘hastening’ and ‘growth’ in faith even more…». Today in prayer we ask Mary, as God’s gift for us, the gift of conforming more and more to the image of her Son Jesus.