Argentina: Villa Giardino
We, the juniors, during the period of our intense month of formation, along with Sr. Carla Zaghen, had a pilgrimage to Rome to participate in the vigil with pope Francis. We prepared our backpack carrying what is needed for five days and we set off from Iseo to Rome. As soon as we left, we had a pleasant surprise: the bishop of Brescia made himself our travelling companion along with five priests and more than sixty young people of the diocese.
As the days passed we realized that the essential thing was not just what we carried in our backpacks to survive, but there were also our dreams, questions, the faith and our limitations, the doubts, the gifts, the shared life. During the journey, God manifested himself to us in prayer,
in fatigue, in silence, in fraternity, in joy, especially in the acceptance of every community that put everything at our disposition so that we can refresh ourselves and rest. The pilgrimage taught us to be brothers and sisters, to take care of one another, wait for one another, support the feeble, accept tiredness, obstacles, that is, reality as it is, but with the certainty that there is always another travelling companion who encourages us, listens to us and consoles us. God is with us and in our midst; he guides us and is the center of our life’s journey.
From different streets we arrived to Rome, where thousands of young people gathered together with Pope, to whom some presented their dreams, their desires and questions. Pope Francis listened to us, answered the questions, prayed with us and encouraged us to continue
the journey together. At the conclusion of this meeting – writes Sr. Silvana – he left us these words: «The journey to Rome was nice as well as tiring: how much effort, but how beautiful! Equally beautiful and challenging will be the journey back to your houses, to your countries, to your communities. Go along with courage, with joy and with the awareness of being loved by Jesus. With this love, life becomes a good race: a race towards Jesus and towards our brothers/ sisters, with a heart full of love, faith and joy. Go forward this way!».