Testimony

From 1998, every Saturday, with a small group (3/4 young people of the association of which I was also president for 9 years) I met with the prisoners of the “High Security” section where the "mafiosi" were locked up, for Gospel sharing. We talked and confronted each other with the Sunday Gospel reading. Those who requested for a private moment with them always had their request granted.

It is a very rich experience on a human and spiritual level, but also on the political and social level. The internal questions that emerge were very complex, required preparation, listening skills, suspension of judgment, careful and analytical reading of circumstances and social contexts; it required empathy and openness.

Notwithstanding, sometimes I had some questions: "Is my closeness to them not some form of condescension towards their mafia mentality? Isn’t knowing their stories making me more lenient to their way of life? How can I make them understand that I condemn their ways of thinking and acting, even though I have a deep love for them?

The association to which I belonged is composed mainly of university students and young workers. The elderly have the responsibility to accompany the young workers in this formative life experience. So my commitment was also towards them, to help them live this experience as an opportunity for growth and awareness. Many of these young people are in a spiritual research or declare themselves non-believers, but willing to get involved, to dedicate their time to those who suffer and who are marginalized. It is perhaps through this experience of love that some of them become more and more aware of the spiritual dimension of their service towards the poor and marginalized.

Many of the prisoners I met told me they neither believe nor belong to other religion. Some others believe but are very superficial about their faith. I was lucky enough to be able to see in some of them, which I accompanied for years, a real change. They were just waiting to find the right opportunity and the right people to help them make this step.

My journey in the social apostolate could not have lasted for so many years if I did not feel God’s constant, discreet and silent presence around me. He has always been an active participant in my life. All these years I have seen many people who have abandoned their service in the social apostolate due to difficulties, disappointments, failures, not finding reasons and sense to continue a service that does not seem to give great results. Desolations and fatigue are not lacking in this course. To see in the people that I accompany small steps forward and then a dramatic fall was really frustrating. In such moments I have felt like saying "it’s enough!", "make your way without me!". But then, the image of the "useless servant", who after doing everything he is supposed to do is called to say he has done no more than his duty (Luke, 17,10), speaks strongly to me and reminds me I am just a servant in the God’s vineyard.

I am grateful to the Lord for giving me this opportunity to live my life in service to others and to support myself in this every day. I feel that I still have a lot to give, that the Lord is still asking me much more, that I must not stop at the challenges I am facing every day, that other bigger and more beautiful ones are waiting for me. For this, I strongly rely on the fact that I will not be alone in this. God is always there.