When last year, in the midst of the pandemic, I was offered the possibility of attending the course for Laudato Si’ Animator, I did not hesitate: it was a beautiful, interesting and fraternal journey, enriched by the knowledge of many Italian Christians committed to the care of our common home.
From there to the celebration of the 2020 Season of Creation, the journey was short, even if surrounded by difficulties due to the recurrence of contagions in our small town.
Supported by the secular Franciscan fraternity “Santa Croce,” which since 2004 has been my second family, by the parish priest and by some of the associations, religious or not, present in the territory of Moliterno, I wanted to emphasize the importance of the 2021 Season of Creation as well.
We could not, therefore, begin this strong time (almost like a new Advent or a new Lent) without starting from Him, our Creator God, who created everything, gave us everything in custody, allowed us to use everything for our own good and that of our brothers: plants, animals or men.
That’s why, after having set up the tent of Abraham in one of the symbolic places of the social life of our town, the Villa Comunale “Unità d’Italia”, we thought of a Eucharistic adoration that would involve the whole community, even those who would pass by absent-mindedly but that the Lord would certainly call to Himself even if only for a simple sign of the cross.
In continuity with 2020, we gave this event the symbolic title of “Vigil to the Stars,” and, in spite of the light pollution in the center of town and in spite of the accentuated meteorological instability of the previous days (so much so that we moved the initial date), the evening was mild, sweet and full of stars!
The setting up of the tent was meant to make those who joined us understand that, as Pope Francis says, “everything is connected.”
The water, the Earth, the flowers, the plants, the fruits, the fire, even a root that is now dry are, together with humankind and starting from God, a single, great, immense heart that pulses.
The songs, instead, chosen from the liturgical repertoire and from Italian pop music, had to accompany soberly but also help to live the moment with recollection and deep affinity towards the neighbor and the home for all!
Jesus in the Eucharist shone brightly and the shadow against the tent seemed like another monstrance, a reinforcement of Christ’s living presence among us.
The prepared reflections, but even more the silence of the personal adoration, in a composed assembly respectful of the anti-Covid dispositions, was broken only by the squeaking of the swing from which a child could not detach himself and by the gushing of water from the nearby fountain, monument to the fallen of all wars.
Even the cars did not seem to want to disturb such a profound moment and crossed the area slowly and quietly. Even the carny drivers, who had come to Moliterno for the patronal feast of Maria del Monte Vetere, turned off their loud speakers and approached Him.
Unforgettable moments and with a strong communitarian value, those lived, therefore, in front of the Eucharist on 7 September, moments that affect our inner selves only if we share the foundations: “without Him we can do nothing.”