by Paolo Anselmo, Laudato Si’ Animator
Laudato Si’ Circle of Vallesusa
A Holy Mass for the community was celebrated at the Church of the Abbadia in Oulx, in the province of Turin, promoted by the Laudato Si’ Circle Vallesusa and the Diocesan Pastoral for Migrants, in occasion of the 107th World Day of Migrants and Refugees.
Oulx, in the Susa Valley, is the symbolic place for welcoming migrants due to the “Rifugio”, a structure that assists and receives 50/60 people per day headed to France, managed by Don Luigi Chiampo together with volunteers and animators of our circle.
Animators from the Circle were engaged in the celebration, who alternated for the introduction, the penitential act, the prayer of the faithful and the community prayer taken from the message of Pope Francis for the World Day of Migrants.
There was a lot of turnout and participation of young people in particular, with the songs of the choir accompanied by a variety of instruments.
As symbols of trip, they were brought to the altar some shoes representing the fatigue of the road that migrants and refugees go through and a travel bag containing their hope, dreams and desires.
Don Giorgio Nervo, Parish Priest of Oulx, during a beautiful homily recalled that we must put ourselves at the service of the other without fear, not isolating ourselves but opening ourselves to those in need, so that the earth can become the common home of all brothers and sisters, with no distinction of nationality and race, always with a Christian spirit.
In the prayers of the faithful an intention was: “Let the spirit of the Lord make us be capable of embracing everyone to make communion in diversity, harmonizing differences without ever imposing a depersonalizing uniformity. In the encounter with the diversity of foreigners, migrants, refugees, it is in the intercultural dialogue that we are given the opportunity to grow as a Church “.
With the Laudato Si’ Animators Donatella Giuntì, Sister Nella, Lucia Malengo, Eugenio Cantore, Mira Mondo, Rosanna Bonaudo, we joyfully participated in this Eucharistic celebration and it was an important moment to stop and share the emotions and thoughts for World Day of the Migrants and the words of the Holy Father.
As a Circle, we will go on in our journey for the Season of Creation in our Diocese, with an initiative next November in Susa in cooperation with the Diocesan Social and Labor Pastoral Office and the Diocesan Commission for Ecumenism, to bring together all those who take care, in the Diocese, of the territory, poor, migrants and lonely people.