Father Giussani, the impression of having met a saint
Roma (AsiaNews) There is something I'll never forget about Father Giussani. I just had a personal meeting with him in November 1998, soon after the historic meeting the Pope and Catholic movements in St Peter's square on the eve of Pentecost. That encounter was one of the few times I ever felt I was in the presence of a saint, someone who attained his sainthood suffering.
At another time, I told his aides that he left me with another strong impression, that of someone who had authentic charism.
On the eve of that Pentecost, the Pope had asked us for our 'communion and commitment'. I had gone to Milan for that reason. And so we met.
That event was for all of us, as Mgr Giussani later wrote to his Brotherhood, "the greatest day in our history". He said: "I also told Chiara and Kiko, who were by my side in St Peter's, how could we not shout our unity in such occasions? Our responsibility is towards unity even if it means finding what is good in the smallest thing that comes from the other".
Since then we have had many opportunities to grow in our mutual understanding and communion, both personal and as movements, in Italy as well as in other countries.
My heart is filled with a boundless gratitude towards him for what he did in his lifetime, without sparing himself, at the service of a charism that has recharged the Church with new energy and intense spiritual life. In doing so, he opened the door for thousands of men and women around the world to a personal encounter with Jesus and brought forth so many concrete actions in response to the expectations of the age.
Now my prayers, our prayers, are not only for him, but also for what he did, knowing full well that it will bear new, richer fruits of the Spirit.
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