Message to Msgr. Luigi Negri, Archbishop of Ferrara-Comacchio, for the Unveiling of the Bas-relief Dedicated to Fr. Giussani. Saint Leo, April 1, 2013

Dear Luigi,

I thank you for wanting, with this sign, to remember Fr. Giussani’s presence in Saint Leo, where, for years, thousands of young people relived the mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection with him.
This past Holy Week made us even more aware that the only reason for living is to follow Jesus, to follow in His footsteps, desiring to identify with the life of that young man whom not even death could separate from the relationship with the Father. As Pope Francis invited us, “Let us follow Jesus! We accompany, we follow Jesus, but above all we know that He accompanies us and carries us on His shoulders. This is our joy, this is the hope that we must bring to this world” (March 24, 2013).
Those of us who participated at least once in a Way of the Cross led by Fr. Giussani have had this experience: cross and resurrection, the hundredfold through giving ourselves over to Him who is our joy.
Throughout his life, Fr. Giussani witnessed to us that giving in to Christ’s attraction makes us men, and allows us to eat and drink, keep watch and sleep, live and die with an incomparable intensity and truth.
Let us ask Our Lady for help in continuing our journey wherever the Lord calls us to live our faith, by following the Pope and in the living memory of Fr. Giussani, in order to draw all those that we encounter with us toward Destiny.

In friendship,
Fr. Julián Carrón