Venezuela: Those eyes you cannot forget
LettersDuring the period of confinement, Carlos began to participate in charitable work in his parish. There he meets gazes and stories that intercept his need to be loved, and which set his "I" in motion.
Letters
Letters - 2020
I Want to Be Happy Now
LettersHaving just learned of her father's cancer, Silvia meets with friends and discovers the freedom to tell Christ exactly what she wants.
Azerbaijan: The miracle of our beginning
LettersAs the war continues, communication with foreign countries have cut off and schools have closed because of Covid, the CL community in Baku gathered for the Beginning of the Year Day.
A well of fresh water
LettersNicola had gone to meet the GS students without expecting anything. But a phrase by Chesterton about “answering riddles” took flesh. “I can quench my thirst again.”
Argentina: Paradise at home, even with Covid
LettersA host of negative circumstances made Monica cry out: “You cannot ask me for more.” Reality gave no respite, but invited her to look, and to discover the caresses of certain “angels” that began to appear.
Cuba: The truth that gives meaning to everything
LettersMore than from the pandemic, people are suffering from a lack of food. On the island, life is a daily struggle. A climate of uncertainty and anger dominates. In the midst of this is the light of School of Community via Whatsapp chat.
A new lens
LettersWhen Steph moved to Minnesota with her family, she felt overwhelmed with stress and resentment. While attending the International Assembly with others, her heart began to revive.
Kids who, without asking, ask for everything
LettersA substitute teacher with children to take to preschool, who gets called at the very last minute in the midst of an endless number of anti-Covid rules. How not to get overwhelmed trying to fit everything in? What reminds us that reality is good?
Twenty-seven pairs of eyes and zero risk
LettersThe desire to start school again. The speech ready for the first day. Then the gruelling discussions about security protocols: "Would it not be safer to stay at home?" But the gazes of the students over their masks...
Achilles’ desire
LettersPaola goes to school for the first time not having prepared her lesson perfectly. A journey through Greek and Latin Literature. "My ideas will become clearer in the dialogue with my students.” And so, Serena raises her hand and says...
"The unprecedented discovery" of returning to the classroom
LettersA teacher and mom, the evening before the reopening of schools. Everything is ready, "it seems almost normal.” Instead, life has changed in recent months. What can rekindle the expectation of a new beginning?
Genoa: All because of that invitation
LettersAnduela’s baptism and the meeting with the Bishop, the last stage of a friendship that began with an afternoon of charitable work and with a question: "What is behind it?"
Brazil: Flipping through pages of flesh
Letters"Passos" is the Brazilian version of "Traces". Giovanna subscribes to the magazine and wrote to their editorial staff to thank them, and to describe a companionship “that entered my room without warning” even during the lockdown.
"The force of millimetres and moments”
LettersBusy in Rimini with the official radio station of this year's special edition, Elisabetta describes what she experienced and discovered. From the "scandal at what was missing" to finding herself "faced with a privilege that has opened up many questions".
Beyond the Ivory Tower
LettersAs a graduate student in the midst of a pandemic, Letizia feels distanced from what is happening in the world--until an encounter that opens her to a larger horizon.
Latin America: When quarantine “sounds” better
LettersFrom seven countries, connected by WhatsApp and Zoom. What unites a group of university students is their great passion for music. And an unexpected new friendship is born from a question: "Who do we do it for?"
The Meeting enclosed within four walls
LettersEverything was ready to participate in the event in their town square. But after returning from Croatia, they needed to quarantine... And yet, Monica's experience has been an adventure worthy of the summit of K2.
An opportunity for conversion
LettersMarta describes the significance the Rimini Meeting has for her and why she decided to sign up as an ambassador for this year’s special edition, all the way from Scotland.
"Without forgiveness, Belarus will have no future”
LettersThe country has been in peaceful protest since the elections on August 9. A Catholic priest recounts how he has witnessed "the awakening of a people" which until now has been apathetic to the regime. "We live the dizziness of living the present as it is."
Brazil: "My bond with the infinite"
LettersThe arrival of the life-threatening pandemic. But also the beginning of a journey. With the GS students, with the young mothers, with those who care about society. A novelty that comes from the rediscovery of one's own humanity.
Florida: Where is certainty in a time of uncertainty?
LettersCoronavirus also hit the south east of the US a few months ago. Lockdown and the appeal to stay at home, waiting and fearful. Yet "in that friendship, Christ surprised me once again..."