Thursday, Long Beach, California. At the end of a course for vacuum-cleaner operators (two hours of training about how the machine works, and the tasks of the machine operator), we gather at our office with 11 young people who work for our cleaning company, all with varying degrees of disability–I mention this only because their condition makes them more clearly aware of the need to be saved. Without telling us, Nancy had invited our friend Mary, a cellist. Nancy introduced Mary’s performance (three Bach pieces and one by Rachmaninov) saying, “Our life is made for Beauty; each one of us has been created to be in relationship with Beauty. What we hope for in doing our work, whether we know it or not, coincides with this ultimate desire for Beauty, for happiness, and for total fulfillment.” Then the concert started. Our eyes and hearts were wide open in front of a spectacle, in front of music that propelled the heart to embrace a “beyond” that was present. At the end, our awestruck silence was broken by the moved voice of one of our young friends who, with absolute humility, said, “Thank you, Mary. Come back to visit us; you will always be welcome here.” He was home–home, the place where he could be himself, because he was facing a You, in front of Whom everything melted away and was purified: limitations, weaknesses, and betrayals. Who are You, Lord, to give me all this? To make my life an instrument of Your glory? Without You–coming to me through this charism–I could never have experienced Beauty. In front of truth, communicating itself in experience, the heart cries out: “Stay!” Only Christ present can turn a training course for vacuum-cleaner operators into a path to one’s destiny.

Guido, Los Angeles (USA)