Dearest Fr. Julián:

My desire, when my friends and I made the decision to organize the Pittsburgh Encounter, was 1) that I might be able, in some small way, to make a return to the Lord for all the goodness He has shown me through the enormous gift for my life–this beloved charism of ours and 2) that it would be a way for me to love the people among whom Christ has put me. What I discovered, instead, is that Christ used each particular event of the Pittsburgh Encounter, even all the toil that went into it, to embrace me and to allow me to see, ever more clearly, His gaze of love, which rests on me. First, the simple way in which the scientist Massimo Robberto said "yes" to everything we asked of him helped me to just follow him without anxiety over details. He even inspired my ten-year-old daughter, who asked: "If there are these signs everywhere, how do I see them and how do I know for certain what they mean?" He responded to her with exactly the same seriousness as he had with the adults who had asked him questions. This was so striking to me–that a man as learned and important as he is pays such attention to the question of a child seems to me tremendously rare and beautiful. Another friend, Emanuele Colombo, came to help us with the book presentation of Father Giussani's At the Origin of the Christian Claim. Both men, Emanuele and Massimo, embraced our community, engaged with each person they met, and gave their attention to all that we had prepared. Some of the other guest speakers, for both the panel on Blessed John Henry Newman, as well as for the book presentation, had no prior experience of the Movement, and they responded in ways that made us all more fully aware that this new gaze on the world is something truly new and deeply attractive: more than one expressed surprise that non-scholars would take so great an interest in their own specialty fields. And three of them, who had said they would be too busy to do anything but their own presentations, returned for more events later, including on the following day, touring the exhibits as well. One of the guest speakers, when he heard that there was a School of Community that meets in the Cathedral each week, asked, "Do you mean I could come and meet with you again?!" The poetry event was exceptional. Poet and professor Ewa Chrusciel was joined by two other local poets, who each read their poetry. Then there was a soprano and a piano performance of an excerpt from "The Dream of Gerontius," a long poem written by Blessed John Henry Newman that was set to music by Edward Elgar. When the Pittsburgh Encounter was over, my husband Stephen said, "I was moved to see the ways in which so many people in our community committed themselves to the preparation of the exhibits and the panel events and, in doing so, witnessed to me that the way they are–the way they think, interact with others, and present their faith publicly–has been so clearly generated through their faithfulness to this charism." I was also deeply impressed by the CLU students–I was worried about how much time they were taking away from their studies, but each of them described a sense of gratitude for this beautiful shared experience. Following their tours, it was clear that these students had caught "Newman Fever"–one of the guides enthusiastically told his tour: "Newman discovered the same thing that I discovered!" As a GS leader, I focused on the exhibit they chose to be tour guides of–"The Earth: A Human Habitat." These kids began to love one another and to love reality itself more as they stayed with this particular work. In the end, only five of the kids stuck with the work, but among these there was a new unity–and an integrity in the way in which they face the world. I have no idea what other fruit this will bring for us as we move forward, but I feel deeply blessed to have been able to witness the transformations taking place among so many.

Suzanne, Steubenville (USA)