Several "old" parents and young people from our communities have been calling us lately to ask us: How are we? How are we doing? How are we organizing ourselves?

It does not take much to understand that their real question is a different one, and some even go as far as to ask: "What do you say about all this? How do you perceive it? What is going to happen? What is the meaning of what is happening? What must we change? What does this pandemic really imply? Will we understand the mystery, the deep, real, definitive secret?” More than these questions, what is striking is their level of waiting, their despair, and the deep sentiment that surrounds them. Their sighs, their pauses that echo and insinuate themselves in the folds of their words.

Yes, it is always striking to see - with increasing astonishment in recent days – every man’s desire to seek and find treasure, to discover a good path, a place full of happiness.

These weeks, we look at ourselves in a new, special way. Within the family, with friends and colleagues. Our gazes are questioning and fearful, silent and imploring. We do not really want to talk anymore. There is waiting, a suspension of words and judgement...We do not want to open our mouth because we see that everything speaks, says, explains, reveals, announces. Not yet clearly, not with clarity, we do not truly comprehend, we do not really understand, we do not see well enough…However, we do feel, we catch a glimpse of a small hint of light, a small gust that wants to break through, the arrival of a strong breeze, that reaches you to speak in a soft voice.

Thus, to see better, to understand, to begin to understand, I look at the children in our communities, I spend time with them, I engage in dialogue with them. I put myself in their midst, I look at them, I keep looking at them.

I have already experienced this a thousand times and I am sure that in this dramatic moment, if I look, if I know how to wait and observe attentively everything about them - yes, everything about their faces and their stories - if I know how to immerse myself in them, dive into their lives, then, slowly and mysteriously, the answer will appear: the answer is created, it is born, it sprouts, the path, the destination.

Read also – “God chooses nothingness to be present”

They carry it, it has been with them for a long time: you have to ask for it to sprout suddenly, to explode... to offer itself.

Silvio Cattarina, Pesaro, Italy