The experience of the quarantine made this evident for our family, especially when the situation started to be really tough for one of our kids.

It became clear that all our attempts to make life look normal and busy were not enough to fill the desire of our kids. My wife and I together experienced losing control, and it is not a good experience.

At that time something great happened. Fr. Roberto Amoruso from the Priestly Fraternity of the Missionaries of Saint Charles Borromeo came to visit us, and he spent a few days camping with the Lower Midwest middle school kids to propose the experience of the Knights. A few parents also joined the vacation, and they became days full of hope. Fr. Roberto looked at them immediately with curiosity and sympathy, as if he could see a value, a sparkle in their eyes, amidst the quirkiness of their pre-teen behaviors. It is very true that we see only what we admire and deeply desire. It was beautiful to see how Fr. Roberto enjoyed staying with the kids, with the three simple rules of the Knights in mind:

1. Christ is proposing something great to you now.
2. If you see it, write it down, so you won’t forget.
3. If you don’t see it, pray a Memorare--so that you can see it.

We enjoyed two days in Clifty Falls, Indiana, playing, celebrating Mass, hiking, cooking, and singing. Our kids came back happy with the games, the hikes, and with many stories to tell. They also returned with a new personal affection for the Knights and Fr. Roberto--every single one of them.

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Our entire community realized that something great had happened, and together we are trying to follow Fr. Roberto and continue the experience of the Knights. This does not take away the daily battles with the kids as they grow and make us experience the risk of education. The struggles of raising middle schoolers trapped in a pandemic has made it more evident that raising kids does not mean "shape them" or " fix them" or “correct them" but that we can only show them that of which we are certain. To do that, we first need a place to which we belong, a father to call on, not only as a "technical support” or as a “source of advice," but as a carnal place where what makes life worthwhile continues to happen.

Life can be a beautiful adventure not because we are able to recreate the condition that once filled our heart, but because Christ is proposing something great to us now, and we need a father that reminds us of this every day. Thank you, Fr. Roberto.

Marco, Cincinnati, Ohio