Dear friends,
having learned yesterday evening of the sudden passing of our dear friend Mikel Azurmendi, I can find no better way to share with you my sorrow at his death and gratitude to God for having given him to us than to allow you to read the letter he recently sent to Nacho (Fr. Ignacio Carbajosa, the leader of the movement in Spain) asking to enroll in the CL Fraternity.
Let us ask Our Lady, through the intercession of Fr. Giussani, that we may have his same poverty of heart in front of the call of Destiny.
Yours,
Julián Carrón
Milan, August 7, 2021


Dear Nacho,
For a long time, I have been maturing in my belonging to CL, and I think the time has come to ask you to fully belong. Since I finished writing The Embrace, I’ve been walking a path of increasing confidence that my rebirth as a Christian is definitive, because it is based on my absolute acceptance and surrender to Jesus.
On the one hand, I have become aware of how much God loves me, perhaps too much, considering the excessive forgiveness that I have received. For this, I can only be grateful to Him, with even greater personal devotion.
On the other hand, reading and reflecting on Generating Traces in the History of the World – the book we are also reading in SoC [School of Community] – has pushed me to break through my last, very old anarchist prejudice to not let myself fully “belong,” but rather remain perpetually a foretopman who never lets anyone take over the watch to navigate.
I have understood that Peter’s “yes” generated the birth of a People, of a unity of people-in-encounter with a certain “ethnic identity,” as one Pope said. I come to see the meaning of “obeying” as the only way to go beyond myself toward an Other, just as a soccer player “obeys” his coach. We could say I have to “pay attention” to you shepherds who are guiding this tribe whose way of life moved me so deeply.
The time of “being like you,” has passed; now I am asking to “be with you.” I have to go beyond being a companion on the journey to becoming a companion in your journey. I hope with this surrender of my pride, a certain poverty of heart will help me to walk towards hope, and to reach its fulfilment in my destiny, which is already so near.
I remain at your disposal with a grateful embrace.
Mikel