Hello friends! It is curious to use this word–friends–when so many years of life, so many lived experiences separate us. You could be my children, and indeed two of my daughters are among you. Yet we can say it, it is right to say it. And these days you will also find out why. Your older friends who will lead you in the gesture of the Easter Triduum have asked me to come and greet you. I do so very gladly. In fact, I thought I would experience this gesture together with you. It is not a usual thing for me, but this is a special year: the Covid pandemic has prevented you all from gathering here together for so many years, and so we must resume it together, so as not to lose the memory of it. I realize that each of you at this time will have your own, very personal feelings and expectations. I want to give you one piece of advice, however, that concerns each of you, and I allow myself to give it to you from the experience I have gained over all these years: being older has to be useful for something! It is important that you have decided to come here, it is important that you have chosen to be here, whatever your state of mind before you arrived and also have now that you are here. My piece of advice is this: be available, available to everything, really to everything that will come your way. You will not understand everything right away, but let yourself be seized by what is proposed: you are here, you have nothing to lose. I think back to when, so many years ago, I was there in your place–a little uncertain that I was where I wanted to be–and one day, God willing, some of you will be in mine. Remember these days [...]

Continue reading, download the pdf