From October 18 to 20, the CL Chinese-speaking community gathered in Macau for a vacation together and to dialogue on the theme of this year’s Beginning Day: “Called, that is, sent: the beginning of the mission.” Being able to organize this vacation, after the historical events of these years, including the Covid pandemic, was the first event of these days. Accepting the invitation was not an obvious thing either. Days off are granted in dribs and drabs, the trip was expensive, leaving and re-entering your home country is not always easy. Yet, more than 60 people from Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Taiwan gathered in a small religious complex overlooking the sea, far from the chaotic centre of Macau known as the “Las Vegas of the East.”

Upon arrival, some embraced people they had not seen in years, others shook hands with new friends. Some, like Gao Xue, are so shy that they cannot find the courage to say their name out loud. Who knows what desire brought her all the way there from the Chinese capital? Others, like Elaine, followed the advice of an old friend and decided to attend without knowing most people. Unlike Gao Xue, her enthusiasm encouraged her to immediately break the ice. Maybe that is why they ended up sharing a room.

After dropping our bags, we met again at 6:30 p.m. for dinner. After praying, Fr. Paolo Costa invited everyone to mingle at the tables – Chinese, Taiwanese, and Italians – “to get to know each other and discover that we are all part of the same community.” Indeed, during dinner, personal stories emerged with simplicity, intertwining with those of others.

Dongdong recounted how he asked for Baptism together with his family after accidentally knocking on the parish door of the priests of the St. Charles Fraternity; Emilia found out about CL because she was struck by the happiness she saw in the faces of people in some photos on Facebook; Allegra also recently received Baptism, thanks to an encounter at university. In Shanghai, Yuwei was struck by his colleague, Pilar, the first person to look him in the eyes and say: “I pray for you.” So many faces with different and profound stories, where you could see the enormous desire for something great to happen in those days.

At 8 p.m, we met in the hall for a short introduction by Fr. Paolo on the title of the vacation: “Freedom is dependence on God.” The opening song 至少還有你 (Zhìshǎo hái yǒu nǐ - After all, I still have you), expressed how freedom is closely related to feeling loved. Just as the coloured cards that Ning had carefully prepared made us feel called, waited for. Everyone found their name written next to a drawing: a circle with a dot inside, joined by a line to the X outside the circle, indicating the connection with the One who makes us truly free. The evening ended with Mass, while personal conversations continued late into the night, a sign of the great desire to be together.

The next day, after breakfast, we listened to the testimony of Renquan, a recently married Taiwanese young man. “I felt called, invited into a community that, over time, is also changing culturally my way of conceiving life and relationships. I realized that the encounter with Christ also has something to do with my use of money. Talking with my wife (who is not a believer), I decided to come here because it is useful for our family. This value judgment is completely new to us. This community is making me understand that faith has to do with life.”

“We have been called, each one with their own story. God often comes to pick us up from the gutters of life and takes us up to see the stars,” said Cesare, who had come from Italy, introducing us to the theme of the Beginning Day. “Our companionship is the sign and the very body of Christ in the world, the greatest miracle that He is making happen today through Fr. Giussani's charism.” In announcing that Jesus' call, His love, coincides with being sent, Cesare recalled the two patron saints of mission, so paradoxically different yet united in their love for Christ and the Church: Francis Xavier, who traveled across the world and died on a journey to China, and Therese of Lisieux, who lived to the age of 24 in a cloistered convent (like the one we later visited in the afternoon).



After Mass, personal dialogues continued as we walked along the seashore, our feet covered with sand. Nature never ceases to make us feel the affection of the One who called us together. Howard told how he encountered faith by entering a church in Canada. “Love your enemies” is the phrase that has never left him at peace since. Something totally foreign to the education he had received until then. So, back in Beijing, he began to read the Bible. Later, entering a Catholic church, those words became flesh: a perfect stranger turned toward him with a smile, extending her hand to him at the exchange of peace. Something from another world!

There were many nice stories, such as that of Jingya, who had long wanted a girlfriend who shared his faith. He had written “I am Catholic” in the opening line of his resume. So Phebe, the head hunter contacting him for a job position, added, “I am also Catholic, can we meet?” God really has a great sense of humor, but the truth is that being Christian, of Christ, determines your name and ultimately your very identity.

In the afternoon, we visited the Trappist monastery in Macau, where Mother Caterina, an old friend of CL, told us about her experience of mission: “Mission is a life, and we are missionaries simply by living in our monastic community. Conversion from the 'I' (from one's selfishness) to the 'we' is something we work on all our lives, but it is not difficult if we are together.” At the end, as a gesture of thanksgiving, she asked us to sing Povera Voce, which she sang movingly with us.

With her words still in mind, we visited the historic center of Macau, in particular the facade of St. Paul's Cathedral, the symbol of the city, and the relics of the Japanese martyrs preserved here. Saying our “yes” at every moment of the day is the desire that immediately awakens us in our hearts. After a traditional dinner, we returned home for an evening of dancing, singing and games, carefully organized with the vacation’s theme in mind. Fun and laughter are, even for the most timid, an opportunity to open up to the beauty of sharing.

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This atmosphere of friendship continued to be felt the following day. “All I want to witness here is that a Catholic is never alone in the world.” During the Mass, Fr. Emanuele Angiola quoted the words of John C.H.Wu, a Chinese lawyer who converted to Catholicism in the last century and lived his faith with integrity, amid the contradictions of the society of his time. We saw this in every intervention during the assembly, which opened with the moving Chinese song 分享 (Fēnxiǎng - Sharing).

Gao Xue was in a flood of tears. She movingly spoke of how welcomed she had felt, even though she often remains silent for fear of being wrong. Renquan followed her, “This community has taught me that the prayer of these days can become the fabric of my whole daily life.” Xiaohua intervened next, “When I was widowed and my son grew up, talking to the priests, I realized that I too have an identity, that I must be responsible for my life. This vacation has given me an opening to understood more who I am, and what friendship is.” Finally, Kunli, a rough but always available man said, “I am not perfect, but in this community I can have the hope of seeing God.”

Fr. Bernardo Cervellera, a PIME missionary in Hong Kong, also spoke: “Christ builds his house on our fragility. We come from Beijing, from Shanghai, from Hong Kong, from Taipei, we are one. We pray for the people we have met and will meet every day on the subway or in the bustle of the shopping malls, who like us here seek Christ, but who, unlike us, do not know who He is.” He then concluded with an unexpected announcement, “In these days we have discovered that there are a few of us from Hong Kong, so we have decided to start a School of Community group.” God's time is not ours, but He always fulfils what He makes us desire.

Huiren's words, along with those of many other friends, are a sign of this: “In these days, listening to people and living this beauty, I realized that we are the real miracle, the fact that we are together. Giussani's first miracle is our companionship.”