The first step

Yesterday I received a call from a dear friend of mine, a nun who lives her mission in areas where life has no value, because people kill and die just to eat an apple. There are many places like this in the world, but some are worse than others.

Those who live in these places hope in a different future, perhaps even running away and abandoning everything, but without really knowing what plot her story will take. For years my friend has combined her experience as a nurse with that of an educator, saving hundreds of lives and giving hope to dozens and dozens of children. Then, when the country that was hosting her increased her violence, also cracking the certainties that seemed to be acquired, she managed to create a bridge of love with Italy by bringing about twenty children to a house in Assisi. of her Haitian orphanage.

The project grew in a short time, and the children easily entered the new reality, also because the nun continued to give them the love that only a mother can grant. Oh yes, because although she is a nun, there is no mother who could teach her what it means to raise a child, because she has already done it with about one hundred and fifty children.
Unfortunately, however, despite the inclusion of all the children in the Italian school, their participation in sporting, cultural, social and spiritual activities, but also the continuous proximity of many volunteers, the court decided that they could not continue to live together in a single house and therefore had to be entrusted to couples willing to welcome them.
It is evident that in Italy the laws are very different from Haiti, also because in Italy the protection of minors is a priority, and mainly we try to avoid that nobody is able to speculate on these pure souls.
The fact is, however, that the nun did not accept the judge's decision, and challenged it with the justification that her "hers" children would have suffered too great a trauma if they had to leave their home again, but even just their friends.
I have to tell the truth, initially I married her line, it seemed rational, fair, balanced. And even when I read in her eyes the fear of her, perhaps determined by the knowledge that soon the little ones would no longer be with her, I tried to give her courage.
Yesterday on the phone, however, the nun told me the evolution of the story, and she was very sad because to prevent the children from being entrusted to others she decided to bring them all back to their country of origin.

Honestly, I didn't understand the reason for this drastic choice of hers nor why it made me feel bad mood, but then my wife had the ability to translate my emotions and asked me a question: is it Is it really right to return children to the hell from which they escaped and take away the possibility of a better future in the company of a family that loves them?

And then she continued: the nun always says that she entrusts her plans to God, and that the children stay with her because He wanted this, and also that no one knows her children better than she. But Max tell me the truth, don't you think that maybe this whole thing, including the court, could be a great chance that God is giving to the kids? My wife often leaves me speechless and this time she too has succeeded. Perhaps, like any mother, the nun simply fails to unplug the umbilical cord and risks, due to a very contrasted and certainly understandable feeling, of making the biggest mistake of her life by preventing the children from taking flight. It is evident that the importance of the nun in their growth will never be questioned, and this is certain, but today perhaps it would be useful for her to be able to change the role she has always played by dedicating instead to giving children the tools to face this new road, which only needs courage.

I have been thinking about this possibility all day today, perhaps because I feel I have to talk to my friend, even at the cost of losing her, because this is the real risk. And I too, for hours, have been looking for the courage to do it. What is certain, however, is that many reflections should arise from stories like this.

The first is to try to make us understand when God's will really materializes, since it is easy to misinterpret her message and often solely because of our personal desires. The second reflection instead, we should dedicate it to the human limits with which we face every day, whether they are ideological or physical, and to ensure that we finally get the strength to overcome them and accept them. The third and final consideration should be made on the reasons that cause fear to arise in us, because if it is true that courage is enough to defeat her, it is equally true that she always recurs, every day, and often also masked by other feelings. And in my opinion, being able to recognize it is the first step towards freedom.


Max Laudadio
NP May 2021