An mancansa ‘d cavaj

Each of us has a jingle, a refrain that we hum from time to time, repeat in our minds, for no specific reason. Sometimes it is used to face certain moments of the day. I have many, but one that I often repeat is a Piedmontese saying that goes more or less like this: An mancansa 'd cavaj, i'asu trôtu, which means "In the absence of horses, the donkeys trot". In short: we must make a virtue of necessity and exploit what we have.

For example, I don't have much affinity with technology and all things electronic in general, but An mancansa 'd cavaj, here in Brazil I found myself working with 2 computers at the same time and I almost understood the difference between sockets at 110 and 220 volt. I've never been a skilled singer, neither for commitment nor for natural talent, but here I lead a choir with 15 people and 5 different instruments... not that all of them hit the right notes, but An mancansa 'd cavaj.

Lastly, perhaps the most demanding, Riccardo and I found ourselves leading the prayer meeting on Tuesday evening. I don't like to speak into the microphone, I get agitated easily and I don't have a good command of the language yet, but An mancansa 'd cavaj. So usually I find myself writing some thoughts, Laura and Thais help me with the translation, Simone cuts them out and then we all pray to try and say the things the Lord would like from us. Like this time, on the Gospel of Luke.

We are faced with a passage from the Gospel that scares us a little, because it belongs to the apocalyptic genre.

We all have in mind a beautiful and good Jesus, with a white dress, long hair, perhaps painted with a child in his arms. The Jesus we all hope to find once we get to heaven, a Jesus who reassures us, who hugs us and tells us everything will be fine. Today Jesus himself presents himself in another way, a very clear way, which does not leave the disciples the possibility of imagining the Jesus they hope for, but which rather puts them, and puts all of us, before a difficult but necessary choice. «If you want to follow me, I am like this! True, all in one piece. I don't go behind trends, I don't say things to please the crowds and - above all - I don't accept compromises. If you want to be my disciple, you must accept me like this» Indeed, the Lord asks us to become like this too.

But then what can we say? That Jesus is an arsonist? That the one who came to save us will truly set us on fire? Or is it a warmonger who instigates us against each other? No, fortunately for us, Jesus is not all of this, but he sees ahead of us, he already speaks to us of the future, of a possible future if we too become like him.

Truly accepting the new doctrine of Jesus leads us to live a new life, we cannot remain cold as we were before, we must catch fire, let ourselves be inflamed by the Holy Spirit, somehow "burn" with divine Love; and this fire, like the real one, warms us and the people who are close to us, melts the cold that we sometimes have inside, our strong desire to be made of ice, impenetrable and pure, but above all the fire that Jesus had in mind is that of the Old Testament, holy, purifying, freeing us from our bondage, as it did with the Jews in Egypt.

What happens next is the logical consequence. Let's think if in our normal life we are close to a person who always has, but I always say, a huge lit torch. It's always too hot, the flames scare us, the smoke doesn't let us see well and sooner or later it's sure to burn us, and the fight breaks out. Fathers against sons, mothers against daughters, one against the other, but it can only be like this. For a true Christian, that torch is his whole life, all of his Love for him, the Christian burns and lets himself be burned by that fire, which, like in the desert, burns but does not consume. And for this torch, we are also willing to pit ourselves against our family, against our friends.

But are we really willing to fight? Defending our torch? Is it strong enough to make it through the night or is it a candle that dies at the first blow? Let's pray to the Lord that he is our fire that won't go out.

It will not be our case, but Jesus also entered Jerusalem sitting on a donkey. And if we were the ones to give him a ride, on the other hand An mancansa 'd cavaj.

Alberto Brigato

NP Ottobre 2022