Two lives spent for others

Only in Heaven will we discover all the connections, all the channels in which Grace flowed through “meta­bolism” of us all, small cells of that great body that is the Church... It passed from a “cell” to the other, the where everyone offered grace to the other, composing everything in a single Love forming communion in fraternal agape. These are the words of Father Mario Airoldi, a dear friend of our fraternity, diocesan oblate of Saints Gaudenzio and Carlo, serving at the sanctuary of Boca (NO), who returned to life last January 23rd. In a spiritual retreat dedicated to us he described it like this: the Communion of Saints, this great and consoling mystery, gift from the Father, in which we all are and will be present to each other in the choice of an endless embrace.

We remember the retreats he preached to us, and in particular one from which we would like to report some teachings: "The speech on forgiveness to enemies and on offering From a human point of view, the other cheek seems so to us. impossible to practi­care that we don't even try to do it. In the infamous trial that he was undergoing before the Sanhedrin, in the presence of the High Priest, the latter's servant lastly because of a squalid seduction he gave him a slap. Jesus he didn't hand it over other cheek, but he replied: “I made a mistake, tell me where I made a mistake and if I didn't make a mistake, tell me with what right you hit me”. Jesus he did not respond with violence to the violence done to him, but he did much more: he put his interlocutor in crisis with his conscience. Thank you, Father Mario: we loved you and we will love you forever!

Not long ago another friend, Rodolfo Venditti, left us; a man of integrity, who in his life carried out his work as a magistrate in a way that was attentive to man, respectful even towards those who had made mistakes. His long life (lasting almost one hundred years) was woven with honesty intellectual and faith in God, united almost like in a symphony – he was a talented musician & shy; logo & ndash; and accompanied by a love of truth learned since I was a boy. «I have been a judge all my life; is a beautiful work full of humanity, which in one of my writings I defined as service to man and in which the judge has the essential task of ascertaining the truth, without allowing himself to be conditioned by any external interference."

Independence of thought and action fueled by the constraints suffered: "When the Second World War began, I was 14 years old. I had lived my childhood under fascism, experiencing even as a child what it meant to live in a dictatorial regime, where there was no freedom. of manifestation of thought, where there was a single party that controlled the press and the radio, where there was an absolute ban on reading foreign newspapers and listening to foreign radio, where dissent was criminalized and political opponents were eliminated … Coming out of that war and that regime was like being born into a new life. Together with many other Italian men and women, I felt the need to to ensure that that terrible experience was not repeated." He also affirms the primacy of conscience with his convinced adherence to conscientious objection to weapons and war, a topic on which he wrote an essay. Thank you Rodolfo for sharing your thoughts with us many times through meetings and articles for our magazine, thank you for your example of humility; and availability towards everyone.


By the Editorial Staff
NP April 2024