I see you serene and I follow you

On the morning of August 2, 1983, a small group of us – together with Msgr. Franco Peradotto, episcopal vicar, whom we had wanted as a presence of the Church – entered the Arsenale for the first time. I remember a phrase from Maria, my wife: "I don't understand anything, but I see you serene and I follow you". Unfortunately, there is not even a photo to remember that moment, only the memory.

Since 2 August 1983 I have loved the Arsenale, I immediately entered God's dream and it has always given me serenity. I was in dialogue with God: if God gave it to us, he won't make us look bad. Thus it was and thus it will always be, if everyone enters into unconditional trust in him, puts prayer first, accepts to change his own character a little, enters into personal responsibility, as if he were the only one to take loaded with everything that happens. Our strength is born precisely from prayer; it is from there that we draw the faith to welcome people in difficulty.

It is from there that the testimony that reaches people in search of hope, young people who seek meaning and even the poor we welcome takes shape: everyone can open up to God's gift, no one excluded. Among those who frequent us there are believers and non-believers, there are members of many religions... we are all different, but we are united, we love each other. And now, walking along the avenues of the Arsenale, I often make the sign of the cross, I thank God for everyone who has helped us, for every stone laid, for every wall raised, for the lights, for everything I see and that someone he has given us and I feel close to the day when, seeing us living in our Arsenals, people will be able to say: this is a portion of the kingdom of God among us.

Ernesto Olivero
Editorial
NP June / July 2023