The mission of love

Some girls who are preparing to live a mission experience in Cuba and Kenya have thought of coming to ask Sermig what it means to be missionaries. They spent an hour talking with Massimiliano who finds it difficult to get up from his bed, yet even from his room and in his conditions one can be a missionary. We know that each Arsenal is like a floor of an apartment building always under construction and we are ready to move for love or to stay still for the same love. The desire is to always remain attached to the heart of God and to move only to follow Jesus where he tells us to follow him. It's not that we always succeed, but we try. Opening the Arsenal of Harmony was not just our initiative, but we lived it and live it first of all as a response to God's desire to expand the mission.

When we came to the hermitage of Pecetto we were clear that it was not for us, but that we would fit into a territory, among people with their needs and desires. The response was the arrival of many people from the surrounding area, who came to meet us, to lend a hand and ask for help. Our country asked us to welcome them and to be able to enjoy the beauty recreated in this place together with them. Many children ask us to have their birthday parties here. Over time the town began to ask us for additional services, greater collaboration with the Municipality which organizes cultural events at the Arsenale dell'Armonia. The Pecetto kindergarten then asked us to take over the management of the educational activities: a way to also involve the people of the town in doing good and never feeling closed off. Every activity also and first of all implies a personal investment on our part: it is never enough to just put the label on it, we have to put our heart, our life, our time into it. The Arsenale, however, is missionary and never remains closed within its walls, but expands. Love never stands still and is never satisfied. The Arsenal is not the walls, but the people and people of the Arsenal of Harmony are not all just inside, but increasingly they are also outside to try to bring good to as many people as possible.


Maria Claudia Brunello
NP February 2024