At the entrance to the Arsenale

At the entrance to the Arsenale dell'Incontro, right next to the door, there are photos of Maria Teresa, who suddenly went to Heaven in 2006 after a day of presence here in Jordan, and of Maria Olivero, who joined her next to the Father on May 4 three years ago.

They are there to remind us that this house is guarded and blessed at all times by many friends on earth, but also and above all by Heaven.
They also remind us that the key to everything is to seek every day with the strength of the Spirit to be mothers and sisters among us first of all, for each other in the Fraternity, and then in cascade for every person who crosses the threshold of the Arsenal. They are there to testify to us that there is no trial or suffering that can separate us from the Love of God and - indeed - if we let it enter right there where everything seems lost, there - right there - Life is born. It is Easter there every day.

A few days ago from the Arsenale switchboard we see a mother enter with her four or five year old daughter. It was the first time she came, she looks around her, looks at the photos of Maria and Maria Teresa and says to her daughter: «Look, they smile!». And then she adds: «Repeat with me: what are these two ladies doing? they smile ». We understand, even before talking to them, that they have come for a possible insertion in the speech therapy service and the mother tries to stimulate her daughter to talk, making her familiar with the new place she is in.

The child does not say a word, but she smiles at her and together with her mother continues to look at the two photos.
When we approach them to greet them, they are the ones who smile at us.
Maria Teresa and Maria have already thought of welcoming them and making them feel at home in a "good place". That mother and her daughter didn't have the faintest idea who they were, but their gaze in the photo was enough.

We have the task of continuing to make them feel welcome, at home, in everyday life, day after day.
And like them every person we approach or who approaches us.

May the very difficult moment we are experiencing really be a time in which we do not miss any opportunity to continue to touch with the Good all the lives we meet and approach, to touch each other's lives in our families, in our communities.
With the simplicity of small gestures, small but essential, like those of a mother for her baby.
Because so many happen to be able to say as that mother did with her daughter: "Look, she smiles at you!"
And this happens if in front of you you do not find a smile or a look of convenience, but the smile and the full look of someone who is saying to you without words, with life: «I love you, feel loved!».

Thank you Maria and Maria Teresa, who from Heaven continue to say this to us and to everyone who looks at you every day. We follow you!

Arsenal of the Encounter
NP May 2022