Everything begins, as always, with the Word of the Lord: during the sending ceremony the word of the Gospel according to Mark resounds: "and he began to send them out two by two [...] and he ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff" [Mk 6: 7-13]. This step contains the first steps of the missionary experience, even if, according to the customs of circumstances of modernity, young people do not physically have a staff to rely on for the journey, but the cross of a missionary mandate, a lasting sign of true and primordial support: Jesus.
Strengthened by this, every morning the missionaries make their way to Piazzale Nenni to play with the boys and girls in this place and try to brighten their mornings with games and laughter, in the shared educational effort aimed at dismantling the voices they hear daily and the stories of lives that already seem to be destined for them to imitate: the street, crime, addictions, a whirlwind of vices and squandering.
On the outskirts and desolate, the world of the forgotten appears for those who have no alternatives, who see and experience darkness as the only solution and possibility. The Paul VI district in Taranto, centre of the mission, has seen and lived in darkness for a long time and perhaps, listening to the stories of some of its protagonists, has always been so. In the indigestible hodgepodge of silence, omissions, forgetfulness, prejudice and obscenity, there are few who challenge entrance into the fabric of the street and wager on the salvation of hearts. Called to read the potential for good in their hearts are the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. Every day, under the guidance of Sister Mariarita di Leo and Sister Maria Viscomi, they face these seedbeds of crime.
The youth summer mission makes sense only from the perspective of their exhausting and continuous service in the local area and in the community. Sisters who witness to us every day how mission is an exercise of faith and joy, charity and love, hope and passion.
And precisely where everything seems destined to slip away between fire, ashes, furniture, dirt, weeds, debris, disillusionment, shame and faces that prefer to hide, young missionaries try to build paths of hope out on the margins, staying together with the little ones, trying to meet them in a genuine way, without false trust and making them understand that there is an alternative to the ruinous culture of the street.
To give continuity to the activity carried out on the streets in the morning, in the afternoon the boys and girls are welcomed in the oratory, where they take part in the Peace Olympics and can have fun and learn.
"We do not know how much we will be remembered, how concretely we will change things or how effectively our presence and our example will help this situation" testifies Corrado Piva, one of the young missionaries participating in the initiative. "However, we can say with certainty that what we have done, seen, achieved and lived in the Paul VI district of Taranto will change us forever. Doubts and dilemmas open up before us, in search of effective ways to bring our experience back to our homes and communities of origin."
"In the intermittent logic of memory, perhaps with the passing years we will not be able to accurately retrace everything we are experiencing intensely now, and yet we are sure that everything will remain firm in our heart, where, remembering, [re-cor-dare] we will know that we have the images of smiles, hugs, words, games, goals, rejoicing and teaching" the young man says. In the various ‘too bad you won't be here tomorrow’, ‘so you're leaving on Saturday’ or ‘I feel at home here’ we can measure the affection that these young people, learning about life, are willing to bestow every day,’ the young man adds.
At the end of the experience, the young people were able to explain what their desires and hopes are now: "to be looms, needles and threads of a new and fruitful yarn which will contribute, under the hands of the wise Tailor, the Lord Jesus, to making clothes to the measure of dignity, respect, brotherly and human love, support, the heart" the young missionary says.
