“Our Basilica,” explains the parish priest, Fr Roberto Colameo, “thus wants to reproduce the spirit of the Bethlehem grotto, where God meets poor humanity: from the place of the liturgical celebration to the place of the celebration of that fraternity rediscovered by the synodal reflection we are experiencing.”
The Don Bosco parish houses the canteen of the XX Prefecture of the Diocese of Rome and for lunch on the 26th it welcomed over 120 people including volunteers and users belonging to the nine parishes. “The initiative becomes the sign of a collaboration that has spread throughout the territory to meet the needs related to the pandemic and that is played out in a larger portion of the territory, which goes beyond the borders of individual parishes: truly, in unity: strength,” added the parish priest.
As Maurizio Pisano, head of the parish Caritas and member of La Goccia, explains: “They are people we follow all year round; either they have no fixed abode or they experience severe economic hardship. In addition to the classic bingo,” he continues, “everyone offers something of themselves. There are those who tell jokes, those who sing, and those who play. We are together and have a family day.”
All this would not be possible without the commitment and dedication of the many who dedicate themselves for free, to whom Fr Roberto's thoughts go: “Thanks go to the volunteers, brothers among brothers who, as Pope Francis says, did like Mary with Saint Elizabeth: they did not hesitate to leave their family, from their comforts to bring, with their service, their presence and their commitment in organizing this meal, Jesus to the brothers.”
