I have already mentioned the gift of the "little things" when I said that daily life is almost empty, but that it is enriched by the little we can "feel". I am now applying this to the life of ecclesial communities or, better, to what we have always thought was necessary in Youth Ministry: large structures.
They all collapsed under us, perhaps just to show that large structures are more than we need, only making sense at the end and perhaps only for a "rich" kind of youth ministry.
The little which YM is experiencing is the most important thing: it is a meeting on the lawn, in a house still standing, on the street, in a garden around a merry-go-round, its primary concern being close to bomb shelters. As long as there are a few youngsters and an adult or a slightly older young person, a good leader who can set up an oratory. When we were better organised, the oratory could be a simple car heading off to the least likely places but where sympathy and joy were immediately created, and games removed some of the sadness, at least for those hours and conversations were a little less inane, about football or the Olympics. It all started with a simple question from the driver: “Look, I have a problem and I'm looking for someone to help me - I have a bag of chocolates, but I can't eat them alone. Can you help me?” Thus the ‘Oratory on Wheels’ was born, which sought out those who could not come to the oratory on their own.
Youth Ministry was the presence of some Italian clowns (bless them!). The "Theatres Without Borders" group with Maurizio Stammati, Noemi Bassani, Stefano Tosi, Marco Renzi, Ruggero Ratti, Marco Pedrazzetti, who made a tour of the cities being bombed. And the Knight of Italy, Marco Rodari,as well, known in war-torn countries as "Claun il Pimpa": red nose and hat with a propeller, capable of snatching the little ones from the anguish of war for a few moments, even while bombs were falling or in the middle of the rubble. With them, at various times, we visited the cities and villages in our Donetsk Exarchate territory, from Zaporizhzhia to Kramatorsk, from Kryvyj Rih to Dnipro and Novodonetsk. Not to say what followed - smiles through tears.
Not to think that youth ministry is just these places for meeting and a few moments of reflection and prayer, we also established an off-line school in the city, which is always a bombing target: and you could see what attention, what participation, what joy the kids felt to be together with friends, to be able to have the ordinary experience that has now become extraordinary! And even the vocational training courses on electrical systems, just imagine!
Minimal structures, but with heart. And certainly with imagination and lots of colour.
