Bullying
At school, during a break, I was washing my hands in the bathroom when five or six girls and two boys attacked me, pulling my hair and punching and kicking me. They also broke my glasses. They ran away quickly when, at my screams, the janitor rushed in. Why? Yet I seemed to have a good relationship with everyone. From the investigation that was later made, it turned out that on that day the group’s “game” was to attack the first blond girl they would meet. And I am blond. For days I was traumatized by the idea of going back to school. In the Catholic movement of which I am a member, one day we were telling each other how we had experienced Jesus’ invitation to forgive seventy times seven. For the first time I realized how difficult it is to forgive. I thought and thought about it for days. Then I realized that the strength to forgive is a gift from the Risen One. I would not have been able to do that. And when I went back to school, feeling free and peaceful, I felt I had taken an important step in my faith life.
(M. H. – Hungary)

A ” Neighborhood Treasury”
I had been struck by this definition heard during one of our community meetings, “A city is man in relationship with each other….” “So is a neighborhood,” I concluded, thinking of the one in which I live. Since then, every new day seems more interesting to me if I experience it as a chance to establish authentic relationships with neighbors, acquaintances, etc… One thus enters into the most diverse stories, shares joys and sorrows, discovers ever new ways of meeting certain needs. As in the case of the “neighborhood treasury,” born from the idea of putting something of our money in common for certain needs we learn about: we placed it in the garage provided by one of us, the door of which is not locked, so everyone can access it when needed. On the box are two inscriptions, “Give and you will be given” and “He who loves gives with joy.” The amount collected has sometimes been used to buy special shoes, clothes, for drop-off at a shelter, also for interest-free loans and even loans with no return.
(A. – Italy)

Edited by Maria Grazia Berretta

(taken from The Gospel of the Day, Città Nuova, year X- no.1 May-June 2024)

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