To be authentic witnesses without ever giving up.Living the Gospel in our daily lives requires us to put aside our fears and go beyond our limits and convictions; trusting in the gifts that God has given us because it is there that our strength lies. No hard feelings The Mass had ended. While Don Carlo, our parish priest, was giving a special blessing to one of the parishioners who had celebrated his 90th birthday that day, I was intent on taking some photographs of the occasion. His sister, who had come from French-speaking Switzerland, was also present at the ceremony. As I left the church, I approached her and asked for her mobile number so I could send her the whole set of photos. She gladly gave it to me, thanking me. Later, while I was out, she rang my house. My husband answered the call and on my return, he said to me: “Why are you talking to her despite everything she did to us?” He was referring to old disagreements between that lady and us. The response that came to me was “Why not? I don’t want to leave this world with a grudge against someone! The truth is that we are all brothers and sisters even if sometimes we forget it.” My husband did not reply, but I saw that it made him think. (Loredana – Switzerland) The exam I live in Florence with four other friends, also university students who, like me, wish to live their lives according to the example given by Jesus. The apartment where we live is very humid and to warm up we use a wood-burning stove. This is not the only difficulty which however becomes an incentive to really love each other. For example, I was preparing for an exam with a colleague who had very different study routines and methods to me. I thought of giving up and suggesting that we study separately. But when I talked about it to the others, they advised me to persevere, to try to understand my classmate better. I realized that I should continue to love him. There were still plenty of tense and discouraging moments but he told me that he liked coming to study with us because he felt there was a different atmosphere. In the end, the exam went well and he wanted to celebrate in a pizza restaurant, not only with me, but with all of us.  He said, “We passed the exam because of the way we loved one another but also because of the understanding of your friends”. (Gioacchino – Italy)

Compiled by Maria Grazia Berretta

(taken from The Gospel of the Day, New City, year VIII, n.2, September-October 2022)