Milan (AsiaNews) - Rediscovering the faith through missionary witness, the catechesis on the radio and especially the vitality of the Churches of China and Korea. This is the experience of a young man from Brescia, who wanted to share with Fr. Piero Gheddo - missionary of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions and founder of AsiaNews - his "re-conversion" as an adult. Here is the text of the letter received by Fr. Gheddo.
Dearest Father Piero Gheddo, I write
this letter to you with great joy! First of all let me introduce myself. My name is Giovanni Maria (son
of a family with eight children, four boys and four girls), I'm 24 and I have just
completed economic studies at the
Bocconi University. I work as a researcher
at the IESE Business School in Barcelona focusing on Africa. An exciting
job that takes me to Spain, Kenya and Nigeria, to try to get
a deeper understanding of the potential of what until a few years ago it
was called "the hopeless
continent" and now is termed "the new engine of growth for humanity
".
It was 2011 and I
was under the gaze of the many colors and the bright lights of Sinchon
in the heart of Seoul
in South Korea. Fascinated
by what I saw around me, but even more by incredible story of Father Augusto Gianola, the hermit of
PIME in the Brazilian Amazon, that I was listening to on Radio Maria.
And it was through his catechesis, downloaded from the website of Radio Maria, that I learned of the
monthly program "The mission
continues," the mission ad gentes, that speaks of the life and spirit of the missionaries. Since then I have never missed an episode.
The stories from Burma of Felice Tantardini, the saint with the hammer, and the
great Clemente Vismara, the adventures of Angelo Campagnoli between Burma and Thailand, those of Aristide
Pirovano and Marcello
Candia in the Amazon, Bishop. Cesare Bonivento
in Papua New Guinea,
Father Maurizio Bezzi
among street children in Yaoundé in Cameroon, and so on.
Stories that have
accompanied me on the streets of
the world. After five unforgettable
months in university
at Yonsei University in Seoul, I went to China for a year of
study at Fudan University in Shanghai.
And your catechesis accompanied me in
the forests of Kenya where I was
for a few months working as a researcher at the Strathmore
Business School in Nairobi.
Thanks father Piero!
Just as you experienced, I have also been left speechless in
front of the vitality, joy and enthusiasm
of these young Churches. I was
fascinated by their simple and youthful faith, which goes to the essentials of the Christian message, that Jesus Christ, is the only Saviour of mankind.
I was amazed bythe role of the laity. Fathers and mothers, young college
students like me that transmit
their faith in every environment with ease and with a
smile. In these young Churches
the laity is the engine of the parishes, the laity organize the Sunday Mass, promote visits to the poor, retreats,
cultural initiatives and also fundraising. The parish is a real family where lay people take care of the entire Christian community. The priest is the father who watches over everyone,
by the laity are the protagonists who work to proclaim Christ to non-Christians, with surprising results.
I can say without doubt that the Chinese and Korean Churches converted
me. It was in the Far East
that perhaps for
the first time I saw the living Jesus, the Jesus of whom St. Paul
said "it is no longer I who live,
but Christ who lives in me",
"for me to live is Christ." How many young
converts I got to know, how many
newly baptized. I shall never forget the light that flowed
from their eyes, a light that
illuminated everyone who passed their
way. Valentine, a young Chinese
girl who now works in marketing
for a major
multinational company, immediately after
receiving baptism in the Cathedral of St. Ignatius in Shanghai, told me: "Giovanni. This is the best day
of my life. Since I discovered Jesus, I live with him in my heart and my life has yaken on new meaning". This is Evangelii
gaudium, this is the
"joy of the Gospel which fills the heart and the
whole life of those who encounter Jesus". These churches have
so much to teach us! Thanks, then,
for all that you are doing through
catechesis on Radio Maria and all the books and articles you publish. I always remember you in prayer. Best wishes,
Giovanni
Maria Mazzacani