Volunteering: a manifestation of charity

… “But the greatest of all is charity”! How much beauty and fullness there is in this sentence and I would like to reflect on it through a simple testimony, which is placed within my experience of faith in the Apostolic Movement.

Yes, precisely thanks to the Apostolic Movement I was able to experience, among other things, some of the infinite manifestations of “charity”. Above all, the charity of the Gospel must be welcomed, lived, announced and testified. And among the forms of mission motivated by the Gospel, I feel very involved in volunteering to be carried out in nursing homes, alongside what many call “sick people” but who, in the end, you discover have such a desire to live as to make you understand that maybe you’re the one who is in need of help.

Being even an hour next to them, sometimes with a guitar to intone their most beautiful songs, sometimes without anything but with a great desire to listen, made me understand how charity also requires knowing how to live fully next to your neighbour, his joys and sufferings. As we know, faith cannot be something far from one’s personal life; if you are a Christian you must think as a Christian, live as a Christian because only in this way “everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another”.

And it is precisely volunteering, starting from this experience alongside the most fragile people, that has become the part of life to which I am most emotionally involved.

I am part of a clown therapy association: no, I am not a clown (or maybe yes), I am just a volunteer of smiles and I want to give you a written thought of mine upon returning from one of the strongest experiences I have ever had.

In Croatia there is a town, Gornja, where, in a castle placed in the mountains, there are angels, children with serious psycho-physical malformations but with a look that, if you welcome it, upsets you inside.

 “Last day here. 6 am: today we decide to help the nurses with the baths. Magic moments! Around 8:45 am the whole group heads to the rooms for breakfast time and immediately afterwards we take the gornjolini (the little boys) to the outdoor playground, as in the previous days. But in Gornja no day is equal to the other, every moment loads you with emotions and even today the magic is materialized.

My personal magic bears the name of Viktor. I decide to take him for a walk around the castle; today he is a little too agitated, his hand squeezes my hand tightly along the way: it almost seems that he wants me to greet every corner of that castle, almost perceiving my departure. But the thing that upsets me most are his hugs. “Thanks for what you are giving us”: this is what I read!

But the magic continues. It’s 7pm: the last goodnight to those angels, tears that flow through the rooms but above all words and looks that upset you. How can I forget Marjia and her strength. Lying on her bed, locked in a body that hardly answers her, she rests her hand on mine: “Come on, don’t cry… Marjia well… don’t cry”.

This too is charity for me: the fullest Love that allows you to welcome the other person and help him carry his cross of suffering and why not, make it be yours a little!

Antonio Afeltra