EUROPE/ITALY - MISSION AND IMMIGRATION - Palermo: It’s not about being God’s competitor, but about living in His Hands, on His Providence, His Charity, and His Mercy - a visit to Brother Biagio Conte, founder of the “Hope and Charity Mission.” (Luca De Mata writes from Spain - Part 6)

Palermo (Agenzia Fides) – Palermo. Foundation of the “Hope and Charity Mission.” I’m with Brother Biagio in his tiny office where people of all nations enter and exit. It is not a chaos. Here, everybody knows what they are doing and what they have to do. This is not a Tower of Babel, an attempt to outwit God, but rather it’s about living in His Hands, on His Providence, His Charity, and His Mercy. Brother Biagio’s door opens out into a long passageway lined with cots where the people receiving aid are still sleeping. It’s ten o’clock in the morning.
Here, people can arrive at any given moment. They come exhausted, seeking refuge from the floors at the train stations, from the sidewalks, from the park benches. Brother Biagio is in his wheelchair with a green backpack and a green treebranch, worn away by the years. It is the chair that holds a man with blue eyes, smiling and profound, who uses it to go out and meet his fellow man. He speaks and every so often touches his beard, as if to say that what he is saying is not important in itseld, but because it is a real life experience of suffering that he has lived in helping those in desperate situations not to feel abandoned. You can feel his closeness. It doesn’t matter if you are a prince or the least important among the desperate. I am seated opposite him. I feel welcomed and I feel his kindness towards me from the moment I greet him, in the enthusiasm in his voice, for his practical assistance, for his witness to the Gospel with a brave generosity that knows no limits.
At his side he has his prayer book, along with the Rosary beads passing through his fingers. Everything arrives here by charity. Everything is ordered and clean. Here, all efforts are spent for the others. It is something you can perceive in the smile of those who run the center. I feel useless, like a bother in the midst of this going and coming of people working to build a great contribution to solidarity. Brother Biagio is understanding and immediately makes me feel comfortable. My work as a journalist does not interest him, in that I speak about him, but in that it can be of help in understanding that Palermo is a place with high values, where people know how to love their neighbor as themselves. We agree that I will not ask questions, but that he will simply give his testimony from life experience, mainly a reflection on love for whomever may find it interesting.
Brother Biagio: “Peace and hope to you all, brothers and sisters. I was born in this city. Like many young people, I too had my plans, I was wrapped up in a world of materialism and consumerism. For me, the most important in life were my friends, social clubs, dressing well, going to the pizzeria, dancing...I saw so much indifference and disparity. I became aware of the problems of the marginalized people living on benches, in the streets, in the stations. And I said to myself: ‘Can we remain indifferent to all this? I began finding excuses to not go out anymore. I lived for some time in silence. My room became a refuge, a place where I could meditate and reflect.
I was searching, searching for this truth I didn’t know. My friends didn’t understand. Instead of helping me, they warned my family to take care of me saying, ‘He’s entered into depression!’
It’s true that I may have seemed depressed and that is why I told them all...even the doctors: ‘Heal this afflicted society and I will get better.’
There was a crucifix in my room.
I felt observed, until one day I looked at the crucifix and I realized that God had given His life for us. Jesus became my hope, my strength.
I took a trip to Assisi, where Saint Francis’ lived. And my experience in Assisi made me realize that I has to follow a missionary’s path.
At first, I wanted to go to Africa or India, but the Lord brought me back to Palermo. Once I arrived here, I did not go back home. I went to live in the train station in the city, in the midst of beggars, to help those that society forgets, excludes, despises, considers rubbish. I observed, unable to do anything, as many died of cold.
I was never interested in knowing the names of those I helped. I never asked them, “What have you done? How did you end up in this situation?”. Each person has his own story. His drama.
As Mother Teresa would say, I am just a drop of water, but together we can all do a lot. When summer arrives, up to 1,200 people can come in, in a matter of two days.
This place is already full. What will we do tonight? And tomorrow? Oftentimes I have heard these questions and I always say the same: Pray. The Lord will take care of it. Here the day always lasts 24 hours, but with the help of the Lord and of everyone else, and with the support of prayer, we continue forward, in God’s hands. Because prayer frees, helps, and gives peace. It is a beautiful weapon, the most beautiful and peaceful in the world.” (Luca de Mata, writing from Cuenca) (Part 6 – to be continued) (Agenzia Fides 12/9/2008)