What did you do on New Year’s Eve? A classic question we are asked after returning from Christmas celebrations; but we are now sure it is better to ask: With whom did you spend New Year’s Eve?
With the guests welcomed at the Caritas Hostel at Termini Station, who receive a full meal, a night under cover and a hot shower. And with the Sisters of Charity and the young people from Malta, Italy, Romania and Albania, with whom we experienced intense moments of listening to the Word of God, of silence, of sharing.
We thus experienced the most beautiful New Year’s Eve we have ever celebrated, with men and women who, besides giving us their time, helped us to celebrate, to bring joy: some singing, some playing, some dancing, some helping with preparations or cleaning up at the end. We thank each and every one of them for the beauty that they are. For welcoming us with so much heart, so much that, at the end of these days, it was no longer easy to distinguish who was a hostel guest and who was a volunteer. Sixteen of us arrived in Rome, we left as part of a much, much larger whole.
Returning to our homes, to our daily routines, we feel a little left there, with them. In the hope that in our own small way, we too have been able to give something.
A greeting, a smile, a hug, a tombola, a dance, a karaoke: we asked ourselves what value all this had for those who are homeless, without affection, sometimes without roots and often without faith in tomorrow… nothing more than a drop; a drop in the ocean which, however, as Mother Teresa used to say, if it were not there, would be missing forever. During the service then, that phrase that towers majestically on the wall at the back of the canteen has always accompanied and sustained us: ‘you did it to me’. It reminds us that “whoever gives even a glass of fresh water to one of these little ones […] will not lose his reward” (Mt 10:42).
Below is the story from the living voice of the young participants:
It is not easy to recount the emotions experienced during these few but very intense days. The morning is spent reflecting on the Word and carving out time for personal prayer, which also helps to live the rest of the day in the spirit of service and openness. In the evening we go to the Caritas Hostel in Via Marsala in Rome, Termini Station, to serve the guests in the canteen. Then on 31 December, we extend the evening to celebrate New Year’s Eve together!
A unique, intense experience; sometimes difficult, but rich in Grace. An opportunity to pause in the hustle and bustle of everyday life and discover the richness that is in us and in others.
Once again this year they were five days of interiority, fraternity and service shared with young people from many countries, in which we touched with our own hands how diversity of language and culture is not an obstacle, but a precious resource for mutual growth. Just as it is true for the poor, it is also true for us volunteers: no one is saved alone.
Every day was a gift, a surprise: many questions dwelt within us, but this time too we discovered how the Lord knows how to overturn our expectations. With the shepherds of the Crib we walked together to meet a God who became small, fragile, defenceless; and we found him, in each of the people we met at the Hostel. We found true Love in them.
The true face of poverty lies in the indifferent looks of those who are attracted by shop windows, but do not care to offer a smile to their neighbour. At the canteen, on the other hand, we discerned wealth, that of those who have nothing, but share the little they have out of love.
It is natural for us to judge people by their appearance or the prejudices we have often created for ourselves (the shepherds themselves, after all, were considered ‘impure’ by the society of the time), but the truest beauty is hidden in the places and people from whom we would not expect it.
“From diamonds nothing is born, from dung flowers are born” sang De André, and amidst the poverty, frailty and pain of many men and women we have found a treasure.
We are grateful to each of the guests for sharing part of their stories, their riches with us. For the time spent together, for their smiles, for their capacity to love, despite everything. Beautiful people with whom we wrapped the wings of an angel, covering them with many colourful feathers full of dreams, wishes, good wishes and good intentions for the New Year.
The young people of the Alternative New Year
