Christ is there where He happens

I am deeply grateful to you for joining me in giving thanks to Christ on this occasion of my fiftieth anniversary of priestly ordination. I want to thank the friends gathered here, who come from various corners of the Church and civil society, as well as those who have shown me their affection and closeness—fellow travelers I’ve encountered throughout my priestly ministry. In particular, I extend my heartfelt thanks to Davide Prosperi for the message he wished to share with me and with the entire CL movement.

I warmly welcomed the initiative of some friends to come together to thank the Lord, because all of you are an essential part of what I am grateful for today—your companionship and the witness you’ve offered me and continue to offer. I hope this anniversary becomes yet another opportunity for each of us to recognize the grace we’ve all received. What can help us understand the significance of this grace and share it with everyone?

We are called to live our faith in a particularly challenging time. The daily news lays bare the spreading unease; the cry rising from this discomfort—whether in work, relationships, community life, or society at large—grows louder by the day. Yet this very unease is a testament to the irreducibility of humanity, the irreducibility of each one of us. Paradoxically, the more unsettled we feel, the more our human longing for fulfillment emerges. “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world yet lose themselves? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their life?” We can’t shake off this question from Jesus because it captures, as nothing else can, what our daily experience cries out through discomfort, dissatisfaction, boredom, and emptiness.

The current situation might seem like a threat to faith. In truth, today’s challenges only endanger a faith that’s been reduced to routine, one too weak to stand up to the impatience of our times. But what if the cry welling up from the depths of our everyday lives could actually help us recognize the answer that satisfies the boundless desire within us? This cry is, in fact, our greatest resource for discovering the response that matches our deepest needs—just as slavery in Egypt enabled the people of Israel to grasp the extraordinary scope of their God’s liberating action, or as the longing to be loved is vital and decisive in recognizing the one who loves us.

The only one who saw human need as a golden opportunity was Jesus. “I didn’t come for the healthy, but for the infirm,” for those in need. Indeed, it was the needy who realized the significance of His presence, to the point of seeking Him out, unable to settle for anything less than the fullness they craved. Everything else fell short of what they needed to truly live. That’s why Jesus calls “blessed” those who hunger and thirst for this fullness. Only they can grasp the gift He is when He enters their lives. Why? As Fr. Giussani taught us, echoing God’s own way, “Christ presents Himself as the answer to who I am, and only a careful, tender, and passionate awareness of myself can open me up fully, preparing me to recognize, admire, thank, and live Christ. Without this awareness, even the name of Jesus Christ becomes just a word.”

Jesus didn’t get sidetracked by anything else. No one put it more brilliantly than Péguy: “He didn’t waste His three years whining or blaming the wickedness of His time. And yet, there was plenty of wickedness in His day. […] He got straight to the point. Oh, in a very simple way—by creating Christianity. He didn’t point fingers or accuse anyone. He saved. He didn’t condemn the world. […] He saved the world”.

Where could His contemporaries find Him? Wherever He “happened,” showed up. Only His “happening”, his presence made Him recognizable. “Wherever He went—villages, towns, or countryside—they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged to touch even the edge of His cloak; and all who touched it were healed, saved.” The essence of Christianity is that it’s an event.

Since then, the method hasn’t changed: Christ is there where He happens. “He is, if He acts. He is, if He transforms,” Fr. Giussani always reminded us—a man we can never thank enough for showing us this truth with his entire life. We know Christ is real because He changes us.

“The Christian event becomes present when we encounter a human difference, a distinct human reality that strikes us and draws us in because—whether subtly, vaguely, or unmistakably—it matches an innate expectation within us, the fundamental needs of the human heart. A person stumbles upon it and catches a fresh glimpse of life. […] We didn’t see it coming, we’d never have imagined it, it seemed impossible, it’s nowhere else to be found. The human difference where Christ reveals Himself lies in the unexpected, unimaginable way this humanity we encounter corresponds to the heart’s needs. […] It’s something incredibly simple, utterly basic—something that doesn’t need explanation, just recognition. As Cardinal Ratzinger once said, ‘We can only recognize what resonates with something already in us.’ Truth lies in that resonance.”

The more we see Him at work, the more our gratitude grows—the gratitude we’re expressing to Christ today. It’s His presence in action that makes us more and more certain, to the point where we can echo St. Paul, who faced countless trials: “Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Will trouble, distress, persecution, hunger, nakedness, danger, or the sword? […] No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will ever separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

The undeserved grace we’ve received isn’t just for us—it’s for everyone. And only if we embrace it and live it can it become a credible witness to the world, especially now, when so many are searching for meaning and hope in their lives. “If you don’t turn back, you’ll perish,” we heard in the Gospel—we’d be like that barren fig tree. Conversion means making room in our lives for the freely given gaze that has reached us, so it can bear fruit for all. What would life be without Him? What better way could we avoid losing our lives while living than to live for Him? “The life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

As Pope Francis said, “When people and nations see this witness, they feel the longing the prophet Zechariah spoke of: ‘We want to come with you!’ Only this witness helps the Church grow.”

Final Greeting

Thank you! Thank you all for coming here to thank together the One for whom it’s worth living! We have nothing more interesting to do. For this, I thank you all, and may we witness to each other what Christ means in our lives.

I want to affectionately thank my archbishop of Madrid, Cardinal José Cobo, and the archbishop of Milan, Monsignor Mario Delpini, for the fatherly way they have always welcomed and supported me.

I also thank Monsignor Napolioni, bishop of Cremona, who wrote that he would have liked to be present but is on a pilgrimage to Rome with the diocese.

And also the rector of the Sanctuary, Monsignor Ferrari, for his willingness to host this celebration.

Thank you all!

I especially thank the organizing committee; as you can see, they did the work!

And those among you who wanted to prepare this moment. I also thank you for the great gift you gave me, which will be very useful.

Now, to conclude, let us all pray the Angelus together: «The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary…»

Have a good trip home, everyone! Thank you!

• The author has not revised the text and its translations