Cahiers Peguy on "The Road is Christ: Remembering Don Giussani

According to Fred K . over at Cahiers Peguy, Rocco Palmo of Whispers in the Loggia has honored the Movement's founder, Monsignor Luigi Giussani, as the year 2005's Churchman of the year--International:

For the first time, a mass audience got to see the softer side of Cardinal Ratzinger that day as never before. Six weeks before he caused the same effect on the global stage with his homily at the funeral of John Paul II, he offered a moving meditation on the life and work of Luigi Giussani through the prism of the premium Communione e Liberazione places on the cielini's daily encounter with the living Christ as the root of their activity in the world.

This love affair with Christ, this love story which is the whole of his life, was however far from every superficial enthusiasm, from every vague romanticism. Really seeing Christ, he knew that to encounter Christ means to follow Christ. This encounter is a road, a journey, a journey that passes also–as we heard in the psalm–through the “valley of darkness.” In the Gospel, we heard of the last darkness of Christ’s suffering, of the apparent absence of God, when the world’s Sun was eclipsed. He knew that to follow is to pass through a “valley of darkness,” to take the way of the cross, and to live all the same in true joy.

Why is it so? The Lord himself translated this mystery of the cross, which is really the mystery of love, with a formula in which the whole reality of our life is explained. The Lord says, “Whoever seeks his life, will lose it, and whoever loses his life, will find it.”

Fr Giussani really wanted not to have his life for himself, but he gave life, and exactly in this way found life not only for himself but for many others. He practiced what we heard in the Gospel: he did not want to be served but to serve, he was a faithful servant of the Gospel, he gave out all the wealth of his heart, he gave out all the divine wealth of the Gospel with which he was penetrated and, serving in this way, giving his life, this life of his gave rich fruit–as we see in this moment–he has become really father of many and, having led people not to himself but to Christ, he really won hearts; he has helped to make the world better and to open the world’s doors for heaven.

Fred K. encourages those that would like to learn more about Don Giussani to view the 25th anniversary DVD:

For those interested in learning more about Fr. Giussani and CL, I recommend the 25th Anniversary DVD. The packaging is in Italian, but the DVD is dubbed in English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese.

Read Mr. Palmo's entire tribute. It's worth it!