TO START FROM START TO Proceedings of the New York Encounter 2019 1 2019 TO START FROM This booklet contains transcripts, not reviewed by the speakers, of talks given at New York Encounter 2019 Crossroads Cultural Center HumanHAB Adventure Books TO START FROM We are at the end of an epoch and we feel the need to rediscover our identity and somehow start again. But, having abandoned traditions, challenged norms, and rejected authorities, we are left with nothing but ourselves to make sense of it all. With no blueprint, the present is full of unease and the future appears enigmatic. We are uncertain of the meaning of our lives, and so often feel confused, alone and isolated. Our collective days are filled by the pressures of success and conformity, along with the fear of being left behind. Failure seems irredeemable, mercy impossible. So, we often look for scapegoats or ways to escape. But tribal belonging or artificial realities are poor substitutes for the certainties we have lost. At the same time, this very unease reveals something in us. Something that feels the lack, aches for meaning, and recognizes the truth, like a tuning fork vibrating for its single, unmistakable note. Something that makes us long to be looked at, listened to, understood, forgiven, valued just because we exist. Something that perceives a promise even within these challenging times and urges us to respond, to say “Here I am!”, to seek justice, to build anew. An innermost, irreducible, decisive core marked by a stubborn expectation. “Has anyone ever promised us anything? Then WHY do we expect something?” — Cesare Pavese 7 Cover image: Henri Matisse, Icarus, 1946 2 CONTENTS A Blossom in the Desert Naomi and Ken Genuard, Miriam Huettner, Riro Manuscalco ........... 13 An Epidemic of Loneliness Kerry Cronin, Emily Esfahani Smith, Marcie Stokman ....................... 23 "Do Not Be Afraid to Set Your Sights Higher" (Pope Francis) Fr. Julián Carrón, Austen Ivereigh, Fr. José Medina .............................. 41 Beyond the Moon...to the Farthest Reaches Jonathan Lunine, Karin Öberg, Massimo Robberto ............................. 59 An Irreducible Expectation David Brooks, Fr. Javier Prades, John Zucchi ....................................... 79 Poetry: The Language of Human Longing Paul Mariani, Rita Simmonds ............................................................ 101 "When I Cannot Sing My Heart, I Can Only Speak My Mind" John Waters ........................................................................................ 115 The Education of the Heart Jon Balsbaugh, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, Holly Peterson .......... 129 "I Just Happen to Love Ordinary Things" Francis Greene. ................................................................................... 145 Something is Happening Here Richard F. Thomas, Robert George, Annemarie Bacich. ..................... 159 A New Beginning. Life in the Aftermath of a Massacre Fr. Peter Cameron, Dawn Ford, Jenny Hubbard. ................................ 173 Born to Never Die Enrico Petrillo, Angelo Carfi, Amy Hickl. .......................................... 191 9 12 A Blossom in the Desert The stubborn expectation of the human heart: witnesses from Itauna (Brazil), Aleppo (Syria), and Boston (USA) Introduction “In the evolution of time and in the work of humankind, there is something, there is a phenomenon of something that is incorruptible, that cannot crumble away. Everyone speaks of it, and it is always new. The great Italian poet Leopardi called it the ‘dominant thought.’ This phenomenon is much greater than the sign, the ephemeral aspect of reality, that brings it about. Something bigger. It is the thirst for beauty. It is the thirst for truth. It is the thirst for happiness. It is the heart! The dominant thought, according to the totality of its meaning, is what the Bible calls ‘heart’: man perceives within that he is destined for happiness, for truth, for beauty, for goodness, for justice. Everyone judges based on these things; everyone, even if superficially! But what is most impressive is that this phenomenon cannot be removed: it cannot be removed! Ultimately, it is something that cannot be removed! In the middle of society’s ‘great ruin’ — to use Dante’s words — there is this impetuous, grandiose, powerful thing that raises itself. If this phenomenon dies, man dies of boredom.” ~Fr. Luigi Giussani, notes from a talk on Giacomo Leopardi, Milan 1996 Naomi Genuard: At the bottom of the heart of every human being, from earliest infancy until the tomb, there is something that goes on indomitably expecting, in the teeth of all experience of crimes committed, suffered, and witnessed, that good and not evil will be done to him. It is this, above all, that is sacred in every human being. This profound, and childlike, and unchanging expectation of good in the heart is not what is involved when Friday, February 15, 2019 13 A Blossom in the Desert we agitate for our rights. The motive which prompts a little boy to watch jealously to see if his brother has a slightly larger piece of cake arises from a much more superficial level of the soul. The word “justice” means two very different things according to whether it refers to the one, or the other, level. It is only the former one that matters. Music Fr. Ibrahim Alsabagh: Dearest brothers and sisters, may God give you peace. I am Fr. Ibrahim Alsabagh, a Franciscan friar who was sent in 2014 to Aleppo, in the middle of the disorder of the war, as the head of the Latin community of the city and as an Episcopal Vicar. At first glance, based on international news reports, it may appear that the situation in Syria is getting better. But in reality, the situation is still very critical. Three neighborhoods in Aleppo are still getting bombarded, and daily we hear about many dead and wounded because of the ongoing battle. This painful reality means our unemployment rate is over 70% and our poverty rate is over 80%. Many of our families are barely able to afford their daily bread, and for the ethnic and religious minorities, including Christians, things are even harder. When my superior asked me if I was ready to go and serve in Aleppo, I could not imagine what could be waiting for me. I am a Syrian born in Damascus, but I knew nothing about Aleppo until 2014. I served throughout the Middle East but never in Syria. For me, Aleppo was what I heard from the news. I could have simply refused to go because of the danger of death; nobody could force me to go or blame me if I didn’t. What drove me to accept without hesitation was what my superior said: “Aleppo is in need. People are in need.” I went to Aleppo with faith. I was certain that God’s grace would give me something to start from. I went to Aleppo, taking with me only my trust and surrender to God. I carried my limited love toward Him and toward His people, and with my thirst to serve Him through every person in need. In fact, I am certain that charity is something that springs from an open heart, which leads one to make things he or she has never conceived of. This is how all the miracles I have witnessed in my four years in Aleppo have come about. For example, on a Sunday in October 2015, at 6:00 p.m., I was celebrating Mass when a missile hit a couple of our churches. It could have been a massacre, but miraculously, nobody died or was seriously hurt. 14 A Blossom in the Desert But the greater miracle happened the same day and the day after, when many parishioners, overcoming fear, came to clean and start repairing the church. And an even greater miracle happened the following Sunday, when people more numerous than usual came before Mass, and the shard of the missile was used as a vase for flowers to be offered in prayer for whomever launched the missile. Another miracle is about Roula. Roula currently leads the catechism in our parish, and various other humanitarian projects of the Latin Church in Aleppo. She studied and graduated in France as a biologist, then got married in 1995 to Tony, a well-known lawyer in Aleppo. In 2008, Edma, their only daughter, was born. When this the war started in 2012 and Aleppo became a battlefield between the rebels and the regular army, she and her family decided to remain instead of moving to France. In 2014, the war became more violent, and while Roula’s mother and brothers left Aleppo, she and Tony renewed their decision to remain. And hear of her bravery: nights of hunger, thirst, cold, and instability began. The condo where they were living was basically in the crossfire of the two armies, and often bullets were hitting the building. One day in 2015, after she crossed a street from her house, a missile hit the building, destroying it and killing 11 people. She understood that she was alive because of a miracle, and moved with her family to her parents’ house in a quieter neighborhood of Aleppo called Villat. However, in 2016, Villat also started to be bombed, and missiles hit houses very close to theirs. One of their friends died. So, for the second time, frightened and full of sorrow, they moved to a house close to my parish, St. Francis. Ten months later, one morning a missile hit very close to St. Francis, exactly where her husband and daughter were supposed to arrive home. Terrified, Roula immediately called her daughter, Edma. At first, she didn’t answer, then they started answering, but screaming. Roula ran desperately toward her house and saw the house almost destroyed. Edma was there, well and fearful, but alive. There was another miracle: while Edma was opening the door of her apartment, a missile hit the opposite side of the building, and the door protected Edma from the flying debris.