(ANS – Colle Don Bosco) – On December 7, a meeting was held in the Lower Basilica at Colle Don Bosco for volunteers of Operation Mato Grosso, a spontaneous movement that educates young people through voluntary work in favour of the poorest in Latin America, born from the heart and imagination of Salesian priest Ugo De Censi. About a thousand young people gathered to remember Fr. Ugo, who died in Lima (Peru) on December 2, 2018.
Born in Berbenno di Valtellina, in the province of Sondrio, on January 26, 1924, Fr. Ugo was ordained a priest among the Salesians on March 8, 1951. In 1965, he met a missionary from Brazil in Italy and was touched by his testimony about the poverty and suffering of the South American people. He did not remain indifferent, but wanted to take immediate and concrete action: he proposed to the catechists in the Arese area that they go on a mission to Brazil to help Fr. Pedro. Ugo himself described this moment with an image: ‘it was like throwing a match into petrol’.
Twenty-four young people set sail on the first expedition… and thus Operation Mato Grosso was born, a thread linking Italy and South America, with the concrete commitment of many young people throughout Italy who now devote themselves every day to supporting more than 120 missions in Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia and Brazil, and just as many who decide to give up a period of their lives (6 months, 1 year, 2 years…) to put themselves totally at the service of the most needy in South America.
The words left by Fr. Ugo continue to guide the path of Operation Mato Grosso: ‘Silence, work hard, do things with skill, know how to lose (and forgive). With these four words, you can go in search of God.’
On Saturday, the young people wanted to bring to life one of Fr. Ugo’s last letters, embraced by the places of Don Bosco and the mountains of Piedmont:
Dear young people, life is an adventure
You only live once
Open your eyes and ears because we are not
Sufficiently afraid
Of this world of ours
In fact, too often we are fine with it
We no longer accept the simple truths of man
That we must die
Because it is easier to settle down
Live peacefully and be normal. So GO, SET OFF, it will be a long JOURNEY
You will find JOY, GOODNESS
PAIN, FATIGUE
FRIENDS, LOVES, LOVED ONES
But you will always miss something
This journey will take you far away, sometimes you will not
understand, you will be confused
But you MUST NEVER STOP! COME ON, GUYS
I am with you
(Fr Ugo)
The reading of the letter was accompanied by videos, testimonials, and songs, prepared the week before by a group of young people who wanted to stop and share some time to prepare a ‘moment’ for the Operation Mato Grosso family and listen to letters and stories about the life of Fr. Ugo.
The young people then focused on what they are experiencing today, dedicating themselves to the journey of Operation Mato Grosso, where adventure and breaking the mould are the fundamental themes.
The spiritual encounter between Fr. Ugo and Don Bosco was then recalled; an encounter that Fr. Ugo himself described in various interviews as ‘the first great love, like a rapture, like the desire to be like him’. Don Bosco left Fr. Ugo a legacy: to educate young people in truth and goodness. And now Fr.Ugo has left this legacy to the young people of Operation Mato Grosso: to follow in the footsteps of truth and goodness.
After a break for lunch and a visit to the sites at Colle, the day ended with Holy Mass, enriched with songs and gestures of devotion to Jesus and Mary.
The final farewell was rich in meaning: a flag waved in the sky, a sign of hope and freedom. The young men and women of Operation Mato Grosso then thanked the Salesian Family deeply for welcoming them to Colle Don Bosco, a place very dear to all, where Fr. Ugo preached his last retreats in Italy.