The young woman thanked him for bringing “life back” to the oratory and for valuing “each of our strengths.” With nostalgia, Alessia stated that, from the very beginning, the priest became “a fundamental pillar,” a person “to whom I could confide anything, even the most foolish, because for me, you were not just my priest, my confessor, or my ‘superior,’ for me, you were above all a friend.”
She also recalled how the young people were “fascinated” by Balzano’s talks and highlighted his ability to involve them all. “You always believed in all of us and in every one of our dreams. You managed to help us face many insecurities and bring out the best in us.”
“We will remember every laugh, every joke, every day together, because with your presence you knew how to make everything special. Our relationship has not ended; it has only transformed, because now you will be our guardian forever,” the young woman concluded.
Speaking again, Brambilla affirmed with hope that “the Lord will be close to us through the affectionate memory of Don Matteo, which each of us holds in our hearts and which will come to our aid in life’s critical moments.”
Addressing the faithful of the Diocese of Novara, Brambilla openly shared that the “unimaginable and incomprehensible news of the traumatic death” of the young priest left him “shocked and speechless.”
He also expressed his gratitude to the priests and laypeople who have written to the diocese to express their closeness: “I have noticed that, above all, such a tragic circumstance has made us rediscover what is true, profoundly true, in our lives: the profound bond that unites us in the Lord Jesus,” he noted.
He then shared some reflections that he said arose from his “heart torn apart” by grief.
Helping priests stay the course
First, he recalled when Jesus sent the apostles to prepare the Passover and explained that, in the same way, all the faithful “must help the bishop, the families of priests, the priests, and especially the younger ones, not lose the compass that points to the deepest meaning of the priest’s mission: to prepare the Passover, to eat the Passover.”
“Preparation, setting the table for Passover, is the meaning of our entire mission, which means guiding the life of every person, every family, every child, adolescent, and young person to understand that the most difficult, but also the most beautiful moment of life, is to go through the Passover, which means ‘passage,’” he explained.
