Mozambique
During the October OPERA M Forum, Bishop Msgr. Attanasio dedicated a special time to entrusting the spazio + spadoni scarf to priests, catechists, and Inhabitants. A gesture that unites belonging and mission: feeling within the space, ready to spread the works of mercy.
There are gestures that give continuity to words and help safeguard them in daily life. During the OPERA M Forum in Lichinga, Mozambique, one of these gestures found a dedicated moment: after his opening remarks, Bishop Msgr. Atanasio wanted to set aside time to entrust the spazio + spadoni scarf to the priests, catechists, and Habitants present.
Choosing to devote special attention to this moment highlighted the significance of the scarf. The Forum, an opportunity for encounter and formation on the works of mercy, thus also welcomed a visible sign of the journey to be shared and of the personal responsibility that that journey demands.
The scarf is entrusted to feel present in space and to be ready to spread the works of mercy, until they flood the world.
These words capture the sense of belonging that comes to life through everyone’s willingness. Feeling a part of the space means recognizing that you have a place, that you are welcomed, and that you can contribute. It means inhabiting a relationship nourished by prayer, listening, encounter, and works. For this reason, in spazio + spadoni, we speak of Inhabitants: people called to bring to life that to which they belong.
Entrusted by the Bishop, the scarf also recalls the bond between this journey and the life of the local Church. Priests, catechists, and Inhabitants hold different responsibilities and experiences, but all are called to bear witness to God's mercy in the places they inhabit and in the relationships they build.
A priest meets people who are looking for a word, guidance, forgiveness, a presence capable of accompanying them. A catechist helps people know the Gospel and recognize its concrete consequences in life.
Every Resident can draw near to suffering, listen to loneliness, share what is necessary, pray for someone. The fourteen works of mercy, corporal and spiritual, offer a concrete direction to this willingness.
Wearing the scarf then becomes a daily reminder: mercy waits to take shape through me as well. In my choices, in the time I make available, in the attentiveness with which I look at a person, in the ability to notice those left on the margins.
This is where the gesture experienced in Lichinga meets the heart of the reEvolution of the works of mercy promoted by OPERA M: every person who receives mercy can become merciful. The mercy received can generate further mercy, even through a work different from the one they benefited from.
Those who receive material help can offer a listening ear. Those who are comforted can pray for another person. Those experiencing poverty can share a word of hope, forgive, and accompany someone in pain. No one is too poor to give mercy.
This passage opens up a decisive horizon: recognizing in every person the possibility of becoming a protagonist of good. The reEvolution begins when those who receive mercy discover they can give it. From this recognition arises a merciful flow that moves through people, families, and communities, reaching places and situations that we often cannot predict.
Even the invitation to “flood the world” finds its meaning here. It begins with the person nearby, with the postponed visit, with listening that requires patience, with the need that asks for a response. And it grows when mercy inspires in others the desire and freedom to perform a new gesture.
The time Msgr. Attanasio chose to dedicate to entrusting the scarf gave visibility to this call. From the Lichinga Forum, this sign now accompanies the journey of those who received it: in communities, in parishes, in homes, in the places of daily life.
Being in the +spadoni space also means this: knowing you are part of a shared journey and personally taking on the joy of helping it grow. The scarf preserves and makes visible this willingness, so that what was shared during the Forum can become life and witness.
God’s mercy is at work. Always.
Photo by spazio + spadoni
