Nostalgia is a decisive feeling for the moral, philosophical and spiritual questions of the human being. Etymologically means "back pain", in a sometimes indeterminate sense, because it is not so much aimed at a past made of concrete places, people or events, as to a profound emotion that makes us anelated to something beautiful, just and universal, as if, after all, we knew we are part of it or to be called.
The theme of exile crosses the history of human thought: Ulysses' journey (sung in Homer's Odyssey) is a journey that recalls infinitely because it is always unfinished but that involves an experience of wisdom.
(…)
“You always have to have Itaca in mind -
reach it both constant thinking.
Above all, do not rush the journey;
let it last for a long time for years
(…)
And if you find it poor, it will not be disappointed for this.
Now wise, with all your experience on
You have already understood what Ithaca wants to mean "[1]
Every story of exile, from the most ancient civilizations to the present day, deals with existential questions, fundamental not only for that time: is there a "thread" that gives meaning to history? This question can also be addressed on a personal level: is there a sense of what I am experiencing or that I have lived? Why evil, pain, death? These are the unexpressed but deeply represented questions in the most recent research on the authentic needs of young people. Often the nostalgia of infinity is told as melancholy, loneliness of the soul, search for a reason[2].
Yet these questions struggle to emerge: we are distracted by events that happen to us, by the thousand concerns that grip our soul, by thoughts that the importance of us. Perhaps we do not stop enough to discover around us small answers that may be a lighthouse that helps us not to lose the meaning of our path.
Let's try to look for the opportunities in every way - in times and spaces of listening, reflection, sharing - and together with those who share with us the path of our existence: our community, friends, work colleagues, let's try to work, to confront each other without losing the trust that things can change for the better. We too will feel changed.
In Christian communities scattered around the world, Easter occurs in this month. The message of the "three days" is strong and continues to question all people capable of questions and dialogue[3]. The mystery of pain, the ability to "be" in the wounds of humanity, the strength to start again are the values present in every heart that accompany our journey through deserts and guide history and our life.