Repeating the formula of previous editions, the Rome mission organized the Restart Winter Festival in Bassano Romano. The event, which has a summer version, proposes a break from ordinary activities to dive into the life of prayer and fraternity.
The experience of this Life in the Holy Spirit Seminar was a new beginning in the lives of many young people who left full of vigor and joy after the renewal of their baptismal experience. As Benedetta testifies, the Restart marks the beginning of a new time>
“The fruit of these days was to be able to have a new awareness of the existence and presence of God, I went from seeing to believing and from believing to seeing”.
The arts also played a very important role during the event. God’s love was communicated through beauty and creativity with short skits, dance and singing. This love expressed through art captivated those who were present.
Federica, a 29-year-old young woman, tells how the Restart was an important step in her journey of friendship with God after her first experience with Him at the Acamps Summer Festival in August. By being at the service of other young people she discovered the joy of giving freely what she had freely received.
Martino Carocci tells us that during the days before the retreat he wanted to find the strength to continue the journey of faith with new perseverance. “The experience of service through photography led me to contemplate the joy on the faces of the participants, it was as if the smiles had grown from the first to the last day of the retreat and this made me feel part of the shalom family”.
At the end of the Restart, the young people were invited to begin a journey of spiritual formation in the various prayer groups, like small weekly “Restarts”. Many of them are already part of the prayer groups in Rome, so for them it was an experience of renewing the joy of being part of the shalom family and continuing the path of peace, a spiritual itinerary offered in the groups of the community.