Young lives take shape in the Focolare community at Mariapolis Luminosa

There were 10 of us around the table at Mariapolis Luminosa, from 10 different countries including the Dominican Republic, Lebanon, Brazil, the U.S. One of my most precious memories is the time I spent there at one of the Focolare’s 32 little cities worldwide. There I saw what the world would be like if everyone lived according to the Gospel’s message of love. That time will remain forever as the tangible proof that unity is possible and real.

Located in New York’s lush Hudson Valley, Mariapolis Luminosa provides lasting educational experiences for youth. Since the 1986 inauguration it has welcomed hundreds of young people who have generously dedicated a weekend, a month, a semester or a year to volunteer their time, talents and energies.

Although messages of materialism and individualism fill our TV screens, a recent study shows that youth really are stepping up to build a better world. The Corporation for National and Community Service reported that more than 15.5 million youth contributed 1.3 billion hours of service. Furthermore, those youth who volunteer do so simply out of altruism.

“Volunteering is my life,” said Rohit Murthy, a high school student and Boy Scout from Poughquag, New York. “I cannot express the joy I get from helping others, especially those in need. I live by the slogan, ‘Do a good turn daily.’”

But youth need support. According to the CNCS brief “Building Active Citizens: The Role of Social Institutions in Teen Volunteering,” social institutions are fundamental in connecting youth to volunteer opportunities. The primary environments of a young person — family, school and religious organizations — provide the necessary network and encouragement.

“There is no other place in the U.S. where I feel as much at home as in Luminosa,” said Francesco Mazzini, 27, from Italy. “It may be because of the quietness and beauty of its environment. But I think that the real reason is the effort, by each person in this town, to love every neighbor. I immediately felt loved and I could not help but love back.” He is now studying for a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

As part of a community service project for obtaining the Eagle rank — the highest in Boy Scouts — John Scianimanico, 19, and members of his troop dedicated numerous weekends to clearing a half-mile nature trail in Luminosa, equipping it with an entrance map, two footbridges and bench locations for reflection.

“The scenic wooded property will be available for all to enjoy and take in,” said John in his write-up for the review board. “It will also provide a peaceful location for meditation and prayer, [which] is especially beneficial because Luminosa epitomizes mutual love, living the Gospel.”
Today Boy Scouts from his troop have returned, ready to engage in yet another project.

Situated on 75 acres of woodlands, Luminosa offers two youth residences: “The Sun” for the girls and “The Ideal” for the boys. Built in the early 1990s, the white, spacious houses each accommodate 10-12 young people at a time. Korean college student NaRa Lee wrote at the end of her three-month stay, “I learned many things: how to cook, how to swim … how to work with others.”

An English teacher from southern Italy, Maria Carla Iannitto, 28, spent 43 days in the youth house, during which she weeded, painted and cleaned.

“These tasks are always useful,” she wrote. “It proved to me that living with people of different cultures is not only possible, but it is an occasion for personal enrichment.”

Often serving as a stepping stone for youth in transition between college and work, the volunteer tasks in Luminosa include ceramics, sewing and woodworking in the artisan shops or maintenance and gardening. A recently inaugurated dining hall hosts numerous conventions all year round in which youth cater and serve as hosts.

Other volunteer assignments include internships at Living City magazine whose editorial offices are on the premises. Students witness the inner workings of publishing a magazine while contributing with their own research and writing.

After a month-long internship in 2007, Elisabetta Mero, a college senior from Milan, Italy, confided, “The greatest lesson I learned during that experience is living the present moment. I realize that for me and my generation, living the present moment is really not going with the crowd. The modern world projects you into the future and little into the present which it belittles.”

The possibility of leading a quiet “normal day” of work and rest, as described by 25-year-old Amata Foderaro who spent last summer in Luminosa, also provides youth with the opportunity to learn the simple yet necessary daily tasks such as cooking and cleaning. Youth from abroad partake in daily English lessons while Americans develop their knowledge of foreign languages from beginner to conversational.

And the lessons do not end there.

“An experience and a school at the same time,” is how Trixie Rillo, 24, described her year-long stay at the youth house, in which she volunteered her computer expertise. In her comment, she echoed what clearly sets Luminosa apart from other community-service institutions: the emphasis on maintaining the presence of Jesus through mutual love as he promised, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in their midst” (Mt 18:20).

“I want to do my part in keeping Jesus’ presence. If all else fails, I’ll start again no matter what,” she reflected shortly before flying abroad to the Focolare’s little city outside Florence, Italy to pursue her vocation within the Focolare.

Volunteering plays a vital role in shaping how young people learn to interact with their community, to develop the skills and values necessary in adulthood.

Years after taking a semester off from college to volunteer her time and talents in Luminosa, Laura Mulvey Kellerman, 28, from Texas, recalled her experience as a “crash course in partnership.” Now married, she sometimes looks back on the months she spent with youth from six other countries with gratitude.

“From the moment we woke up in the mornings to the moment we crashed into our beds, we were living for the other ... or at least trying to,” she said. “Everything was done together with the goal of loving in mind. We cooked, cleaned, worked, swam and gardened together. Even choosing a radio station was something we tried to do in unity. It wasn’t always easy! But through trial and error we got better and better at listening to each other, learning from each other and loving in the way that the other person needed to be loved. And it was a blast!”

In 1999, Paul Vellucci, then 16, spent a month at the youth house in Luminosa, a short 45-minute drive from his home. “I’d never lived away from home for that long and with an Italian mother watching over me, I didn’t even know how to make my own bed!” he recalled.

Fast forward 10 years: Paul is the marketing manager at Caboodle Books and Authors Abroad. “I look back on that month as a major turning point in my life … It fundamentally shaped who I am today,” Paul wrote from his new home in the U.K. “It helped me to establish a cornerstone and a standard of trying my best to love my neighbor and striving to live the Golden Rule in every instant of my life.”

In the years that followed that first stay, Paul visited Luminosa as often as possible. “Luminosa is a model city for all who seek to learn what a peaceful, united world would be like. Today, it’s a paradise in an uncertain world.”

By Brenda Balli – Living City (http://www.livingcitymagazine.com/ )