The goodbye of a young woman to Father Balzano, a priest who committed suicide

The funeral of Matteo Balzano, a young Italian priest who recently He took his life At 35, he was celebrated on July 8 in the presence of the faithful – especially young – to whom he attended in the Parish of Cannobio, in the Piedmont region.

The ceremony was chaired by Mons. Franco Giulio Brambilla, Bishop of Novara, who spoke an impromptu and Hopeful Homilywith a remarkable effort because he was, he said, “shattered by pain.”

Before the tragic fact, Fr. Balzano had resumed his mission among the young people of the Oratory of the Parish of Cannobio, so Mons. Brambilla wanted to address them in particular: “I was impressed by the inconsolatable pain of young people, the same ones that are here today,” he said.

“You always believed in all of us and each of our dreams”

The bishop gave his place to Alessia, a young woman who read a letter addressed to Father Balzano on behalf of her classmates: “Even in our most difficult moments you always managed to tear us a smile, telling us some nonsense or teaching us jokingly, as you used to do.”

The young woman thanked her for having returned “life” to the oratory and for having valued “each of our strengths.” With nostalgia, Alessia said that, from the first moment, the priest became “a fundamental pillar”, a person to “the one who could trust anything, even the most silly, because you for me were not only my gift, my confessor or my ‘superior’, for me you were above all a friend.”

He also recalled how the young people were “fascinated” before the speeches of Father Balzano and highlighted his ability to involve them all. “You always believed in all of us and each of our dreams. You managed to help us face many insecurities and get the best out of us.”

“We will remember every laugh, every joke, every day together, because with your presence you knew how to make everything special. Our relationship is not over, it has only been transformed, because now you will be our guardian forever,” concluded the young woman.

When resuming the word, Mons. Brambilla said, with hope, that “the Lord will be close to us through the affectionate memory of D. Matteo, that each one carries in his heart and that he will come in our help in the critical moments of life.”

When heading to the faithful of the Diocese of Novara, Mons. Brambilla revealed, with sincerity, that the news “unimaginable and incomprehensible of traumatic death” of the young priest left him “dismayed and speechless.”

He also transmitted his thanks to the priests and laity who have written to the diocese to express their closeness: “I have noticed that, above all, such a tragic circumstance has made rediscover what is true, deeply true, in our life: the deep link that unites us in the Lord Jesus,” he said.

He then shared some reflections that, ”he said – have been born in his“ heart torn ”for pain.

Help priests not lose the compass that points their mission

First, he recalled when Jesus sent the apostles to prepare Easter, and explained that, in that same way, all the faithful “must help the bishop, the relatives of the priests, the priests and in particular the youngest not to lose the compass that indicates the deepest meaning of the mission of the priest: prepare the Easter, eat the Easter.”

“The preparation, putting the table of Easter, is the meaning of our entire mission, which means leading the life of each person, of each family, of each child, adolescent, young, to understand that the most difficult moment, but also more beautiful in life, is to go through Easter, which means ‘step’,” he explained.

He warned that, when difficulties arrive, “it is important to understand that there is something bigger that drives us to move forward, and it is the Lord Jesus who dies with us, accompanies us and makes us resurrect with him.” In this way, he encouraged priests to “never lose” the meaning of this reality.

Take care of language and not hide sufferings

Given this reality, he warned that “our languages, our ways of speaking, must be edifying and highlight the communion that keeps us together. Only in the face of the truth of life and death is revealed if our languages build and if our gestures build communion,” he added.

He also indicated that, after what happened, he understood that “we must learn to listen to us, to tell us more the truth with simplicity, not to hide our most intimate sufferings, to be open with light to each other, because that is the essential condition to build together the preparation of the Easter of Jesus.”

Take care of the soul

At the end of his speech, he invited those present to “Take care of the soul” and give less importance to material things: “Our houses are too full of things, but poor of meanings to live,” he warned.

“The presence of D. Matteo, his influence, his beautiful figure, all these people today present in this very strong circumstance, reveals precisely that there is a deep link, without which we run the risk of spiritual anemia,” he said.

As a conclusion, the Italian prelate confessed that he does not know if his heart “can stop crying, but I know that from now on and forever I can never forget D. Matteo.”