Arrival at the Youth Center

Frascati, Italy - October 13 at 4:57 pm
The Community of Casetta Nova is waiting for a signal, the sound of the bell. It's ringing!!! Carla has arrived! The new entry of the Youth Center!!! We welcome her with joy and trepidation. She is a great gift for all of us and we are deeply grateful.

Frascati, Italy - November 13 at 4:57 pm
Exactly one month has passed! Then let us start the interview!

Retreat for the beginning of the year

Carla, tell us something about yourself. Who are you and how did you learn about the experience of the Youth Center of the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor?
My name is Carla. I am from Calabria.  I'm 28 years old and I have studied Tourism Science. My journey started in Cosenza, my city, where I met the Community of Saint Dominic of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, through a voluntary service to distressed children in need of educational support. In this Community, I had many experiences that enabled me to grow in my relationship with God and brought me to meet and get to know the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor.

Why did you choose to live the experience offered at the Youth Center?
Last year I experienced the "Step by Step" program in Casetta Nova. It was an opportunity to stop and think about myself, my choices, and to try to come to a deeper understanding of what I want to do with my life. That's why I decided to devote some time to God; to try to understand where I stand in life. I feel that the Youth Center can be an opportunity to discover what my vocation could be, to whom I should myself and how best to follow God. These questions prompted me to leave. It was not easy leaving behind my family, friends, community, and what I was accustomed to, but I knew that what was ahead of me was far more than what I was leaving behind.

At the end of this first month, what can you say about your experience at the Youth Center?
I have discovered that my time at the Youth Centre has been very special for me. It has allowed me to place God at the center of my life in a more radical way. It is a gradual journey that I am facing with courage, without letting myself be setback by fears that could block me. I am experiencing God's presence in everything: in my service to others and to the poorest, in small daily things, in prayer, at work, in free time and study, and in the Community. It is practicing giving freely, sharing everything in common, giving myself as I am, constantly giving and receiving with trust.

What have you discovered that is important?
I have discovered that it is important for me to know God, to let Him take care of me, to try to respond with love and mercy to His word, to be alive here and now. I believe that God loves me as I am, with my joys and the sorrows, in my right doing and wrong doing.
What would you recommend to a girl who wants to experience the Youth Center?
I would recommend this experience to quench that thirst, which she certainly feels inside and which only God can satisfy. In life, we do so many things that we believe fill us, but in reality, they don't fill us up at all. It is in finding what really matters that we find happiness and love.

Carla Cosenza e sr. Mara Bellutta, Sfp

Published: January 20, 2021