Dario Tokic ocd

It has been a totally different experience from the congresses that are organized by the "old" for the "old". Joy, kindness, openness and a desire to be together were the fundamental values that animated each of the participants.

And each had time and space (within reasonable limits) to express themselves and be heard by others. It’s a beautiful thing to be enthusiastic - which is proper to youth - but still more beautiful and encouraging to find so many brothers and sisters of different parts of the world that live with the same enthusiasm.

At the Congress, all of us felt part of a great religious vocation in which there was place for all of our diversity whether it be cultural, racial, gender or personal character. If I would say that at the Congress I experienced the beauty of giving gratuitously, without fear of sexual prowess, of evil intents, and "what would the others think" - that would be to say the least.

You would have had to see our celebrations that we had inside and outside the program: there was dancing, singing, movement, screaming – but it was something very diverse from what is normally offered by the mass-media mentality. In all appearances it seemed similar, but for me our behavior contained a dignity that rendered it sublime.

It is necessary to experience being able to be free with the opposite sex, in front of other persons, and to experience being able to give deliberately the best of one’s self to the others without any fear - to understand the marvelous gift that we have lived. It was truly a grace of the Spirit, the Animator of our charisms and of all of our diversity.

It’s true that the enthusiasm will pass; however, that which will remain with me is the conviction that it’s possible, beautiful, and is worth the pain to live following Jesus notwithstanding all of the difficulties that we may experience. That which also remain with me is an open door toward the brothers and sisters of other congregations.

At the Congress all of these helped me, in a particular way the sisters, to knock down my walls of defense toward my neighbors in general. In those few days I experienced intensively the evangelical truth that the relationship "homo homini frater/soror" is better than "homo homini lupus", which is frequently forgotten in everyday life. Finally, I would like there to be this kind of gathering at the local level, made for and with collaboration of young religious women and men.

For example - taking into view the preparation of the "Giubileo", in the year dedicated to the Holy Spirit - organize a vigil for Pentecost in a diocese or a town, possibly open also to the young lay people. It would be a beautiful sign of unity in the Church with its diversity of charisms, cultures etc., if only this type of vigil would be organized on the same day everywhere in the world.