This Italian girl, who died after a long, agonizing struggle with bone cancer in 1990 (just short of her 19th birthday), allowed Jesus to give her a share in the suffering of His "cry of abandonment" from the cross. Thus He perfected in her a vast love that seeks out those who suffer, especially those who are furthest from Him and most in need of Him.
So great and enduring is this love that—six and a half years ago, and less than two years after her beatification—she even found me.
Thank you, dear Chiara Luce Badano for "tapping me on the shoulder" on that day (and on many days since then) and offering to be my friend. Thank you for praying for me, listening to me, helping me to see the goodness and share the suffering of others, introducing me to new friends in places I never would have expected to find them, and for the surprises: when you tap me on the shoulder and say, "Look, look, look! There! There is the light of Christ. There is the love greater than death!" Thank you.
