Describing what we have experienced these past two days in Barcelona is nearly impossible. One only needs to contemplate what we have followed throughout this week during Pope Leo's visit to Madrid, Barcelona, and Gran Canaria. I do not intend for these words to be anything more than a simple reflection born from the heart, because only his words, at this moment, reach the full depth that the occasion requires.
It has been a journey filled with symbolism: gestures, words, images, music, and prayer. Looking upward has been a true adventure for millions of people. That act of reaching beyond oneself is doing us a great deal of good. This papal visit has rejuvenated our hearts and strengthened what the passage of time had begun to crack across all spheres: family, ecclesial, congregational, political, academic, work, professional... And across all ages, from the youngest ones whom we so often saw "flying" toward Leo, to the eldest. Even shared pain, along with the listening and attention we offer to one another, unites us as brothers and sisters and strengthens us; it did us good to witness it. This feeling of being "with Him, in Him, and through Him" is becoming authentic oxygen for our church life.
The Eucharist at the Sagrada Familia, together with the blessing of the Tower of Jesus Christ, was a deeply lived and shared experience. The majesty of the basilica, rising toward the Barcelona sky, made us vibrate—not for nothing is Gaudí called "God's architect." Being there was almost a dream: we could touch heaven with the eyes of faith. God is here.
The harmony of the voices filled the temple, creating the necessary atmosphere so that the Pope's words would not become an empty echo, but would instead descend into the heart. Everyone has gathered seeds from this papal journey, and now we are called to welcome them, digest them, and ruminate upon them with a gaze of faith, trusting that they will bear fruit.
Without planning it, we are witnessing a "beautiful new spring" in which everything is reborn. Gaudí’s columns, like great trees, sustain the faith of a Church walking in the midst of a turbulent world. The Beatitudes bloom once again: not as a distant memory, but as a living reality. Blessed are the poor in spirit, the meek, those who mourn, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness. Everyone, absolutely EVERYONE, has a place, as Pope Francis has so often reminded us.
The Venerable Gaudí created a work without haste, intuiting its eternal dimension. His architecture transcends time, cultures, and the limits of understanding. It gathers us, welcomes us, and humanizes us; it makes us living stones of the Gospel. It urges us to seek and create paths of justice, peace, and dialogue, and invites us "to look upward" toward the true light, CHRIST, which today struggles to break through and is shaping tomorrow. Could this be the Miracle of Gaudí?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odBWmbca9sc&list=RDodBWmbca9sc&start_radio=1
"First love, then technique"
— A. Gaudí
María José Condomina. HNSC