Friends, family, home: what EYM means for Jessika, Team Leader in Albania
Jessika comes from Albania. She has been a member of the Eucharistic Youth Movement for about four years and this year she also been nominated as its leader. She comes from a family of Muslim traditions, where the practice of religion and rituals have greatly diminished as time passed. Above all, the communist era (1944-1992) when it was not possible to celebrate religious feasts, nor to make one’s faith visible in any way, has had a serious impact on her religion. Thus, her experience and that of her family was “suppressed”.
Her encounter with the movement took place in one of the Jesuit schools. “Today, Albania is one of the countries where people with different religions manage to live in sufficient peace and harmony with each other,” she explains. “So, I entered an Ignatian school, and, in a casual way, I became part of the movement. I remember when the movement was introduced to us in class and I thought, ‘OK, maybe this is the place where I can find some new friends.’ I was so wrong! What I was going to discover was not just some new friends, but a family, a home: I was going to find myself. Because the journey helped me discover the God who lives in me!”
Experiencing deep love
“Is it a games activity?”… No! “Is it a religious meeting where we only talk about God?”. Not exactly. “Is it a place where you meet new people?”. Yes, it can be understood that way too, but it is not quite correct. “But then, what is it?”. Perhaps it is difficult to find the exact words to describe this experience. It is “living”, “growing”, it is a means to experience a deep love that no other experience can replace. It is to understand profoundly that it is the experience of sharing that gives life to our hopes. It is living with Jesus. Even though I grew up in a different faith, Jesus has now become my friend, the movement has helped me to “discover” within me what I didn’t know existed.
One step after another
Each experience was truly unique. My first experience took place with some young people from EYM Italy who came here to Albania in 2018. I got lost and then was found again. It was difficult then, for me, to understand what I was experiencing. And after the experience, I felt like I was no longer the same.”
It was my first conference, in Frascati, in 2019. It’s already been two years, but not a single day goes by without recalling those days. I remember every song we sang together, every story we shared, every hand we shook and every hug we exchanged.
And then, I had another wonderful moment, back here in Albania, with other EYM Italians in 2020. Another “striking experience”, a mission of friendship, a new family. I know that the next experience will also be wonderful: I will discover new things about myself, about fraternity, about you… We are One!”
