The First Time in PeruIn 1984 Daniele leaves for a two-year experience: he goes to Chacas in Peru, where both Father Ugo De Censi and Giorgio Nonni, not yet a priest, are living. His aim is to be guided by Father Ugo to check his vocation.
He lives in the parish house, throwing himself into work in order to relieve the other volunteers and he comes in touch with the poor through the many people who continuously knock at the door asking for help. He also works as an assistant to the boys attending the “Don Bosco” Taller school for carpenters.
In these two years Daniele learns, little by little, to become Father Ugo’s “son”. Obeying him implies suffering because it requires being humble, recognizing his errors and defects and accepting the corrections, but he understands that humility is the road that leads to the truth and the conversion of one’s life. Daniele hopes to be allowed to follow his studies to priesthood in Peru, but this proves to be impossible. So, in accordance with Mons Francesco Tarcisio Bertozzi, Bishop of Faenza, he comes back to enter the seminary in Bologna in September 1986.
“This is a truth I want to tell you clearly: you must not think you can discover what you need by yourselves. You must let someone else guide you, someone a bit older. And you must be so good as to say: You know life better than me, so tell me what is the right path for me! Help me!"
In this way you will oblige others to care for you and you will learn to realize that in life we need to let someone else lead us. Someone must take our hand, so we will understand what God wants from our life. In this way, letting a few people take me by hand, I have understood that Jesus wanted me to become a priest. It was not me who decided, I only opened my heart and others saw this path for me…”
(p. Daniele).
