Volume miscellaneo che raccoglie interventi e conversazioni di Giussani con i responsabili degli studenti universitari di Comunione e Liberazione svoltisi negli anni 1986 e 1987 (Equipe del CLU); si tratta del quinto volume della serie “L’Equipe” edito nella nuova collana “I libri di Luigi Giussani”.
I testi, raccolti in ordine cronologico, sono preceduti dalla prefazione La rinascita dell’io, redatta da Julián Carrón (pp. I-XIV).
Ogni Equipe è anticipata da una nota storica a cura di Onorato Grassi (in corsivo nel testo) che contestualizza l’evento; in occasione della redazione del presente volume tutti gli scritti sono stati rivisti sulla base della documentazione, scritta e audio, conservata nell’Archivio della Fraternità di Comunione e Liberazione. È stata mantenuta la forma orale dei dialoghi e delle conversazioni (p. 6).

1986

“Una storia” (pp. 7-56) raccoglie i testi inediti di due incontri svoltisi durante l’Equipe che ebbe luogo dal 18 al 20 gennaio 1986 a Riva del Garda: “Assemblea” (pp. 8-36) e “Sintesi” (pp. 37-56).

Il capitolo “Il punto rosso” (pp. 57-146) riporta gli interventi di Giussani e i dialoghi con gli studenti avvenuti durante l’Equipe tenutasi a Corvara dal 20 al 25 agosto 1986: “Introduzione” (pp. 59-62), “Lezione” (pp. 63-86), “Assemblea” (pp. 87-114), “Serata su Clemente Rebora” (pp. 115-127) e “Sintesi” (pp. 128-146). Precede gli scritti il testo del Volantone per la Pasqua 1986 (pp. 58-59), si tratta di una citazione di Joseph Ratzinger dal volume Introduzione al cristianesimo (Queriniana, 2005, p. 82; prima edizione 1968).

1987

In “Chernobyl” sono proposti i testi di due incontri svoltisi a Rimini tra il 31 gennaio e il 2 febbraio 1987: “Assemblea”, testo inedito che riporta integralmente la conversazione tra l’Autore e gli studenti (pp. 150-180), e “Sintesi” (pp. 181-196).

Della “Sintesi” (pp. 181-196) esistono precedenti pubblicazioni in forme diverse: 
- nel maggio 1987, un sunto dell’intervento di Giussani è pubblicato in CL-Litterae Communionis con il titolo “La persona contro il potere” (5, 1987: pp. 14-17. Con traduzioni); nel 2000, il testo sarà riproposto senza variazioni nel volume miscellaneo L’io, il potere, le opere: Contributi da un’esperienza con il titolo “Tra Barabba e lo schiavo frigio” (Marietti, 2000, pp. 39-43. Con successive traduzioni);
- nel luglio 1987, la rivista Il Sabato pubblica l’intervento di Giussani con il titolo “Come parlare di Cristo ai giovani” (Il Sabato, luglio 25, 1987, pp.19-20), in una forma molto più ampia rispetto a quella precedentemente uscita su CL-Litterae Communionis; in questa stessa forma lo scritto è rieditato nel volumetto Si ricomincia da Uno: Appunti da conversazioni di monsignor Luigi Giussani con gli universitari di Comunione e Liberazione con il titolo “La persona rinasce in un incontro” (supplemento a Il Sabato, dicembre [24], 1988, pp. 67-81. Testo non rivisto dall’Autore);
- nel 1993, il testo edito in Il Sabato (luglio 25, 1987) è pubblicato, dopo revisione, nel volume miscellaneo Un avvenimento di vita, cioè una storia: Itinerario di quindici anni concepiti e vissuti: Interviste, conversazioni, interventi di monsignor Giussani a partire da registrazioni, non rivisti dall’autore (a cura di Carmine di Martino. EDIT: Il Sabato, 1993, pp. 209-217) con il titolo “La persona rinasce in un incontro”; in questa forma e con lo stesso titolo, nel 1997 è riproposto dalla rivista 30 Giorni (3, 1997: pp 39-46. Con traduzioni). 

Chiude il capitolo l’“Omelia” pronunciata durante la messa (pp. 197-198). 

“La persona e il potere” (pp. 200-257) raccoglie i testi dell’Equipe svoltasi a Rimini dal 16 al 18 maggio 1987.
Il capitolo si apre con il testo del Volantone pubblicato in occasione della Pasqua 1987 (pp. 200-201), che contiene una frase di Václav Bělohradský tratta da “L’epoca degli ultimi uomini”, intervista rilasciata per il periodico L’Altra Europa (6, 1986: p. 5), e una frase tratta dal vangelo di san Matteo (20, 24-28).
Seguono i testi inediti dell’“Assemblea” (pp. 202-235) e della “Sintesi” conclusiva dell’Autore (pp. 236-257).

Il capitolo dal titolo “Tutta la vita” (pp. 259-426) riguarda l’Equipe estiva svoltasi a Corvara dal 20 al 25 agosto 1987. 
Il testo si apre con l’“Omelia” (pp. 260-263), a cui fa seguito l’“Introduzione” (pp. 264-288). Nella parte intitolata “Comunicazione” (pp. 289-295) Giussani riferisce dell’incontro che ebbe con papa Giovanni Paolo II a Castel Gandolfo tre giorni prima dell’Equipe del CLU, e dell’invito ricevuto dal Santo Padre a partecipare al Sinodo dei Vescovi, in programma a Roma nell’ottobre del 1987.
Segue “Assemblea 1” (pp. 296-339), che riporta la conversazione che l’Autore ebbe con gli universitari a partire dall’intervista, a cura di Angelo Scola, “Il «potere» del laico, cioè del cristiano” pubblicata sulla rivista 30 Giorni (8, 1987: pp. 39-51. Con successive traduzioni). L’assemblea si chiude con un intervento di Václav Bělohradský, filosofo cecoslovacco, a quel tempo docente di Sociologia all’Università di Genova, autore della frase scelta per il Volantone di Pasqua di quell’anno, incentrata sul rapporto tra la persona e il potere.
Durante la “Serata su Emmanuel Mounier” (pp. 340-347) Giussani lesse e commentò alcune lettere di Emmanuel Mounier alla moglie. Il testo qui proposto non è una prima pubblicazione, nel 1996, infatti, era già stata editato nel volume miscellaneo Le mie letture con il titolo “Ravvivare l’umano” (BUR, 1996, pp. 161-167; BUR, 2008, pp. 163-169. Con successive traduzioni). Lo scritto riportato nella presente opera si differenzia in alcune parti da quello contenuto in Le mie letture perché, come in tutti i volumi della serie, è posta particolare attenzione alla forma orale originale dei dialoghi stabilita sulla base della documentazione scritta e audio conservata nell’Archivio della Fraternità di Comunione e Liberazione.
Seguono i testi inediti di “Assemblea 2” (pp. 348-405) e “Assemblea 3” (pp. 406-426).
Una sintesi delle assemblee è riportata nell’articolo, senza firma dell’Autore, intitolato “Comunione è Liberazione” in CL-Litterae Communionis (10, 1987: pp. 14-18. Con successive traduzioni).

In “Appendice” sono raccolti i testi dei primi Volantoni di Pasqua: “Pasqua 1982. Cristo la compagnia di Dio all’uomo” (pp. 429-433), “Pasqua 1983. Le Christ est ressuscité” (pp. 434-435), “Pasqua 1984” (p. 436) e “Pasqua 1985” (p. 437).

Il volume si chiude con la “Legenda” (pp. 439-442), gli “Indici” (pp. 443-459) e il “Sommario” (pp. 461-462). [C. C.]

1986
A Story
The “defect of morality” that generates that fragility with which the companionship of Christ is often experienced finds its origin in an absence of existentiality of the awareness of belonging. This lack of memory is documented by two factors—the absence of a feeling of belonging and the absence of a desire for change. How can this absence be overcome? First, through a struggle for esteem, which is translated into three aspects—prayer, that is asking to belong to Him; meditation, that is comparing and studying what we have encountered; and finally, preparing ourselves to sacrifice. Second, we need to practice judgment, that is not dismissing reality but comparing everything in light of the encounter.

The Red Dot
The red dot in Matisse’s depiction of Icarus is a sign of inspiration and, therefore, of depending on something other than yourself. The belonging to the companionship generates a presence that offers the greatest service we can be given, that is being allowed to encounter the reality of and for which our lives are made—Christ. The ethos of belonging causes what the Gospel calls metanoia—it is a change in the way reality is perceived and, over time, this results in a new culture and related attempts to implement it. The work, in fact, is eminently a translation of a cultural position. Recognizing that there is a more concrete reality than what simply appears means reopening the human problem. In fact, reopening the human problem is recognizing this You, a reality that man cannot dominate with his thinking and govern with his actions. In any case, the question would remain vague if this You had not become a presence in history. The fundamental option, then, is to recognize that our life belongs to this man, “Without me you can do nothing.” Thus, a question becomes crucial—what part does this You play in our lives? We need to pay attention to three possible dangers—loneliness, which means not perceiving reality; a possible splitting, that is a partial belonging according to which the companionship as group logic is fine, but your safety valve of life is elsewhere (woman, exams, work, health); and considering “submitting” to the movement as an exaggeration, in the sense that you accept the companionship as long as you can enjoy certain results.

1987
Chernobyl
It is as if the youth of today were victims of a kind of Chernobyl nuclear explosion—their organism remains structurally the same but, dynamically, it is different. There has been a sort of physiological subjugation operated by a dominant mentality. We can understand this from the fact that we remain, on the one hand, abstracted in the relationship with ourselves—almost emotionally uncharged—and on the other hand, we try to find shelter in the companionship. Power causes us to feel estranged from ourselves. That is why it is crucial to answer the question, “Where can people find themselves again?” People regain themselves in a living encounter with a presence that can make them rediscover their own originality—reason (consciousness of meaning) and affectivity (inexhaustible tension toward it). Power aims precisely to make people lose the simplicity of their nature. In this sense, we can understand how our moral problem is not to be accomplices of power, that is, not to avoid the attraction offered by the ideal. This happens only if we get involved with the companionship that has made the encounter possible, because this latter contains the measure of our relationship with reality. Losing this measure is the sin that results in being distant from reality. To commit to the companionship means, in pedagogical terms, to follow this instruction, “Seek every day the faces of the saints so that you find rest in their words.” In other terms, it is a new dynamism toward reality, arising from a new judgment (comparing the criterion of value, Christ as the measure of all things). This means living life as love, “To affirm You is my living reason.”

Person and Power
In life there is a moment (kairós) that has reawakened our person, acting upon us as a perception of what is true and which we can refer to with the adjective “beautiful.” This beauty, that is, this truth we have perceived, leads us into a companionship. As a matter of fact, by its very nature, the encounter opens you up to a companionship. The fundamental characteristic of joining this companionship is that it starts a new adventure and you begin to learn. In fact, one may run the risk of joining this companionship without the awareness that it is an adventure, which eventually means being aware that something is about to come. Without this awareness, the companionship becomes the locus of possession and pretentiousness. If the individual who joins the companionship is reawakened, this is expressed through two characteristics: in judgment, that is, the encounter becomes a criterion and at the same time a paradigm, and in affection, that is, in the energy to adhere to reality and to persist. There is often a rupture between the emotional feeling caused by the encounter that has been made and the implication with the companionship. What does this rupture consist of? First, it consists of affective weakness, implying the fact that the question aroused by the encounter is easily forgotten (this is something different from inconsistency); then there is distraction, that is, a lacking awareness of disproportion; lastly, there is power, which exalts distraction and theorizes that yielding enacted by affective weakness. To bridge this rupture between emotional feeling and implication, there are two essential dimensions of life—on the one hand, the poverty of spirit that can be found in that oneness with the companionship as a historical journey; on the other hand, the fight against the tyrant, that is, anger against falsehood. The best way to fight against the dominant mentality is to ask true questions, the ones that have been revived by the encounter.

All of Life
“Granting us the possessions that pass away, You urge us to possess the happiness that endures,” this is the idea of humanity and life which is proper to Christian existence. All is good but it will pass away and, nevertheless, it will not end in nothingness. We are given this limitation pertaining to all things so that we are driven to possess the happiness that endures. Reality, then, is indeed a step, but this concept is not at all negative; conversely, it reveals its adventurous aspect. Instead of the concept of step, we can use the concept of sign, albeit with a redemption of its meaning that does not exist in normal life. In fact, “sign” normally refers to something that, once achieved, is abandoned. Whereas in Christianity, the term sign indicates the anticipation of something. All the companionship’s work lies on this point—learning to experience the beauty of transitory things in such a way that they are not a prison but a path. For this to happen, a change in mentality is needed. What enables this change is companionship, because this companionship is the Lord becoming a presence. You cannot remain in the companionship for long if your compliance is not verified in the horizon of your own person, that is, if it does not become a personal conviction. Otherwise, the companionship is an alienation, so instead of mobilizing individuals, it exasperates them. In any case, if we look at the way the companionship introduced itself in life, we should note that the central word is that of “encounter.” Indeed, the greatest fact of life is not existence, but the encounter, because the latter identifies that temporal-spatial impact in which the perception of the positivity of Being manifested itself. In fact, belonging to this companionship permeates the totality of life precisely because it is the place where I can be myself. Thus, those who follow its historical path, without reducing it to their own thoughts, belong to the companionship. In this sense we understand that belonging to the companionship makes each person directly responsible toward the beginning of all things, that is, toward the original charism. And the original charism has its safeguard in those who are responsible for leading it.